Trav's Thoughts

. . .to bring you the following announcement.

There will be no Thursday 13 in this space today.

Snow is a beautiful thing. At least it is when I can watch it fall gently to the ground. Or it is when someone builds an 8 foot tall snowman in the entrance to my apartment complex. Or it is when I can snuggle with my sweet lady, with all the lights off, and soft jazz playing, and candles lit, and. . .well, you get the idea.

But when the snow is pounding down on my vehicle, creating slush and ice, making me skid and swerve, well then I say snow is evil and not to be tolerated!!! And thus you have life in the pacific northwest this evening. Seattle and the greater Puget Sound got it socked to us tonight. We took one right in our sweet bippy y'all.

You in the east and midwest where snow is as natural as breathing - I see your HARUMPH! But I come from southern California kids. We don't get this unless we decide to drive up to Mammoth Mountain. . .on purpose. . .with snow tires and 4-wheel drive and chains and warm snuggies in the vehicle with us. We do NOT do this as a matter of course.

And folks in this area ain't used to it either. This is the second major winter storm to dump snow on the area. People don't know how to drive in it. They don't have enough emergency crews to deal with it. It's a mess.

So it took me 4 hours to get home. Some of that time was spent sitting at a dead standstill on the side of the road, remembering not to panic and to be patient. It worked. I give myself props for handling it well. I even got out of my vehicle to give fellow motorists a shove up the hill. They kept spinning and sliding and sliding and spinning. Sometimes you just gotta lend a hand.

I had just made it to my apartment complex, feeling very pleased at having survived and not slid off the road. I smiled at the snowman - he really is 8 feet tall and looks just like a postcard. I knew there could be some trouble though. There's about 6-8 inches of snow accumulated all over the complex, with deep mashed potato grooves on the driving areas. What? You never made grooves in your mashed potatoes with your fork? That's what my drive area looks like. And I have to get up a hill to get to my parking spot.

But I'm 100 yards from home y'all. I'm on easy street. I keep my momentum up as I turn left. I'm doing good, the all weather tires have good traction and I'm getting where I need to go. I make my right turn and see some folks playing in the snow ahead of me. I flash my lights and give a couple quick blasts on the horn.

They don't move. They ignore me. They continue about their business. And now I have two choices. Go to jail for reckless endangerment and attempted vehicular manslaughter as I roll over them, or stop.

I stopped. And got stuck.

To their credit, those people did help me maneuver enough to get pointed back downhill so I could park in front of the office. Needless to say, they will NOT be on my Christmas card list next year.

So, I did finally make it home from my adventures in snowstorm travel. The good news is that the storm is due to blow through for good in the next hour or so. The bad news is that temps are expected to drop into the teens tonight, and not get over 30 degrees tomorrow. So - you guessed it - ICE!!!

If I can get to the freeway, I should be OK getting to work. It's one of those you-don't-have-a-choice-you-better-find-a-way-to-get-your-ass-into-the-office-today days.

Cross your fingers and toes for me. And those of you with your HARUMPHs in full-throated voice, just remember this when you're suffering through 100 degrees this summer and we in the pacific northwest are enjoying luxurious days of 75 degrees.

I promise not to gloat. . .much.

This concludes tonight's announcement. Tune in next week, when Thursday 13 returns to this space.