Snow
So, I heard that they got some snow back home.
I've heard anywhere between 8 inches to over a foot.
I miss that kind of snow. :( We get it here, but not very often. Usually it's a few centimeters here, a few centimeters there, which gradually accumulates over the winter to several feet of snow. But we don't get the huge dumps of snow that Ohio gets.
And, I guess that it's a good thing. The snow removal here is just awful. You'd think for a city that has winter for 6 months out of the year they would have better snow removal. But our last "big" snowfall was almost a month ago, and our street is still snowpacked. The main roads are clear (barely), but the curb lanes are still a mess in a lot of places. They're finally going around and removing the huge piles of snow at intersections which were making pulling out into traffic Really Interesting, and they sent a grader down our street to even out the ruts.
Despite what people say, it has nothing to do with the cold. Yes, when the snow is falling and it's -25C, salt doesn't do much good. They spread sand around on the main routes and intersections, but that's it. Snow is snow, you just have to move it. The problem is, they really seem to go about it half-assedly.
I remember a few years ago when the city decided to contract its plowing operations out to private firms. We got a nice-sized dump of snow overnight. The next morning, all of the malls and shopping centres had parkings lots clean enough to eat off of, but no one could get to them because the roads were still piled with snow drifts. Why? Because the malls paid the plow operators better than the city did, so they did the well-paying customers first.
Meh, anyway, our back lane is still quite interesting to navigate. I'm also dreading the coming thaw (if it comes - they keep waffling on the forecast) because warmer temperatures = horrible ruts that freeze into oil-pan scraping ridges when the temperature drops again.
....is it spring yet?
I've heard anywhere between 8 inches to over a foot.
I miss that kind of snow. :( We get it here, but not very often. Usually it's a few centimeters here, a few centimeters there, which gradually accumulates over the winter to several feet of snow. But we don't get the huge dumps of snow that Ohio gets.
And, I guess that it's a good thing. The snow removal here is just awful. You'd think for a city that has winter for 6 months out of the year they would have better snow removal. But our last "big" snowfall was almost a month ago, and our street is still snowpacked. The main roads are clear (barely), but the curb lanes are still a mess in a lot of places. They're finally going around and removing the huge piles of snow at intersections which were making pulling out into traffic Really Interesting, and they sent a grader down our street to even out the ruts.
Despite what people say, it has nothing to do with the cold. Yes, when the snow is falling and it's -25C, salt doesn't do much good. They spread sand around on the main routes and intersections, but that's it. Snow is snow, you just have to move it. The problem is, they really seem to go about it half-assedly.
I remember a few years ago when the city decided to contract its plowing operations out to private firms. We got a nice-sized dump of snow overnight. The next morning, all of the malls and shopping centres had parkings lots clean enough to eat off of, but no one could get to them because the roads were still piled with snow drifts. Why? Because the malls paid the plow operators better than the city did, so they did the well-paying customers first.
Meh, anyway, our back lane is still quite interesting to navigate. I'm also dreading the coming thaw (if it comes - they keep waffling on the forecast) because warmer temperatures = horrible ruts that freeze into oil-pan scraping ridges when the temperature drops again.
....is it spring yet?