Now Extreme Winterland
/At first everything seemed so beautiful and snowy, but then reality hit. The stress of commuting in the snow in a city full of hills and ice. Josh had the first taste of all this on Monday.
After my post on Monday and a safe return home from my store downtown, Josh took off to help get a friend to the airport. They left at 3:30pm on Monday. After they left, the winds picked up, the snow came down harder, and it got c-r-a-z-y. I kept looking out the window to see him walking up the path, but he never came. Around 5pm I got a text message, "still on the 99." I thought, "whew, he must be on his way home now." Oh how wrong was I! I got a call later and they were only just arriving at the airport -- it was 7:30pm. What?!?
Once they got to the airport, his friend had missed his flight. The airport was doing okay, except one cargo place skidded off the runway. Otherwise it was functioning; just a bit slow. They decided to grab food at the airport and head home. The ride home was a long one. They left around 9pm and trudged through the 5 freeway. At one point, they were stopped in one place for hours and only moved a few yards. Along they way, they had to deal with maneuvering around cars (out of gas or parked), buses, and semis. They even had to get the car pushed out of ice. The return time home...2:30am! That's eleven hours round trip. Side note to make that sound more dramatic: Generally the airport is only 30 minutes away. Needless to say, Josh was tired the next day.
Then I had my experience with commuting in the snow. I had to get to work at 7am on Tuesday. 7am sounds fine until you factor in such things as: freezing temperatures, icy roads (can't drive from our home right now), buses either delayed, on snow routes, or canceled. I called in to the store before heading out. They needed me there. My co-worker had walked 2 miles in the snow to open the store and we were getting customers. Apparently all those people on foot in the city needed warm coffee and tea.
I layered up -- ear muffs, scarf, jacket, gloves, snow boots, and hat. I stomped down the icy and snowy stairs to the level area where I could catch a bus. I waited for my bus, and then when it arrived I got the last seat in the bus. The next stop, more folks crowed in and filled the bus to capacity. The bus had to turn down all other bus-goers along the route. Poor people in the cold trying to get to work. I finally got to the store, only 15 minutes late. Woohoo.
As for today, I had the schedule switched because I was supposed to open the store. A bit difficult when you have to factor in such things as: no bus (it doesn't run early enough to get me to the store to open), no walking (too far), and unable to drive (we're on a hill with a layer of ice on the road). At least I have time today to rest and recover from the cold I have right now.
All in all...Seattle is crazy in the snow. Temperatures remain at freezing but it's except to warm up and rain by Thursday and Friday.
Check this out (keep watching - a bus (see 3 min 15 sec mark), fire truck, and numerous cars involved:
After my post on Monday and a safe return home from my store downtown, Josh took off to help get a friend to the airport. They left at 3:30pm on Monday. After they left, the winds picked up, the snow came down harder, and it got c-r-a-z-y. I kept looking out the window to see him walking up the path, but he never came. Around 5pm I got a text message, "still on the 99." I thought, "whew, he must be on his way home now." Oh how wrong was I! I got a call later and they were only just arriving at the airport -- it was 7:30pm. What?!?
Once they got to the airport, his friend had missed his flight. The airport was doing okay, except one cargo place skidded off the runway. Otherwise it was functioning; just a bit slow. They decided to grab food at the airport and head home. The ride home was a long one. They left around 9pm and trudged through the 5 freeway. At one point, they were stopped in one place for hours and only moved a few yards. Along they way, they had to deal with maneuvering around cars (out of gas or parked), buses, and semis. They even had to get the car pushed out of ice. The return time home...2:30am! That's eleven hours round trip. Side note to make that sound more dramatic: Generally the airport is only 30 minutes away. Needless to say, Josh was tired the next day.
Then I had my experience with commuting in the snow. I had to get to work at 7am on Tuesday. 7am sounds fine until you factor in such things as: freezing temperatures, icy roads (can't drive from our home right now), buses either delayed, on snow routes, or canceled. I called in to the store before heading out. They needed me there. My co-worker had walked 2 miles in the snow to open the store and we were getting customers. Apparently all those people on foot in the city needed warm coffee and tea.
I layered up -- ear muffs, scarf, jacket, gloves, snow boots, and hat. I stomped down the icy and snowy stairs to the level area where I could catch a bus. I waited for my bus, and then when it arrived I got the last seat in the bus. The next stop, more folks crowed in and filled the bus to capacity. The bus had to turn down all other bus-goers along the route. Poor people in the cold trying to get to work. I finally got to the store, only 15 minutes late. Woohoo.
As for today, I had the schedule switched because I was supposed to open the store. A bit difficult when you have to factor in such things as: no bus (it doesn't run early enough to get me to the store to open), no walking (too far), and unable to drive (we're on a hill with a layer of ice on the road). At least I have time today to rest and recover from the cold I have right now.
All in all...Seattle is crazy in the snow. Temperatures remain at freezing but it's except to warm up and rain by Thursday and Friday.
Check this out (keep watching - a bus (see 3 min 15 sec mark), fire truck, and numerous cars involved:
