The Snarky Momma occasionally (okay, sometimes) reviews products on her review blog related to parenting, domestic goddess-try, and personal care. Her opinions are honest, based on her own experiences, and will be published even if she does not find the product satisfactory. She will always disclose how she got a product and whether she was compensated to talk about it. If you want to send her a product, contact her via email at tiffany [at] snarkymomma [dot] com.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Preparing for Snowmageddon
Oh, you like that? I made it up yesterday during my pre-Target planning ritual.
NC is supposed to get smacked with some significant snowfall starting late tonight, and snow is simply one of those concepts that provokes feelings of terror in Central and Eastern North Carolinians. It’s not the snow we’re afraid of - it’s the ICE that is left behind when it starts to melt and refreeze.
Way back when Scott and I were living in Carrboro (2002-2003) we got trapped in an ice storm that had us without power on several of the coldest days of the season. Foot-long icicles were dangling off the power lines and made them crash to the ground. We were living in a third-floor apartment, so it wasn’t like we could go outside and start up a generator. Everything was shut down, and the whole situation was miserable. That’s probably the only time I wished we’d spent the extra money and got the fireplace apartment.
We spent a couple of days under comforters or in the bathroom with the door shut where body heat made a bit of difference. We ate peanut butter sandwiches until we ran out of bread, and by then I think Food Lion opened back up.
Our power was probably out for only 3 days, but due to our close proximity to the University and a major hospital, we got our power back much sooner than many others. There were other locals who went *weeks* without power and ended up moving in with friends and family members who did have power for the short-term.
It was simply miserable.
Ice also makes people drive like effing idiots, which is another reason we don’t appreciate the frozen precipitation. A true native (or almost-native) would simply stay at home until the roads clear OR until they’re desperate for bread, diapers, toilet paper, whatever. We’re heat-loving people: we’re not going to force ourselves out into the cold for Mission Impossible (e.g. checking to see if the McDonald’s has opened back up yet).
I’m not going apeshit with preparation this time, but I did make sure we have a few necessities yesterday when the news bulletin was issued. We have toilet paper. I went out to get some bread and milk. We’ve got enough peanut butter to last us a few days if we lose power. I bought a jumbo-sized box of fudge rounds (gotta keep that blood sugar up, you know). I bottled up some water. Our neighbor offered us as much firewood as we need (if we need it…unfortunately, our fireplace hasn’t been used, cleaned or inspected the entire time we’ve lived here so that’ll be interesting). The Subaru has enough gas that if we need to drive somewhere and squat in a heated environment we can. I made sure to do enough laundry this past week that we have clean underwear and socks. I did the dishes just in case we lose hot water (smelly food-clogged drains are not cool). I’m going to charge up our battery-powered lantern and all of my semi-essential hand-held electronics. Etc.
My hope that it’ll be just snow and it’ll melt into water that seeps immediately into the ground instead of re-freezing. Hermit that I am, I at least like having the *option* of leaving the house.
Preparing for Snowmageddon
Oh, you like that? I made it up yesterday during my pre-Target planning ritual.
NC is supposed to get smacked with some significant snowfall starting late tonight, and snow is simply one of those concepts that provokes feelings of terror in Central and Eastern North Carolinians. It’s not the snow we’re afraid of - it’s the ICE that is left behind when it starts to melt and refreeze.
Way back when Scott and I were living in Carrboro (2002-2003) we got trapped in an ice storm that had us without power on several of the coldest days of the season. Foot-long icicles were dangling off the power lines and made them crash to the ground. We were living in a third-floor apartment, so it wasn’t like we could go outside and start up a generator. Everything was shut down, and the whole situation was miserable. That’s probably the only time I wished we’d spent the extra money and got the fireplace apartment.
We spent a couple of days under comforters or in the bathroom with the door shut where body heat made a bit of difference. We ate peanut butter sandwiches until we ran out of bread, and by then I think Food Lion opened back up.
Our power was probably out for only 3 days, but due to our close proximity to the University and a major hospital, we got our power back much sooner than many others. There were other locals who went *weeks* without power and ended up moving in with friends and family members who did have power for the short-term.
It was simply miserable.
Ice also makes people drive like effing idiots, which is another reason we don’t appreciate the frozen precipitation. A true native (or almost-native) would simply stay at home until the roads clear OR until they’re desperate for bread, diapers, toilet paper, whatever. We’re heat-loving people: we’re not going to force ourselves out into the cold for Mission Impossible (e.g. checking to see if the McDonald’s has opened back up yet).
I’m not going apeshit with preparation this time, but I did make sure we have a few necessities yesterday when the news bulletin was issued. We have toilet paper. I went out to get some bread and milk. We’ve got enough peanut butter to last us a few days if we lose power. I bought a jumbo-sized box of fudge rounds (gotta keep that blood sugar up, you know). I bottled up some water. Our neighbor offered us as much firewood as we need (if we need it…unfortunately, our fireplace hasn’t been used, cleaned or inspected the entire time we’ve lived here so that’ll be interesting). The Subaru has enough gas that if we need to drive somewhere and squat in a heated environment we can. I made sure to do enough laundry this past week that we have clean underwear and socks. I did the dishes just in case we lose hot water (smelly food-clogged drains are not cool). I’m going to charge up our battery-powered lantern and all of my semi-essential hand-held electronics. Etc.
My hope that it’ll be just snow and it’ll melt into water that seeps immediately into the ground instead of re-freezing. Hermit that I am, I at least like having the *option* of leaving the house.
Posted by Tiffany on 01/29 at 01:51 PM
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