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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 21, 2011 10:21:03 GMT -5
I just got off the phone with my sister, who lives in MN. I decided to give her a buzz this morning after hearing on the news that flights to MN are being canceled. She's livid.
Yesterday, when the snow started, she went out to church. One kid got dropped off at gramma's, to play with cousins. Snow was bad, but not too bad, but she sent kid with jammies and stuff to keep her amused if they couldn't retrieve her. Other kid had a sleepover. Stop at the grocery store, then home. She's in and not about to budge.
Her ILs had other ideas. One IL put all 4 of her kids in a car to go to a hockey tournament. Other IL decided to put his 2 kids in a car to go watch said tournament. My sister's DH is not working today, he won't get out on the road (even in a 4 WD vehicle) since cars are all over the place. His life is not worth the paycheck today (he's a contractor, so only gets paid for hours worked), so will make up the hours later this week.
Oh.....and third IL had her car taken out by a snowplow!
I guess that I'm (and she) are clueless as to what's so important that you'd risk your life, and that of your kids, to be on the roads in this sort of mess. Is 24 hours really too long to wait?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2011 10:24:10 GMT -5
I agree Mich. I do eventually have to go out to get milk, but I am waiting until the snow plows go through and then I am only going 3 blocks to the little meat market.
We had a 50 car pile up on one of the express ways on the other side of the state. My silly cousin went out in that mess to pick up her son from her ex. No offense to her, but I would have told ex..."looks like you get an extra night!"
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Feb 21, 2011 10:24:21 GMT -5
24 hours isn't too long to wait some people are just stupid. And there's stuff I'd go out in it but wouldn't take kids out in. Its not worth wrecking the car, injuring yourself, getting stuck, etc. And in someplace used to getting snow, I'd say they probably really do only need to wait a day.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2011 10:30:30 GMT -5
I live in Michigan and so yes, we are used to snow and think it is silly when we hear about states in the South shutting everything down for an inch of snow, BUT we got over a foot dumped on us last night and when there is several miles of car accidents,...I think that should tell people it is nasty out and they should stay home. Here is the link to what I am talking about. www.wzzm13.com/news/article/154388/14/US-131-back-open-in-Mecosta-County
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DebMD (banned)
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Post by DebMD (banned) on Feb 21, 2011 10:37:56 GMT -5
In our recent blizzard...I didn't see the red flags around me that I should have called off work[like one of my colleagues did]...Like the hospital holding rooms in a near by hotel for staff, and my boss calling me the morning of my evening shift to put me up at his house or a near by hotel room.{We're close colleagues but I didn't think that close} Well I tried to venture into work and got caught in 60 car pile up blizzard and was stuck in a car for 24 hours and the only food I had was my lunch which I shared . I peed x2 in 24 hours and was very thirsty and very hungry when the ordeal was over. If I had any health emergency during that time period I would've been royally screwed as there was no way any ambulance could have accessed us.
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Regie
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Post by Regie on Feb 21, 2011 10:45:07 GMT -5
I guess it depends on where you were. With this latest round of snow/rain/ice, I would not go out for a joy ride. Again depending on roads and traffic conditions it was not that bad. DH went to the sport shop twice and the grocery store yesterday. If you are used to it not a big thing.
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TD2K
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Post by TD2K on Feb 21, 2011 10:46:15 GMT -5
I don't know what the news is like in MN but here the news' first reaction is "for the love of God, don't go out unless it's an emergency". It's tough I realize to know when to make that call and they are going to err on the side of caution but they are well into the area of being the boy who cried Wolf.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 21, 2011 10:49:20 GMT -5
and think it is silly when we here about states in the South shutting everything down for an inch of snow,
There's a HUGE difference between where you live and where I live. To start with, we don't have as much of the snow removal equipment since it (usually) isn't necessary. The city will come through and plow some of the major thoroughfares, but many people live rurally where the roads are really ugly. So 1" of snow becomes a skating rink. Also, since many locals (I grew up in upstate NY, so do have an idea as to how to drive in it - and more importantly, when to stay off the roads), are totally clueless as to how to drive in it.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Feb 21, 2011 10:50:33 GMT -5
Before our big snow they said you better leave work before evening rush if you can. They let the federal workforce leave at 3pm. By 6pm it was an absolute mess with snowing falling 2 inches a hour. All the pretreatment salt had been washed away bc it rained all day before switching to snow. 1 hour commutes took some people 8 hours. Buses got stuck. The next day there were cars everywhere. It took them until 7am the next morning to pull out the stuck semis and cars on the beltway near me before they could plow. And yeah my car's not going through 10 inches of unplowed snow. Work was delayed until 11am for me.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 21, 2011 10:54:46 GMT -5
I understand that things happen... but seriously at a certain point in the year you have to get out of the house and carry on... I've come a little too close to Jack Nicholson's character in The Shining.
