For those watching on the news from afar...Chicago is shut down, I-80 is closed throughout most of the state, there is motherfucking THUNDER AND LIGHTNING right now with 50 mph winds, Wrigley Field is literally being blown apart, and Dorothy's house just went flying by.
Today I was making fun of people freaking out about the situation in Chicago. And to an extent, I do think people overreact with the mass buying of supplies and such like a hurricane is coming. That being said, its fucking crazy out there. I went to the bar with a pair of coworkers after we got out of work early. By the time we got there, it was around 5. I left the bar at roughly 915 wearing a pea coat, 180s, and some shitty gloves I wear to work. To say the streets of Chicago are a ghost town would be an understatement. I foolishly in my buzzed state thought I could find a cab. As I staggered down Lincoln Ave, I saw 4. 2 were occupied, and 2...were FUCKING ABANDONED. Now the snow is blowing in drifts, but its still not like we have more than 6 inches on the ground. As I slog through snow and slip around, I realize there is no way in hell I am finding a cab. I have now put my scarf around my head like a Russian beggar woman. Running through snow at times 8-10 inches deep, the wing gusts knocked me over twice. Its not like I had great balance to begin with, but that was enough to get me down. I finally made it home, 45 min later after I had to walk the mile and a half wearing less than ideal apparel. I was nearly delirious and only am now beginning to feel better 2 hours later. The snow is not what is the problem, its the 50 mile per hour winds. Oh yeah, the thunder and lightning is pretty insane as well. Looking forward to not working tomorrow...
Yea...I had to shovel my way to the garage to clear the driveway because it had already drifted to 4ft the entire length. I'm not trying to be hysterical, just want everyone have an idea of what the conditions are. The heavy snow hasn't hit yet, ~2am is when things will get real. Zero visibility predicted until 6/7 am
I got the car stuck tonight and whacked a neighbors turning signal light on his expensive SUV trying to get the fuck out of a snow drift. As much as I wish I didn't know who owns the car, I think I do (live in the city in a big apartment building), and is there any excuse in the world that make it OK not to tell him it was me? That would be a horrible fucking thing to do, right? I think I know the answer to this question, why am I having a hard time owning up to it? FUCK!
Yeah, shit is getting fucked up here in northwest Indiana. We've only got about 7.5 inches of snow so far, but it is drifting and blowing all over. The county sheriff has declared a state of emergency and has basically said stay the fuck off the roads. In my area, where it is all farms and open fields, roads are impassable because of the winds not allowing anyone through. It is a complete white out that way. Up by where my wife is at her hotel, in a much more populated and urban area, they've got just as much snow, but the white-out effect and crazy drifting we get down here isn't as bad up there. The roads are still closed up that way, though. Everything is closed tomorrow except my wife's workplace, which is fucking annoying, but whatever. They won't have any customers, and she will probably be bored off of her ass, but she is going to be making a fuck-ton of money. She has already told them she'll get there when she gets there. She is less than a mile away at the moment, but with a hell of a lot more snow coming, not to mention the drifting, who knows if she can dig her car out. On top of that, her moron friend/coworker had two options: go to the hotel and crash in my wife's room (she has a room with two beds) or drive the half hour home. Of course she chose to drive home, and there is zero chance she is going to make it back tomorrow, which means odds are good my wife is working a 12 to 13 hour shift tomorrow to keep the pharmacy open. On the bright side, Encore is having a "Groundhog Day" marathon, so I've got something to watch.
You lucky bastards get work off, what is this BS? I am going to the station to sleep so i dont have to wake up in a few hours to clear the car off and go in. Damn it, tomorrow is going to suck. I have a feeling its going to be one of those days where we need a plow to escort the ambulance. Okay guys, uhh, i am off to work.... wish me luck.
My area is Jamaica compared to Chicago, but it's picking up outside. I'm lucky I'm not one of the 55,000 without power tonight. No snow, but there is more than enough ice on the road to keep people in today unless they have a hard-on for spinning out. NOAA says wind is 9MPH right now, and it's knocking the ice off trees with some force...really don't want to see what the 50MPH gusts later today do. Still glad I'm not stuck in Chicago catching a massive facial from God. Best of luck for everyone getting hit with the heavy stuff.
We've got a whole three inches of snow from this "Snowmeggedon" bullshit. Now it's raining on top of it, so the only real risk over here is throwing out my back shoveling this shit. After all the hype, I'm pretty disappointed in this storm.
STILL haven't received word if we're closed or not, and I started 25 minutes ago...technically speaking. Looks like I'm dusting off the 360 for the day. Ain't Canada great? Best part of this so far was when I was in the garage earlier having a smoke & coffee watching the chaos in my neighbourhood. The old Indian guy across the street came outside with a tiny shovel, went at it for about 5 minutes in his driveway, then clearly said to himself "fuck it" and went back inside.
