smonster, ugh. Sorry for the crap-ass shit your former roomie is pulling.

Steph, you may live in Cincinnati, but that's DC's reaction to snow.

I took my driver's test in the middle of what was, until the last couple years, the snowiest winter on record in the area. I'm usually amused by freak-outs about anything less than 4 to 6 inches of snow. Unless I have to be on the roads dealing with those freaking out.

Every year when we get snow, people act like this is the Equator and they've never seen solid precipitation before, much less driven in it. It's ridiculous.

At least in Utah we only have to deal with the yearly influx of Californians who are wondering what the white stuff is. Volcano ash? Catastrophic cocaine explosion?

Every year when we get snow, people act like this is the Equator and they've never seen solid precipitation before, much less driven in it. It's ridiculous.

See also Washington State.

My university seems to believe that snow just doesn't exist, even when it's on the ground. There were a bunch of days last year that every school in the county was closed because of the snow, but we still had classes. (I had to miss one of those days because the roads hadn't been cleared yet all the way out to my house.)

People in Rochester act like that about the first snowstorm of the year. Every year. And all of the sudden they are unable to drive. Or use caution in any way. And it snows here all the time. We are a snowy area in the Northeast.

They can't physically force you to produce the index by the 15th, unless they are in a room with you. We give authors deadlines every day, and they cheerfully ignore them and turn shit in late all the time. And we mutter imprecations about them, and then we just finish the manuscript.

But then I'm missing deadline! Whereas if they acknowledge that I can't be expected to turn in the Index by the 15th, I'm meeting the new deadline that was extended due to circumstances beyond my control. Yeah, yeah, I know that is not rational.

But then I'm missing deadline!

I don't mean to be callous, but as someone who works in publishing, my reaction is a big fat "So what?" Are they going to smack you on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper and say "Bad author! Bad!"? Are they going to chop off your pinky?

No. They'll get it late, and then production will continue.

if they acknowledge that I can't be expected to turn in the Index by the 15th, I'm meeting the new deadline that was extended due to circumstances beyond my control.

Ah. You want to win. Here is my 100% honest advice: let it go. For your own good. Publishing is not about winning honor in the publication process. It's about getting your thing published. End goal. Let the rest of it go. Your layout team is actually working FOR you, not against you. Deadlines get missed all the time. Deadlines move all the time. Shit still gets published and authors still retain their pinkies. Promise.

Are they going to smack you on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper and say "Bad author! Bad!"?

Don't lie. You really do wish that were a part of your job description, right?

Deadlines get missed all the time. Deadlines move all the time. Shit still gets published and authors still retain their pinkies. Promise.

What she said, absolutely.