I got alot of christmas shopping done today, then on the way home, realized I bought my son a game he already has, so back to return it tomorrow and get him something I know he wants instead.

This is just limited to the stupid ones, right? /tongue.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':P' />

actually it's limited to one particular stupid one /dry.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />

I WANT SNOW! /angry.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

MK it looks real pretty on TV etc, but as anyone who's lived or lives in a snow area…it's exactly like Heidi says you lose days during heavy snow falls. I don't know how it is where she lives but the town I used to reside in South Jersey, if someone slips & falls on your sidewalk or walkways leading up to your home you can be sued. So you have to get out there and get everything shoveled up because if you don't people walk on the snow first and their footprints turn to ice. So you have a clean sidewalk except for these brutally slippery footprints that you now have to use an "ice breaker" to eliminate, road salt (which will eat though the concrete) or that funky green gel (that never works right). The other situation that happens if you ignore the shovelling is that the snow will melt a little in the sunlight and then refreeze when the sun goes down. If you're getting hit w/numerous storms back to back, like we did in the winter of 1999-2000, it creates crusty, hard layers that you have to break through and clear away to get back down to the concrete. I remember one year I went through a spade, a coal shovel (formerly my preferred snow weapon), 3 snow shovels and 2 industrial push brooms (usually for the light dustings). I was snapping shovels through the handle, breaking off important chunks of the shovel head itself or my personal favorite, when tossing the snow into a pile the head comes off and disappears into a snow drift….now you have to go find the darned thing to continue AND the screws to reattach it to the handle….NO THANKS! He w/the snowblower is a god among neighbors and gets invited to all the cookouts, unfortunately for us, our neighborhood diety moved out of town….(sighs heavily wondering if his back will EVER be the same again). The other fun part is when the township decides to start plowing the streets. After you've just spent an hour cleaning off your car (for those of us w/out a driveway or garage) and shovelling out a path for you non 4wd to get onto the main road surface from the curb, you have some nudnik from the road crew drive by w/the plow and snow your car BACK IN. Thanks for that j@ck@$$! One year I built a barrier to protect our cars from people who lost control of theirs negotiating down the street. It was about 40 feet long and about 3 feet high and easily 8inches thick. Using the no shovel principle it turned into a solid wall of ice fairly quickly (yes i cheated and poured water on it at night). It saved our cars 3 different times.

Hey Monk, we dont have that rule here about the sidewalks, so you can imagine what that means…

most people dont bother to do the sidewalk in front of their house. which means i have to walk

in the street, in the dark to pick Colin up after school, and get the joy of walking with him back

home in the dark, in the street. it's always very scary.

Cheryl, trust us the snow is pretty when it's happening, but the fun ends then.

You know Heidi, what you said reminds me of another occurrance (sp?) that happens over in philly alot or at least it used to. The city doesn't do side streets only main drags so it's up to the homeowners to clear their own streets. In the area where there are row homes people attempt to reserve their cleared parking spots w/lawn chairs or orange traffic cones to keep other neighbors or outsiders out of the spot when they're not home. As you can imagine there are quite a few fights. Buy some reflective strips for his (and your) clothes and/or book bag. Joanne fabrics might even carry something like that adhesive or sew on. Sporting good stores usually sell that stuff for joggers and cyclists. Do people have "winter/snow" cars where you live Heidi? Usually inexpensive P.O.S. junkers that are used in crap weather so their good cars don't get dinged up. I know the concept is big in the mid west and I think also upstate ny and western pa.

TWENTY FREAKIN' INCHES OF SNOW LATER . . . .

I couldn't get out of my complex to go to work last night. So, now I have to work two all night, 16-hour shifts in a row. Crap! I'm not even going to attempt getting home to sleep a few miserable hours in between. I'm staying over at the hotel! So, when I leave to go to work today (Sunday) I won't be home until Tuesday morning. But, I'm really not complaining. I have a job. So many others don't.

I will, however, be a zombie by Tuesday morning. /blink.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

At least the roads should be in better shape. I will be driving on auto pilot by that time. LOL!

Carolyn