Wednesday, January 29, 2014

A "Great" Way to Kill 9 Hours

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Yeah. So THAT happened.
Notice all the cars on the left whose brake lights AREN'T on? That's because they've been abandoned. And the only reason there's free space on the road is because we just made our way past a couple jackknifed tractor trailers, and the road there is a solid sheet of ice. Anyone not in our lane eventually slid over to the left.

In case you haven't heard, Atlanta experienced extreme gridlock last night (and today) due to unexpected snow volume. As a Southern city in a Southern state, we don't have a lot of snowplows lying around gathering dust, so when the weather forecasters say most of the storm is going to hit South of the city, what equipment the state does have is deployed there. And then when the storm actually hits the metro area, in the middle of the day, and EVERYONE leaves at once so the salt trucks can't even get on the highways, and all the tractor trailers don't have snow tires and spin out, you end up with people stuck on the highways overnight.

We were "lucky" and got home by 1am. I considered telling you the whole epic story of Michael's three hour journey to get me from five miles away, our hour quest to find an open restaurant (FAIL), and six hour journey to travel the fourteen miles home. But really, do you want to read all that? No! Let's look at some pretty snow instead!
I was hoping to add a snowman to this view, but of course my office, although closed, "encouraged" us to work from home, even though everyone had not even made it home! They're going to be open tomorrow, even though the Georgia Emergency Management Agency has issued a civil emergency message requesting that everyone stay off the roads until noon. I'm extremely disappointed in my company! I'll be working from home again.

At least I have plenty of cookies to keep me company.
Walnut Crescents, courtesy of the Cookie A Sock Club. My next shipment arrives next week...squee!

JiffNotes
I'm just happy to be home.

+10 Geek Points for getting the top graphic reference. =)

16 comments:

Brenda said...

Oh I'm soooo sorry it took you so long to get home. I saw all that on the news this a.m. I used to live in Atlanta when I did my internship while I college so I know the area around there. I saw all that snow "mess" on the CNN HLN this a.m.

Glad you finally got home and was safe and sound. Now....to spend your time STITCHING!!!

Gillie said...

Oh wow, there is something to be said for living in a snow state, the dust never settles on the ploughs! Glad you are home, hope you had some food there!

gracie said...

Glad you are safely at home. I remember one time back in RI we had a terrible ice storm. It took my husband almost 8 hours to travel what normally would be one half hour...

Julie said...

Hope your snow is soon a thing of the past and life can return to normal for you and the city.

Chris said...

Glad that you guys made it home safely. What a mess! At least you have cookies :)

krayolakris said...

Just...wow!

Dani - tkdchick said...

Its amazing what is a fact of life for Canadians (you'd be amazed at some of the stuff I'll drive in) brings life to a halt in the South.

Yes I understand its the lack of infrastructure... I lived in Texas for 3 years so I understand!

Chris said...

Omgosh, how awful for you. We are having rain, rain, rain and more rain!!
Take care
Chris x

Ceramix said...

Love snow. One of the best things about winter.

Build a big snowman if you can.

Jackie's Stitches said...

I'm so glad you two didn't spend the night on the interstate. But as you said, it was close!

The cookies look delicious!

Shebafudge said...

Oh my word, what a horrific time of it. Glad you are safe and sound. xx

Ellen said...

Wow---what a nightmare! I thought about you when I heard how badly your area was hit by the storm. Glad that you made it home and didn't have to spend the night on the road. Too bad you didn't have any knitting with you when you were stuck on the road for so many hours.

Val said...

White knuckle driving for sure. At least living in Canada gives me lots of snow driving practice. I wouldn't have wanted to switch places with you at all.

Erin (moviemuse) said...

I'm so sorry it took you so long to get home! I'm truly grateful it "only" took us about 3 hours. Glad you made it safely, though!

Melanie said...

Bleh. I thought of you when this was all on the news, knowing you lived in the thick of it. It's just astounding, what happened. Boggles the mind. Hopefully that is the last of THAT kind of weather for you guys this year.

Nic said...

10 points for me :)
Glad you got home safely (or, eventually)

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