Winter SUCKS.
So this probably wasn't one of my smarter choices - but I was determined that come hell or high water I was going to go visit my friend Ayinsan yesterday.
It was probably an omen of what was to come when my dad likewise did a stupid thing and tried to back my mom's car (which I was to take on account of the approaching weather front) through the big fat snowdrift before I could shovel that then-manageable nuisance out of the way. Needless to say, he failed. Miserably. (He had better luck with his truck - took him several tries, but he was able to steamroll his way out of the drift with that one. Almost took off the side mirror from Mom's car doing it though.)
After soundly cussing him out (while he was indoors and I was outside) and cussing this rural area and the weather out (for pretty much the entire field to hear, not that the few birds still hanging around here probably care), I shoveled a path for my car to be able to get out of the driveway. There was a small drift behind me that I probably could have plowed through, but after that mess with the other car I wasn't taking chances.
So my car's free, nothing will stand in my way, right? Nope. The weather - which Ayinsan and I had previously determined wasn't a problem, in spite of the projected 2 inches of snow by evening's forecast - was apparently offended by my refusal to remain cooped up in a shoebox of a building for yet another day, and decided to shit a little more than 2 inches' worth of Crappy White Shit all over me. In a total whiteout of a storm.
Being that I was by then already halfway to Bestie's house, I figured, 'fuck it' and kept going, albeit very slowly and veeeeerrrrrrry carefully. Meanwhile my dad is leaving pissed-off voicemail messages on my phone (can't answer it while driving - state law. For reals). When I was able to call him back, he gave me a mini-ass-chewing and stated that I am not allowed to drive up to Ayinsan's again until spring. (Which I take to mean that I'm not doing it during times like this one when there's bad weather. But whatever.)
I ended up having to spend the night there, which was pretty cool, because we got caught up on our favorite TV shows and ate good foods like we always do. (Though I did miss having a kitteh to cuddle with) When I got home I a) got another mini-ass-chewing (and yanno, if I'd known that the weather was going to be that bad, I *wouldn't* have gone, but at the time I was pissed off at said weather for interfering with my plans for this week and pissed off with my dad for getting the other car stuck in the snow, and by God I was going to eke out SOMETHING good from this otherwise-bland week one way or another), and b) discovered that, thanks to said shitty weather and the shitty wind conspiring with it, the driveway is completely fucked until spring. (Or until we can find somebody with a kickass plow to clear it out. Guess which one will happen first? If you said 'the spring' help yourself to a cookie.)
Mom's car? Is now REALLY stuck. Remember those big-ass snowdrifts I posted pictures of last year? They are back with reinforcements. X_x And also, that is hard-packed snow. Shoveling that shit is like attempting to move concrete. You have to chip at it with a hard regular shovel and break it up into smaller pieces before you can snow-shovel it away. Ain't no way I'm doing that, especially as cold as it's been. Nor can my parents do it: Mom's back is messed up (thank you workplace from Hell) and Dad's knees barely let him stand upright for about sixty seconds before he'll literally collapse. Translation: the driveway is fucked. We are fucked.
We had to park the remaining free vehicles - Dad's truck and my car - at the very end of our driveway, as it's the only spot that isn't impassable from Evil White Shit blockage, due to the way the property is situated and the way the Evil Shitty Wind blows things out here over the too-barren landscape. We had to chip-shovel a small pathway to/from the house that we can walk through to get to the vehicles because there is nowhere you can walk otherwise without encountering too-large drifts, which can buckle underneath you without warning and bring you down. (Dad fell while trying to go through one of these tonight, when he and I had to get some groceries. Fortunately he's okay)
So, yeah. FUCK YOU WINTER. And FUCK YOU WIND for making it worse. And FUCK YOU SNOW because you just (still) suck, asshole.
In other news, my cats are apparently creating some sort of twisted mentorship program amongst themselves. Sunshine started it with her habits of jumping up on my shoulders/back and attacking my hats; she passed on her knowledge to Teddy, who has taken to jumping (or rather, attempting to, unless I'm within easy reach) on my back and attacking my clothes, and from him, Chrissy has now learned that my hats are the enemy, which I discovered tonight when I stooped down to set the water jug on the floor and she suddenly reached out lightning-quick and swatted at my thick winter hat with the furry ear-flaps. Then she did it again a few moments later. I am amused by this observation.
Also, Boo appears to be hogging the chair that the heat lamp is situated over. Not sure if she just does that while I'm around because she doesn't want to be bugged by the others, or if she hogs it the *entire* time. I hope it's just the former and that everybody rotates and gets some time in the Warm Chair. I do have other beds and hidey-holes set up for them (and I want to get some more soon, so everybody has an equal number of comfy spots), but the Warm Chair is undeniably the best seat in the whole house, so to speak. I wish I could put an electric blanket out there for them - they'd LOVE that - but practical concerns (electric cost (Dad complained about the heat lamp cost to me tonight, even), risk of damages, automatic shutoff on the blanket's switch) prevent me from doing so.
What they've got ain't much, but it's better than nothing - I just wish I could give them better. And, thankfully, Sam is doing all right - still not quite up 100%, but a lot better than he was last month. He knows now when he sees me with the syringe in hand that it's Disgusting Gross Medicine Time and he accordingly makes a beeline for the nearest hiding spot (usually under my mom's bed); most of the time we're able to grab him before he succeeds with such escapes. XD I'm glad my boy is acting more like his old self these days, kitty-whines and all.
