Am I going to hell...

[NHSparky]

For thinking this was funny and wondering why he didn't back up a few feet, get a running start, and just plow through this?



Discuss.

[ExGeeEye]

 

My first thought is "it must be really important for him to get where he's going; if that was me, I'd still be in the house."

[longview]

He would probably laugh if he saw the photo.  I'm even more sure his friends would.

Those power chairs and scooters don't have a lot of torque.  I've considered slapping chains on a few for their owners, but it wouldn't help.

[NHSparky]

Although I will say this--for "enlightened liberals" to shit on the handicapped in this way ain't funny at all.  Read the story in the Boston Globe HERE.

[longview]

Yeah, but pragmatic disabled, who have dealt with huge inconvenience (internal and external) all their lives, don't usually get their panties in a twist too easily or for too long. 

Might be the best thing the rest of us could learn.

[debk]

I read the article, and the comments.

Tried to go back to do a copy/paste on one of the comments and the site won't let me back in.

On page 3 of the comments...is a long post from nospe or something similar. It is an excellent post.

The man in the picture, while I feel bad for him that he is in a wheelchair and even moreso that he has cerebal palsey...is head of some advocate group for the disabled. As the poster pointed out, this was obviously a "planned" photo, not some random one where a reporter was driving down the street.

This has been an incredible winter for many areas of the country that either rarely receive snow or those that do, many have already received double the snow amounts of an entire winter....NYC and Boston have more than doubled their usual. According to a news report that I saw on Thursday evening, NYC has had 56" of snow this winter, and Boston was at 63", and it was still snowing at the time of the report!!

Where the heck are people/cities supposed to put the snow?!! They haven't had temperatures to melt any of it, I don't think. When rooftops are collapsing under 3 feet of snow, houses are having water drip through their ceilings from snow melt, snow banks are hitting second story windows in places...what exactly are people/cities supposed to do?

There is only so much money for snow removal/road sand/salting. Municipalities order the salt stuff, months in advance. The companies that make it, can only guarantee so much, they make that amount, and it takes time AND money to make more and for municipalities to find more, PAY for it, and get it shipped to them. Counties all around mine, including mine....have run out, had to get more if they can pay for it, or just do without.

The way the weather is forecasted anymore, we know days in advance, that a snow/ice storm is coming. People need to look at it the same way people do in hurricane regions. It might not come, but it's better to be prepared JUST IN CASE!

Northerners bitch all during hurricane season... when a city/area gets hit by a hurricane, and those in the path are without necessities ... and the Northerners are quick to say...."Well why weren't you prepared? Why didn't you leave? Why didn't you have enough insurance?" and on and on and on.

Well...Northerners....if a snow/ice storm is coming, I suggest you go out and get groceries, get your Rx's filled, get a good book or two or three, and some DVD's, and STAY HOME!! until it is safe to go out and about. For the most part....YOU will be safe in your homes, you aren't going to lose your possessions or your home, be displaced to a shelter.

I've lived places where snow is "ass-deep to a tall Sioux Indian" in the winter(Tornado Alley in the spring and summer), and owned property that's been in the path, or alongside the path, of several hurricanes. Given the choice...I'd much rather take my chances on snow and cold.

And I would also like to point out....when Midwesterners get hit by bad weather....whether snow/ice and cold, hot and tornado-y, or floods from both....THEY GET OUT AND HELP EACH OTHER, THEIR NEIGHBOR AND THE GUY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN THAT THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW. They don't sit and bitch and wait for the government to "fix it" for them.

[NHSparky]

I suggest you go out and get groceries, get your Rx's filled, get a good book or two or three, and some DVD's, and STAY HOME!!

Some of us don't have a choice.  They've cancelled my work ONCE in the five years I've been here.  Even during the snowstorm where we got 16 inches of snow a couple of weeks back, it wasn't cancelled.

I've lost power in each of the last three winters, including once (thankfully briefly) so far this winter.  Most of us are prepared far beyond what one might consider prudent.  I hear the words, "blizzard" or "ice storm" and I'm making sure the generator will start, that all my gas cans are full, plenty of oil in the tank, batteries, instant coffee, etc.

