Well, it's now 4:20, so that means everyone, except necessary personnel, should be off the road. But I also read on the Foxborough Patch that Stop n' Shop just closed at 4:00. So how are those people getting home from work? Are they being teleported? Is it some Harry Potter type of thing where the freezer cases are portkeys and they just get sucked up into them and they reappear at home? Or are all those poor employees going to be sleeping in the aisles until the travel ban is lifted? Does anybody know?
As for the weather, since that's what I'm supposed to be talking about, my husband just said "it's barely snowing out" and then he started laughing. Anyway...the wind seems to be picking up a bit. And I'm watching the branch of the tree behind me car, that I asked them to trim, as it brushes the roof of my car. If I had a saw, I would take it down myself at this point. The way it looks now, I could probably pulled it and it might break, but I'm not going out there. I'm not in the mood for cold and wet.
(My computer crashed while I was posting this one, so if it looks like I left you hanging...yep, I did.)
Friday, February 8, 2013
Blowing snow and snow blowing!
They just came through with a snow blower to clear the walkways in front of our apartment. I'm still not going outside. The wind isn't too bad yet, but it does blow every now and then. And it was blowing when I took this picture.
And here they are clearing the snow from our walkway.
So now that it's getting dark out, things should really get interesting. The storm is really supposed to be picking up after 7:00 and then get worse overnight into tomorrow morning. So we could lose power in the middle of the night...which reminds me, I need to pull the blankets out of the hope chest before we go to bed just to have them within easy reach.
Oh, they're plowing again and we're watching some quality television. Operation Repo on TruTV. I know, you're flipping through your cable stations right now to find it. I understand that we're in the middle of a major snowstorm, but why do the local stations feel the need to broadcast Storm Coverage all day long? Does anyone seriously watch 24 straight hours of this stuff? Isn't that what the Weather Channel is for?
Oh, and speaking of the Weather Channel, did you see that their most famous weatherman, Jim Cantori,is in Boston. But not only that, Al Roker is there too. That tells you Nemo is one kickass storm!
And here they are clearing the snow from our walkway.
So now that it's getting dark out, things should really get interesting. The storm is really supposed to be picking up after 7:00 and then get worse overnight into tomorrow morning. So we could lose power in the middle of the night...which reminds me, I need to pull the blankets out of the hope chest before we go to bed just to have them within easy reach.
Oh, they're plowing again and we're watching some quality television. Operation Repo on TruTV. I know, you're flipping through your cable stations right now to find it. I understand that we're in the middle of a major snowstorm, but why do the local stations feel the need to broadcast Storm Coverage all day long? Does anyone seriously watch 24 straight hours of this stuff? Isn't that what the Weather Channel is for?
Oh, and speaking of the Weather Channel, did you see that their most famous weatherman, Jim Cantori,is in Boston. But not only that, Al Roker is there too. That tells you Nemo is one kickass storm!
Can hot guys melt snow?
They plowed the parking lot for the first time about 1/2 hour ago.
See:
Honest, they really did plow. I saw them. And I heard the plow scraping the ground. Oh wait...I just saw the plow come into the lot again. And this time they only did the other side of the trees, not our side. Oh well, I'm not going anywhere anyway.
The flakes that are falling now are pretty thick. Earlier they were very small, but these are so much bigger.
As I mentioned, the Governor signed an executive order for a travel ban. Shortly after his press conference, we received a reverse 911 call from the town to let us know that they were requesting that everyone get off the roads by 3:00. Well, it's 3:00 now and from what I can see, people seem to be complying. I'm not seeing many cars go by. Think it's too late to order a pizza or some Chinese food to be delivered? Oh wait, I just saw a car drive by. Would someone tell that idiot to put his lights on so on the off chance that someone else is out there driving they'll see him?
So, what do we do when we're in lockdown for an unknown period of time? Well, let your mind wander. I will not confirm nor deny. Actually, right now we're clearing out the DVR. Figure we might as well watch TV and take advantage of the electricity while we can because you just never know when it might go bye-bye. Right now, it's Chicago Fire. Have you seen the guys on that show? Kelly Severide is pretty darn hot! I bet he could melt this snow. And Lt. Casey isn't so hard on the eyes either. Michael likes the two female EMT's. I guess they're pretty. This episode is introducing some new guy. He's not that cute.
So yes, this is what we're doing while the snow is falling. I'm thinking I might do a little baking too, while the oven still works.
See:
Honest, they really did plow. I saw them. And I heard the plow scraping the ground. Oh wait...I just saw the plow come into the lot again. And this time they only did the other side of the trees, not our side. Oh well, I'm not going anywhere anyway.
