57 Thoughts to “The Aftermath: Digging out and other war stories (Sunday)”

  1. Virginia’s Department of Emergency Management has current information regarding road conditions, shelters and safety at http://www.vaemergency.gov. Pace yourself when you shovel and drink water – it’s easy to dehydrate. I was out there four times yesterday and then took a big old nap! Plan to do so again today.

    Facebook and Twitter are both awesome for sharing information, photos & connecting with community! Our ministers shot a video and posted a sermon on line for those of us who didn’t make it to the one 11 am service (usually there’s 4).

    Wondering how I’m ever going to reach our mailbox, which is walled behind a mountain ranged created by the snowplows. Husband suggested putting a sign on one of the peaks, “Honk if we have mail.”

    Worried about snow load on roof, and the weather event that’s coming Tuesday (six more inches? snow and sleet?).

  2. Lafayette

    I have friends on Brenstville & Lucasville Rds. they’ve been without electricity since 11pm Friday night. NOVEC has kept WestGate lit up as usual. It’s been decades since the power went out here.

    I’ve been staying inside and plan to keep that way as long as I can. I’ve been cooking a lot. It makes the house smell good and helps heat things up. There’s been NO digging out at my house. Good thing I just feed the Mr. a hearty breakfast(eggs, bacon, homefries & toast). 🙂

  3. IVAN

    Shoveled myself out Friday, Saturday and this morning. Six efforts in all with the help of the Mrs. Btw, car wax on the shovel blade heelps greatly to keep the snow from sticking. Don’t foreget to clear the fire hydrants in your neighborhood, you never know when it will be needed.

  4. Car wax! Thank you, Ivan! Loudoun County is telling people (because of buried house numbers on mailboxes) to put a big sign with your house numbers on your front door to help emergency workers locate those in need. Good idea.

  5. Snow load on roofs are bad. I am not sure a fast melt is such a good iea. I have some gigantic icicles hanging off the gutters.

  6. No school in PWC Monday. Code Red

  7. Red Dawn

    It looks so beautiful with the sun shinning & blue sky! Need sunglasses for sure!
    If you know of someone without power still on Tuesday, this might be a nice break:

    http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SmartSpending/default.aspx?feat=1605571

  8. A PW County Resident

    Okay, time for a feel-good story of paying it forward. The misses and I have been taking the time to shovel since I had a HA about 14 years ago. Well, we got down to about 10 feet from the street and took a break. It is where the plow had plowed us in. Well, I am sitting at my desk and the neighbor came from across the street with his teenage son and started digging us the rest of the way out. So of course I joined him and thanked him profusely. He said that I ad helped his wife about 8 years ago in the snow when he was out of town and had been wondering when he could repay the favor. I told him that it is what neighbors are for and he didn’t need to repay me. His answer of course? “This is what neighbors are for.”

    He also said he remembered that I had a bad ticker and didn’t want to see me across the street me lying down. 🙂

  9. anona

    Neighbors helping neighbors. I love what snow does to bring out the best in people. OUr neighborhood is doing a stone soup potluck superbowl party.

    My silly dog hasn’t figured out that a snowball isn’t a real ball. The kids have had loads of laughs throwing snowballs. She runs out through the frozen tundra to retrieve them then she can’t figure out where the “ball” is. The sad thing is that she’ll do it again and again.

    I love snow but I am glad I don’t live in Canada. I couldn’t take more than a few days of this.

  10. My friends in Canada are laughing with me in email that Vancouver is having to ship in snow by the ton for the Olympics. I told Marie I knew where they could find some!

    Rez, that is a great story. Funny how that good Karma comes back. It is going to have to come back on my son several times over who has taken care of our snow needs.

  11. Lafayette

    Took a trip to the WestGate Giant. There were three cars stuck on Lomond Dr. The side roads were in better shape than the main drag. Giant’s parking lot was clear. The sun was shining off the plowed/shoveled snow. It really looks like it will be a nice layer of ice on top of it all tomorrow morning. Stonewall Middle School and the Bus Lot have NOT been touched, and there driveways too have been blocked in by plowed snow. Needless to say I got some pictures while I was off of good ole Lafayette.

  12. Did you see Mr. Howler up there? He ws off prowling around and picking up an rx in MY suv. grrrrr

  13. I put a link in my last post. Now I’m in moderation, MH.

  14. Wolverine

    Our near neighbors had a great couple of days. They sheltered at mom and pop’s place during the worst of the storm, and a large pine tree fell on that house and broke through the roof. When they got home to their own place, one parking space was filled with several feet of snow and, in the other space, their second car was completely covered and lost to view. We held a neighborfest to dig out the car and the other parking space. Once the work was done, the lady of the house backed her vehicle into the street in order to re-position in the parking space. She got out of the car for a moment while it was sitting in the middle of the street and accidentally locked her keys in it. It was a long weekend.

  15. The commercials are incredibly stupid tonight, IMHO.

  16. A PW County Resident

    And the Who is embarrassing.

  17. Emma

    Yes, watching them gasp their way through “Teenage Wasteland” was painful.

  18. Lafayette

    I’ve never been a Who fan, but tonight’s performance was in embarrassing. As PWC Resident said. Hopefully, the NFL “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by have the Who perform half time. The Stones are older and blow The Who away.

    Emma, I don’t care about either of the teams. I’m just waiting for 9pm to get here. I can’t wait to see Big Love. I really can’t believe Bill got “flat top” to take the hit for him.

  19. I don’t see you in moderation, pinko. No one in there but perverts whining.

  20. I thought it was just me being grouchy. The Whom are….dated. Not even Branson material.(that place where old Vegas acts go to die)

    I like Pinball Wizard but it lasted about 30 seconds.

    Wolverine, What a horrible story. The good thing is they have to know tomorrow will be better. I was lucky, my pine uprooted away from the house.

    Pinko, I expect if you put more than one link up you went to spam. If that is the case, I cannot rescue you. Repost, only do one link at a time.

  21. Emma, Lafayette, come on up for air now….Big Love is over. Love that Adam Beach! Does Barb have a new love interest? Errr make that lust.

    Well, the Saint sure pulled off a miracle. The Saints marched in and kicked some major booty.

  22. NoVA Scout

    Having extricated three SUVs from ditches over the weekend at a time when I would have preferred doing other things, I think some quasi-martial law policy of fat, strict liability tickets for anyone who drives in these big storms would be a great idea. I guess the nuance might be that you only get a ticket if you get stuck (that might be easier to administer) . But I simply do not understand why folks can’t hunker down for a couple of days until things get plowed. I didn’t ask any of the people I assisted as to why they were out (I was on foot armed with a snow shovel and an ability learned growing up in the Upper Midwest to drive on snow and ice), but it seemed they were out for no particular reason.

    The plows must have room to operate and don’t need a lot of dunderheads who think SUVs can perform magic tricks clogging up side streets.

  23. Suv drivers,(and I am one) mistakenly think they can stop better than other people. That thought defies the laws of physics. Being able to go better doesn’t mean you can stop better. No one can drive on ice.

    I stayed home. Tomorrow I will test the waters….

  24. By the way, Good to see you NoVA Scout.

    Has anyone seen SA around? He has been MIA.

  25. PWC Schools, Manassas City Schools and Manassas Park Schools are all closed tomorrow.

    Prince William Govt and courts are closed tomorrow.

  26. DB

    I was out this evening (emergency vet visit *sigh*) and the roads still are not good. Lomond/Liberia are still covered and so is 28 so drivers had to guess if they were in a lane or not. It was slow going, but I kept to a reasonable speed so I didn’t slide around. As of this afternoon Sinclair parking lot was still unplowed.

  27. Another storm is coming in Tuesday and Wednesday. Predictions are 5″-6″ of new snow and ice. Just what we need! n

  28. Emma

    @Lafayette Big Love was WAAY better than even the Superbowl commercials last night. And I love Sissy Spacek’s role.

  29. Emma

    @Moon-howler That sweat lodge scene was smokin’ hot!

  30. Lafayette

    @Emma

    @Moon-howler

    I love Sissy Spacek in any role, but I really dig her as Marilyn. I loved the ride out to the casino and the unexpected guests from Juniper Creek once they got there. How about Joey the Superbowl star?

    I got tickled at the end when Barb was using her bathroom as a make shift sweat lodge. Mr. Lafayette has been monitoring the Barb situation from the beginning of this season. I thought the coffee mug of Barb’s was hysterical BOSS LADY. The same name Niki dubbed Barb back in season one or two. I could slapped Barb when she kicked out the leg on Margene’s table.

    Bill’s made me mad this season, but I had to chuckle at the look on his face as everyone seemed to want a piece of him.

  31. Poor Richard

    Big Love – New Orleans winning the Super Bowl!!

    My son graduated from Purdue and we have admired Drew Brees as a player and
    person for a long time and are thrilled for him and Who Dat Nation.

    Boiler Up! Go Saints!

  32. Emma

    It was the kiss of death for the Colts when the President did a Coakley/Deeds/Corzine/Olympics on them and said he favored them, although he had a soft spot for the Saints. It’s a wonder it wasn’t a tie!

  33. Bill is an immoral goat. He actually makes me sick this season. He used to have redeeming qualities before this season although I can’t remember what they are.

    I didn’t pick up on the coffee cup. Interesting. Is Barb drinking coffee? Observant Mormons, which she used to be and is trying to get back in with, for appearance sake, do not drink coffee, tea, coke, etc. I don’t believe Fundamentalist Mormons like Juniper Creek does either.

  34. Earlierst peapod day is Thursday. My delivery has been cancelled twice now.

    American disposal services is not collecting today. They will not collect until the next regular day.

  35. Emma

    I love the hypocrisy of a Mormon casino that does not serve alcohol.

  36. Poor Richard

    Big Love In The Big Easy!

  37. Lafayette

    Maybe, Barb’s coffee mug was spiked coffee. Mormons most definately are not supposed to indulge in caffiene. Hypocracy at it’s finest.

  38. @Moon-howler
    Perverts, huh?

    Anyway, I probably posted it somewhere else and was just in no-brain mode.

  39. Emma

    The City of Manassas has already cancelled school for Tuesday and Wednesday. Does anyone besides me think this is freakin’ ridiculous? I can understand PWC, which encompasses rural and mountainous areas, but the City?

  40. Lafayette

    @Emma
    I couldn’t agree more. Wasn’t the City government open today? I guess they know all the sidewalks are not clear for the little ones walking to make it there safely. PWC hasn’t said boo about tomorrow. I feel certain they will have to remain closed tomorrow. Then more snow tomorrow night. We may as well write-off Wednesday too, at least in the county.

  41. Emma

    The little ones in the neighborhood are walking to a nearby sledding hill without any problems, but I suppose the City attorney isn’t too concerned about that. I didn’t think the snow was supposed to start until late tomorrow. I love them being home with me, but we have nonrefundable plane tickets for spring break, and I’m starting to worry.

  42. Lafayette

    You bring up an excellent point about the abilty to make in sledding.lol

    I think the kids could’ve gone to school Friday on time and maybe, just maybe early dismissal, but no. It was a total wash. I think the kids should be very concerned about their Spring Break. Which was nonexistant in my day. I would be worried about those tickets too if I had them. Good luck!

  43. If you walk to a sledding hill, it is on your parents’ watch. If you walk to school out in the middle of the road, it is on the school’s watch. Legalities and all. There is also the school lots and sidewalks. There is no place to put the snow at many of the schools. It has to go somewhere.

    Of course the kids could have gone to school on Friday. There was also a good chance that the weather could have dipped 2 degrees and all that snow would have stuck. No school system wants to get itself in that lose/lose situation. Safety of 74,000 kids and a staff of 5,000 really can’t be second guessed or Monday morning quarter-backed.

    There were also places in the county that might have been below 32 degrees.

    If you already have tickets, you go anyway. No one really cares.

  44. Lafayette

    PW has checked in now.
    All Prince William County Public Schools will be closed Tuesday, February 9, on Code Red. The School Age Care Program will not open.
    http://www.pwcs.edu/

  45. Emma

    If we’re accepting the climate-change model that predicts increased precipitation, then perhaps the mid-Atlantic needs to learn to deal with snow without going into hibernation for days on end. Children in the northeast and midwest deal with it, without sidewalks and roads scraped down to blacktop.

  46. Poor Richard

    What a chick blog — you should be discussing every move and nuance of
    yesterday’s Super Bowl game! Focus on the really historic events — not
    TV melodrama. There won’t be anything like this again, ever ….
    well, until March Madness and then ohhhh … if our Caps win the Cup!!!

    ( More snow predicted starting late tomorrow afternoon — up to 10″ —
    this time with heavy win and ice. Having fun yet?)

  47. Emma, we have not had significant snowfall in several years. This year’s weather has been very unusual for the area. We are doing fine. This is not New England. It is hard to teach kids how to deal without lots and lots of practice, which our kids just have not had.

    We also seem to be getting more and more tornadoes, compared to the olden days. Should we all go out and build a storm cellar like you see in The Wizard of Oz?

  48. RingDangDoo

    Woohoo! Just got power restored after 49 hours!

    What’d I miss? 😉

  49. Welcome back, Ring. Not a lot, just chit chat. Nothing even got serious until today.

    Getting ready to test out the ‘moderation’ button here on anti.

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