My first adult snow day EVER, and it is glorious. I think the Doctor who owns the practice was pretty much forced into it. ALL of his patients had canceled their appointments for today, all but 2 of mine had (and probably no chance in hell they would make it), and most of the other Doctors had (we have 3 different offices). He was late shutting the office down yesterday in comparison to most others, and that was only because I just flat out asked if we could send all of the staff home. We were calling pharmacies that were closed (guess Frank's wife doesn't work there), our after hours phone service company was closed, the city was fucking shutting down. The drive home was fantastic, trying to guestimate where the fucking highway "should be" by the placement of the street lights. Now it is fantastic. I live in a typical suburban subdivision where everybody has really "important" jobs that can't live without them, but today there isn't a driveway that is shoveled. The snow is all fluffy, pretty, untouched, perfectly peaceful. I am sure that will change soon, but I enjoy it right now.
Honestly, the worst part was driving behind people going 20. Jesus fucking christ the roads aren't that bad, you can do 40 no problem. Parking lot was a bitch though, absolutely no traction on the ground.
I'm pretty sure there was lightning during the fucking snowstorm in Chicago last night. It's pretty fucking bad here, its mostly the wind that has no direction and will get all up in your shit no matter what. Power went out on the block at least for about 2-3 hours at 12:30. I'm sure most normal people didn't care because they were sleeping. Resetting clocks is so annoying though.
I am sick of this bullshit. I wish I had freaked the fuck out like everyone else and stocked up at the grocery store. I didn't leave my house yesterday, and I'm not leaving today. I have no alcohol or snackies to munch on. Plus, I left my lab notebook in the lab so I can't finish everything I needed to do. Fuck this ice in the asshole. Dry.
If anyone doubts the legitimacy of how bad Chicago was hit, please read my previous post in this thread. Bit of an update, though: It's fucking worse. I woke up at 6, bummed around for a few minutes, checked some websites, and started getting ready. My sup said don't call until 6:30 am because she isn't a morning person. Well, she actually texted all of us saying the office is closed. I might still come in since I live close, and I'm getting bored as shit in my apartment. Video games and stoner room mates can only go so far. I live on the corner of a fairly busy through street and a small, one-way, neighborhood street. Well the bigger of the two just got plowed mere seconds ago. By a tractor. Its wheels were larger than the F150 it just plowed past. I did just get an e-mail that the gym I go to will be open for a few hours today, so I may just go there and go straight to work for a few hours, get some shit done. Thus far, I've seen two people cross country skiing down streets and sidewalks. Well, time to dig the car out.
It is straight up fucking insane here. Further north, up near lake Michigan, they've already gotten about 15 inches of snow and it is still coming down hard. I have drifts that go half way up my front and back doors, and fuck knows how high they are in front of the garage doors (I can't see over there). My wife made it to work this morning, but she called and said that she has had 3 customers all day so far. They open at 9 AM, and it was 11:30 am when she called. Normally, by now, she said they have done about 250 prescriptions. She is basically reading on her Kindle and answering employee questions because she has fuck-all else to do at this point. To be honest, I don't have the slightest clue where those 3 customers even came from, unless they were already employees in the store.
He ain't kidding, folks. Here's a picture from the Chicago Tribune. Here's a link to the rest of the pictures. Here in NY, we got hit fairly hard yesterday afternoon until mid-morning today... Schools were cancelled at least today. I'm sitting in my PJ's, but have to work remotely on snow days. At least I can get away with having a liquid lunch!
University closed again today and just got word it's closed again tomorrow. I don't mind class cancellations since I've been using the time to catch up on reading and work on my thesis, but I'm going to miss not having been able to work come payday. Cold and icy...just like my sister-in-law.
Whew, just cleared the driveway, at least enough for my and my wife's car to get in and out. Down here the snow has stopped and everyone is outside trying their best to clear it away. The plows haven't come through my neighborhood yet, though, so there is a good foot of standing snow on the road, and there is still wind and drifting. Further north it is still snowing, and they've gotten close to two feet by now. My wife isn't sure if she'll be able to get home tonight, so she may be stuck in the hotel again. I'm not sure if I'll have class tomorrow, but the city my school is in got fucking hammered harder than almost anywhere else around here, mostly because they're only a few miles from the lake and the lake effect snow was, and is, killing them. Even if we do have class, I can't possibly imagine being able to get there unless shit changes drastically in the next 15 hours. Looks like another snow day, and I'll be sitting on my ass drinking and playing video games, maybe doing some homework. I should also mention that the state of emergency that was declared is still in effect, meaning roads are supposed to be limited to plows and emergency personnel only.
Well another fucked situation concerning Chicago, the unemployment offices were closed. That means, even though "certification" is electronic, I still won't get my benefits on time. Yay. Also, most stores are out of fresh red meat because the trucks couldn't come in. I was planning on steaks or atleast outside in burgers since the lady friend got me a cookbook. No-go. Sleds are sold out too, no shit It's pretty cool walking around seeing everyone carrying shovels like people in jungle countries carry machetes.