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Okay, it's official -- I'm freaking out.
12-19-2008, 03:57 PM
Between minor colds, Peggy's outrageous amounts of overtime, and lousy weather, we only really started our Christmas shopping on Monday night.
Tonight, we have to drive to West Virginia to spend the weekend with all our friends, who are converging on Kat, Joe and Scott's place for the Solstice.
We still need one more gift for this gang, who compose over half our shopping list.
Peggy forgot to remind me that her office Christmas party is today, and she's going to work with our crockpot, the huge grabbag gift she bought, a gallon
or two of cider and mulling spices.
And there's a hell of a winter storm coming from the south and west -- the directions we have to drive in this afternoon.
I can haz nervus brakedown now?
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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It's just past 12:30 PM here, and the snow outside my office window is already six inches deep. There was none on the ground when I got here at 7:30.
They're letting us out at 1:30. I can only hope it takes something close to my usual commute time to get home -- but the last few times I had to go home in a storm like this, it took me literally hours.
And speaking of hours, our trip to WV will take us five. I told Peggy earlier that if we can't get on the road by 7 tonight, we're not leaving until tomorrow morning. I am not driving in a storm in the dark after midnight with barely six hours' sleep under my belt. Not me.
This concludes this "I'm overwhelmed!" rant. We now return you to your normal programming.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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WV? Whereabouts?
===========
===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."
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Ugh... My advice, Dont even try bob. Just phone ahead and warn your other friends that your waiting till morning. Your under the same system that dumped FOUR
INCHES of snow on LAS VEGAS two days ago. FOUR INCHES. on LAS VEGAS.
Give the plows and roadcrews a chance to try and get ahead of this monster...
If not for your own safety, for those of us who are still waiting to see what sort of mischeif LT gets up to next?
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children
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Wish you were here - I'm going out today to go shopping and then this evening I'm packing...
Friday - Xmas Shopping, Packing
Saturday - Packing, Loading, Unloading
Sunday - Cleaning, Good Will run
Monday - Tub/Shower installation, furniture purchase
Tuesday - cat5 runs, system assembly
Wednesday - Day Of Rest (who am I kidding, last minute shopping)
Thursday - Xmas
Friday - Coma.
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
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Star Ranger4 Wrote:Ugh... My advice, Dont even try bob. Just phone ahead and warn your other friends that your waiting till morning. Your under the same system that dumped FOUR INCHES of snow on LAS VEGAS two days ago. FOUR INCHES. on LAS VEGAS.
Give the plows and roadcrews a chance to try and get ahead of this monster...
If not for your own safety, for those of us who are still waiting to see what sort of mischeif LT gets up to next? QFT.
You aren't used to driving in this kind of weather - even if you have the skills, you heven't used them in months. I'm sure folks would rather see the two of you show up a few hours late than never show up at all. (The same storm's closed the airport in Toronto. That's the busiest airport in Canada, on the busiest day of the year. You won't be the only people on the continent to show up later than planned.)
Wiredgeek Wrote:Friday - Coma. What, you don't have Boxing Day sales in your part of the world?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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What robkelk said. What Star Ranger said.
I barely made it home from work on Wednesday, a scant 35 mile trip. I know how to drive in the snow, been doing it for years, and I'm equipped for it. I
barely made it home. We got dumped on -- 2 feet so far and still coming down as I type this. It was eight inches on
the first day (Wed). I haven't gone to work in two days, just dialed in from home, because of this storm. And I live near the Washington/Idaho border; we
get snow all the time. This storm system has shut us down cold. The police have shut down portions of I-90 and have asked everyone to stay off the roads.
I've personally helped 18 -- 18! -- people get their cars un-stuck so far, within three blocks of my house.
Keep it safe, boss man. If you absolutely can't-put-it-off have-no-choice MUST go, then be extra super careful and don't forget to pack your chain
kit. 
(A chain kit is not a magical anti-snow device, but at $20-40, it's cheap insurance and may just save you a whopping tow fee, if nothing else.)
--sofaspud
-- "Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
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As it so happens, we didn't even try. We're home, we're finishing up the last of the packing and gift wrapping (when Peggy wakes from her nap) and
then crashing early to get up early to leave early. We're going to try to make WV by noonish tomorrow.
I don't have a chain kit -- never needed it before. Maybe I should look into one.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Herr Bad Moon
Unregistered
Abnormal Snowfall Ruining Your Plans Like Me Five!
