Enough with the snow already

[HillSlugger]

Hi Regina!

I'm glad that you and Tom made it through pretty well. Sounds like your wood stove was a life saver.

[ny biker]

Snowtorious B.I.G.

Snoverkill

Snowfecta

[owlice]

7!! Welcome back!! How long are you here for?

I'm glad you're okay, and hope you stick around through the next storm!

As I drove home from the grocery store today -- the long way, to take advantage of plowed roads in the other county -- I saw that one of my neighbors has it pretty tough. Not just all the snow, but a Bradford pear tree split into two, and the half that fell... landed on one of the cars in the driveway. (The one closer to the road, of course.) This is one time I wish I had a chain saw; they can't go anywhere until the tree is moved, and they don't have all that much time to get out if they need to to restock.

[owlice]

ny biker, how about "Friggin' Pain in the Arse"? That's what I'm calling it!

[ny biker]

Capital Weather Gang is now calling it Wintergeddon.

I'm not attempting a trip to the grocery store. I should be able to make it until the weekend, although I might have to start rationing diet coke before then.

I hope everyone makes it through this next chapter without major incident.

The next time I'm melting during a long bike ride on a super hot day, I will say to myself: at least I don't have to shovel any snow today.

[Selkie]

My name for these storms is a long string of profanities. Enough said!

Glad you're OK, 7.

On Channel 7's 6pm news yesterday, they featured my neighborhood as one that has not seen a plow. That changed around 10:30pm---subsequently, the County has made several plow passes on ours and adjacent roads, down to pavement in a skunk strip down the center of the road, put down chemicals. Thankfully, the first pass was an "uphill" one, pushing all of the snow on to the other side of the street, creating the dreaded Snow Wall over there (usually, our side gets it). All in time for round two, so we likely will be back to square one tomorrow evening. DH took advantage of the temporarily passable conditions to hit Whole Foods and Harris Teeter.

During the 96 blizzard, we lived just south of Quantico and worked up here (a bad commute in good weather, even before the mixing bowl re-do). Wasn't that the storm when people drove in to work because OPM didn't close the govt until mid-morning, then were stuck for hours on the beltway?

Everyone can be assured that plenty of Federal employees, who have the unfortunate designation as "essential personnel," are likely working double shifts, sleeping on cots at work because they cannot make it home safely, etc. OPM did the right thing---this is serious stuff---even this morning, the news is filled with reports of accidents. Sorry if I sound sanctimonious but OPM doesn't close the Govt down on a whim.

I, for one, would have preferred no snow at all :-) I hate snow. Can't wait for things to return to some semblance of "normal," so we can go back to work and resume our lives. Even the dogs are tired of it, which is good since it's no long a PITA trying to get them back inside! :-)

[aicabsolut]

Just because I'm in the private sector and the only one within walkable distance to an underground metro, I have to go to work. Had to go in yesterday too. It's a complete waste of time. I can do everything I need to do this week from home. No one else is in the office. Some sidewalks (SOME) are shoveled. All of the sidewalks lead to a huge pile of snow and slush at the crosswalks. Then I get to wait forever for metro. At least the Circulator was free yesterday...took that most of the way home and stopped for dinner out.

Oh, I also have no kitchen at my office, nothing nearby is open, and I am running out of brown bag food.

I can't wait to take Friday off to go to NC for a race, even though I am completely unprepared since I haven't even ridden the trainer in 1.5 wks.

I remember that 2003 storm, but I was living in NC then, and it was a massive ice disaster down there.

[7rider]

7!! Welcome back!! How long are you here for?

I'm glad you're okay, and hope you stick around through the next storm!

Thanks. I certainly hope our power stays on for Round 2. Although I thought 68 degrees in the house would feel like an oven (), I actually got used to it again very quickly!

We did venture to the store yesterday. Hugely crowded. Got milk, salad for Noah (keeping the priorities straight, see?), cheese, and fruit (okay..twist my arm...and cookies and chips!). Then, we splurged and joined 1,000 strangers in line at Chipotle for a monster-sized burrito that I managed to eat nearly all of and not feel guilty. I think I burned plenty of calories this weekend, between shoveling and just getting around! Snowmaggedon, indeed!

Oh, and happy belated b'day, Mickchick!

[7rider]

I'm glad that you and Tom made it through pretty well. Sounds like your wood stove was a life saver.

The stove is an insert into our old fireplace. It has a powered blower that means the unit can (when the blower works) heat a 2,000 square foot space. Our house shape is not ideal for full heating with it, but it can keep the living area pretty toasty otherwise and keep the furnace from kicking on regularly. However, with no power...we had to rely on radiant heating...which was pretty impressive nonetheless. Still, it had Tom thinking up ways to create an alternative power source for it in the event of future outages. I think a generator really moved up the "gotta have" list for our house!