In Seattle, the S word is scarier than an possible earthquake or volcanic eruption, because there’s oodles of difficulty predicting the air patterns, and even more scarier is the complete continuing inability of the governmental idiots to learn from history to have at least minimal actual functional equipment and just the slightest knowledge of how snow and ice works when it falls from the sky and/or freezes to the roads, trees, and diehard runners.
Weather people can predict only so much because of our convergence zones and general uncooperative and sneaky weather patterns. But so what? We know it will snow most years, and sometimes in significant amounts, and sometimes in greasy ice sheets of slime. And it won’t melt the next day.
What’s amazing is, when the forecasters unleash the “S” word, the administrators and cogitators all run around their offices in a frenzy. Frenzies do not do anything to provide preparation for the “S”. And year after year, here comes the S and we’re unprepared.
Now, finally, they’ve decided salt can be used to deice streets. Unfortunately it only works if someone stays awake and actually checks the weather forecast for last minute updates. No one ever does. Seriously. Otherwise we wouldn’t have the huge messes we have when nature “S”s on us.
I’m not using quotes on all the S words, because I’ve used up my quota of quotes pretty much.
At this point they are not predicting any excess S, but around here it really can be minute by minute, mile by mile when it starts to come in.
I kid you not, I have been in buildings where it’s been snowing on the north side and raining on the south side, and vice versa. Convergence sounds kind of cool like that, very specific, except it’s nearly impossible to predict exactly where they are going to set up.
Seattle often has very greasy snow. It is nasty. And we have lots of hills. Having grownup in Wisconsin, I know how to drive on snow, ice and grease, but since most people around here are over-caffienated or simply can’t remember what S is, I tend not to go anywhere because they’ll slide into you.
Ok, that’s my dull post for this week.