/TheTodd
---
Jon
"And that must have caused my dad's brain to break in half, replaced by a purely mechanical engine of revenge!"
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Quote: Wiredgeek wrote:
Wish you were here - I'm going out today to go shopping and then this evening I'm packing...
Friday - Xmas Shopping, Packing
Saturday - Packing, Loading, Unloading
Sunday - Cleaning, Good Will run
Monday - Tub/Shower installation, furniture purchase
Tuesday - cat5 runs, system assembly
Wednesday - Day Of Rest (who am I kidding, last minute shopping)
Thursday - Xmas
Friday - Coma.
Moving the Week before Christmas? Your not just a geek, your... well, scratch that. Your an Alaskan, and everythings tougher up there. Moving in that sort
of timescale is probobly not that big a deal compared to other stuff.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children
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Final report:
Trip down to WV, surprisingly quick under grey skies -- made it in four hours.
Celebrations with friends -- enjoyable.
Decided to start the trip back at noon today to avoid reported bad weather in NYC tristate area, and because tonight's the last night I'll have to put up the Christmas tree. On our way out, Peggy tries to shanghai us into making a stop at a local town -- any local town, she's not picky -- "just to look around for a few minutes". I decline while re-iterating "bad weather, plus putting up Christmas tree" explanation. Peggy gets angry, acts like West Virginia is going to be scrapped and recycled as soon as we cross the border, and she'll never see a West Virginia town again. She sulks for 20 minutes, then falls asleep for most of the ride home. (I, meanwhile, am operating on less than six hours of sleep.) Per a request made during one of the brief moments she rouses during the ride, I wake her as we cross back into NJ. We take a rest stop, at which point she says "I can't find my wallet" and then notes she doesn't remember actually bringing it only after my anxiety level spikes again. We make our rest stop, and as we come back out to the car I mention putting up the tree again, at which point she says, "You're going to hate me." Long story short, she forgot to do something at work on Friday afternoon, so as soon as we get home (4.5 hours after leaving WV), we're back out again as fast as she can pick up her ID badge, and then we're on the road once more for another half hour. "I'll be just a few minutes," she swears as I park. 45 few minutes later, she finally comes back out, and it's another half-hour drive back home. At which point I start trying to chip the ice that has coated the driveway since we left on Friday. I only manage to clear the little ramp into the street before I'm exhausted, sweatbathed, and about to fall over. At least the pizza arrives at that time. Meanwhile, Peggy's supposed to be completing the living room redecorating she started at something like 3 in the morning on Friday night, so that I can actually finally put up the tree. Theoretically, that's now. Effectively, though, I'm beat. I think we're not going to have a tree this year... we need tomorrow and Tuesday for the last of the shopping, and we're booked for Xmas eve with Peg's mom.
Oh, and she found her wallet. It was in her purse the whole time.
I can haz siks-pak of nervus brakedowns now?
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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don't ever try and chip your driveway - salt that bad boy!
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies
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I put some salt down, but other than the chorus of crackles I saw little to no effect after several minutes.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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There are times when I miss living in NJ, and then I get to hear wonderful stories like this. And I'm thankful I now reside in CA. The worst we get here is
a lot of rain.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy
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Move to Alaska, Bob!
'course, that's my answer to everything...
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
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Bob Schroeck Wrote:I put some salt down, but other than the chorus of crackles I saw little to no effect after several minutes. Give it a half-hour. If the ice is still there, add more salt. Repeat as necessary.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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Quote: sweno wrote:
There are times when I miss living in NJ, and then I get to hear wonderful stories like this. And I'm thankful I now reside in CA. The worst we get here
is a lot of rain.
No, we get snow too. However, its civilized snow and stays strictly in the ski areas, so one can go home and leave it behind. Unless you LIVE in one of the
afformentioned Ski areas.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children
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Quote: Wiredgeek wrote:
Move to Alaska, Bob!
'course, that's my answer to everything...
...yeah, but how does that solve the ice and snow problem, Wire? *grin*
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Because you deal with it so much how to take care of it becomes second nature and requires no thought.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children
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I like the Florida route to requiring no thought, myself.
Update: As of 9:30 PM tonight, we have bought all our Christmas presents. We just have to wrap what's undone and put up the tree -- and we're a bit too tired tonight to do either.
Oh, and the Christmas cards, which at this rate will probably arrive sometime after Easter.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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