Snow: let me explain it

[cleolinda]

The thing you have to understand about snow panic in Alabama is that it's not about the snow. Mostly, it's about us not being prepared for snow; a meager two inches is considered an epic blizzard. It's also about the side effects of snow--I live in a heavily-wooded suburban area full of giant, beautiful, old trees. Very old trees. And they all have dead branches here and there hanging on by a shred of bark, so when you have just enough snow to weigh them down, they break off and fall onto the power lines. Or worse, the entire tree is mostly dead and it falls across the road or onto (and usually through) your house. There was one Epic Two-Inch Snow that ended up with a three-foot-thick, forty-foot-long pine lying across our street (and in what used to be someone's sun room), while live power lines were sparking in the road. In fact, my mother reported last night that, as she was driving home, she saw a number of official-looking trucks on the side of the road, presumably stationed for speedy tree removal.

It's also about the ice. None of us know how to drive on it, because we don't get it often enough to figure out how and then retain that knowledge. One time there was a Special News Report on Safe Winter Weather Driving, and I am serious, it was, in its entirety, "Drive slow." And now, over to Jim with the sports! So basically, entire schools, businesses, and highways will be shut down for safety reasons while all of Chicago points and laughs. I am not even kidding: my sister may not be able to get to work on Friday--

Oh God. I just realized that if we are all iced in together for the next four days, a remake of The Shining is going to break out.


While we're here, a teensy bit of Twi-spam, because I am getting a lot of email about this, and also, I enjoy the progression of the headlines:

Attn. Jackson Rathbone: Missing something?

'Eclipse' Script Wasn't Leaked, Says Summit. 

Nikki Finke: Yes, That Leaked Movie Script Is 'Eclipse.' 

1. I don't want to read it. I'm to a point where I don't even watch clips of movies I know I want to see anymore. I get so bored in the theater if I feel like I've already seen the movie. 2. I suspect the wink emoticon in the script (as seen at the first link) is forced product-placement sarcasm from screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg. 3. My dazzle is somewhat chagrined that (people tell me) the werewolf-vampire nose-fist bump is not in this version of the script, because, quite honestly, the Edward/Seth stuff is the only thing I find remotely likeable about Book!Edward. Also: COME ON! WEREWOLF-VAMPIRE NOSE-FIST BUMP! If there is anything funnier than that, I can't think of it right now.

Meanwhile, I am trying to work--I got a good bit of novel note-sorting and categorizing done yesterday--but am having a hell of a time. Lots of interruptions, and I can't concentrate for shit. Also, my new calendars (50% off!) came in from Amazon yesterday, but without the books I had bought for research, and then I realized I had forgotten to order a couple of other researchy things anyway, fnarr. Also-also, I bought another pair of fingerless gloves because I was concerned that my homemade recycled ones were fraying a bit from being worn so much, and I am really hoping they arrive before the cold snap is over. This is Alabama, after all.


OH OH OH I ALMOST FORGOT I have two questions to ask you:

1) How do we get e-books from my stepfather's Kindle onto my parents' computer? They can't figure out how.

2) Those identity protection/theft-prevention services, are any of them actually any good?

Comments

[nanet.livejournal.com]

Where I work, we're expected to brave the snow and get in and take pictures of the campus covered in the white stuff. Because it doesn't often snow in Tennessee. So we go into snow panic. And I have to drive in it. And trudge through it. So the school can have pictures for Christmas cards.

[bumblebee-1983.livejournal.com]

Hello fellow Tennessean!

[bibliotech.livejournal.com]

Re: Kindle: hook it up via the USB cable, and it should show up as a separate device. The books are all in the 'documents' folder.

[faymar.livejournal.com]

If the question is how to read books in Amazon format on the PC, you can download the Kindle for PC (http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=ms_sbrspot_0?ie=UTF8&docId=1000426311&pf_rd_p=506553371&pf_rd_s=center-22&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0015TG12Q&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1XWY1ZJKY4AYWC7Q3VRB) and register it as one of his devices.

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

LOL--oops.