You don't see the store-shelves clearing level of panic one sees elsewhere.

While I agree that it might have been "staged", it's not all that out of place for me to be a little pissed at a PUBLIC MASS-TRANSIT center to not live up to the standards the state expects us "little people" to adhere to, now is it?

[longview]

While I agree that it might have been "staged", it's not all that out of place for me to be a little pissed at a PUBLIC MASS-TRANSIT center to not live up to the standards the state expects us "little people" to adhere to, now is it?

No, it's not too much.  But, I would expect someone working at the center to grab a shovel and just go do it.

[debk]

Some of us don't have a choice.  They've cancelled my work ONCE in the five years I've been here.  Even during the snowstorm where we got 16 inches of snow a couple of weeks back, it wasn't cancelled.

I don't really remember school ever being cancelled when I was a kid. I do remember walking to school one morning, when I was in 2nd grade - yes, I walked to school! but it was only about 4 blocks - and my dad coming by in the car, yelling at me to get in the car, and he took me on to school. It was -20 out, and my parents didn't know it, until after I left for school. I guess my dad was afraid I would freeze. We lived in SD at the time.

In 4 years of college, 50 miles outside of Chicago, classes were cancelled 2x. Once as a freshman, a bad blizzard came in late afternoon as everyone was returning from Christmas break. Cars were stranded on the highways, and kids couldn't get back to school. My 4 hour trip took over 12 hours! The other time was a bad ice storm when I was a junior. Classes were only cancelled after a couple of professors broke their legs trying to get across from their cars to the buildings.

The 3 yrs I lived in Omaha...work was never cancelled. Even after my apartment complex was hit by a tornado.

I've lost power in each of the last three winters, including once (thankfully briefly) so far this winter.  Most of us are prepared far beyond what one might consider prudent.  I hear the words, "blizzard" or "ice storm" and I'm making sure the generator will start, that all my gas cans are full, plenty of oil in the tank, batteries, instant coffee, etc.

You don't see the store-shelves clearing level of panic one sees elsewhere.

We see the "panic" shelf clearing here, only because when it snows here...the world stops, because it's usually a rare occurence. We have lots of hills, winding roads, little to usually no shoulders on the roads, 25 trucks with plows attached to service 2000 miles of road, snow inevitably will turn to ice that usually will take several days to melt off of the roads that don't get enough sun because of the topography.

While I agree that it might have been "staged", it's not all that out of place for me to be a little pissed at a PUBLIC MASS-TRANSIT center to not live up to the standards the state expects us "little people" to adhere to, now is it?

I totally agree with you that the standards put on the private sector for keeping their walkways maintained during the snow should either be the same for the city/county/state properties...or if they can't do it, you shouldn't be expected to do it either.

Reading those comments to the article though....to raise taxes so that there is more money for snow removal seems ridiculous to me. I'm sure there is a lot of things in the budgets that could be cut out, to find the money. Y'all need some good conservatives to look at the budgets and start slicing and dicing. That's what's happening here - you wouldn't believe how much money the county is going to save by taking the cars away from several county workers, and taking away the county credit cards they've been getting for years and years!!

Heck...if the counties - everywhere - could start making some of these welfare people get out and work, shovelling snow, raking up leaves, mowing grass, etc...the welfare people might get off their tushes and go out and find jobs and stop collecting welfare. 

[NHSparky]

Reading those comments to the article though....to raise taxes so that there is more money for snow removal seems ridiculous to me.

You need to consider where those comments are coming from--Massholes.  Not me.  Then again, Massholes move up here and want the same stuff, and have actually gotten elected to the legislature and proposed enacting a sales and/or income tax.

They don't usually last long.

[debk]

You need to consider where those comments are coming from--Massholes.  Not me.  Then again, Massholes move up here and want the same stuff, and have actually gotten elected to the legislature and proposed enacting a sales and/or income tax.

They don't usually last long.

I have to tell you though, Sparky, when I saw those snow levels the other night on tv...my heart went out to all of you up there. That's just a massive amount of snow to deal with in such a short time, and for the cities getting it...there's just no place to put it.

