Sunday, December 06, 2009

War Stories

In my wanderings around the blogosphere this weekend I noticed we're getting more than a few seasonal posts now that winter is upon us.  Kath posted some pics, Jimmy did too, Sharon posted a horror story, and Daphne (she abiding in temperate Austin) posted an ode to the white stuff.  I just can't wax poetic about frozen precip - I've seen enough of that sh!te to last me the rest of this lifetime and well into the next.  Let's review, shall we? (click the pics to embiggen)

It Could be Worse, Part Deux



Up too late again. Back in a few, but until then, there’s…
Today’s Pic: Keeping with the “It could be worse” theme… Yesterday’s pic was taken at the old homestead in Perinton, NY. Today’s pic was taken in my new, post-marriage-termination quarters, a rather nice, very new apartment (I was the first tenant) in Webster, NY.

Me (on the phone, waiting for the other end to pick up)…dum-da-dum-da…
Him: EDS, this is (my boss)!
Me: Hey, it’s Buck. I won’t be in today, I’m snowed in.
Him: Snowed in? You can’t get out? Really?
Me: Really. There’s a four foot drift right outside my garage door.
Him: Really?
Me: Yeah, really. Check your mail in a minute or four. I’ll send you a picture.

And this was the pic I sent. It was very late in the day when the apartment complex finally got a front-end loader and a dump truck in to remove the snow… March 3, 1999.

3 Astute Observations:


Laurie said...
I remember that storm well. It snowed 2-3" per hour, and cranked up a notch right around morning drive time. Many people got stuck on the expressways, or arrived at work late to find out it was closed and turn around and go home... or they arrived at work but then could not get home and ended up sleeping overnight at work. A 20-30 minute drive took 3 hours that day, if you didn't get stuck. Several people I work with ended up stuck at work overnight. A bit of a hardship because there are no food facilities here, just a couple of vending machines which got cleaned out fast. And no restaurants in walking distance in that kind of weather. Most of the restaurants were not even open because none of the staff could get to work that day. We dug out from that one, 24 inches in total, then a couple days later we got clobbered with 18 more inches. Interesting to note that we had quite a mild winter that year up until March. And we're having a mild winter again this year, so who knows what March will bring. Historically the biggest storms we have had were in March.
Buck Pennington said...
Another vignette from that storm: Two days later (a Friday night), some friends and I did Happy Hour at the Dinosaur BBQ downtown. We had a few beers, ate dinner and then went on our respective ways. The city streets were pretty clear by that time, but not all... I left a traffic light from a dead stop and proceeded to hit one of the on-ramps to 490...only to realize (a) the on-ramp was closed, but not blocked and (b) there was about six feet worth of snow drifted on the ramp. I was going about 35 mph when I plowed (literally) into the mess. It was about an hour and a half until the tow truck arrived to pull me out. I was pretty damned red-faced (and cold), lemmee tell ya... :-)

Laurie said...
LOL! You were lucky there was not a car hidden in that drift you hit. I recall there were still cars buried here and there on the ramps and on the expressway a few days after. Driving to work on the expressway was like a slalem around the snowbound cars.
And then there's this:

Do I Miss It?


In the comments to one of my previous posts, Laurie sez/asks:
“Tonight low 18, winds 15-25. Alberta Clipper coming through. Tomorrow, high 19. Don't you miss it here?”
"Here" being Rochester, NY. It’s said a picture is worth a thousand words; if that’s true, then my 2,000-word essay on snow is just above this paragraph. Those two pictures aren’t of the highest quality, to be sure, but that’s my car stuck in my driveway, waiting for the tow truck after about 30 minutes of me trying to dig it out.  And that’s my deck, too. January 19, 2000 (ed: that was January of 1999, actually). 24 inches. Draw your own conclusions.
As I said: I've seen enough.  The ONLY places I really enjoying seeing snow these days is on my teevee and in the pages of NatGeo.  I know we'll get snow this year, we always do.  The best thing about snow here on The High Plains of New Mexico is it's never really a lot (usually) and it almost always goes away in a day or two.  I can handle that.  We need the occasional reminder about why we choose NOT to live Up Nawth.
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9 comments:

  1. Staci06 December, 2009 18:47

    I like the snow, of course, what I like best about it is if its really bad, they'll close government offices and I CAN STAY HOME!