It was probably an omen of what was to come when my dad likewise did a stupid thing and tried to back my mom's car (which I was to take on account of the approaching weather front) through the big fat snowdrift before I could shovel that then-manageable nuisance out of the way. Needless to say, he failed. Miserably. (He had better luck with his truck - took him several tries, but he was able to steamroll his way out of the drift with that one. Almost took off the side mirror from Mom's car doing it though.)
After soundly cussing him out (while he was indoors and I was outside) and cussing this rural area and the weather out (for pretty much the entire field to hear, not that the few birds still hanging around here probably care), I shoveled a path for my car to be able to get out of the driveway. There was a small drift behind me that I probably could have plowed through, but after that mess with the other car I wasn't taking chances.
So my car's free, nothing will stand in my way, right? Nope. The weather - which Ayinsan and I had previously determined wasn't a problem, in spite of the projected 2 inches of snow by evening's forecast - was apparently offended by my refusal to remain cooped up in a shoebox of a building for yet another day, and decided to shit a little more than 2 inches' worth of Crappy White Shit all over me. In a total whiteout of a storm.
Being that I was by then already halfway to Bestie's house, I figured, 'fuck it' and kept going, albeit very slowly and veeeeerrrrrrry carefully. Meanwhile my dad is leaving pissed-off voicemail messages on my phone (can't answer it while driving - state law. For reals). When I was able to call him back, he gave me a mini-ass-chewing and stated that I am not allowed to drive up to Ayinsan's again until spring. (Which I take to mean that I'm not doing it during times like this one when there's bad weather. But whatever.)
I ended up having to spend the night there, which was pretty cool, because we got caught up on our favorite TV shows and ate good foods like we always do. (Though I did miss having a kitteh to cuddle with) When I got home I a) got another mini-ass-chewing (and yanno, if I'd known that the weather was going to be that bad, I *wouldn't* have gone, but at the time I was pissed off at said weather for interfering with my plans for this week and pissed off with my dad for getting the other car stuck in the snow, and by God I was going to eke out SOMETHING good from this otherwise-bland week one way or another), and b) discovered that, thanks to said shitty weather and the shitty wind conspiring with it, the driveway is completely fucked until spring. (Or until we can find somebody with a kickass plow to clear it out. Guess which one will happen first? If you said 'the spring' help yourself to a cookie.)
Mom's car? Is now REALLY stuck. Remember those big-ass snowdrifts I posted pictures of last year? They are back with reinforcements. X_x And also, that is hard-packed snow. Shoveling that shit is like attempting to move concrete. You have to chip at it with a hard regular shovel and break it up into smaller pieces before you can snow-shovel it away. Ain't no way I'm doing that, especially as cold as it's been. Nor can my parents do it: Mom's back is messed up (thank you workplace from Hell) and Dad's knees barely let him stand upright for about sixty seconds before he'll literally collapse. Translation: the driveway is fucked. We are fucked.
We had to park the remaining free vehicles - Dad's truck and my car - at the very end of our driveway, as it's the only spot that isn't impassable from Evil White Shit blockage, due to the way the property is situated and the way the Evil Shitty Wind blows things out here over the too-barren landscape. We had to chip-shovel a small pathway to/from the house that we can walk through to get to the vehicles because there is nowhere you can walk otherwise without encountering too-large drifts, which can buckle underneath you without warning and bring you down. (Dad fell while trying to go through one of these tonight, when he and I had to get some groceries. Fortunately he's okay)
So, yeah. FUCK YOU WINTER. And FUCK YOU WIND for making it worse. And FUCK YOU SNOW because you just (still) suck, asshole.
In other news, my cats are apparently creating some sort of twisted mentorship program amongst themselves. Sunshine started it with her habits of jumping up on my shoulders/back and attacking my hats; she passed on her knowledge to Teddy, who has taken to jumping (or rather, attempting to, unless I'm within easy reach) on my back and attacking my clothes, and from him, Chrissy has now learned that my hats are the enemy, which I discovered tonight when I stooped down to set the water jug on the floor and she suddenly reached out lightning-quick and swatted at my thick winter hat with the furry ear-flaps. Then she did it again a few moments later. I am amused by this observation.
Also, Boo appears to be hogging the chair that the heat lamp is situated over. Not sure if she just does that while I'm around because she doesn't want to be bugged by the others, or if she hogs it the *entire* time. I hope it's just the former and that everybody rotates and gets some time in the Warm Chair. I do have other beds and hidey-holes set up for them (and I want to get some more soon, so everybody has an equal number of comfy spots), but the Warm Chair is undeniably the best seat in the whole house, so to speak. I wish I could put an electric blanket out there for them - they'd LOVE that - but practical concerns (electric cost (Dad complained about the heat lamp cost to me tonight, even), risk of damages, automatic shutoff on the blanket's switch) prevent me from doing so.
What they've got ain't much, but it's better than nothing - I just wish I could give them better. And, thankfully, Sam is doing all right - still not quite up 100%, but a lot better than he was last month. He knows now when he sees me with the syringe in hand that it's Disgusting Gross Medicine Time and he accordingly makes a beeline for the nearest hiding spot (usually under my mom's bed); most of the time we're able to grab him before he succeeds with such escapes. XD I'm glad my boy is acting more like his old self these days, kitty-whines and all.