Snow Day... Kinda

Kinja'd!!! "functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
01/16/2020 at 08:42 • Filed to: None

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Forecast said “1-3 overnight, additional 1-3 in the morning then tapering off mid-morning.” I figured, 2hr delay for the kids, unless and maybe if it’s closer to 3" overnight and if it’s really dumping at 5am.

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Well, guess what? It was dumping at 5am and still is! School was straight-up cancelled (mic drop) but my work, which often follows the local school cancellations... did nothing. So my wife decided not to take her 40+ mile commute this morning in the snow and stayed home with the kids, and I headed in to work.

My commute - when I’m not doing my normal ~45 minute cross-town round of kid drop-offs - is about 4 miles, nearly all downhill. If it normally takes me all of 8.5 minutes, today it took me 9.5 minutes. I took my wife’s Mini, which, while it does have excellent snow tires, couldn’t get up the hill to the nearest parking lot to my building, so I had to park at the bottom of the hill despite for once being at work early enough to get a prime spot. Oh well.

I heard from a colleague who lives ~25 minutes away that it took him 1:15 to get in, just due to cars struggling to get up hills, and various other accidents. Normally I roll my eyes at people struggling in snow in January, but it’s legitimately REALLY slippery. It’s a kind of wet, slippery, greasy, and relentless kind of snow that makes the roads about as slippery as they can get just short of black ice.

There’s a road leading through the middle of town that ends (starts?) on Main Street and the first 1000' is all uphill at a pretty steep grade. It’s accurately called Highland Street and I am sure it’s a total disaster right now. Put it this way: when snow comes late at night, it’s a popular sledding destination in the absence of traffic.

But I’m here. And a co-worker who is a bit of a car hoarder brought one of his few 4x4 options today , a vehicle that I have told him over and over that I will buy from him on the spot, any time, anywhere. It’s a 2013 Tacoma, extended cab, 5-speed manual, V6, TRD package, black on black, and I think he’s got about 15,000 miles on it. This might be the first time it’s ever seen salt. I already texted him offering to buy his truck again, just because it’s parked outside my window right now.

Terrible picture because screens:

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DISCUSSION (10)


Kinja'd!!! CalzoneGolem > functionoverfashion
01/16/2020 at 09:13

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Slightly to your North a similar scenario presents itself. My Forester had no troubles getting up and down the hills aroun d  me, and the kids are home without supervision. 


Kinja'd!!! Ash78, voting early and often > functionoverfashion
01/16/2020 at 09:15

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Our overnight LOW down here was 62 (normally in the 20s) and we’ve run the A/C the past 3 nights just to dehumidify the house. This most recent storm system did this weird bifurcation of the eastern US, I’ve never seen anything like it. Heat, rain and tornadoes on one side; huge snowfalls on the other.

I’m surprised you risked going in, but it looks like you’re far from the only one!


Kinja'd!!! functionoverfashion > CalzoneGolem
01/16/2020 at 09:24

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Ha! I am sure the Volvo would have gotten anywhere no problem. And I really did miss my old E46 today, so much sideways fun in that car today, and still the ability to get anywhere. Ah, well.

And my kids are definitely too young to be home alone! 


Kinja'd!!! CalzoneGolem > functionoverfashion
01/16/2020 at 10:54

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I’m not sure I can ever go back to FWD after the Forester so much fun in the snow (and loose gravel). If you’re careful it’ll go like a train through whatever and if you want to get sideways all you need to do is shift down and give it a too much throttle.

Our eldest is 16 and the y oungest 10 so they are all good. It’s pretty freeing to be able to leave them at home for date nights or grocery shopping or what not. Next year we’re going to let the L ittlestGolem come home alone from school. He’ll be alone for just a couple hours and we won’t have to pay for after school care. Yay! Growing up!


Kinja'd!!! functionoverfashion > Ash78, voting early and often
01/16/2020 at 10:55

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Wow, yeah there is an odd pattern right now for sure. I’m glad we didn’t get much of the warm, last weekend we got a little but could have been worse.

It’s so close for me, it would be silly not to come in. I get snow days usually, so I figured I could cover for some people who live farther away and couldn’t get here. 


Kinja'd!!! lone_liberal > functionoverfashion
01/16/2020 at 12:32

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We just moved our office and my commute went from 25 minutes to 45. Tuesday it took me 2 hours to get in to the office because of the road conditions and the snarl it made of traffic. It snowed again last night, but only 3-4 inches, but I still elected to work from home. If there were no other traffic I might have gone in but the roads just become parking lots when anything happens. 


Kinja'd!!! functionoverfashion > CalzoneGolem
01/16/2020 at 13:39

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Totally agree on a fun awd platform. I drive the Volvo mostly, and it’s quite capable but much less fun than my BMW . The Mini spends 99.99% of its time on the highway, so FWD is perfectly fine.

It’s quite something watching the kids grow up... our oldest is 7 already and I can’t believe it. It’s liberating to allow them more independence, but I also quickly miss their younger selves. It’s a trip.


Kinja'd!!! functionoverfashion > lone_liberal
01/16/2020 at 13:43

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I can’t complain, for me “traffic” is like, someone going the actual speed limit. 


Kinja'd!!! CalzoneGolem > functionoverfashion
01/16/2020 at 14:34

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Yeah it’s amazing to me that I was climbing trees and going on adventures with my this young lady living with me now no too long ago.

Of course for her it was half a lifetime ago.


Kinja'd!!! Spasoje > functionoverfashion
01/16/2020 at 15:39

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Around here, it only snows for a handful of days every winter - some years not having any snow at all - so generally, everyone is notoriously unprepared.

The other day it snowed for the first time this winter , and all roads were unplowed... my commute jumped from 30mins to an hour . Today , the city caught up to the snow, but I guess everybody decided to WFH , as it took me under 20mins to get to work... Fastest commute time yet.

It’s supposed to dump more snow tonight, so we shall see what happens...

Pic from yesterday, illustrating the amount of snowfall in just a couple days:

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