Just Another Snow-tastrophe in the NW

Yesterday I vented out my frustrations about how inefficient Washington (and especially the Greater Puget Sound area) is in dealing with snow storms. We're simply not prepared for them on any level, and with the weather becoming wonkier by the year, we ought to make better preparations, but this state is currently experiencing some very drastic budget cuts all along the board ($116 million just to higher education). So, here's yet another reason why we don't handle snow the way the Midwest does: hills. We have big, fucking hills all over and even a bit of ice or snow on them can send people careening down them. As was the case yesterday, when not one, but two charter buses ignored their passengers and went down one of the many steep streets in Capitol Hill. I mean, come on! It's even in the fucking name: Capitol Hill.

When you have snow and ice in a place where most of the roads are relatively flat and even, you're not going to have such a hard time driving along so long as you're careful and have appropriate tires or chains. Even without those accessories, a slow and cautious driver can make it through without a problem. However, when you add ice to a city filled with hills, and snow plows are at a premium, and your streets are all twisty and bendy and only the arterials have been cleared off, well ... you get idiots taking a detour to hang out over I-5 despite being told "don't go down the hill!"

jodawi braved going to Microsoft on Thursday, his truck held up well, but he kept having to find alternate routes around the multitude of buses that were stuck on the ice or in the snow and couldn't manage. These buses are equipped with chains, but I guess they weren't using them ... or they weren't working. Meanwhile, though he made it, he couldn't park on the Microsoft campus and had to walk part-way instead. Because, you know, hills.

I've already said it before, so I don't need to go into all the details about how very little equipped this area is in dealing with snow--we usually don't have to--and some of the negative effects of that lack. The worst part being insufficient shelters for the unhoused who occasionally freeze to death or experience an increase in illness and frostbite.

If you don't hear from me again, expect that the anticipated incoming storm (supposed to hit us hardest around 10pm) knocked out the power. We're semi-prepared for this event, although when Craig wakes up I'll need to ask him if we still have a camping stove or something. At least we have a brick oven, a fireplace, and a ton of Shabbat candles. ^_^ If absolutely necessary, we could possibly pull down my mattress to the living room and bundle up in front of the fire.

EDIT: Not surprisingly, FARK has a thread on this. Also not surprisingly, there are arguments between people who live in this area and know the inherent problems with snow in Seattle, and then there are the people from the Midwest who don't understand and mock us. Then, there are people who don't care one whit and add their own commentary:

It's not the size of the bus that matters.

It's the angle of the dangle.
--MarshaFarker