It snows a lot in New England. I could take it or leave it but I guess it's cool for the kids and it makes for some aesthetically pleasing scenery. Whatever. Everyone knows it snows a lot and most people around here have survived several snowstorms yet they all get their panties in a bunch every time a forecast calls for a few flakes. It's part of their stupid charm. Now, I'm starting to think it's justified.
I left work around 2:00 yesterday and it took me about an hour to drive 8 miles or so and that included picking up my kids. I got lucky. It took my wife 2.5 hours to get home and it's usually a 5-10 minute drive. Apparently she got lucky too.
Some students were returned to the school bus yard until their families could pick them up. Rose said about half a dozen students were still at the bus yard at about 11 p.m.
That's fucking brilliant. Unfortunately the most traveled-on highway in Providence became a parking lot yesterday leaving people with 8 hour commutes and some elementary school kids after experiencing the excitement of an early dismissal who thought they could go home and play in the snow didn't get home until midnight. How does this happen you ask?
Well, the storm that everyone knew was coming all week was supposed to start at around 1:00. Instead it started at around 11:00. Approximately 500 state plows weren't ready for it. These guys are getting paid like 800 dollars per hour of our tax money to make sure we can get home safe and because the snow started falling 2 hours sooner, chaos was apparently unavoidable? The reason...they couldn't plow because there was too much traffic. Chicken or the egg?
I was one of the lucky ones but if my kid got out of school at 1:00 and I got a call 10 hours later to go pick her up at a bus yard with nobody to hold accountable, I don't know what I'd do but it's shit like that that makes it understandable how people can lose it "D-Fens" style.
Mr. Vandelay,
Your import/export business is taking a hit because of this storm, so I am sorry for your trouble. But, I must say this.
I get a kick out of you people in the Northeast. Your storms get more forewarning and press than the latest Lindsay Lohan coke binge/whore fest/douchebag alcoholic boyfriend binge, yet nobody ever seems to be prepared. Six to eleven inches? That is daily snowfall amount on the shores of Lake Michigan. Yet, we don't get the privilege of having Jim Cantore and the Weather Channel here telling us that Armageddon is coming.
Why? We know it isn't Armageddon.
Anyway, have fun watching Bill Belichick run the score up on the Jests this weekend. My prediction? 80-3.
Posted by: Dr. Tim Whatley | December 14, 2007 at 11:56 AM
You're preaching to the choir, Whatley.
I could care less about Belicheat and his perverse sense of justice. Mangina should just blitz 9 every down and go right for the fibula.
Posted by: Art Vandelay | December 14, 2007 at 12:24 PM
There's really no excuse for a place that gets a lot of snow to have that type of delay. They have the people and the equipment to deal with it, being unprepared (especially if it was only a couple hours early) is not ok.
Where along the lake shore are you, Whatley? You're not a Yooper are you?
Posted by: Craig | December 14, 2007 at 01:10 PM
Maybe I'm oversimplifying things a bit, but when I lived in states where snow was legally allowed to enter, I either stayed home if a storm was inevitable, left a half hour earlier than I was allowed to or just made plans to stay near work overnight.
Because... and you can quote me on this... the reason for the traffic is that people cannot properly drive cars in bad weather conditions and always make things worse when they try. I'm giving a pass to the plow guys and saying the fuckwits that were sliding sideways across intersections are at fault.
Posted by: Assman | December 14, 2007 at 02:15 PM
I'm giving a pass to the plow guys and saying the fuckwits that were sliding sideways across intersections are at fault.
You're right but they know this already.
Posted by: Art Vandelay | December 14, 2007 at 02:19 PM
"the reason for the traffic is that people cannot properly drive cars in bad weather conditions and always make things worse when they try."
And you can quote me on this: the reason for the traffic is that people cannot properly drive cars in good conditions either.
Posted by: Jack Klompus | December 14, 2007 at 03:49 PM
"It snows a lot in New England."
Jeez, I can't remember the last time it snowed in this state- are you for real?
