Aspe

  

So.  Day Three of Weather House Arrest.  Stir Crazy has officially set in and an outing, any kind of outing, was a must.  We went the library and then out for a high-class dinner at the Golden Corral.  

For those of you wondering, Oklahoma can't handle its snow.  We get one good storm a year and the hangover lasts for days, crippling the metro and stranding its citizens.  The storm blew in late Monday night and it snowed until Tuesday afternoon.  The temperatures haven't been above freezing since, and because we don't have the equipment, manpower, or money on hand, all but the most major streets are left unplowed.  Meaning all the junk that's driven on during the day re-freezes at night, which makes for excellent commutes in the morning, what with the people who are too scared to drive over 10 miles per hour coupled with the idiots who think they can still drive normally. Thankfully the interstates are passable, but you have to get to them first. Plus the interstate is hardly helpful for those rural folks who just need to get to the grocery store.  I have a friend who hasn't been able to get off her street since the storm.  

The schools are closed again tomorrow. The decision to close the schools is based on whether the school buses can make it to ALL destinations.  Since rural routes are never plowed, and therefore school buses can't safely make it out in the boonies, the entire system gets shut down essentially until it gets warm enough to melt.  Sometimes it's literally the next day, which is what happened in January.  This time?  Well....there's more snow in the forecast.  The kids will be going to school until August. 

Say you: Couldn't people just take the bus or the train to school, work, where ever? 

Say me: This is OKLAHOMA, where Car (Truck, really) is King.  Mass transit?  You're cute.  ->

Peak

Granted, this pic on its own is not all that interesting and not even all that great of a shot.  But let me offer you context.  

Oklahoma has weird weather.  Like, full-on bi-polar weather.  

For example:  On Saturday January 29, 2011 (that would be two days ago) it was 71 degrees and sunny out.  It was, quite simply, a perfect, gorgeous day.  Yesterday it was 40 degrees. Today it was 40 degrees.  Right now is 27 degrees and the state is just feeling the beginnings of a major "winter event", one that has been forecasted for a few days now.   The high on Wednesday, February 2 is supposed to be 12.  That's right.  Twelve degrees fahrenheit. With wind chills cold enough to chill the wine in two minutes flat. 

Honestly you would have thought people all over town were getting ready for Thanksgiving today.  All the grocery stores were packed all day long* with the end-of-the-world types and baskets were filled to rim with provisions.  And the stores, being completely atuned to our consumption needs, were at the ready with cases of PEAK Windshield Wash and Deicer, bags of salt, window scrapers and plenty of produce. The particular store I went to, however, did not feel that celery was an essential item.  

We're currently getting hammered with sleet coupled with thunder, which always freaks me out.  We are then to get slammed with snow and wind and lots of it for 18 hours.  The forecast for today was upgraded from blizzard "watch" to blizzard "warning".  And I'm on call tonight.  Which is awesome.  Because there's nothing I like better than traveling in that kind of shit. I'm considered an "essential" employee, you see and need to make "every effort" to get to the ERs should the phone ring. You know you want my job.   

And let me just say this, having already been out in this muck because I got called out early in the evening: drivers of 18-wheelers are certifiable.  And I should know. -> 

*Say you: and you know this how? 

Say me: I plead the fifth.