Seriously? You'd risk your kids, yourself, your car to get out on the roads where you can't see 20' away (my sister told me she can't see the house next door)? Where there are cars all over the place? My sister was out yesterday afternoon, early. Chances are, by tomorrow morning it'll all be cleared and you think a hockey tounament is worth risking your life for?
Both she (and I) grew up in upstate NY, so both of us can drive in snow. We also know that when the airport is shut, then that's a pretty good signal that getting out is a bad idea.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Feb 21, 2011 10:55:00 GMT -5
A lot of the problems in the South this winter appear to be ice. Below a certain temp the chemicals won't melt the ice. In the DC area a lot of people take public transportation to work. I would if I worked down at my agency's headquarters. When they get a foot or more of snow its hard on them to keep everything running. They have a sizable bus fleet that can't run its normal routes until the side streets get plowed out which is down on the priority list. Then for the train system they need the snow off the tracks and it cleared out of the yard so they can move the trains onto the tracks that run to the stops. The trains were running the whole time last month. They had to take the buses off the road by mid evening and it was a few days before all the routes resumed bc they are at the mercy of the governments to get the streets plowed.
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kimber45
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Post by kimber45 on Feb 21, 2011 10:57:45 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2011 11:00:03 GMT -5
You are right Mich. I guess an inch of snow to me just doesn't seem like a lot even if you don't have good snow removal. Our town doesn't even usually plow for an inch. I guess it is just because we are used to it.
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Post by lisabelle on Feb 21, 2011 11:01:39 GMT -5
lol Kimber The roads were bad this morning. I couldn't even see the lanes but made it into work. People took it slow thank god. We still are waiting on people to get here. I would have liked to stay home but since I got the flu bug last week and missed Thurs and Fri I didn't think I could wimp out and take another day Wish me luck for my drive home.
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kimber45
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Post by kimber45 on Feb 21, 2011 11:03:35 GMT -5
Wish me luck for my drive home.
I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Like I said, we didn't get much more drifting than anything. The roads here were pretty good, our driveway is another story.
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Artemis Windsong
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Post by Artemis Windsong on Feb 21, 2011 11:03:42 GMT -5
My GD packed up her kids from an out-of-town weekend and headed home 24 hours early because of the blizzard. She's safely home.
You are right, those people are idiots.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 21, 2011 11:03:50 GMT -5
A lot of the problems in the South this winter appear to be ice. Below a certain temp the chemicals won't melt the ice.
Exactly. I drive an AWD Forester, which is an absolute champ in snow. I love it because I can easily feel the control. But when we had an ice storm last year, it scared the ever living crap out of me. I HAD to get out in it (my neighbor needed wood, she has rheumatoid arthritis in her knees and was heating her place by fireplace). I'd have brought her up to my place, but she couldnt' do the flight of stairs.
However, prior to my surgery last month, I told my boss that if it snowed or if there was snow in the forecast, I was not going to be into work. Crutches are horribly unstable in snow and had I slipped and fallen, my pain was bad enough that the joint would not allow me to get up.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Feb 21, 2011 11:36:37 GMT -5
In the south, it isn't the inch of snow, it is the ice. It warms up enough to melt that inch, and cools down enough to freeze that inch over. No salt trucks in Georgia.