I just hope, if that was Jacksper's doing, they don't send him the way of Rachelle LeFevre, because I will throw an epic shit fit if that happens.

[maudelynn.livejournal.com]

It's his revenge for the atrocious wigs they keep putting him in.

I like him best, too.

[anthemyst.livejournal.com]

If you hook the Kindle to the computer via USB port, you should be able to look at all the files stored on the Kindle and just drag and drop them onto the desktop or wherever.

[kittybacklash.livejournal.com]

Well, we get snow in the British Isles most years, and we still have snow panic. Every year. We are constantly surprised that snow happens and therefore there is year after year of chaos and panic because...well I don't know quite why.

It's less understandable than Alabama Snow Panic, and even more point-and-laugh worthy. -sigh-

[skippity-doo.livejournal.com]

This year has been pretty bad, admittedly... but I imagine the Canadians are laughing at us so hard.

We're up to about 9 inches in the north east? My car is totally snowed in, but luckily I can walk to work.

[xturtle.livejournal.com]

I live in Minnesota, where nothing closes unless the governor closes it, and he's busy planning his run for president. We're supposed to have -35 windchills tomorrow, which will result in... a colder commute.

[darth-snarky.livejournal.com]

I'm currently in Minnesota, too, and today it felt warmer. I checked the temperature, and that's because it got all the way to 0! WHOOHOO!

Though to be fair, we can't really have any snow-related closures when it's too cold to snow.

[barrelgoddess.livejournal.com]

LMAO. Though, what surprises me about it is that it wasn't Pattinson's copy. I'd expect that from him at this point...

[acaciakitty.livejournal.com]

Hey hey hey, East Tennessee girl checking in! I KNOW about what snow does to us Southern people who don't know how to deal with it. Hell if the roads are icy I won't leave the house. I hit a patch one time, driving home from work in a snow storm, and I thought my life was going to end right then.

Also hilarious is the crazy rush to the grocery store when omg!snow is coming. People stock up like we're all going into underground bunkers for 10 years.

Which reminds me that I need to get a gallon of milk...

[thewretchedpoet.livejournal.com]

This. I went to Kroger to grab some milk and Morningstar Farms sausages and OMFG the parking lot was full and the aisle with canned goods was completely clogged with carts and frantic people. It cracks me up a little.

Signed, West Tennessean.

[mokeyhokey.livejournal.com]

I assure you: nobody in Chicago knows how to drive in the snow either.

(Okay that's not completely truthful, but you'd think everyone was brainswapped with people from Alabama every year when it snows for the first time.)

[flameraven.livejournal.com]

I think this is more because people in Chicago drive like maniacs as a default state, and then they try to apply that to snowy conditions.

Seriously. I grew up 20 miles outside the city, but I will NEVER drive in Chicago unless absolutely pressed to. I'd much rather take the South Shore in and then use the trolleys to get around downtown. D:

Mind you, the Chicago pedestrians don't believe in crossing at the lights, either (and I'm guilty of this too) which I'm sure doesn't help.

[vampirejen.livejournal.com]

Snooooooow! I'm in Pa where it snows alot, and believe me snow panic hits each and every time, no matter how "prepared" the cities think they are. And, even getting practice driving in/on ice doesn't help people. I refuse to drive on icy streets if I don't absolutely have to. I also refuse to be caught in a grocery store the day before, day of, first day out after a snowstorm. People think they need to stock/restock for the end of the world. Its funny, but annoying.

[caersidi.livejournal.com]

I so agree about the preparedness. We don't get snow that often in England for us to be geared up for it or again to know how to drive on icy roads.

In Canada where I grew up we had snow tires and drivers gained the knowledge of how to negotiate in all kinds of snow and ice.

[7tree-hugger.livejournal.com]

Correction: in Southern England.

Those of us who live alongside the Pennines or higher feel very superior at times like this.

ha. hahah. hahahah.

