It shall be called, "Snowtorious B.I.G"

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by 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.

I was just raised to plan for emergencies and have plans for events like these. I live in a snow area and I'm prepared for any disaster, up to and including not having shelter in freezing temperatures and having to live outdoors. I'm a single woman only responsible for myself and if I had kids, a spouse, pets, whatever I'd have a plan in place for the apocalypse (and thankfully my Mormon neighbors do too ). I realize it is frustrating to have life disrupted but I grew up in a city in a temperate climate, and now live in a rural area and really have no faith in anyone looking out for me, but me.

I'm getting at what would people do if the power went out on a Friday night or roads were closed for landslides or some sort of terrorist threat. I'm not saying my life would be OMG awesome but I'd be able to handle my daily needs and if people can get on line, watch cable tv, and spend some quality time with their families (or help neighbors with snow removal) is it really that bad in the grand scheme of things? I really think it is because I live in a smaller rural community that this just isn't a big deal, and with the extra snow we've had I knew which neighbors to check on and those of us who couldn't get to work just pitched in as a community to shovel and plow, check in on neighbors, and get shit done.

I really am a crazy survivalist Idahoan, dammit.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by VandalSquirrel

I was just raised to plan for emergencies and have plans for events like these. I live in a snow area and I'm prepared for any disaster, up to and including not having shelter in freezing temperatures and having to live outdoors. I'm a single woman only responsible for myself and if I had kids, a spouse, pets, whatever I'd have a plan in place for the apocalypse (and thankfully my Mormon neighbors do too ). I realize it is frustrating to have life disrupted but I grew up in a city in a temperate climate, and now live in a rural area and really have no faith in anyone looking out for me, but me.

I'm getting at what would people do if the power went out on a Friday night or roads were closed for landslides or some sort of terrorist threat. I'm not saying my life would be OMG awesome but I'd be able to handle my daily needs and if people can get on line, watch cable tv, and spend some quality time with their families (or help neighbors with snow removal) is it really that bad in the grand scheme of things? I really think it is because I live in a smaller rural community that this just isn't a big deal, and with the extra snow we've had I knew which neighbors to check on and those of us who couldn't get to work just pitched in as a community to shovel and plow, check in on neighbors, and get shit done.

I really am a crazy survivalist Idahoan, dammit.

Eh, people have to deal with it in other areas too. I get what you and AGDee are saying about your areas, where you get a TON of snow. But, it's not like areas like New England and the Northeast (save for maybe the high altitude areas of NH and ME) get double digits all that often. You just kind of deal with things like losing power, having nights without heat, and all the damage/destruction that goes with it.

[VandalSquirrel]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

Eh, people have to deal with it in other areas too. I get what you and AGDee are saying about your areas, where you get a TON of snow. But, it's not like areas like New England and the Northeast (save for maybe the high altitude areas of NH and ME) get double digits all that often. You just kind of deal with things like losing power, having nights without heat, and all the damage/destruction that goes with it.

Growing up in earthquake country with parents from snow country really drove the "we have to fend for ourselves!!!!" mentality. Oh and Girl Scouts, I learned a lot about survival and outdoor living conditions from Girl Scouts.

Natural disasters can happen anywhere at any time, and I and definitely ready to handle it and a lot of that is my background, current place of residence, and socialization skills in my community. Not having to work or go to school and staying home, even without power would be a dream!