Fucking snow.
So yesterday, about 4:00-ish, I get a call from my mother. It goes something like this:
Mum: Hi, your dad and I are just calling to make sure you know we're okay.
Me: Huh? *sense of panic growing* HUH?!
Mum: Oh, well, Buffalo got 22 inches of snow yesterday and -
Me: WHAT?!
Mum: Yeah, overnight. *casual-like* So we've got no power and they don't think we'll have any for three days. Your dad and I are in the car and we're just going to drive south until we find somewhere that will feed us a damn pizza.
Me: *still jaw-dropped*
Mum: Yeah, there are like half a million people without power. State of emergency. And all the phone lines are down, so we've only got the cell phones, and we have to charge them in the car - so you have to be careful when you call us, and -
Me: Don't be stupid. Drive to Akron. I've got power and heat.
Mum: *cheerful* If we still have no power by tomorrow, we might have to! Although I don't know who would bail the sump pump if we left! Your dad says we've already bailed approximately two tons of water out of the basement. Anyway, talk to you later!
Me: *dies*
---
So today, about noon-ish, I give them a call back to see how things are going, and whether or not I need to vacuum and clean up if I'm having guests.
Me: Hey, mum. How are things.
Mum: Not too good, sweetie. We just got in an accident, like fifteen minutes ago. Ingaborg [her red CR-V] is dead.
Me: *jaw-drop*
Mum: We were driving down 20-A, looking for some food, and a truck hit a bad spot and ended up completely sideways, sliding down the road. I thought he would miss me. He didn't.
Me: *still cannot form a coherent sentence*
Mum: You should see my poor car. I think I apologized to her five times. Your dad keeps thinking I'm talking to him.
Me: *almost in tears* Mum, please. Just come to Akron until everything gets better up there.
Mum: We've got to go home and sit in the 50'F house on our cellphones and talk to insurance so that I can get a rental car - wait, the cells don't work very well in the house, so we'll probably have to pull your dad's car into the driveway and sit there with them plugged in. *pause* At least there'll be heat that way.
Me: *still can't talk*
Mum: Alright, we've gotta go, our ride is here. I'll call you tonight.
---
So here I sit, alternating between chuckling at my parents' strength under adversity and burting into tears as I wonder in a panic what the fuck can go wrong next. I don't want to think about it.
At least now I understand why they keep threatening to move to North Carolina on me.
Mum: Hi, your dad and I are just calling to make sure you know we're okay.
Me: Huh? *sense of panic growing* HUH?!
Mum: Oh, well, Buffalo got 22 inches of snow yesterday and -
Me: WHAT?!
Mum: Yeah, overnight. *casual-like* So we've got no power and they don't think we'll have any for three days. Your dad and I are in the car and we're just going to drive south until we find somewhere that will feed us a damn pizza.
Me: *still jaw-dropped*
Mum: Yeah, there are like half a million people without power. State of emergency. And all the phone lines are down, so we've only got the cell phones, and we have to charge them in the car - so you have to be careful when you call us, and -
Me: Don't be stupid. Drive to Akron. I've got power and heat.
Mum: *cheerful* If we still have no power by tomorrow, we might have to! Although I don't know who would bail the sump pump if we left! Your dad says we've already bailed approximately two tons of water out of the basement. Anyway, talk to you later!
Me: *dies*
---
So today, about noon-ish, I give them a call back to see how things are going, and whether or not I need to vacuum and clean up if I'm having guests.
Me: Hey, mum. How are things.
Mum: Not too good, sweetie. We just got in an accident, like fifteen minutes ago. Ingaborg [her red CR-V] is dead.
Me: *jaw-drop*
Mum: We were driving down 20-A, looking for some food, and a truck hit a bad spot and ended up completely sideways, sliding down the road. I thought he would miss me. He didn't.
Me: *still cannot form a coherent sentence*
Mum: You should see my poor car. I think I apologized to her five times. Your dad keeps thinking I'm talking to him.
Me: *almost in tears* Mum, please. Just come to Akron until everything gets better up there.
Mum: We've got to go home and sit in the 50'F house on our cellphones and talk to insurance so that I can get a rental car - wait, the cells don't work very well in the house, so we'll probably have to pull your dad's car into the driveway and sit there with them plugged in. *pause* At least there'll be heat that way.
Me: *still can't talk*
Mum: Alright, we've gotta go, our ride is here. I'll call you tonight.
---
So here I sit, alternating between chuckling at my parents' strength under adversity and burting into tears as I wonder in a panic what the fuck can go wrong next. I don't want to think about it.
At least now I understand why they keep threatening to move to North Carolina on me.