stop it, Ray, you drama queen in shiny things

Just checked the current forecast from our Not-A-Meteorologist Ray. His weather icon, which generally sports a little cartoon of the sun, or a cloud, or a cloud with a lightening bolt through it, or a snowflake or whatever, is currently a snowman. With BIG SNOW!!! written across it.

Unfortunately Ray isn't wrong as often as he used to be (and by "often" I mean "inevitably") ( as in "whatever he says, prepare for the complete opposite"), and if he's saying BIG SNOW!!!! these days it probably does not mean the temperatures are going to be in the 60s and we can frolic in the sun. Ray was a lot more fun when he was always wrong. We've been hearing rumors for several days that a BIG SNOW is coming. All I can say is, BLEH. The only way I want to experience a BIG SNOW is if it starts late at night so we can just stay home the next day (or three. Or five) and we're all stocked up on groceries and catfood and beer, and there's plenty of kerosene in the tank and the electricity does not go out. What I do not want to deal with is the BIG SNOW suddenly pouring down mid-day so we have to decide whether to stay at work and tough it out and hope the roads will be passable at 5:00 and hope we won't wreck and die. Or get stranded and have to hike home in the BIG SNOW.

I really hate winter.

OH and I already got to experience Fun With Black Ice this morning, when I left for work blithely believing that even though the cars had ice on the windshield, the roads were okay because they looked okay and there were no reports of treacherous conditions on our Road and Weather Condition's Facebook page. The road through our development down to the main road is only about a fourth of a mile, but it's winding and steep. The first 2/3s of it was fine, no problem---- I rounded the corner to the last third and found myself sliding ALL OVER THE PLACE. On the plus side, I did remember how to work the brakes, which on the Fit are different that any other brakes I've had and the car starts jerking when you slide--- I keep wanting to say "all wheel brakes" but that's not it. It's something that's supposed to help keep you from losing control, and you're supposed to press firmly on them as opposed to pumping them, which is what I've had to do with every other car I've ever had. So at least I remembered not to pump them which apparently makes things worse. (Anti-lock, that's what I'm trying to say. They are anti-lock brakes).

Anyhow, I slid way farther than I care to slide, especially downhill and headed straight for the main road which is usually worse than our neighborhood road and is also steep and curvy and has a lot of traffic. Fortunately I stopped before I hurled out into the main road in front of the oncoming traffic. At that point I pulled off into the little parking area at the entrance of our development, where everyone who can't make it up the hill parks, and waited on Baker B, who fortunately left later than I did. Unfortunately he will not leave his phone on so I couldn't call and warn him - I just had to watch him come flying down the hill at top speed. He didn't hit the ice, or if he did his studded snow tires kept him from sliding. The Fit's are just all-weather, which is why the Civic is the snow car. Also, the Civic is 16 years old and it won't be as tragic if we have a wreck.

Anyway, that was my way-too-exciting morning. We left the Fit in the parking area and rode in together and experienced no further incidents.

Have I mentioned how much I hate winter??

It's snowing right now, but the roads look all wet and the cars are speeding by on the street outside my office, and the snow doesn't seem to be sticking. The BIG SNOW is supposed to start Wednesday so we do at least have time to go to the store. Along with everyone else in the county.

Okay, enough whining. I'll leave with a picture of Adorable Eddie, who was delighted with the boxes Baker B left in the livingroom this weekend. He spent the whole weekend like this:

And so I won't leave Cayce out-- awfully blurry, but black cats are very hard to get a good picture of:

OH, and for a bit of irony:

Seagulls. In the Mall parking lot. Do you know how far we are from the sea??? VERY far.

This one came right up to my car, looking really annoyed, like he's saying, "Where in the HELL are we?!?!?"

That's what I ask myself every.single.day, little seagull.