Snow Day!

We had our first real snowfall of the winter over the last 36 hours -- about 8 inches or so -- and the City has taken the opportunity to declare a holiday. All the schools are closed of course, afraid as they must be at this point that they will end up holding the bag on their snow days for the year. And the County declared a Level 3 snow emergency, which provides everyone with a nearly ironclad excuse not to go to work. Technically, a Level 3 Emergency" means "all roadways are closed to non-emergency personnel," and "anyone caught driving during a Level 3 without a good reason might be subject to arrest."

My Minnesota relatives (to say nothing of the poor sods in the Redfield, NY) would doubtless find such a reaction to less than a foot of snow to be both preposterous and an occasion for ridicule, but I suspect they are just jealous. Be that as it may, though, the citizens of Lucas County are a law abiding bunch, and never more so than when the Sheriff tells them to take the day off.

I myself have succumbed to the temptation. I didn't stay home; the wife shooed me out of the house. But I didn't get far. I'm at a coffee shop about a mile from my house that has free hi-speed wireless and free coffee refills.

Given that this is the information age and that I work in an information business, it is not the total day off it would have been even 10 years ago. Truth be told, I can do what I do anywhere that has cell phone coverage and hi-speed internet connection. So, I have spent a couple hours actually working. But the lure of the blog has been calling, so I intend to play a little hookie between e-mails.

There is certainly enough going on!

Update: After I posted this, I went back and read more of the article linked above about Redfield, NY. This is just mind-boggling: Redfiled has gotten 12 feet of snow over the last 10 days or so. That is 144+ inches. But this year is nowhere close to a record. In 1996-97, they got a total of 420 inches. That's 35 feet, which I am pretty sure is taller than the peak of my house.