Frozen Friday Follies...

Even the bullets are cold today!

Welcome to the end of this week, and what a lousy weather-week it has been.
The GOOD news is that there is NO snow forecast for today...
The BAD news is that we're BACK into the DEEP-FREEZE once again.
Today's wind chill is somewhere around MINUS THIRTY BELOW ZERO (F).
I must confess that even I am beginning to exhibit the beginnings of tedium when it comes to this winter.
I'm not ready to toss in the towel yet (it would probably shatter in THIS cold), but this winter would tax the patience of the most hearty among us.
High today?
Around TWELVE degrees - that's IT, friends.
So, without any further ado (and before we freeze in place) let's heat up and top off that morning beverage and get the sled dogs out to see what's been on my mind the last 24 hours.
*** First out of the icicle factory is how this city (still) views MY part of town, otherwise known as the SOUTHEAST...
Where to begin...
Well, you already KNOW about the lousy plow job we had, which has left ONE side of our street UNPLOWED...and created a SINGLE vehicle path on a TWO-WAY street...
This is what we have on most ALL the side streets in the residential areas...and that's only the tip of the iceberg (how fitting an analogy).

Guess OUR side of the street doesn't exist?

We have also NOT gotten ANY mail in the past TWO days...and I surely thought we'd have the USPS truck come by YESTERDAY, considering the side of the street that was plowed is the one CLOSEST to all the mailboxes.
Wifey knows of people who have NOT had a single day's disruption in THEIR mail delivery...must not live down here, hmm?
Now, when it comes to plowing city streets, it's OBVIOUS that the MAIN arteries get done FIRST, and then secondary streets, and so on...
Thing is, when you BUS damn near every kid TO SCHOOL, a MAJORITY of the BUS STOPS are...(you guessed it)...in RESIDENTIAL areas, and that means side streets (that feed into main and secondaries).
This creates a myriad of problems, and apparently not many, if any (downtown) are that concerned about them.
*** Next, I hear on the news that the city is "concerned" about people NOT clearing their sidewalks off so the kids can get out of the streets and roads and not present a hazard to drivers (and themselves)...sounds great...in THEORY.

NEVER an issue at the 'Fortress".

OURS is but one of a HANDFUL of people that DID clear off the sidewalks...and not one single media source covers this...as if we "don't exist".

But that's okay, because I feel that way most of the time when dealing with the city in general.
Maybe you start CITING people for not following the city ordinance? Just a thought.
*** Then, there are the idiots that just HAVE to drive before the streets are plowed...and the problems THEY bring, like getting STUCK.
We've had several people become stuck JUST at out intersection, and I'm sorry, but I have NO plans to go and "assist".

Maybe you don't NEED to be out in this?

Call me what you will, but to venture out when streets have NOT been plowed is asking for trouble...even IF you have a 4WD vehicle (then all four wheels spin when you're stuck).
These people never think it will happen to them, so I find it amusing when THEY are proved wrong.
Hell, even a few FWPD cars were stuck, and naturally, we've had plenty of jackknifed tractor-trailers on the interstates.
THAT should tell you that maybe it's not the "best" time to be out?
*** Even though Wifey's school district IS closed today, she wanted (kinda sorta had) to go in today JUST to move her classroom stuff from the "mod" (trailers) BACK into the classroom in the main building. HER driving ability (she learned some things from me anyway) I DO worry about those idiots with less sense than that which they were born with behind the wheels of THEIR vehicles.

Now, while I don't worry about HER driving ability (and she has a good "coach" in that regard here), I DO worry about the IDIOTS on those same roads that are not paying the hell attention, as they should be..
Hell, we had one person across our side street that has a Grand Cherokee that HAS to get out every day...several times in fact.
And THEY got stuck alongside their OWN place...spun the hell out of the tires.
We used to call it "shovel yourself a space around your vehicle FIRST", and clear all the crap away so you CAN get out (and back in).

A cleared driveway AND got the bins out.

Some people around here amaze me with the lack of preparedness they display.
Other people nearby actually had their three children out helping to shovel the snow away so they could get THEIR minivan cleared to be able to get out.
Talk about REAL family principles there.
And they didn't place one shovel of snow BACK into the street...as SOME morons around here love to do.
I swear, if there is an incorrect way to do something...ANYTHING...some people will find it and exploit it out the a$$.
Must be that whole "Oppositional Defiance Disorder" we hear about.
I DO know that people are NOT born that stupid, so it HAS to be an "acquired trait".
*** I suppose the one thing that irks me most about this weather IS the way others mismanage everything when it comes to dealing with this weather.

It's as though each and every weather event for them is a "first"...like they have learned NOTHING from years or events past.
Today, I am hopeful that we WILL have mail delivery (and we have stuff for them to pick up as well) - another plow that DOES clear our street off the way it's SUPPOSED to be done - and a trash and recycle pickup, also (we're running a day late).

It's not IF...but WHEN we see these guys.

The reason for the one-day delay was that the ALLEYS were not plowed...and not passable
The city never said anything about THAT...and did a crap job on our streets.
I will say that we have a "gypsy" (private contractor) that plows our alley for another neighbor one street over (his dad used to live next door to us)
So imagine the amazement when Wifey sees a front-loader come down the alley with a bucket full of snow.
Don't know WHO that bugger belongs to, but they didn't dump it on OUR property (lucky for them).

A big difference without our former neighbors

Used to be a time when we had REAL neighbors that DID shovel their walks, used snow-blowers, did their driveways and the area was capable of digging ITSELF out...
Hell, back in Philly, a group of us men shoveled the ENTIRE alley/driveways behind our houses, so people could get their cars out...and the wives made us all lunch and hot cocoa...we never waited for the city...ditto for shoveling out front.
But that was then...and this is now.
Lots of changes...none of them for the better (that I can see).
*** I did watch Jay Leno's final show...and the last TONIGHT SHOW as well.

We now begin the Jimmy Fallon era, along with Jimmy Kimmel
It was a good show, and Billy Crystal had some good things to say about how he and Jay started out...
You couldn't help but be touched by Jay's emotional farewell...you know he did like the job.
I suppose what makes the difference between a good late night host and a GREAT late night host is the PASSION displayed.
Both Carson and Leno had such passion. And although I used to like Letterman a long time ago, he seems more like he's "going through the motions", and I can't stay with that.
*** Last back to the barn today...I suppose that's what distinguishes us ALL one from another...the passion we have for whatever it is we choose to pursue.
Call it a driving force in life.
It makes people excel...whether they're a writer, artist, musician, sports figure, singer, dancer, actor, pilot, soldier, doctor, lawyer, educator...whatever the vocation. They ALL have that burning desire to DO better...BECOME better.
And that applies just as well to all of us that don't even come close to the notoriety of "success" those others might achieve.

My late Father was a lithographer (printer), but he was the BEST at what he did, whenever he did it.
Mom was a seamstress and then a housewife, and SHE was the best at those.

And Bob LIKES to be happy.

I've had my share of occupations, and at every one, I always applied myself to do the best I could, no matter the circumstances.
That meant being properly prepared, showing up, being on time, and willing to go beyond what may be asked, in order to achieve whatever goal was set before me. Been like that since school.
You might not become the richest person for doing so (I'm proof of that much...lol), as society seems to measure success by intrinsic and material items, but you WILL become a richer person in ALL that is intangible...and longer lasting.
We become a better person NOT by what we acquire, but by WHO we choose to become in life.
And I believe that's as decent a legacy as you're going to find anywhere.
DO have a good weekend, in spite of this big-chill.
Take care outside and pace yourselves.

Be well, make a difference to someone today, and as always...
Stay SAFE out there, America.