I shouldn't complain...but I'm going to anyway

I know my last post was rather whiny. This one is going to be too.

I know a lot of areas got hit with a lot worse weather than we did last week. The severe storms people got were nasty. I'm not trying to compete with them. I'm just complaining.

Our street never got cleaned of the snow. The last 2 inches turned into solid ice. I was starting to think someone on our block really ticked off public works and that was why we never got properly plowed. But driving through town yesterday it looks like public works never got around to quite a few residential streets. All the towns in the area have already used up their winter allotment of road salt. There are no more supplies to be had in the region so they pay top dollar to have it shipped in. That will be reflected in our tax bills.

Most of the major streets are clear. But parking lots are hit or miss. Some have half the available parking spaces available because there is snow and ice in them. Others have clear spaces but 10 foot plus snow drifts that you can't see around making them dangerous to drive or walk in. Forget street parking. Even if you can park on the street many of the sidewalks weren't cleared so you can't walk to where you are going.

We got out for a little bit yesterday on the snowshoes. We were only able to be out for about 45 minutes before the wind got too cold. The temperatures dropped through the night and today it is too bitterly cold to even consider going out in it. The air temp is -8 with wind chills of -30. And that's after the sun has been up for several hours. Our high today is supposed to be 1.

I know you Southerns are saying, "but you live in the North, what do you expect?" Yes, we do get nasty weather, but never this much. Winter began early this year, in early November, and we've been hit with more snow storms, ice storms and freezing cold snaps than we usually get in 2 years. And it is still the first half of February. We can't expect to see Spring until April. We aren't even close to thinking it is over.

I cringe every time I have to open the natural gas bill, our heating costs are way up. And we're using more gas since the 4-wheel drive eats fuel like there's no tomorrow. If Mr. Incredible hadn't traded in the Mustang for a Jeep at the beginning of the year Violet and I would have been stranded at home most of the last 2 weeks. The Mustang wouldn't have been able to handle the roads or the parking lots and he would have needed the Trailblazer to get to the train station.

Time to get back to work. I have more to get done for the office and I still have to plan next week's school lessons. Send Violet good thoughts tomorrow. She has her first book club meeting since she had the horrible meltdown at the one before Christmas. I'm not dropping her off this time. I'm hoping to help hold off any breakdowns until we leave.