Kini's Place

…Arbitrary ramblings from here…

Winter, Driving, and Errands

Why, oh why is it that people act like they have never driven in Michigan in the winter before? Every year it snows. Every year life must still go on when it snows. Work, school (most of the time), business, bills, and errands still need to be done.

I don’t personally like driving a lot when there are hoards of people out in their vehicles rushing her there and yonder to accomplish something. Today, it was likely Christmas shopping. In three weeks? Who knows. It really doesn’t matter why your out in the hideous driving weather.

Just do the rest of us a few favors, please:

  1. Don’t attempt to driver your Mini Cooper (or other smallish, two-wheel drive vehicle) through a three foot snow drift. You WILL get stuck. You WILL then piss off the people behind you, some of which will also get stuck because of you and some which will have to turn around and go a different way whilst having upset children (some having to use the bathroom) with them.
  2. Don’t ride the bumper of the person in front of you. Bad idea on good weather days. Horrid weather days? Unspeakably stupid.
  3. Clear the snow and ice from ALL of your windows, and, yes, the WHOLE of the window! Do not attempt to drive in bad weather with a peep hole to look out of.
  4. Yes, that funky stick on the side of your steering column? That is for activating your turn signals. Not only for turning corners, but they are also used for CHANGING LANES. Of course, you must also LOOK before you attempt such a feat. Really.

There are many, many more insightful and useful tips I can give, but I’ll save those for another day.

That is all.

For today.

Well, except for all the kind and considerable people that held the door open for the person behind them today (and always).

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Our Adventure To Get Home

So, Alex had her last set of basketball games yesterday which is approximately 30 minutes from our house.

Afterwards, was the team party at one of the coach’s home. Now we were approximately 15 minutes from our house.

Everything was great…except the cold, you know. Something around 1 degree (F) with a wind chill of NEGATIVE 30 (F). Did I mention it was COLD?

Coming home SUCKED though… first we went up the paved road…

The County Sheriff and fire dept had it closed at a critical point (for us) due to a GIANT fire (six fire trucks, paramedics, sheriff…not to mention the four or five fire trucks barreling past us… I think to get more water?) So they have the traffic detour onto some dinky little road. The problem was that we couldn’t get through because of the dinky cars stuck in the drifts.

SO, we turn around and go back to the road I usually take and headed west. We headed north on the first road., but the 3-4 foot drifts and cars stuck in it in the middle of the road had us turning around (again).

We turn around…

The next road (which I usually take coming home this way)… same thing.

We turn around…

The next road (which is just west of our house now)… same thing (an idiot in a small mercedes tried to get through the 3 foot drift… you know, the top of the snow was about where the woman’s head was while in the car!!! fricking moron)…

We turn around…

At this time, I’m hearing a lot of I have to go to the bathroom complaints…

I head all the way west to the main(ish) paved road. This was worse, cars everywhere, as it is an open road with empty farm fields along much of it. The drifting snow is always a problem which was why I avoided it all day.

Turn back around…

I head back east to the one road I skipped. Guess what?

It was perfectly clear…no drifts! Normally, I take this road if I am driving Alex to school in the morning.

We finally arrive home… it took over an hour to get home going a distance that normally takes us about 15 minutes.

And, from the wind, and that we have an OLD OLD OLD house… it’s freezing in here… 49 in the kitchen… 59 in the middle room … the furnace is running (set to 59), stove almost out of corn…another five minutes and it would have been. Not a clue what it is upstairs…. our normally 95 degree heat room (with the stove) was only 64! Stupid windy, cold weather.

Hope everyone stayed warm and didn’t go out and get stuck somewhere last night! Ray said there were cars abandoned in the drifts in the middle of roads when he came home from work. Great.

Later on today, I drove past the place where the fire was. There were a few upright sticks left and a foundation. Two burned out vehicles in what I assume was a garage. The foundation remains of a barn. A few days before Christmas, in the freezing cold, a family is now homeless. It makes us very sad.

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A Discovery

Alex missed the bus this morning and of course it had snowed and was slick and crummy driving. My car slipped and slid all over, but I got her to school and got myself back home.

Later, when it was Phoebe’s turn to get off to school, she wanted to wait inside the car. The wind was whipping and cold frigid out so it wasn’t a big deal. However, when I was turning the car around to head down the driveway, I got stuck! I happened to look up (fortunately) and saw the bus coming, so we got out of the car and dashed down driveway and she made the bus. Yay!

When Ray was leaving, I went back out to try and unstuck my car. As it turns out, the front tires are pretty well bald. Boo! I did get it unstuck and now will be spending tomorrow at the tire place getting them rotated until we can actually get tires. Super.

In other news, Phoebe’s class (and two of the other kindergarten classes) held their Thanksgiving Feast this afternoon. When? Immediately following lunch. Genius in that planning, I tell ya!

Ballet was tonight also. Her class is performing the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies for their recital in June! It’ll be so cute. Their costumes are purple ballet dresses!

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