sprite writes
broodings from the burrow

February 10, 2010


sno(w)verkill update: 7 p.m.
posted by soe 6:59 pm

The snow has mostly stopped after another 10 inches or so, but the winds and drifting have kicked up.

All of D.C. is hitting the Office of Personnel Management website to find out what the plan is for tomorrow. (For those readers outside the region, many of our offices follow the Federal government when it comes to deciding if the weather is too treacherous to make us come in.) Metro says below-ground trains only; no update yet on when bus travel may resume.

A quarter of D.C.’s snow plows are now out of commission, so the roads, especially those that aren’t emergency routes, are a mess with deep ruts. I’m impressed that the drivers aren’t also out of commission, given they’ve been running around the clock since Thursday night when they began pre-treating the roads.

Ah, there we go. The Feds are closed. I assume it will be only a matter of time before my office sends out its announcement, too. (And, yes, I could go in, as I live and work a) within the underground portion of the subway system and b) within a reasonably short, walkable distance. But I’m not going to if I don’t have to. So there!)

ETA (7:20): And there’s the office, too… Another day of heavy (tea) drinking again tomorrow…

Category: dc life. There is/are 1 Comment.


ummm….. what?!
posted by soe 10:50 am

Apparently there can reach a point during a storm where it is unsafe for snow plow drivers to be out.

Yeah, in all my years of living through New England winters I’d never heard of that either, but apparently the D.C. region reached that point with Sno(w)verkill about two hours ago.

It does make things quiet…

ETA (11:45 a.m.): While the Post did not care to email me with an update, DCist is on the case with a clarification. Snow plow drivers were asked to pull over during white-out portions of the storm (not through the whole storm itself). This seems both reasonable and prudent, and I withdraw my previous objections.

Category: dc life. There is/are 1 Comment.


sno(w)verkill
posted by soe 4:45 am

It’s early, early in the morning or late, late at night depending on your perspective and the precipitation has been coming down for the last 12 hours, alternating as quickly as my manic moods between snow, sleet, and freezing rain.

We will be home for the third straight day as offices continue to be closed. Our region is predicted to get anywhere from 6 to 20 inches, but who knows if that will happen. My friend Susan and I are going to meet up in the afternoon. I may head to my knitting group if a) the venue where we meet is open and b) anyone else is going. I’m definitely going to take a shower. It’ll be a big day here at the Burrow…

Today after my early conference call, I read the novel that is due back to the library this week and then dozed on the couch. I put on enough clothing to go out and feed the birds. I ripped out and restarted a heart-bedecked sock that will not be done in time for Valentine’s Day (at least not this year’s). I did laundry. Rudi and I cooked a family favorite for dinner for the first time and then plopped ourselves down for the Marx Brothers. We concluded the night with the final batch of chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven from dough we made four days ago. We’re already talking about what dessert to make next, which might suggest to you the levels we’ve reached here…

Another snowball fight has been scheduled for 2 p.m. in Dupont Circle. Right now, they’d better hope for a change to snow because slush/sleetballs are fun for no one. (Although, as I type this final paragraph, what had looked like freezing rain changed to golf ball-sized snow chunks falling from the sky…)

I feel like a kid who’s gorged on sweets for a week. Some veg is definitely needed to balance things back out…

Category: dc life. There is/are Comments Off on sno(w)verkill.