21 December 2008
We Lied
21/12/08 05:50
Not deliberately mind you. It just happened.
Several of you have commented at how often we talk about the weather. Indeed apparently we've taken to a bit of bragging. Well, this week karma kicked us on the teeth.
Last weekend we decorated the house. All the empty boxes were stacked by the patio door to be taken down to the crawl space. But there was a little bit of snow that night so we decided to wait a day or two until it had melted. After all we hadn't seen snow last more that a couple of days. What could possibly go wrong?
Monday while walking into work from where I had parked I slipped and strained my left knee. It was sore for a couple of days but hey, no big deal.
On Tuesday it began to get cold. OK 20 is not cold to those of you in Minnesota but for us out here it's a bit of a shock.
Wednesday it began to snow while I was at work. By the time I set out for home there was a couple of inches on the ground. Now I like the Mini. The Mini is a great car. The Mini has won winter snow rally's. MY Mini on the other hand has summer performance tires and regular suspension. It really doesn't do well in snow. Not only are the tires wrong, it only has about 3 inches of ground clearance. I set out for home and it went well. Well until I got to the bottom of the hill we live on. There was no traction and I couldn't make it up. I turned around, rather easy because I just cranked the wheel and hit the gas. The Mini snapped around in it's own length and we were off to find another route. This time I came down the hill. I kept it VERY slow and crept down the hill with no problem. Turning into the driveway however, the Mini slid sideways into the downhill side of the driveway and got stuck in the berm. Marsha and I and a couple of neighbors spent the next 20 minutes digging the Mini out and pushing it up the driveway.
Thursday was another cold sunny day. Just enough to make everything really slick. After work I started looking for a snow shovel. That's right, we left all of our snow gear; shovels, scrapers, blowers, all of it in Minnesota. NOT OUR FAULT! Someone told us it NEVER snows in Nanaimo. Grrrr. The thing is that Nanaimo was sold out of snow gear. I slipped and slid my way two three different stores with no luck. Home Depot had a big sign on the front window that said OUT OF SNOW SHOVELS, BLOWERS, AND ICE MELT SALT. DON'T EVEN ASK. Finally I went all the way to Lantzville to the little hardware store there and found one. While I was there I stopped in to see my Aunt Barbara, she was fine, and then headed home. The Prius made it up the hill with no problem.
At this point I should mention that this part of the island is not set up for snow. They have no Snow Emergency Routes. The city of Victoria doesn't even have a budget for snow removal. The first few days the city snow plows were F150 pickups with blades on the front and salt/sand spreaders on the back. What's more they were limited to only one load of salt/sand per shift. The result is that the roads are all packed with snow. Bumpy, slick and spooky. Finally today we saw a couple of big plows like we saw in Minnesota appeared. I'm not sure where the city borrowed them from.
Marsha said that she was extremely busy at the Superstore. Several people told her that the lines at Save-on-Foods extended all the way to the back of the store. A combination of last minute holiday rush and emergency panic buying.
Anyway Friday it started snowing again. Marsha had to work so I took the Mini and let her have the Prius. She got stuck coming out of the driveway and I got stuck coming home as I pulled into the driveway. At the end of the day I shoveled the driveway.
Saturday it kept snowing. I shoveled the driveway and then we ran out to the store. Actually first we got stuck in the driveway, but after a few minutes work we were on our way. We took Barbara, as her car was just a lump in the snow at that point. We shopped and then left Marsha at the store as she was working. On the way home I got stuck at a stoplight. Not figuratively. The lane was a mass of ice and the wheels just spun. I didn't feel too bad as the 4x4 behind me was stuck too. Finally I managed to skid into the next lane and claw my way out. Then I dropped Barbara off at home and then headed back home with our groceries. After putting them away I took a nap. When I got up I shoveled the driveway and went out to pick up Marsha from work. What would under normal conditions have been a 20 minute round trip took over an hour. Finally we got home and collapsed, completely exhausted.
Sunday we woke to find that it had snowed all night. I went out and shoveled the driveway so Marsha could get to work. While I was out there I helped dig out another neighbor whose car was stuck in her driveway. After Marsha left I went back in to recover. After resting and getting cleaned up I finished painting the office, the project we started last week. Then when Marsha called to say she was leaving work I went out and shoveled the driveway again. That's right it has not stopped snowing for three days.
And what of this week? It is predicted to snow all week. I expect to be shoveling the driveway once or twice a day through Xmas. Then on Saturday the temperature is supposed to pop up to 40 and we get heavy rain. The result will be flooding.
Karma is laughing at us.
