My First Winter in the South
Well the snow catastrophe continues in Atlanta. The situation is a curiosity to be sure. We had a snowstorm Sunday evening and by my accounts we received 4 or 5 inches of snow in Duluth. Now Atlanta does not have snow removal equipment or the means to deal with these things when it gets "this bad". So the snow stays on the road. It gets packed down and subsequently into mostly a 1-inch thick ice pack. Tuesday the temps today got slightly above freezing and dare I say I saw liquid water. I am not accustomed to seeing liquid water during a snow crisis. By the way, Atlanta Schools will probably be closed for a week. This whole thing is probably the biggest culture shock I have experienced in the last 6 months and over a dozen countries.
I have been tending to business as I would up North. Monday they closed work when I was there. Tuesday they closed work as well. I wish I had a job on days like this that we could really call it a snow day and go sledding or something. Fortunately or unfortunately, I just have to do my work at home. My constituents are all over the world, timezones, and yes even seasons. I was really taken back by hearing that the buses stoped running and dialysis treatment centers close.
Assessing the food situation I estimated that I probably have a month in my bodily reserves. After that thought I extrapolated that I needed some light salad. So I headed out to the Kroger to get some freshies. The roads had a mix of ice and bare patches like what happens when you don't plow. I went down the hill near my home ice covered and cautious, got my freshies (the Krogers looked ransacked) and unbelievably my dry cleaning. On my way back home I encountered the ice hill I came down some time earlier. There were 4-way flashers on cars skidding back and forth and it looked like two 4x4 trucks towing each other and others off the grade. Hmm. Maybe the temp dipped a bit more and all the spinning tires put a nice shine on the ice. Hmm. I sat there for a few minutes in my light Asian front-drive car with half used up summer tires until I saw a break in the local ice catastrophe melee. I pulled out and smoothly went up the hill. The folks carrying their bundled infants and groceries next to the road didn't really know what to make of me. The car was not spinning its tires and was going quietly and smoothly up the ice gauntlet. I wanted to tell them that as far as drivers go I really am pretty crappy.
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