The flakes that are falling now are pretty thick. Earlier they were very small, but these are so much bigger.
As I mentioned, the Governor signed an executive order for a travel ban. Shortly after his press conference, we received a reverse 911 call from the town to let us know that they were requesting that everyone get off the roads by 3:00. Well, it's 3:00 now and from what I can see, people seem to be complying. I'm not seeing many cars go by. Think it's too late to order a pizza or some Chinese food to be delivered? Oh wait, I just saw a car drive by. Would someone tell that idiot to put his lights on so on the off chance that someone else is out there driving they'll see him?
So, what do we do when we're in lockdown for an unknown period of time? Well, let your mind wander. I will not confirm nor deny. Actually, right now we're clearing out the DVR. Figure we might as well watch TV and take advantage of the electricity while we can because you just never know when it might go bye-bye. Right now, it's Chicago Fire. Have you seen the guys on that show? Kelly Severide is pretty darn hot! I bet he could melt this snow. And Lt. Casey isn't so hard on the eyes either. Michael likes the two female EMT's. I guess they're pretty. This episode is introducing some new guy. He's not that cute.
So yes, this is what we're doing while the snow is falling. I'm thinking I might do a little baking too, while the oven still works.
State of Emergency
The Governor has officially announced a State of Emergency. Honestly, I don't know what that really means. He's giving tips on what to do in the event of a power outage. I think in Foxboro, we're becoming experts at that and could even write a guidebook. My best tip, plan a trip to Disney World to occur so that you're out of town when the power goes out. :-) We were actually at Disney when Hurricane Sandy was making her way up north and that is the last time we lost power. So we weren't even here.
There is a travel ban in effect on MA effective at 4:00pm today until they lift it. Basically that means DON'T DRIVE. How many idiots will ignore that and try to go somewhere? And I know you're thinking, what is going to be open? Well, I was talking to the cashier at Walgreens this morning and she said that they never close, even when the power goes out. They can only accept cash, but they stay open in case someone needs prescriptions. She said she can understand that, but she hates the people who show up to buy soda and candy.
Oh, penalty...wow! Apparently if you ignore the ban you can be jailed up to a year and fined up to $500. Believe me, I have no intention of going anywhere. I hope we don't lose power, but I have lots and lots of blankets in this house and I think we'll be ok if we do lose power.
So who wants to see the snow at Noon? And a closeup of the branches.
There is a travel ban in effect on MA effective at 4:00pm today until they lift it. Basically that means DON'T DRIVE. How many idiots will ignore that and try to go somewhere? And I know you're thinking, what is going to be open? Well, I was talking to the cashier at Walgreens this morning and she said that they never close, even when the power goes out. They can only accept cash, but they stay open in case someone needs prescriptions. She said she can understand that, but she hates the people who show up to buy soda and candy.
Oh, penalty...wow! Apparently if you ignore the ban you can be jailed up to a year and fined up to $500. Believe me, I have no intention of going anywhere. I hope we don't lose power, but I have lots and lots of blankets in this house and I think we'll be ok if we do lose power.
So who wants to see the snow at Noon? And a closeup of the branches.
Introducing Nemo, the Blizzard of 2013 (10am report)
I thought I would chronicle the Blizzard of 2013 that is settling into New England. Now I'm not a weather expert, so don't expect too much meteorological talk. (Wow, that was a tough one to spell.) This is just going to be my ramblings about the storm with a sprinkling of photos. Now I have to warn you, if we lose power, which the town of Foxborough is known to do when the weather turns nasty, the blogging will come to a screeching halt until the power is restored.
Rumors about the blizzard began earlier in the week and they just got scarier each day. It also didn't help that Feb. 6-7 was the 35th anniversary of the Blizzard of '78, which if you lived in New England at that time, is something you will never forget. I was 7. I won't make you do the math...I am now 42. I do remember some things from the Blizzard of '78 - like the fact that my older sister and I were in elementary school and we didn't get home until after 5:00 on Feb. 6th because they didn't have enough buses running and those that were, it was slow going. I also remember after the storm cleared out and people started venturing outside, my little sister was MAD because Mom wouldn't let her out in the snow. She was 2 and Mom was afraid she would get buried. And we later found out, rightfully so, as my hometown of Uxbridge was hit with tragedy when Peter Gosselin, who was 2 years ahead of me in school, became buried in a snowbank and died.
