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After the storm -- update with photos
posted Sunday, 24 December 2006
In the aftermath of Denver's holiday blizzard, three people died from shoveling snow. I'm not one of them -- although I think I came closer than I'd like. I went through a lot of ibuprofen after clearing my sidewalk and digging my car out. I haven't even tried to get out the back door to shovel the long walk to the alley.
Driving isn't too bad on the main roads, except that the right-hand lane occasionally disappears because the plow drivers, for no apparent reason, swerved to the left. The entrance ramps on the interstate are a bit of a problem. Many are still somewhat snow-packed, and the "acceleration lane" is plowed clear for at most 30-50 yards. That makes merging into 60-mph traffic a bit of a challenge. Some of the exits are problematic, too. I saw a guy blocking an exit ramp completely. He'd obviously tried to exit too fast, lost it on the snow and ice, and buried the nose of his car into a 4-foot wall of snow.
It's not a good time to go grocery shopping. The parking lots are a disaster. Inside, the shelves are a disaster, too. The supermarket I went to today had had its produce section practically stripped bare, and the milk coolers held just a few forlorn cartons of fat-free, 2%, and soy milk. Couldn't find any egg nog at all, dammit.
Enough bitching. Here are some snapshots. Apologies to those of you on dial-up -- but I tried to keep the file sizes reasonable (~30-40KB each).
Driving isn't too bad on the main roads, except that the right-hand lane occasionally disappears because the plow drivers, for no apparent reason, swerved to the left. The entrance ramps on the interstate are a bit of a problem. Many are still somewhat snow-packed, and the "acceleration lane" is plowed clear for at most 30-50 yards. That makes merging into 60-mph traffic a bit of a challenge. Some of the exits are problematic, too. I saw a guy blocking an exit ramp completely. He'd obviously tried to exit too fast, lost it on the snow and ice, and buried the nose of his car into a 4-foot wall of snow.
It's not a good time to go grocery shopping. The parking lots are a disaster. Inside, the shelves are a disaster, too. The supermarket I went to today had had its produce section practically stripped bare, and the milk coolers held just a few forlorn cartons of fat-free, 2%, and soy milk. Couldn't find any egg nog at all, dammit.
Enough bitching. Here are some snapshots. Apologies to those of you on dial-up -- but I tried to keep the file sizes reasonable (~30-40KB each).
As soon as the snow slacked off, my neighbor began shoveling her driveway. It took her all afternoon.
The snow cornice on the back of my Pathfinder is evidence of the strong winds.
Here's the depth in the middle of my front yard, under a big maple tree. It's probably a bit deeper in the back.
Looking out the back door at my deck. There are three steps under the snowdrift at bottom center.
Looking across my back yard to the alley. At some point, I'll have to shovel a path to the dumpster.
It drifted up against the gate a bit in the side yard.
The neighbor kid shoveling the walk. He wasn't very good, but maybe I should have tried to hire him.
That's enough -- you get the idea. Hope your Christmas is merry, but not quite as white!
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