<p>Coming up on three days of “iced in” here. Not enough de-icer for the highways, schools canceled etc, and they are still undecided about school tomorrow due to the ice on the highways. (I love it… time to play on college confidential.) We took 1/2" of ice off our cars in the driveway. (So that’s why you northerners put your cars in the garage!) Anyone else iced in?</p>
<p>I NEVER put the car in the garage. In fact, my wife and I moved into the garage and abandoned the house to the dogs and the kids.</p>
<p>I do so love global warming!</p>
<p>We Northerners do not have garages. In Boston, you have to pay the equivalent of the cost of a house in another part of the country to buy a parking space. There’s been an ice storm in parts of MA and NH, but our area has been snow-free this winter and broke the record for warm weather last December.</p>
<p>My in-laws were without power for over two days until a short bit ago.</p>
<p>In Southern California the orange trees, strawberries and avocados froze and died over the past few nights. 
The incadog’s water dish had a half-inch layer of ice over it Monday morning at 8:30 a.m. (The dog, a St. Bernard, got to sleep inside).</p>
<p>In advance, my apologies to Houston and all the other areas not used to frigid cold. I have a good friend who lives in Houston, and he sent me this article from the Houston Chronicle. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/4475943.html[/url]”>http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/4475943.html</a></p>
<p>Stay warm, all. I’ve missed the snow, but I’ll take our strangely warm weather over ice storms any day.</p>
<p>
A former colleauge sent me an article about one going for $250K…uncovered and in an alley, of course.</p>
<p>The houses in the 'burbs have garages…but people fill them with lawn mowers and snow blowers, so the cars still wind up outside!</p>
<p>We’ve been living in a deep freeze since last Friday!! Sleet, ice, some snow, etc. Luckily, this started at the beginning of a three-day weekend for the kids, so no school worries 'til yesterday. They have the main roads fairly clear, but the side roads are <em>really</em> slick!! :eek: Good luck to all who are in similar circumstances! ~b.</p>
<p>We had bad ice Monday night and lost power for several hours. (It was really weird because I was driving down my street when suddenly the WHOLE sky lit up - like lightening - and then all the porch lights browned on and off a few times and then all went dark.) We hate losing power because our basement will flood in about 3 hours without the sump pump running. My dad gave us a generator this year - BUT it’s in the Adirondacks! We just haven’t gone up there to get it yet (delivery wasn’t part of the deal).</p>
<p>Anyway, the ice gave way to snow and now it’s pretty cold out (about 17degrees - not too bad really). The 60 degree days were sort of freaking me out. I mean, we just don’t do 60 in Rochester in January…</p>
<p>Oh, and of course our schools are VERY rarely canceled (much to our kids’ disappointment).</p>
<p>And woe the family member who doesn’t leave mom a parking spot in the garage!!!</p>
<p>haha coronax…isn’t THAT the truth. My husband and I are amazed at the local news coverage of this storm which is beyond ridiculous. </p>
<p>We were here in Houston for the 1994 ice storm which is on the scale of what the good folks up North get…and that one was bad. No power for 5 days, transformers blowing every couple of minutes sounding exactly like shotgun blasts, huge live oaks toppled over with roots up and canopies down. Out here in the tall piney woods, for days we couldn’t safely walk outside for fear of being impaled by a ice-loaded tree branch. Everything was blanketed in white ice and it was so eerily quiet except for the constant cracking of ice. Thank goodness I had a gas range for heating up baby bottles…and wood-burning fireplace that kept us warm. Now that storm was a big deal.</p>
<p>THIS little storm is a non-event.</p>
<p>And back to school tomorrow - although a 2-hour delay to the start time. Dang. It was easy to get used to waking up when it was actually LIGHT outside. Back to waking up when it’s pitch black. :(</p>
<p>It’s summer here, but without the over 40 degrees C temperatures of previous years, besides 48 degees C (118 degrees F) the other day. Global warming it’s quite misleading I think.</p>
<p>We had a bit of ice this morning - enough to close schools, etc. The weathermen here are always over the top, especially during hurricane season - they just LOVE the worst-case scenario. I’ve lived here all my life and have learned to believe 35% of what they “predict”.</p>
<p>coronax – I liked your link! I have been making fun of the news here for days too. The coverage has been over the top, calling the big story the Arctic Blast. But I think the funniest report was when the weatherman launched into a long explanation of what it takes for ice to form on the roadways. He said you need to have two things happen – you need precipitation AND you need temperatures to be below freezing. We were literally laughing out loud in my house over that news reporting! And to think some schools in Houston were closed for 2 days straight over this non-event.</p>
<p>I live in VA and it can be like that here too, but it’s still fun to have a different state to laugh at. Snow was such a rare event when we first moved here, that the slightest chance of flurries sent hordes of shoppers out to buy milk, bread and chocolate chips (for cookies). Reporters would be posted at area grocery stores for up to date reports on the long lines. </p>
<p>We started getting regular snow here a few years ago, and I think most people here are finally over all of that. We still get the round the clock coverage though. My family is from a little further north, so we just found it all quite funny. </p>
<p>I’m glad to hear that you are finally digging out of your “Arctic Blast”! At least you’ll have it to talk about for years to come. :)</p>
<p>
<em>ROFL</em> YEP!!! We couldn’t get a VW bug in our garage, much less the three Suburbans that we have! <em>lol</em> We’ve all been scraping DAILY!!! :eek:</p>