[ohsnapcat.livejournal.com]

oh... and in case you haven't seen this...
http://www.examiner.com/x-4908-Twilight-Examiner~y2010m1d6-Finally-a-sparkly-Edward-Twilight-doll

i mean, really?!?!?! like every girl who owns their very own sparklepire has not "enhanced" it already?!?!? hahaha...

Re: ha. hahah. hahahah.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I'm still not sure why they didn't stick with the Littlest Edward face sculpt. That thing is especially hideous.

[randomizemylife.livejournal.com]

Thank God I'm not the only one who's chagrined that the nose-fist-bump is missing. I was unexpectedly touched by that in the book (...actually, it might have been the only thing in the book I actually liked, lol). Screenwriters, what are you thinking?

[mazarin221b.livejournal.com]

Oh Jackson, you poor bastard. I really hope that is a fake. Here in Indy we're expecting about 5 to 8 inches from tonight through Friday, and people are already planning to skip work tomorrow. Jeez, people. Now, if I can't get out of my driveway by Friday AM, then yeah, I'l call in. But preemptive vacation is a bit of a stretch, even for me, and I'm a big wuss about snow.

[maudelynn.livejournal.com]

I am going downtown tomorrow, getting tipsy and finally seeing New Moon. I am only going to be there for belated moral support and the Rathbone.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

He does have a couple of good lines/cute moments, I give you that. Sadly, neither of them have anything to do with his big scene, and that's the one where his hair is the worst. Poor bb.

[flameraven.livejournal.com]

Having grown up near Chicago, yes, I point and laugh. Mind you, Indianapolis (where I now live) is not much better; I've seen the city shut down over 8" of snow before. Although this seems to be because Indy does not actually have a lot of money set aside for plows and salt trucks, and so they like to wait until AFTER the snow is done to send them out. Which means anyone trying to drive home will be in for a long, long wait. D:

We're supposed to get 3-6" here over the next few days, but thankfully, I don't have to go anywhere.

[akamarykate.livejournal.com]

I lived in Indy for 10 years, and not once did it ever seem ready to deal with snow. I'll never forget coming back to IN from the west, about 12 hours behind a major storm--Iowa roads were cleared, Illinois roads were cleared, but as soon as we crossed the state line into Indiana, the interstate was nothing but rutted ice. Took me 3 hours to go 70 miles!

[schmoo999.livejournal.com]

I live in the snow belt region of NE Ohio and plenty of people get snow panic. We were having a snow storm the other night when I went to see Sherlock Holmes, now I also have traction drive on my mini van that I adore during winter but there are always people who drive at a crawl on the interstate.

But we do have to keep the dead branches off trees and every summer you see trucks around trimming those off. :)

[onceinspired.livejournal.com]

Ohio points and laughs at you. Especially the Cleveland area because that lake-effect snow is a bitch. We love you anyway. :D

[akamarykate.livejournal.com]

I can totally understand southern snow panic. If you don't have the equipment to deal with it, even a little snow can create havoc.

Here in Omaha, we're currently getting more snow, going on 30" in the past 3 weeks or so (and tonight we get 30mph winds! High on Friday *without* factoring in wind chill of -8!). Even for Nebraska, this is unusual, and it's dangerous to drive through, or turn at, any intersection because the snow's piled so high no one can see what's coming. There's a square city block lot near me where they're trying to move some of the excess stuff, and it's half full of snow piles 10-15 feet high. Craziness.

I re-read The Long Winter last night on the theory that reading about the Ingalls family twisting hay for fuel and freeze drying their clothes would make our own winter easier to deal with. But it didn't help nearly as much as a plane ticket to San Diego would.

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

*waves to fellow Nebraskan* Hi from Lincoln! The only thing keeping me sane is the fact that native Nebraskans are equally freaked out by this weather as I (native East-coaster) am.

[salamandersam.livejournal.com]

The state of Louisiana is currently gearing up for possible sleet and snow tomorrow. It snowed last year, it's not supposed to snow two years in a row! And everything shuts down here. I've already informed my boss if the roads are bad enough (icy or sleety or snowy), then I'm not coming into work tomorrow. I'm just not willing to drive two hours one way on icy roads.

