[southbymidwest]

It's not the food and water. It's the kids at home from school for a week, inside, because they can't do much with 30" of snow with an glaze of ice on top. Hard to make a snowman/snowwoman in that kind of stuff. They can't get to their friends' houses either. And this is for the first snowstorm. Does not include the additional 6" today.

It's the losing power for 2 days and the nighttime temps dropping to 9 degrees.

It's your subdivision not being plowed for FIVE days.

It's worrying about the in-laws and begging the father-in-law to not shovel the damn sidewalk because the ambulance can't get through if he has a cardiac event or falls. The best they can do is get to the nearest plowed road and walk in with their equipment, once again, in 30 inches of snow. It's worrying about your elderly neighbor who has the same issue.

It's knowing that you have contracts and deadlines at work that you can't get to, and the deadlines don't change because of the snow. And because of their classification, you couldnt take that work home.

IT's watching HGTV all day because you are so sick of the local news pre-empting regular programming except for prime time and seeing reporters at Tyson's Corner, Bethesda, DC and Arlington talking about the snow plows getting stuck, and how bad the snow is, and how cold they are, blah, blah, blah.(OK, on that one, I could turn off the TV...).

It's worrying about your own husband, who is not willing to deal with the fact that he is not 30 years old any more shoveling the snow.

It is the cabin fever.

It is dealing with 55 inches of snow already this winter, with more to come next week when we normally get umm, 6 inches, maybe? a winter.

IT is the few idiot drivers who don't know how to drive in snow and are completely unprepared. Even if they are on a plowed road. (NO NO NO DON'T PUT ON YOUR BRAKES GOING UP THIS HILL!!)

It is missing my daughter in college who was supposed to come home this weekend for the first time since Christmas.

It's seeing flat-roofed structures (like airplane hangers at Dulles and firehouses) pancake under the weight of the snow.

It's being irritated with people who can't understand why we DC'ers can't buck up. BTW, people DID stay off the roads. Big dozers and dumptruck plows had to plow, re-plow, and re-plow again the same main roads, trying to keep up with the snowfall and even they got stuck. VA Dept of Transportation plowing contractors couldnt help out much-many of their trucks are too small to move 30" of wet snow, or can't clear it. A F150 or 350 with a plow on front is no match for this snow. Neither is a bobcat until a big plow has gone through.And then the amount of time it takes to plow a street is double/triple the regular amount of time it usually takes. A lot of them got stuck, blocking the road and created another problem. AAUUGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

OK, I will now get off my rant box. Thank you.