I'm Sick of Snow

So, it's been a while.

Sorry.

In my defense I've been getting used to a new city and job. It's a poor excuse, I know, but it's all I've got. And I've written blog posts, I just never had internet access to publish them.

But now I feel as though I'm finally getting the hang of work, and all that jazz. There are some recent developments in my life ... I have a chair and ottoman in my apartment!! And I've made friends.

So the chair I bought at ikea. I will slowly be accumulating furniture from ikea over the next year. The friends I've made through work, mutual friends, meeting people around town, and other such things. The person I hang out with the most is Chris. I met him through the National Stutterers Association. He is also a 26 year old male speech pathologist who recently located to Seattle. Oh, and he stutters too. So - he has fulfilled my need to be nerdy. I get to talk about all sorts of nerdy stuff with him. It's great. He lives in another neighborhood of Seattle (West Seattle) about 8 miles from my house. And he works in a school a bit south of the city. There are Phillip, Will and Hannah I've met through our mutual friend (Phillip's brother) Jacob (aka: Cup). We played Settlers of Catan once, and there was the promise for another round, but so far that hasn't happened yet. Then there are the work friends (I use the word friend loosely, because virtually all of them are middle-aged parents, so we don't hang out a lot). We haven't hung out , but there was a Christmas party, and there will be another Christmas party after Christmas (it was supposed to be on Sunday, but due to the ridiculous amount of snow Seattle has received, it was cancelled). Then there are people around the neighborhood I occasionally hang out with, there's Brian, and Susan, and Susan's roommate (can't remember her name, whoops!). So, that's basically my small friend circle. It will expand. Chris has another speech pathologist friend who he hangs out with a lot. So, Chris and Katy will attempt to replace the camaraderie I had with my grad school friends.

So anyway - speaking about the snow. I had intended to go see a movie tonight up in the University District. And well, let's just say that because of the snow what is normally a 10 minute drive is taking over an hour. I thought I was leaving in plenty of time (5:30 for a 7:00 movie). Well, let's just say when the 5:50 bus finally arrived at the bus stop it was 6:20. I decided against spending the $1.50 for a bus fair that wasn't going to get me there in time, and instead walked to get a coffee and banana bread from Tully's. (Which, by the way, are both delicious).

More about the snow ... every winter my back starts to ache because of all the tension I have while driving in snow. Well - my back and neck are KILLING ME! (I'm going to take a VERY hot shower tonight). I've slid backwards down a hill twice. Once, almost hitting several cars. I was really really stuck on one of them and would have had to leave my car in the middle of the street. But some random people, seeing my plight decided to lend a helping hand and push my car. I've had to abandon my car in different parts of my neighborhood because I can't get it to my apartment. Twice. Right now my car is about 10 blocks uphill from my house. Last night it was 6 blocks downhill.

My land lady said that she has lived in Seattle for 30 years and she doesn't remember ever having this much snow. Seattle (a city of more than 500,000 people) has 27 (yep, twenty-seven) plows. I have yet to see one of those ellusive snow plows. I don't think they exist. And Seattle doesn't use salt on the roads (partially because it rarely snows here and partially because of the damage to the environment it causes). Needless to say: I miss that lovely thing called rock salt.

Some notable things I've seen as a result of the snow include: people sledding down the street. Incidently, the same street those buses were attempting to go down when they collided and almost fell onto the freeway. Speaking of which, as a result of the snow I'm taking another route to the freeway than normal, and so I drive under that spot everyday. It's a little weird seeing a 10 foot section of retaining wall missing. I've seen someone skiing down the street, a woman walking down the street with ski poles (admittedly, I had earlier wished for some), people shoveling a parking lot with a dust pan, a tree brach collapsed (either from wind or snow, don't know) that smashed in a car. Cars that are still covered in snow becaue they can't get out from underneath all the snow. I've seen city buses being pushed up hills by heavy duty tow trucks. And I have seen more people fall on ice then I have in a very long time. I have fallen three times, almost falling like 2789409823745637238765234 times. It's crazy. People who shovel their sidewalks are my BEST friends right now. Imagine walking home from the grocery store with eggs in your bag and seeing the three people before you slip on a particular patch of ice. Thankfully, I made it down with 12 unbroken eggs. Some of the roads are like sheets of ice (half of the roads in my neighborhood, hence, my car 10 blocks away from my house). Some are like pools of slush with some sand mixed in (like the ones by work). And some are like roads with mounds of snow. Imagine driving on a road covered with speed bumps of varying size and shape, and that's what 10th street is like. There are still many many closed roads. Literally, half the roads in my neighborhood are closed due to the ice, there are three ways to get to my apartment, two of them are closed. (well technically just one is closed, but the other is so steep that I'm not willing to try it - it's just not busy enough of a street to bother closing).

Anyway, (just saw a guy with snow shoes on). That's enough blabbering for now. I'll write more often, I promise.