merry christmas

Today we were finally about to get The Baby to the vet. She's been biting out her fur since this snowing began but the roads were not passable until now. By passable I mean we had to wake up early, shovel the hill again, get pushed up the hill, slide down the hill into a snow bank, and have 5 guys pull over to lift the hyundai out of the snow bank so we could keep going. When we finally got to the vet we found out that she has an ear infection in both ears and they don't know what's causing the itching. Either was, she needs medicine applied twice daily and we had only arranged for the cat sitter to make 3 visits to us. So now we have paid to board The Baby at the Pet Smart hotel and we are also paying the cat sitter to watch Stella at the house. The vet visit, medicine, and boarding are a lot of extra expenses we didn't expect right now but I'm glad that she's getting taken care of.
We can't get the hyundai back up our hill so we parked it in a nearby business. Unfortunately, we didn't park it in the right one and ended up walking a lot farther than needed through 2 ft deep snow. Our shoes were soaked through when we got home. We considered driving ourselves to the airport since we aren't confident that the airport taxi will make it here so we walked back to the car to drive it to a closer parking lot. The plan was to carry the luggage down the hill and to the car. The news said that all the airport parking lots, on site and off, are full so I guess we have to find a way to get the hyundai up the hill tomorrow or it's going to get towed. The airport shuttle promised to tell us early tomorrow if they aren't going to make it so at least that gives us a little time to try to think of another way to get to the airport if needed. If anyone has an idea, we're open to suggestions. The busses still aren't running up here and you still can't get a regular cab.
In other news, the mayor was interviewed today saying that he gives himself a B grade for how the storms were handled. Merry Christmas!

Too FAR

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008551284_snowcleanup23m.html

it turns out "plowed streets" in Seattle actually means "snow-packed," as in there's snow and ice left on major arterials by design

You see, Seattle has decided that salting the roads is bad for the environment, so they aren’t going to do it. The DOT has said that “the city's approach means crews clear the roads enough for all-wheel and four-wheel-drive vehicles, or those with front-wheel drive cars as long as they are using chains.” 

That’s wonderful.  Just wonderful.  Salts isn’t eco-friendly, tough luck guys, hope you have an SUV.  Wait, I thought 4-wheel drive SUVs weren’t eco-friendly.  How are supposed to drive on your ice and snow packed roads with our little prius or smart car??

Meanwhile, millions of people are stranded and an entire region has been brought to a halt.  This is a serious situation and people are being hurt.  This environmentalism has gone too far.  I don’t care if you want to take away my plastic forks and knives,  or fine me for using a plastic bag, but if I miss my wedding because of your idiotic eco-friendly shit, then this has gone too far.

question:

What circumstances are required to declare a state of emergency?
-We've been unable to leave our parking lot for 6 days and we aren't alone. Most residential roads have not been plowed.
-The airport is closed and has been for days. Even if they can keep the runways plowed, they are out of deicer with no mention of any on the way.
-Amtrak and Greyhound aren't operating.
-Over half of the metro lines aren't running. The servers are down most of the time on the website making it difficult to figure out which lines are running. (FYI, ours aren't.)
-Gas stations are out of fuel because the trucks can't get in.
-Trash hasn't been picked up in a week.
-UPSP, FedEx, and UPS aren't delivering
-Emergency vehicles can't access most residential areas.
-There have been hundreds of car accidents related to the snow and ice.
-Roofs are collapsing due to the snow.

I kid you not, the news reported the plan is to "wait for it to melt." If you are curious, take a peak at the Seattle weather forecast to see if it looks like that's going to happen soon.
So again I ask, what circumstances are required to declare a state of emergency and get some aid? Is there a certain threshold of property damage or lives lost?

Also, the baby has been biting her fur off and we'd love to take her to the vet but we can't. Every time the news anchors make some cutesy comment about how funny it is to have all this snow I want to punch them.

day 5 of being snowed in...

What the pho!

We are still snowed in! Basically, it snowed about 4 inches and the city is just completely chaotic. They don't have the resources to make the roads passable, so most residential streets (many of which are on hills) are dangerous sheets of ice right now. The pictures above are from a bus accident today on Capitol Hill. They were carrying 80 kids. (Story here)
Yesterday we tried our best to shovel a path up our hill to get out, but because our apt complex was unwilling to add any salt or sand it's since frozen over. Nate hiked 5 miles in 20 degree weather today to get us groceries and cat food. Don't mock those "when I was your age" stories! He walked uphill in the snow both ways!
While he was gone, I finally was able to get onto the metro website, since the servers have been on and off with the increased usage this week. I found a bus route to get us to the dress shop where my wedding dress is, since I won't be able to drive there before the wedding. It was a 4 hour adventure, but we have the dress! The bus system is great and I'm glad we tried it. We couldn't believe how many stops there were this north of the city.
The weather does not look promising for the next week, and we're coming up with alternative ways to get to the airport. I'm not sure how long the apt complex plans to leave us stranded down here, but they claim to have done everything they can. The city expects widespread power outages this weekend, so Nate bought a bunch of energy bars while at the store. We are hoping for the best and trying to make the best of the situation. I can't wait to be in NC!

Introducing…

Astro-Dino!

This little fella continues our trend of having ridiculous Christmas tree ornaments.  Now the green dinosaur has a friend.

Cat Friends

Our cats have a new friend.  She/He/It, who I’m going to call Gigantor, has come around the back of the apartment a couple of times now, and they all seem to get along real well!

OK – maybe not.  I love how Stella never moved while Gigantor stood at the door batting at her.  Eventually, Stella and The Baby intimidated it enough that it scurried away.  They then proceeded to fight amongst themselves again…

Here’s a video