I didn't think about where it was going, until I heard someone talking about NYC and how it can't be dumped in the river because of the chemicals in the snow, from treating the roads.

To think that there is at least another 6-8 weeks of winter...where you are, it's what? 3 more months? If this continues for the next two months...with little to no melting...where are y'all going to put it? And there's going to be some massive flooding once it does start to melt!!

[NHSparky]

Hey, it's 35 degrees today.  You know what happens at 32 degrees, right?  T-SHIRT WEATHER!!!

Seriously, yeah, it sucks when there are 7-8 FEET high mounds of snow on the roads and corners to where you can't see what's coming, especially on some of these blind curves or on-ramps.

At the plant, we have a snow melter that we fire up and dump all the plowed snow into every storm.  That thing has been running like crazy the last 4 weeks, and we've still got 4-5 foot piles all over the place.

My house has snow nearly head deep in places.  It's piling nearly up to the railing on my back porch--and the deck is 4 feet off the ground, and the railing about 4 feet above that.  I'll have to show a picture of where I've dug out in front of the house to the front door and so the oil guy can get to the fill connection for my oil tank.

Which reminds me--I'm going to have to scrape some snow off the roof next weekend.  AGAIN.

[debk]

It's 54 here right now. Supposed to get up to the high 50's. Tomorrow was supposed to be mid 60's but they've lowered it to upper 50's. It was in the teens the other night. 

Rain and thunderstorms coming in on Monday, through Wednesday, when it's supposed to turn to snow. But that was this morning. Who knows what it will be tonight. Because we are in the valley between the Cumberland Plateau, the Cumberlands, and the Smokies....our weather is very hard to accurately predict. Add in all the lakes surrounding us, and the topography just in the county itself....who knows what we will get. My daughter lives about 18 miles NE of me, and its amazing how much our weather can vary...particularly in rain and snow amounts.

[NHSparky]

LINKY

Play with that for a while.

[zeitgeist]

Hey, it's 35 degrees today.  You know what happens at 32 degrees, right?  T-SHIRT WEATHER!!!

Seriously, yeah, it sucks when there are 7-8 FEET high mounds of snow on the roads and corners to where you can't see what's coming, especially on some of these blind curves or on-ramps.

At the plant, we have a snow melter that we fire up and dump all the plowed snow into every storm.  That thing has been running like crazy the last 4 weeks, and we've still got 4-5 foot piles all over the place.

My house has snow nearly head deep in places.  It's piling nearly up to the railing on my back porch--and the deck is 4 feet off the ground, and the railing about 4 feet above that.  I'll have to show a picture of where I've dug out in front of the house to the front door and so the oil guy can get to the fill connection for my oil tank.

Which reminds me--I'm going to have to scrape some snow off the roof next weekend.  AGAIN.

Didn't I see you out plowing the other day?



Thought it looked a little like ya.

[NHSparky]

Nah, that's my uncle.  If he doesn't move fast enough, I leave him out for the night with no gruel.

That'll teach him.

[Thor]

In looking at that pic, reading the article and KNOWING how they do up North in MN, it seems to me that someone cleared that sidewalk only to have a snow plow come by and leave a snow ridge. It definitely appears to be "staged". When I was living up North, invariably the snow plows would come by AFTER I've cleared the driveway and leave me a ridge anywhere from six inches to three feet!! It got to the point that I'd snowblow part of the city street just to help their plows not leave a pile of snow at the end of my driveway. I hated getting done, getting back into normal clothes and then having to go and get all bundled up AGAIN, going back out and remove that ridge of snow left at the end on my driveway.

[zeitgeist]

In looking at that pic, reading the article and KNOWING how they do up North in MN, it seems to me that someone cleared that sidewalk only to have a snow plow come by and leave a snow ridge. It definitely appears to be "staged". When I was living up North, invariably the snow plows would come by AFTER I've cleared the driveway and leave me a ridge anywhere from six inches to three feet!! It got to the point that I'd snowblow part of the city street just to help their plows not leave a pile of snow at the end of my driveway. I hated getting done, getting back into normal clothes and then having to go and get all bundled up AGAIN, going back out and remove that ridge of snow left at the end on my driveway.