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deziloooooo
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Post by deziloooooo on Feb 21, 2011 11:39:58 GMT -5
Read all the posts but I have a question. What is "until the snow plows go through" ? 72 right now, oops, AC is on, think shut off and open some windows, nice breeze right now through the place. I know, I know...looking for the "bird" to give me " Here use this and I will not see the second finger.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Feb 21, 2011 11:42:46 GMT -5
It isn't nice to brag about your warm weather!
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 21, 2011 11:46:48 GMT -5
Not making any friends, Dez!
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Regie
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Post by Regie on Feb 21, 2011 11:48:37 GMT -5
Hey Dezi
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Feb 21, 2011 11:48:55 GMT -5
In the PNW the snow isn't that bad, you can drive through it, but the black ice sucks. I don't have a huge problem driving in it, I just have a problem with the other drivers that can't. We leave for work early (5:25 is when we pull out of the carpool area) and the drive there isn't too bad since no one is on the road. The drive home sucks though, too many people with bald tires, some going 30 mph, some going over 70, just frustrating.
There was a video clip on the news a couple years ago taken on the freeway. Ice and snow, only two cars on the road. The lead car was going a normal speed for conditions, careful, etc and with no one else on the road a second car comes speeding up behind them and rear-ends the first car...? There was no reason for it, I hope they got hammered with tickets and by the insurance. There are two lanes, if they wanted to go faster they had plenty of room to change lanes.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Feb 21, 2011 12:16:40 GMT -5
I was in the PNW during Christmas a couple years ago and we got snowed in. TD's car, even though it's AWD did not like the hills. This was one of the only times that he couldn't get to Seattle to pick me up, so I had to take the shuttle and I was amazed that nothing had been plowed. Understandable, as snow like that is unusual.
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deziloooooo
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Post by deziloooooo on Feb 21, 2011 12:17:07 GMT -5
Hey Dezi There ya go..I lobbied moon for the real thing..almost had her, she kinda likes it but.... I am a Yankee from Connecticut but after a trip to far off lands, warm and muggy, then to Texas for ll years and Florida last what ever...don't think I would last a day. Remember went back in January once, always go in fall, summer, Thanksgiving every two years when daughter holds it, dinner and all the family, and I took a walk out back of Son's house back yard, all iced over with a crust, forgot the old trick of digging in with heels, did a 180 in the air, came down , WHAM..that was it for me.
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doxieluvr
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Post by doxieluvr on Feb 21, 2011 12:19:05 GMT -5
Personally, I go out in the snow. Sometimes I am the only one at work. I feel confident because I know how to drive, and I have vehicles that are equipped to drive in the snow. The problem on the roads are those that don't have either.
I am most bothered by the people that drive inappropriate vehicles in the snow. We would not wear flip flops in the snow, so we should not be driving the little 2wd sporty cars either.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Feb 21, 2011 12:21:16 GMT -5
My brother saw someone attempt to take a prius out in a foot of unplowed snow and then of course the dumbazzes wanted my brother to pull them out. Yeah right. A coworker told me he saw a story on the news about someone getting their geo metro stuck. Really you took that out?
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doxieluvr
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Post by doxieluvr on Feb 21, 2011 12:24:15 GMT -5
My brother saw someone attempt to take a prius out in a foot of unplowed snow and then of course the dumbazzes wanted my brother to pull them out. Yeah right. A coworker told me he saw a story on the news about someone getting their geo metro stuck. Really you took that out? During the last storm we had, had I thought to take a chain with me, I could have pulled idiots out left & right, the entire drive to work. The money would have been nice, might have been able to kill a credit card. There was that many in the ditches.
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Post by neohguy on Feb 21, 2011 12:25:56 GMT -5
Personally, I go out in the snow. Sometimes I am the only one at work. I feel confident because I know how to drive, and I have vehicles that are equipped to drive in the snow. The problem on the roads are those that don't have either. I am most bothered by the people that drive inappropriate vehicles in the snow. We would not wear flip flops in the snow, so we should not be driving the little 2wd sporty cars either. I don't drive a small car but the ones that do don't seem to be the problem. The problem drivers are usually the SUV drivers that believed the 30 sec TV commercials but slept through physics 101.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Feb 21, 2011 12:27:01 GMT -5
I've seen those type of SUV drivers. Last month on my way to work the vehicles I saw in ditches and abandoned were cars.
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