I left for my 4:00 p.m. job at 2:45 today and turned left out of my driveway for the little town two miles north of me. I bought a carton of cigarettes and a bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper. On the way back, I passed two cars in the ditch within a mile of town and, instead of continuing on to work, turned back into my driveway. While walking from my car to the house I noticed that the footprints I had left a short time previously were completely obliterated. No big surprise, as snow was falling at the rate of +1" per hour; at 7:00 p.m. the news said Gilman (the town up the road) had 9", and it’s still falling steadily.
Total distance: 4.1 miles.
Total time: 23 minutes.
So I called in to work, told them I wouldn’t be in, and spent most of the evening sipping hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps in front of the fireplace.
:D:D:D
Oh oh oh oh…news just said that St. Cloud, which is about 15 miles south of me, is expected to get 18-20" by the morning. Maybe I’ll have to drink more hot chocolate tomorrow night…
I wouldn’t stand for Minnesota winters. Just the same there are some really outstanding things about the state. Or at least there used to be.
I spent a couple of summers with my aunt and uncle in Minneapolis. During their vacation we went to their cabin on Sullivan Lake near Little Falls. One fall we went for a drive out into the woods after several frosts. The sumac were everywhere and were they ever spectacular. New England with its fall leaf show is nothing compared to red sumac.
Chique, you know my opinion of my home state—gooey love. My favorite part is that Lake Wobegon isn’t fiction to me. I know these people. Hell, I am these people.
My homesickness isn’t helped by my co-worker who’s fresh from the Twin Cities. Just when “Ja, sure” was starting to leave my vocabulary, I start working with Eric. :rolleyes:
I don’t think I’m going to work in the morning either.
Spider Woman, is taking a cab home tonight, for I sprained my ankle whilst trying to move some snow.
Another reason why I’m not going to work tomorrow.
I guess this is a case of “the further north, the better” - Duluth is getting maybe half a foot tonight - of course, I don’t have the luxury of sipping amaretto in front of a fireplace since I will have to work tomorrow. I guess I’d have to find a fireplace too, for that matter.
I hate snow. It’s cold, wet, bothersome, and too damn bright! Every year it comes and puts a damper on a large part of my year.
But, on the other hand…
I love snowdays! No school, and I can just stay inside all day long, without a care in the world, watching the snow from the sanctuary of my living room, without having to go outside and get cold, wet and bothered.
I live in St. Cloud, and I’m seeing this snow being spoken of as I type this, and hoping that school will be called off.
Jemidex - you’re in Duluth too? I’m looking out my window and watching it fall like mad right now. It’s kinda cool. I’m hoping at least one of my classes is cancelled tomorrow.
One of my roommates is from California. She describes Duluth as, “San Francisco, with snow.”
I opened the porch door and the drift against it is two feet high. Beyond that is bare concrete sidewalk for about three feet, and then the snow drift slopes up to about 2 1/2 feet to the yard.
Further out, the yard is mostly free of snow due to the wind, but it appears my car is a rather effective windblock…I can’t see the door handles.
Dave Simmons - whew. I thought I was the only one. No offense to the New Englanders, but I’ve always thought their leaves were overrated.
:: wafts lefse under dropzone’snose ::
imthjckaz, what were you thinking? NEVER shovel before it’s done falling…it’s just not worth it
Disciple of Alf, send me an email, will ya? jckaz and I are both in St. Cloud…maybe we know you
chique, I wasn’t trying to shovel the whole driveway, just knock down the wall of snow the plow left, so that Angie Gailbird could get her car in the driveway, when she got home from work.
During snow emergencies, the City tows your car when they are on the street.
Spider Woman made it home safely, which I was glad to see.
My ankle feels a little better, but I already called in to work and told them I am not coming.
Drifts here are pretty high too. When I let Nick out this morning he had to hop around to try to find a low spot to whiz, he couldn’t find one, so he just stood there and relieved himself.
Silly dog then went to his favorite corner of his run, curled up and laid down. He’s back inside now.
Let’s see. Allow 10 minutes for a hot shower, another 10 to stare at the mirror blearily and accomplish other bathroom tasks, 10 to get dressed while still staring blankly, and, oh, SIX HOURS to drive ten miles to work today.
I like snow. It’s cold, wet, you can slide around on it with skis, dishes or inner tubes, and it quite damn nice to look at!
I’ve always wanted to go cross country skiing, but I haven’t. Know why? 'Cause I live in L.A.!. Downhill skiing is fun, but you have to drive two hours to get to a mountain. I loved it when it snowed when I lived in the desert. Hanging out on the {open} patio, drinking hot chocolate. Watching the fire in the fireplace. Walking around in the snow. Making snow heads. Snowball fights. Wearing heavy jackets and toques. Driving around in the ol’ Toyota pickup. Being closer to the mountains and skiing every weekend.
But then, even as a kid I hated the weather here. Hot weather is okay from time to time, but I like it gloomy. (When I was a kid I wanted to live in the Addams Family house.)
Call me crazy [you’re crazy]. but I think really big snowstorms are cool. Granted, I don’t have to shovel, so that may be part of it. And I’d rather have the ground covered with snow in the winter than bare. There’s nothing more depressing than looking at brown vegetation all winter.
For all of you people in warmer climes, I believe too much sun makes you stupid. Plus, I dont’ think you can fully appreciate the summer without going through a winter.
I’m in Northern Wisconsin, in Ashland, and I pretty sure classes are cancelled. There’re are waist-high drifts, and nothing is plowed, and there’s nobody else walking around outside, but that didn’t stop me from forging the tundra across campus to class, just to make sure. The building was empty. I’m pretty sure I’m the only idiot that didn’t listen to the radio this morning.
This is the second Friday in a row that classes have been cancelled. Next Friday I’m not even going to set my alarm.
easy e – I’m totally with you on the you-can’t-enjoy-spring-unless-you-suffer-through-winter. Still, though, it is mid-March, and I’d’ve much rather had all this snow bullshit in, say, January.
At least Spring, when it finally comes this year, should be absolutely orgasmic.
Now that was a pleasant surprise - even though I had to dig my car out of a drift using an ice scraper as a shovel (surprisingly effective, actually, albeit slow and exhausting) I was able to extract my car, and help a neighbor who was spinning out on a patch of ice trying to back out of her parking spot. My karma for the day is now in positive numbers.
In retrospect, what I should have done was email my boss and say that I was snowed in due to a snowplow burying my car, and that I’d be working over the VPN today. I’d put in eight hours of actual work, as opposed to two hours of productive work and ten hours of clenching my teeth at project managers, and get all my laundry done while I’m at it… of course, even though there’s no rational reason why I COULDN’T work from home, I know in my heart that I’d be forced to take a vacation day.
I love snow, as long as it doesn’t piss me off. Keep it off the roads, keep it off my car, and then bury the rest of the world in it.
The boat I bought last week is covered by a foot of snow.
It was 50 degrees in February.
Spring starts in five days.
I got stuck in the middle of the alley backing out.
There is a 1" sheet of glare ice under the snow which makes walking an extreme sport.
The snow plow came down my alley and buried my garbage can.
I can’t see if I got any mail yesterday because my mailbox is frozen shut.
I watched the city trucks go by and spread salt on the street. Those rotating spreaders are pretty powerful. It’s nice to know i]my lawn* will probably be clear of snow real soon now.
I am so damn glad I bought a snowblower this year.
And here I sit, in sunny Fargo N.D. with only residual snow on the ground. The whole thing missed us again. That happened a lot this winter…Notice, This is NOT a complaint.