And this is no $hit, ( no really, this is not a sea story, honest it's true ) a highway guy actually stopped to tell me not to bother finishing blowing the bottom of my drive because the plow was coming to wing the banks back. 

Sure enough, the plow came by and put a huge bank at the end of my driveway.   

[Eupher]

In looking at that pic, reading the article and KNOWING how they do up North in MN, it seems to me that someone cleared that sidewalk only to have a snow plow come by and leave a snow ridge. It definitely appears to be "staged". When I was living up North, invariably the snow plows would come by AFTER I've cleared the driveway and leave me a ridge anywhere from six inches to three feet!! It got to the point that I'd snowblow part of the city street just to help their plows not leave a pile of snow at the end of my driveway. I hated getting done, getting back into normal clothes and then having to go and get all bundled up AGAIN, going back out and remove that ridge of snow left at the end on my driveway.

This is one of the many reasons I'd be perfectly happy never seeing another snowflake for the rest of my life.

[BlueStateSaint]

And upstate NY is supposed to get hit hard by the next storm--coming midweek.  Rick Reichmuth of FNC is stating, as I type this, that my area is going to get 24+ inches by Friday.  Oh goody.

[NHSparky]

I don't even want to think about how much we're getting.  Make it go away...where are you, June?

[BlueStateSaint]

I don't even want to think about how much we're getting.  Make it go away...where are you, June?

Where's that Glowball Warming^TM that we're supposed to be overrun with, anyway?

[AllosaursRus]

Some of us don't have a choice.  They've cancelled my work ONCE in the five years I've been here.  Even during the snowstorm where we got 16 inches of snow a couple of weeks back, it wasn't cancelled.

I've lost power in each of the last three winters, including once (thankfully briefly) so far this winter.  Most of us are prepared far beyond what one might consider prudent.  I hear the words, "blizzard" or "ice storm" and I'm making sure the generator will start, that all my gas cans are full, plenty of oil in the tank, batteries, instant coffee, etc.

You don't see the store-shelves clearing level of panic one sees elsewhere.

While I agree that it might have been "staged", it's not all that out of place for me to be a little pissed at a PUBLIC MASS-TRANSIT center to not live up to the standards the state expects us "little people" to adhere to, now is it?

Oh for cryin' out loud! This shit happens to us on a weekly basis every winter!

This is what really chaps my hide. Your own MTS doesn't even plan for this shit, when they know it is likely goin' to happen'! And where the hell is this guy's neighbors? Are they in the habit of just watchin' this shit?

Hell I know a guy in a chair that has sled dogs and a handi capped sled, for cripes sake! He lives in an area he may not even see a plow for a ****in' week!

He's one bad Jose! I saw him try to bite a guy's nose off once when the guy tried to steal from him, but that's another story!

I've been without electricity at least a half dozen times every winter I've lived here!

Y'all need to quit the snivelin' and Man Up!!! It's called winter out here, what the hell do y'all call it in Lib Heaven? The Victim Season?

Present company excluded, of course!

[NHSparky]

RIF, Allo.  That was Massachusetts.  I live in New Hampshire.  We kind of do a better job of taking care of our own here.  We're used to having the ends of our driveways covered over even after we plow them out.  Those idiots who whine are the ones who DON'T prepare.  I've had a generator, etc., since I bought the house.  It's inconvenient, but little else.

I'm expected to be to work ON TIME, EVERY DAY, regardless of weather.  I fulfill that obligation--whether the roads are safe to travel or not.  So far this winter, the road crews are doing okay, but it's taking its toll.

Towns have blown through their entire winter budgets for snowplowing, salting, and sanding.  Oh, and in case you haven't checked a calendar lately, it's still January.  3 more months of winter.  We can (and do) get snow as late as mid-May.  As they say about NH weather, there are five seasons: Winter, Still Winter, Almost Winter, MUD, and Road Construction. 

Or the other thing--you know you're from NH if you've ever lost your snowblower on your roof.

Or the other other thing--New Hampshire, home of six weeks of shitty skiing weather per year.