[cat-eyed-fox.livejournal.com]

To be fair, here in South Dakota, where we do get snow regularly, and occasionally very very deep, once that first snow shows up be in it October or November people freak their shit out.
I'm talking cars fishtailing, snow plows burying cars b/c people forget to move them off the street after a big snow, people suffering from frostbite b/c they didn't think to put on snowpants to get their mail in -20 degree weather ("I was just gettin my Netflix an' then next thing I know I canna feel my fingers! An' they're turnin' black.") and bunches of accidents b/c again, we've forgotten to OMG not drive like morons. Alabama might not get as much snow as other places but the epic "Whoops not ready yet. How about you snow next week?" mentality is everywhere.

[rosewood39.livejournal.com]

They do the same here in Wyoming, the people who have had snow their whole lives drive the worst sometimes I swear.

[jilu.livejournal.com]

I'm in Jackson, MS for a couple of weeks.

I had to go to Wal-mart Monday when it snowed here a little bit. Surprisingly (or not), the emptiest shelf (coming in after milk and bread) was....



Yep. Soda. One lone cherry coke 2 liter braves the fight.

[onceinspired.livejournal.com]

That is amazing.

[stateofserenity.livejournal.com]

I'm in Ohio... We've had 36 inches in the last 3 weeks and are supposed to have 6 more between now and Friday. (Now most of that has melted away so we're only under about 3-4 inches of ground cover). but basically every days since Christmas we've had snowy commutes. People in Ohio cannot drive norammly. you add the slightest bit of precipitation and folk go all crazy-like. If that precipitation is white people literally run around screaming "DOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

The grocery store runs happen here too. The little stop-n-rob at the corner of my street is cleaned out to apoloclyptic proportions.

All I can really say is be careful all in travelling and watch out for the crazies who ride their brakes in the ice. The key is to tap your gas if you start to slide. It forces the tires to continue to try and grip. Also - steer INTO the skid...not against.

Just my $0.02.

[corinnethewise.livejournal.com]

Also in Ohio...
The term is steer into the skid, but it's into as in "into the wind." Steer the direction that you want to go, do not steer the same direction that you are skidding. I mention this because when I was learning winter driving I was confused by "into the skid." You want to turn the wheels so that you create more friction on the wheels. Also don't over steer because when you come out of the skid you'll be going in the wrong direction.

[shellebelle93.livejournal.com]

I live in Massachusetts.

Upon the falling of the first snow of winter, everyone Forgets How to Drive in Snow, and Snow Panic ensues.

Personally? I think people panic around here simply because they do not WANT to drive in snow. I hate driving in any inclement weather but I think rain is ten times worse sometimes.


I'd much rather witness winter than participate in it.

[sevenmarie.livejournal.com]

the thing i fin absurd is here in PITTSBURGH PA they are almost as bad about snow! its panic in the streets when theres a storm coming in!

I'm not even kidding! they shut down school on Monday for like 3 inches of snow. meanwhile ERIE, PA (where i was born and raised) STILL has school even though they got 3 feet last night! I just roll my eyes and pass the people driving 2 miles an hour through salted slush.

My husband loves to re-tell the story his grandfather (who lived in birmingham) told about the snow:

one year they had a really bad snowstorm (i don't know how many inches--that's not part of the 3rd hand retelling of the story) so they decided to buy snowplows for the next time it happened. well a couple of years later it snowed bad enough to need the snowplows but guess what? they were on one side of the town and the trucks for them were on the opposite side of town.

i think that this is funny for 1 main reason--my first response was: what people don't just HAVE plows on their regular trucks all the time? (Im not even kidding all of my neighbors in Erie had plows firmly attached to their trucks from October through may).

[flameraven.livejournal.com]

The thing I would find terrifying about snow in Pittsburgh is that there are mountains. Having lived in Flatland (IN) all my life, mountains freak me out. I was recently in PA and the constant hills and sharp turns were bad enough-- and I wasn't even driving. The prospect of driving through that with snow is awful. D: