I'm Not Sure, But I think.....

........it's going to be a better commute for me this morning.  Yesterday they were predicting more of the snow/ice stuff, falling all night, then warming up slightly and turning to rain by this morning.   The hospital even cancelled the Back Pain seminar last night, and as I was calling all the people who had signed up, they all seemed relieved to have it rescheduled for a later date.  I heard the pitter patter of something about 8pm, looked out and it seemed to just be rain. So I get up this morning and the temperature is 38 degrees and all the snow in my front yard is gone.  YEAH !!!!!!!!!!!!   It seems a nice south wind came in and warmed my area up, so the snow/ice fell as rain.  Now up north of here they did get some of the icky stuff and I'm sorry for them.  They are still making school closure announcements on the local morning news for areas in northern, western Washington,

Jim went back to work last night, and was supposed to work 4pm to 12:30am.  He said he'd packed a bag, because in case the weather got bad, he was going to come here and sleep.  I live about one mile from where he works and his place is 12 miles away.  He called me about 5:15pm and asked if my power was still on and I said it was.  It seems the whole business complex where he works was totally dark.  They were going to call the power company and see what was going on...certainly it wasn't weather connected as nothing was going on at that hour.  My guess was that someone ran into a power pole.  Anyway, about 6:30pm I heard a vehicle in the drive way and it was Jim.  The power company told told them, they'd get it fixed as soon as they could but all their repair people had gone home for the day, so they had to call them back into work.   So all the employees were told to go home.  He stayed for about 30 minutes and then took off for his place.  His face looks pretty good.  The steri strips are still on his cheek where it got cut open but the yellow bruising and the swelling is almost gone.  He sees the plastic surgeon about his nose on Friday. 

Well, I'm off to get ready for work...I hope everyone has a good day.  Linda

WEATHER UPDATE

Good Morning, it's a dark, cold winter morning here in the Pacific Northwest.  The weather guy tells us we hit a record low temperature in this area last night.....18 degrees.  The last record  lowest temperature was in 1975 when it went down to 22 degrees.  I believe most of these temperatures are measured at Seattle-Tacoma Int'l Airport, so some areas may be a little lower and some a little higher.

They're forecasting another nightmare commute this evening.  More snow is predicted late this afternoon and thru the night but sometime early Thursday morning it's supposed to "warm" up a little and the snow will turn to rain.  So the Thursday morning commute could be ugly and then hopefully after that it should get better.    

There are still hundreds of abandoned cars littering the highways and side roads.  And thousands of houses and businesses are still without power.  My heart goes out to those people with no power in this very cold weather. 

Well, folks have a good day....I'm off to brave the very slippery streets and get to work. Linda

P.S. I did go out in the dark and the cold last night and cover those outdoor faucets...hopefully not too late.  When it warms up, I'll know.

PLEASE SEE THIS VERY IMPORTANT JOURNAL ENTRY

Please follow the link to this very important request for mail, cards and specific items requested by some of our men and women serving in the military this holiday season.  Thanks to Elizabeth for posting this very important entry.  I plan on emailing this list to people in my address book, that aren't necessarily journalers.

Here's the link to Elizabeth's entry; http://journals.aol.com/bethjunebug/Bethjunebug/entries/2006/11/28/attention-jland-friends/766

TO WORK AND BACK HOME

It took me 50 minutes this morning to get to the office.  At no time did I go over 20 miles an hour.  The drive normally takes about 20-25 minutes.  It was ugly.  The roads I used had not been sanded as yet so were solid compact snow & ice.  Tonite the forecast is for temperatures between 12-20 degrees, so anything that melted today will be frozen in the morning.  And it just dawned on me, now that it's dark and 22 degrees out there, that I had not put the protective covers on my outside faucets.  Gosh, I hope they don't freeze and break open.  If they do, once it warms up, I'll have water spurting everywhere.  According to the weather people, Wednesday afternoon, evening and during the night will be more of what we experienced Monday night.  An ice snow storm, and guess what folks ?  I'm supposed to work at another seminar Wednesday evening.  I tried to get ahold of the person in charge of this one, to see if she planned on cancelling it but could not reach her. Hopefully she'll get ahold of me in the morning and let me know one way or the other. If it's going to be cancelled, I'll have to call the 36 people signed up for it and let them know.

The son of one of my co-workers went with some friends to the Seattle Seahawks game (in Seattle) last night on the bus.  They left from Tacoma (30 miles to the south of Seattle).  The snow started just before kick off and by the time the game was over, it was very cold and snowy.  The guys, went out and got on their bus for what should have been, at the most, a 1 hour ride.  The bus left Seattle about 10pm and they finally got into the transit center in Tacoma at 3:30am this morning.  They said it was horrendous.  There were accidents everywhere, buses, cars, trucks...every manner of vehicle in all directions on the freeway and in the ditches along the freeway.  I heard on the radio coming home tonight that the Seattle police responded to over 600 calls for aid in about a 12 hour time period.

I haven't talked to my son today, so I don't know if he's going to try and work tonight or not. I'd like to see him stay home this entire week....but since he's 35 years old...I can't tell him what to do anymore.  In other words...I'm no longer the boss of him.  LOL

Thank you all for your kind words of concern about the weather conditions here.  I actually felt a real peace as I drove (slid) into work this morning.  I knew my friends all of the US and the British Isles were thinking of me.   You're all the greatest !!!

Until next time..........Linda & Gabi too

 

I Gotta Go

Well, I got a call from the boss...she made it into the office and sort of suggested I should try it.  So I'm ready to go...the only thing that will save me is call saying that all non-essential employees can stay home.  I realize a hospital can't run without it's employees...but I'm not a nurse or a doctor so those of us who are non-essential should be off the roads, without a black mark on our record for an unexused absence.  So at 7:20am...I'm on my way.  Hopefully I can get there before 8am, working until 4:30pm and still get my 8 hours in today.   Again, I hope it's warmer where ever you are.....Joni and Monica, be careful going in today.   Linda

FOR NOW...I'M STAYING HOME

I just talked to the acting supervisor (our regular supervisor is on vacation), and she said "Linda, stay home."  I just feel very uncomfortable driving in today.  I have several good size hills that I have to go up or down in order to get to the office.  I know the road crews do their best to get them sanded but when it's like this they can't be everywhere.  Unfortunately, it's supposed to be even colder tonight, so if the sun comes out today and melts anything, it will just freeze.   Anyway, I asked the boss to call me when & if she gets into work and if she doesn't have too bad of a time I may chance it a little later in the morning.  She lives about 4 miles due east of me, so she has hills to travel, too.  She normally picks up the freeway not too far from her house, but with last night's commute still out there, she said she'll probably stay off the freeway this morning.     Again, the weird thing around here is..... that what's going on weatherwise 4 miles from here could be different than what's in my neighborhood.  You just never know.   I just heard on the news that the Narrow's Bridge is a mess this morning...I can imagine.  Bob and I drove across there once in an ice storm and big pieces of ice were falling off the cables onto the bridge deck.  They closed the bridge that day, just after we crossed.  That was about 6 years ago, the day after Christmas.  

Ok...well I think I'll take my shower and at least be ready to go in if it warms up a little.  

Here's a link to the traffic cams in Washington state.  If you have nothing to do...you can sit and click on each little camera and see what's happening.  Of course I am writing this at 6am and it's still dark out there, but in a few hours it will be lighter.     http://wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/default.aspx

TODAY.....IT'S BAD

It started snowing last night about 7pm.  Here in the mobile home park where I live, the roads, the yards & trees and anything left out and not under cover turned white very quickly and it stuck !  I probably have only about 2 inches on my yard but the problem is....the temperature dropped and the wind came up.  When I went out to get the morning paper off my porch this morning, there was snow on the north end and the south end , the only place it wasn't covered was right in the middle.   The temperature this morning is 25 degrees.

Now I'm hearing on the TV news, this is being called a flash freeze and that there are still people out there in their cars trying to get home from work from yesterday evening and from the Seahawks football game that was in Seattle last night. They've been out there all night !  Here's what KOMO TV has to say;

Dear Linda,

Updated Tuesday 4:03 a.m. Seattle got it this time, 2” of snow that actually sticks to the ground and causes major problems on the roads. As soon as the snow fell it “Flash Freezed” and turned to sheets of ICE ! Just as we expected, snow started to fall again Monday. Heavy first on Camano Island, Whidbey Island, all the way to Marysville with widespread power outages. The Puget Sound Convergence Zone continued to develop and spread heavy snow bands down through Seattle during Monday Evening. Snow Advisories were issued and stayed up all night in many areas. Bellingham was on the other side of the arctic boundary so they just got the bitter cold and wind that whipped around all of the snow from Sunday. A VERY Cold morning tops the weather headlines with most of us in the 20's, ICY roads and slick sidewalks will be a problem most of the day! It is still snowing lightly around the South Sound. Tacoma, Olympia, through the SW Interior. Expect very icy conditions. This is the type of cold that you will want to check up on your neighbors and see if they are staying warm and see if they need anything. Today will include clearing and a sunny, cold afternoon with highs only reaching the upper 20's and low 30's on average. We will have a North wind around 10 mph. Tuesday night into Wednesday morning the sky will be clear by then, but bitter cold overnight temperatures will drop into the teens and low 20's. We finally moderate some during the day Wednesday, as temperatures should get up closer to 40 with a mostly sunny sky, but another weather system is heading our way for late Wednesday and Thursday, and with cold air in place, that could spell more snow potential. That should eventually change to rain Thursday afternoon. Looks like just a few rain showers Friday, and then cold rain Saturday and Sunday with highs in the 40's. Will it be the 0.09" we need to get over the 15.33" rain total for November that would tie the Federal Building record for wettest month ever? With the overnight system and Thursday's system we WILL be it !

Sincerely, KOMO 4 Weathercaster Jim Castillo I'm going to go get ready for work...hopefully before I leave someone will call and say "stay home."  They just announced that the local schools will be closed today.  The kids get a play day, unfortunately it's way too cold to be outside playing.  Hope it's warmer where you are.....Linda