That said, it took me an extra 3 hours to get home because the entire 32 miles of 3 to 4 lane highway was completely backed up BECAUSE... the people in this state have bat shit for brains and can't seem to keep their fucking vehicles on the road. The storm wasn't that bad- if it wasn't for the extreme concentration of morons on the highway I would've made it back inside an hour. If one of these dumb fucking retards wasn't in ditch then his mother was. And everybody has to slow down and scope for blood as they drive by- one by one- prick after prick. This one fat prick in front of me stopped in the middle of the fucking highway, jumped out of his Malibu (people are screaming at him as they try go around), grabs an empty gallon jug out of his trunk, goes back in the car, fills it with piss, gets back out of the car , walks across the freaking highway (I'm praying so hard he gets run over), dumps out the piss, and throws the empty jug on the ground. And it is not uncommon to see level of ignorance being displayed all over this dumb-ass state.
After sitting in bumper to bumper for 2 hours I took the next exit off that fucking graveyard and cruised home on the back roads.
My solution: split RI in half, give half CT and half to MA, wait a couple of generations, and hope natural selection weeds out the fucking imbeciles.
Posted by: Eli | December 14, 2007 at 03:55 PM
"My solution: split RI in half, give half CT and half to MA, wait a couple of generations, and hope natural selection weeds out the fucking imbeciles."
Great solution. Divide one small retarded state between two larger retarded states.
Posted by: Jack Klompus | December 14, 2007 at 04:03 PM
"I could care less about Belicheat and his perverse sense of justice. Mangina should just blitz 9 every down and go right for the fibula."
I couldn't agree with you more. At least its better than watching the Lie-downs, errr, Lions.
"Where along the lake shore are you, Whatley? You're not a Yooper are you?"
Not a yooper since I can't luge off of my roof and I don't finish my sentences with, "yah, eh?"
Posted by: Dr. Tim Whatley | December 14, 2007 at 04:03 PM
The storm wasn't that bad- if it wasn't for the extreme concentration of morons on the highway I would've made it back inside an hour.
But again...we know people can't deal with the weather and half of them think the best way to drive in the snow is to hit your brakes as much as humanly possible. That's why the 500 plow drivers needed to be ready to go before the first flake hit the ground.
Great solution. Divide one small retarded state between two larger retarded states.
Just combine all three and make one retarded superpower.
Posted by: Art Vandelay | December 14, 2007 at 04:11 PM
"yet nobody ever seems to be prepared."
How precious. Yeah, let's take lessons on preparation from Michiganders. They've done a bang-up job with their state economy. Whoa, didn't see that motor industry decline coming. Just popped up out of nowhere. Let's take our snowmobiles over to Bob's Big Boy and wait for it to fix itself, eh? Fuckers.
Posted by: Jack Klompus | December 14, 2007 at 04:12 PM
For Festivus, I'd like to see Klompus just go after every state individually. Just knock 'em down a peg one after the other.
Posted by: Art Vandelay | December 14, 2007 at 05:00 PM
Yeah, let's take lessons on preparation from Michiganders.
Hey now, don't start in on our state economy. Just because every company that employed anyone in the state has either moved away or started laying off people, our unemployment is hovering somewhere around 50% and I would probably have a hard time selling my house for more than 20 bucks because there are so many houses for sale and no buyers, that's no reason to say mean things about our economy.
Seriously though, they do a good job dealing with the winter weather here, even if we aren't prepared for anything else.
Posted by: Craig | December 14, 2007 at 08:55 PM
What exactly were they going to do in those two hours that would have gotten them ready for the storm? Plus, it's not like radar wouldn't have shown that the storm was ahead of schedule.
The most annoying thing about winter driving is that it's really just the first snowfall that causes the problems. Every year people need to be reminded that snow is slippery, usually by hitting something or going into the ditch.
Posted by: daveNYC | December 15, 2007 at 12:52 PM
Yet, we don't get the privilege of having Jim Cantore and the Weather Channel here telling us that Armageddon is coming.
Ah, you spoke too soon. I just saw Jim Cantore reporting from Troy.
Posted by: Craig | December 16, 2007 at 11:55 AM