    You mentioned that you learned to "snooze standing up" in the AF; the snoozer over on my post was stationed at Nellis AFB for forever and a day. Apparently an AF trick?!

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  2. MissBirdlegs in AL06 December, 2009 20:10

    It's not just the Nawth that gets snow. The good thing about our snow yesterday is that most of it was gone by noon & the roads & sidewalks were still warm enough that nothing much stuck on them - a little on the overpasses.

    Word verification is "polar". :-)

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  3. Daphne06 December, 2009 20:47

    Dude! I just noticed the link, thanks so much sweetheart.

    It's raining here now, a cold misery that I could live without.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bag Blog07 December, 2009 05:58

    We did not get any snow, but it was pretty chilly here. I don't mind the cold, but I am thankful that we don't live where I have to break ice in the ponds for the horses or haul water to them, which was everyday of the winter back in Northern NM. I did like the skiing and outdoor sports. Snow in the flatlands is just useless.

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  5. tim07 December, 2009 07:22

    Yea, that ’99 storm was a doozy. I somehow made it into work, cars, trucks –including snowplows- where stuck everywhere.

    The only time snow really gets to be bad around here is if it can be measured in feet not inches.

    That Saturday when we got hit again, as Laurie said, me and my Bro-in-Law went snowboarding down at Swain and it was the best we’ve ever experienced around here. But about 2 o’clock I told him, “Dude, if we don’t leave soon we’ll have to stay here” We left.

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  6. Suldog07 December, 2009 08:34

    Funny... We just had out first snowfall of the year here in Boston over the weekend. It was pretty much just a dusting - an inch or so - and it made everything look so beautiful I took a couple of snaps for inclusion in a blog later this week. When it snows more heavily, I'll be sick of it, of course.

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  7. Kris, in New England07 December, 2009 10:25

    Got our first snowfall here in CT overnight Saturday- about 2-3 inches of very heavy wet snow. Clung to all the trees in the AM on Sunday - and since I live in the middle of the woods it was a pretty site.

    More snow on the way on Wednesday night.

    Actually, I like winter. I don't like ice; with this being my first winter post-hip replacement, my worst nightmare is a slip & fall on the ice.

    I'm thinking of getting crampons for my winter boots.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Buck07 December, 2009 13:17

    Staci said: Apparently an AF trick?!

    Well, that's probably not limited to the Air Force. I'm thinking ALL military folks learn to sleep whenever they can...

    Katy: We have a somewhat similar situation here. But snow HAS been known to stick around (heh) for a week or so. I was stuck in my driveway here for three days once upon a time...

    Daphne: We're cold here today, as well... but no precip, Thank The Deities At Hand.

    Lou: I think snow is useless just about everywhere, but then again... I'm not a skier.

    Small-Tee: I was surprised at the number of folks who made it to work that day. Nearly ALL of them wished they HADN'T made it in, too. The drive home was a royal bee-yotch.

    Jim: I get sick of it toot-sweet, as well.

    Kris: You be careful out there!!

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  9. Gordon Scott09 December, 2009 06:36

    When I lived in Fargo-Moorhead, I drove a Toyota Corolla. That thing never, ever got stuck so bad that I couldn't get out. I'd drive around during storms and dig other people out.

    The trick was to remember to park facing south if a storm was coming. Then your engine compartment wouldn't be full of packed snow. If that happened, the only solution was to tow it indoors long enough for the snow to melt out. Even cars with block heaters wouldn't start otherwise.

    I did manage to stick the Corolla once. I was plowing through and over drifts, but I hit one where I didn't have enough steam going in. I got high-centered. Fortunately, there was a guy in a Bobcat clearing drifts about 50 feet away. He trolled over, gently applied the bucket to my rear bumper, and pushed me off the drift.

    ReplyDelete

Just be polite... that's all I ask.

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