Monday, February 02, 2009

Have I mentioned lately that I hate winter?

If not, here's a reminder.

It started snowing about 15 minutes before I left work today. By the time I'd gotten say, 15 minutes out of town, the roads were covered and traffic was going about 40 mph; by the time I hit the mountain, it was about 5 mph. It took about 25 minutes to go over the mountain; even with the state trucks salting the road, it was terrible. Trailer-trucks and little cars slid all over the place; the rest of us crept over the mountain at about 5 mph. A trip that usually takes 40 minutes took an hour and 10 minutes.

By putting the Camry into low gear, I was able to burn an inch or so off the tires and make it up our driveway. I've never driven in weather this bad. Ever.

And I never want to, again.

I'm hoping that school will be, at the least, delayed an hour or two tomorrow. It's supposed to snow all night (a full 4" is predicted, with another inch or so tomorrow. That is, if the local weather forecasters are right. And they rarely are.)

I hear that the VA General Assembly may put together a buy-out package for us old people so we can retire up to 5 years early.

I'm waiting.

4 comments:

Courtney said...

I LOVE winter weather! I wish it snowed where I live :-) I hope the buy out package goes well

Anonymous said...

Betty said....

I'm sorry you had to drive in that mess yesterday. You got a lot more snow than we did and our roads weren't even covered this morning, so I was surprised to see that the city schools were closed, but I was very glad for you. Three snow days in a week's time...I think that's a record!

A buy-out package could be a very good thing.

Anonymous said...

Snow is lovely. Snow is fun. If you only have to look at it or you have the time to play in it. But when you have to go to work and drive in it, it is generally not fun at all.

On Sunday I had a bad fall. It was warmer for a day (it's snowing again here) so a lot of the snow was melted leaving puddles. As I was walking down my driveway in an area we had shoveled but which is somewhat lower than the surroundings, I stepped in a puddle and slid and fell. There was a thin layer of black ice at the bottom of the puddle. Black ice looks like a wet patch but is really ice. It causes lots of accidents on the road. Not fun at all.

I personally do not mind the cold at all - I just bundle up, but I do hate the dreariness and icy conditions left behind by the beautiful snow.

Good luck with your buy-out package. I thought you lived in WVA. I guess you work in VA?

rita said...

Yes, I live in WV and work 30 miles over the border in VA.

I hope you didn't hurt yourself, Rachel. I've fallen enough, and these old bones will only take so much. Once I broke my ankle, and one (in snow and ice) I sprained it.

Courtney, I'll trade houses with you!

I'm glad to have another snow day. I think that our super must have been out of town; someone else emailed us at 5:45 this morning, and I don't think she dared take any chances. We'll pay next time it snows, I bet!