Jamie did make it in to work today. The only other person there was his boss. Jamie got there at 10:40 AM, worked for about 5 hours, and then came on home. This was the picture that he took on the 4-lane while he was on his way to work this morning:
Jamie said that this snow is not the powdery kind; it's very icy and slick. That's what's causing all the problems with people not being able to get around. He said he had trouble making it out of the parking lot at his workplace. The fastest he was ever able to go was about 45 to 50 mph, but most of the time, he had to go much slower to be safe.
I know the northern part of the nation is making fun of us in the south because we seemingly lose our minds if we get 1 inch of snow. But what they don't take into consideration is that we're just not equipped here in the south to deal with very much snow. We don't usually get a whole lot of snow, so it's not financially feasible for us to have a lot of equipment like snowplows just sitting around collecting dust for 360+ days a year. We have some big trucks with scrape-blades on the fronts of them to help clear the roads, and they do lay down salt and gravel on the worst, most dangerous areas. Also, the south is very moist, so the snows we get many times are more like ice -- like a slushie you get at a convenience store. And when it lays on the road and melts a little, and then re-freezes (this morning, it was only 5 degrees), then the roads just basically turn into a skating rink. And no vehicle can make it well on ice. It can be very easy to slide off an icy road into a ditch, even if you are extremely careful. That's another thing. We southerners don't really have a whole lot of experience in driving in snow and ice, because we hardly ever have it. And we also have quite a few "tough guys" in 4-wheel-drive vehicles who drive way too fast and go nuts on the roadways, making it treacherous for the other sensible, nervous drivers who are trying to be careful, whose butts are already clenched as it is. Not to mention that the south has a whole heck of a lot of mountains, steep hills, winding roads, and hairpin turns. We also have a lot of trees, and a lot of shade, and all of this combined causes the snowy and icy conditions to stick around for a long time. So it could be well above freezing in some areas, but a shaded hairpin turn on a mountaintop that never gets any sunshine hitting it might still be cold enough to stay a solid sheet of ice for days. So all of those factors combined is what makes it so difficult for us in the south to deal with snowy and icy conditions. It's not because we're stupid. We're just not equipped to handle it, and we have different circumstances down here than they do up north where having a ton of snow all the time is the norm.
Anyway, school will be closed again tomorrow, but it is supposed to be open as usual on Friday. So my full workweek in the lunchroom got screwed up. Oh, well, what can you do? I'm just glad that now my work schedule coincides with Lilly's school schedule, so I don't have to worry about what to do with my kid whenever school is out for any reason, because I'll always be able to be there for her myself, which is of the utmost importance to me. My crappy old boss at the bank was largely unsympathetic when it came to me needing to be out of work to take care of my kid. Once she asked me huffily, "Can't you get a babysitter?!?" This, coming from the woman who had a live-in au pair for her son. >:{
And in cell phone news, I tried my water-logged phone again this morning, and it still sucked. But after messing with it, I was able to determine that I could probably send a text message if I really had to. So maybe it's improving. I don't really want to have to buy a new cell phone if I don't have to. So back in the bag o' rice it went, and I'll probably try blow-drying it some more this evening. :/
Sheesh!
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