Sunday, December 14, 2008

Winter Shiverland

The storm is here.  It's pretty bitter out there, enough that we've had the outside dogs in a couple of times to warm up, and they'll be spending the night in the garage with the heater on.  The heater is in an inaccessible place, plus it's the kind that turns off automatically if it's tipped over, and its on the solid cement ground.
Eventually I want to build the dogs a permanent room in the garage accessible through the side garage door.  I even have a dog door for it.  I just haven't had time.  So the poor things are shut in.  They'll get to go out to pee in about another hour or two, and then I get to set the alarm early to let them out in the morning.
There's a bat in the garage as well.  We disturbed it setting up the dog sleeping quarters.  I hope it's doing okay in there.  Do they eat dog food?  I dunno.  Bats hibernate in our garage every year, but this is the first time I've seen one actually flapping around.  I've found them before snuggled up inside of bedding in the garage, but they wouldn't do anything except shift a little bit around.  Maybe it's because the weather has been relatively mild until now.  It hasn't had time to get groggy.

We're going to prep as if it's a school day tomorrow, but I suspect it's going to be cancelled.  Fog is predicted for the wee hours tonight, and freezing fog means nasty roads in the morning.  Just as well.  I like having my kids home.  We can bake brownies and have a movie fest and, if the wind dies down a bit, build snowmen.

I hope everyone's staying warm. 

5 comments:

Kai Jones said...

I took the bus to work today. It really is bitterly cold when the wind hits you.

I'd really like to head home before dark, maybe I'll float the idea past the managing partner when I get back from lunch.

C.S. said...

Looks like you've got at least a foot of snow coming Wednesday into Thursday. Channel 8 news (with Matt, NOT Dave S.) says anyone in this new storm's path has got Tuesday to prepare. Stock your cupboards, haul in wood for the stove, and make those dog beds! We're doing the same down here and hoping for more than half an inch of white this time around.

Stay warm!

Kami said...

You guys stay warm too, okay?

The Moody Minstrel said...

I've been reading about your cold snap on the internet.

What was really funny (or not) was all the people on the news article's comment thread going on and on about how much colder and snowier their part of the U.S. is, they drive in blizzards every year, a good set of snowtires will solve everything, NWerners are snow whimps, etc., blah, blah, blah. It was even funnier when people who had moved to Portland from colder and snowier parts or the U.S. said that no one who hasn't tried driving in Portland or the Gorge in snow/ice basically doesn't have a clue, i.e. it's much scarier there than elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Oregonians and Washingtonians just told everyone else to STFU.

Stay warm and dry!

Kami said...

Boy, people can't leave well enough alone, can they? Heh.

I whine regularly that Californians don't know how to drive in rain, but on the other hand I completely understand why. For the record, when it rains in California not only are they forced to use little-practiced skills, but the road conditions are far worse. With that much dust and oil mixture accumulating during those long dry spells, when the rain finally comes it's slicker than Columbia River Gorge ice on a 6% grade hill. It makes a difference when the rain doesn't come often enough to wash that stuff away. I see even native Oregonians slipping and skidding during that first rain storm after a dry summer, so there.

We in the Pac NW, when it snows or gets icy, get to pit our least-practiced skills against some really nasty conditions. I suspect some of the places that get tough winter conditions every year are better prepared than we are--more snowplows and sanders, a nice stock of de-icer, studded tires mounted and removed on a regular schedule rather waiting and wondering if it'll be necessary this year, and chains or cables that haven't tangled up and/or rusted from being stored, unused, since the last chain-worthy storm. It's all relative.