Anyway, let's get back to the Blizzard of 2013. When I left my office in Boston yesterday, we were told that we were still planning to open, but to call the emergency line in the morning to check. The Mayor of Boston, Tom Menino, was calling for everyone to be off the streets of Boston by Noon on Friday and schools were already announcing that they would be closed, so we were expecting that we would either close early or not open at all. I got up at my normal time this morning and began preparing for work as usual. I left the house just before 6:30 to head to the train station. I had called the office emergency line twice before I left the house and it was still "business as usual". I even checked again after I got to the train station. No change. So I got on the train when it rolled in at 6:48 and just as it pulled out of the station, my cell phone rang. It was my friend, the office receptionist letting me know that she had just received the call that we would be closed. The HR Director had even said to her, "call Raquel right away" in hopes that they would catch me before I was on the train. Of course, had the MBTA been late, as it often is, I would have gotten the call in time. Oh well. So I rode the train to the 128 station, got off and then waited for the next one going back.
After I was back in my car, I headed to the gas station and then took a quick trip to Walgreens to pick up some more batteries. Again, living in Foxboro, and the power outages we've endured in recent years, I am over preparing for this one.
Oh, and in case you are wondering...the forecast is for 16-24+ inches. Yes, it could be more than 2 feet of snow! The worst of it is supposed to be tonight, after 7pm and overnight into tomorrow morning. And that is when the winds pick up too, strengthening to tropical storm / hurricane strength... prime conditions for power outages...and that is what makes it a blizzard instead of just a nor'easter - sustained winds of some ridiculous speed for a period of 3 hours or more.
Oh yes, and apparently now the weather folk have decided that they are going to name the big snowstorms, just like they name hurricanes. And this one is named Nemo. I'm not sure who's idea it was to name a giant blizzard after a cute little Disney fish, a clown fish at that, but I don't think we'll be laughing when the storm is over.
So this is our 10am snowfall. Just a light dusting so far.
Rumors about the blizzard began earlier in the week and they just got scarier each day. It also didn't help that Feb. 6-7 was the 35th anniversary of the Blizzard of '78, which if you lived in New England at that time, is something you will never forget. I was 7. I won't make you do the math...I am now 42. I do remember some things from the Blizzard of '78 - like the fact that my older sister and I were in elementary school and we didn't get home until after 5:00 on Feb. 6th because they didn't have enough buses running and those that were, it was slow going. I also remember after the storm cleared out and people started venturing outside, my little sister was MAD because Mom wouldn't let her out in the snow. She was 2 and Mom was afraid she would get buried. And we later found out, rightfully so, as my hometown of Uxbridge was hit with tragedy when Peter Gosselin, who was 2 years ahead of me in school, became buried in a snowbank and died.
Anyway, let's get back to the Blizzard of 2013. When I left my office in Boston yesterday, we were told that we were still planning to open, but to call the emergency line in the morning to check. The Mayor of Boston, Tom Menino, was calling for everyone to be off the streets of Boston by Noon on Friday and schools were already announcing that they would be closed, so we were expecting that we would either close early or not open at all. I got up at my normal time this morning and began preparing for work as usual. I left the house just before 6:30 to head to the train station. I had called the office emergency line twice before I left the house and it was still "business as usual". I even checked again after I got to the train station. No change. So I got on the train when it rolled in at 6:48 and just as it pulled out of the station, my cell phone rang. It was my friend, the office receptionist letting me know that she had just received the call that we would be closed. The HR Director had even said to her, "call Raquel right away" in hopes that they would catch me before I was on the train. Of course, had the MBTA been late, as it often is, I would have gotten the call in time. Oh well. So I rode the train to the 128 station, got off and then waited for the next one going back.
After I was back in my car, I headed to the gas station and then took a quick trip to Walgreens to pick up some more batteries. Again, living in Foxboro, and the power outages we've endured in recent years, I am over preparing for this one.
Oh, and in case you are wondering...the forecast is for 16-24+ inches. Yes, it could be more than 2 feet of snow! The worst of it is supposed to be tonight, after 7pm and overnight into tomorrow morning. And that is when the winds pick up too, strengthening to tropical storm / hurricane strength... prime conditions for power outages...and that is what makes it a blizzard instead of just a nor'easter - sustained winds of some ridiculous speed for a period of 3 hours or more.
Oh yes, and apparently now the weather folk have decided that they are going to name the big snowstorms, just like they name hurricanes. And this one is named Nemo. I'm not sure who's idea it was to name a giant blizzard after a cute little Disney fish, a clown fish at that, but I don't think we'll be laughing when the storm is over.
So this is our 10am snowfall. Just a light dusting so far.
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