Washington Under Snow
Originally uploaded by maxedaperture
Well, it’s that time of year. As you begin your thoughts of turkey and travel, good ole Mother Nature reminds you that it’s approaching the winter months by teasing you with some colder temps and some welcome (at least in the D.C. area) precipitation. While I spotted some flakes in Rockville yesterday, the first official forecast for snow for the 2008-2009 winter is for this evening.
No, this doesn’t mean you’re to run to the grocery store and irrationally gather milk and bread (why not flour and yeast and make it interesting?). But expect the IQ of your average Metro-area driver to fall faster than the President’s approval ratings. So if you find yourself in freezing precipitation at all, day or night, slow it down, think, and don’t forget to make sure you use your headlights and have new wipers on your car.
For parents, make sure you start planning your early release plans with your significant other, no need to loose your top or mind over what to do when it happens. And of course, for the times when this weather creeps in overnight and plans to deliver more than a dusting (or misting), bookmark those URLs for the open and closing status of schools and work (for most, the Office of Personnel Management is a good start)
I think we should all panic and buy a two-week supply of food from the nearest grocery store.
(that’s exactly what my mom did when i was younger)
Well, it’s one way to help the economy, no matter how, um, odd-ball it seems.
Nooooooooooo.
It looks like snow outside right now, and that’s enough to make me throw up in my mouth just a little bit.
Hah. I’d certainly agree that panic is overblown, however.. we have this terrible habit of not keeping a stocked pantry and relying on the closeness of our grocery store- I can swing by on my way home from work. And yet, we got snowed in for four days during the last big blizzard and Tom had to walk to the store in two feet of snow. Now that we live up a reasonably steep hill from our closest store, I’d rather prevent either of us from having to do that hike in the snow. So you’ll see me stashing some extra shelf-stable and freezer-stable supplies in the house… Not out of panic that we’ll end up like the Donner Party, but just to avoid a hassle later on.
If I made an effort, I could chuck a quarter and hit our nearest Giant (there are certainly plusses and minuses to that, especially since the “rear end” faces us)… but it does have it’s plusses.
We used to have a cool video store in the same strip maul, but Hollywood Video pulled out… however, it was replaced by a new Dunkin Doughnuts… so, given Hulu and Boxee, it think the tradeoff was well worth it.
Snow damnit… I want to get to use my Liberty season pass! :-P