D&M
Here's a bunch of pictures of the snow.
Several of you have commented at how often we talk about the weather. Indeed apparently we've taken to a bit of bragging. Well, this week karma kicked us on the teeth.
Last weekend we decorated the house. All the empty boxes were stacked by the patio door to be taken down to the crawl space. But there was a little bit of snow that night so we decided to wait a day or two until it had melted. After all we hadn't seen snow last more that a couple of days. What could possibly go wrong?
Monday while walking into work from where I had parked I slipped and strained my left knee. It was sore for a couple of days but hey, no big deal.
On Tuesday it began to get cold. OK 20 is not cold to those of you in Minnesota but for us out here it's a bit of a shock.
Wednesday it began to snow while I was at work. By the time I set out for home there was a couple of inches on the ground. Now I like the Mini. The Mini is a great car. The Mini has won winter snow rally's. MY Mini on the other hand has summer performance tires and regular suspension. It really doesn't do well in snow. Not only are the tires wrong, it only has about 3 inches of ground clearance. I set out for home and it went well. Well until I got to the bottom of the hill we live on. There was no traction and I couldn't make it up. I turned around, rather easy because I just cranked the wheel and hit the gas. The Mini snapped around in it's own length and we were off to find another route. This time I came down the hill. I kept it VERY slow and crept down the hill with no problem. Turning into the driveway however, the Mini slid sideways into the downhill side of the driveway and got stuck in the berm. Marsha and I and a couple of neighbors spent the next 20 minutes digging the Mini out and pushing it up the driveway.
Thursday was another cold sunny day. Just enough to make everything really slick. After work I started looking for a snow shovel. That's right, we left all of our snow gear; shovels, scrapers, blowers, all of it in Minnesota. NOT OUR FAULT! Someone told us it NEVER snows in Nanaimo. Grrrr. The thing is that Nanaimo was sold out of snow gear. I slipped and slid my way two three different stores with no luck. Home Depot had a big sign on the front window that said OUT OF SNOW SHOVELS, BLOWERS, AND ICE MELT SALT. DON'T EVEN ASK. Finally I went all the way to Lantzville to the little hardware store there and found one. While I was there I stopped in to see my Aunt Barbara, she was fine, and then headed home. The Prius made it up the hill with no problem.
At this point I should mention that this part of the island is not set up for snow. They have no Snow Emergency Routes. The city of Victoria doesn't even have a budget for snow removal. The first few days the city snow plows were F150 pickups with blades on the front and salt/sand spreaders on the back. What's more they were limited to only one load of salt/sand per shift. The result is that the roads are all packed with snow. Bumpy, slick and spooky. Finally today we saw a couple of big plows like we saw in Minnesota appeared. I'm not sure where the city borrowed them from.
Marsha said that she was extremely busy at the Superstore. Several people told her that the lines at Save-on-Foods extended all the way to the back of the store. A combination of last minute holiday rush and emergency panic buying.
Anyway Friday it started snowing again. Marsha had to work so I took the Mini and let her have the Prius. She got stuck coming out of the driveway and I got stuck coming home as I pulled into the driveway. At the end of the day I shoveled the driveway.
Saturday it kept snowing. I shoveled the driveway and then we ran out to the store. Actually first we got stuck in the driveway, but after a few minutes work we were on our way. We took Barbara, as her car was just a lump in the snow at that point. We shopped and then left Marsha at the store as she was working. On the way home I got stuck at a stoplight. Not figuratively. The lane was a mass of ice and the wheels just spun. I didn't feel too bad as the 4x4 behind me was stuck too. Finally I managed to skid into the next lane and claw my way out. Then I dropped Barbara off at home and then headed back home with our groceries. After putting them away I took a nap. When I got up I shoveled the driveway and went out to pick up Marsha from work. What would under normal conditions have been a 20 minute round trip took over an hour. Finally we got home and collapsed, completely exhausted.
Sunday we woke to find that it had snowed all night. I went out and shoveled the driveway so Marsha could get to work. While I was out there I helped dig out another neighbor whose car was stuck in her driveway. After Marsha left I went back in to recover. After resting and getting cleaned up I finished painting the office, the project we started last week. Then when Marsha called to say she was leaving work I went out and shoveled the driveway again. That's right it has not stopped snowing for three days.
And what of this week? It is predicted to snow all week. I expect to be shoveling the driveway once or twice a day through Xmas. Then on Saturday the temperature is supposed to pop up to 40 and we get heavy rain. The result will be flooding.
Karma is laughing at us.
D&M
Here's a bunch of pictures of the snow.