God, I hate chipping ice. Here in Utah, the snow is usually dry, fluffy stuff that brushes off easily, even if there are three inches of it. Idiot drivers, though, seem to forget that three inches of dry fluff compacts to half an inch of ice on the road.

Sometimes I wish the plows wouldn't come through, especially in the parking lots. I call them Zambonis, because all they're doing is scraping off the top layer and clearing off that nice smooth sheet of ice underneath.

Omnis, when I lived in a winter wonderland I would get the car warming up, then turn on the defrost. First I'd scrape the side windows, by then the rear window defogger would be starting to work and I'd have some purchase to scrape the ice off the rear window. I'd do the windshield last as the defroster would start to work and I could get my scraper up under there and often push big pieces of ice up and off. I also think it's a good idea to invest in a heavy-duty long-handled scraper.

a heavy-duty long-handled scraper

The edge of your credit card isn't going to hack it anymore.

We had the White Death predicted overnight, so yesterday Big!Boss told us not to come in until noon today.

Wake up: no White Death.

Get ready to leave (around 11:30): snow starts to fall.

Drive in to work: fucking INSANITY. In the span of 100 yards on the *highway* (not back roads) I saw 3 cars spin out.

Walk into the office: Big!Boss tells us to go back home.

Drive home: hardly any snowfall.

Now home: no more snowfall.

Kind of a funny overreaction. But, you know, if Big!Boss had decided we should keep the office open, then it really would have been the Snowpocalypse. At least getting sent home right away meant I could swing by the Trader Joe's by my office.

To be fair, there were spots on the way in where I fishtailed something fierce (my car weighs less than a ton, which is lousy in snow and ice), but I was okay. Some people just have no idea how to drive in snow, and that's what I hate -- the drivers, not the snow.

Sparky, sounds like we could lock her in a room with my clueless boss and they would very happily gross each other out for the rest of their lives without noticing that the rest of the world has gone on without them.

Re Sparky's clueless person - I've always thought it was kind of mean to tell people with medical situations horror stories. Why get someone all scared and agitated for what might turn out to be nothing. So if a situation comes up that I've gone through, I'll try to reassure people that it doesn't have to be so bad (mamograms, tooth extractions, etc.)

That, Toddson, is because you are a sensitive, intelligent person. Which, obviously, are qualities that Mme. Clueless has yet to acquire.

The problem I've had with the "it feels colder in the South because of the humidity" argument is that Southerners can't get their minds around how low Northern temperatures can fall. Nothing -- and I mean nothing -- prepares you for days when the high is 10 below, and the low is 25 below. When you wear a scarf over your face because it's so cold that (white font for TMI) the moisture inside your nose freezes each time you take a breath . You don't see that kind of weather regularly, but I did see it every few winters growing up. And southern Wisconsin isn't the worst part of the U.S. for cold winters.

To be fair, Northerners are just as weak about hot weather. 90 degrees doesn't mean it's too hot to go outside, unless it's so humid that a thunderstorm will probably drive you inside within the hour anyway.

Pictures from the new Muppet Christmas special [link]

I remember cold quite well from upstate NY. The boys get mocked soundly by both of us when they complain of the cold. Silly kids.

Which reminds me, must have my son bring a jacket when he goes to Jax on Thursday. A parent of one of his friends is taking 3 boys up for the football game. I told him he could go as long as he arranged to reschedule a semester final he has that day. No doubt he is groveling right now.