Slippery slidey road, down, slippery slidey road, down, slippery...

Yesterday, we were supposed to have some pretty bad weather. I got up at 6:15 am (amazing in and of itself) and turned on the tv to watch the weather. The local weather guy said that we had about 2 inches of snow on the ground, but that the snow was gone. They showed the weather map, and you could see the big blue blob (the snow) off to the east and north of us. but he indicated the big pink blob (the ice) and it was to the west and south of us, and he said it would start here in about 3-4 hours and that it would make the commute home pretty nasty.

I thought of going in to work, and leaving when the ice/freezing rain/sleet started. But my office doesn't have windows, and I didn't know how bad it would be. And 3-4 hours would just be 9-10 am, which means I'd hardly get to work before I had to turn around and come back in the ice.


So I called in and told them I'd take off half the day, and if the weather wasn't too bad, I'd come in at noon for a half day, and if it was bad, I'd just take the whole day. And then i went back to bed.


When i got up at 11:30 (yeah, guess who forgot to set thier alarm before they went back to bed), I looked outside, and didn't see any ice. I checked the weather channel, and they ice was coming sometime in the afternoon. And then I sat there and thought, "Ya know, I'll never get ready and there by noon, and it's gonna be icey, and I don't really FEEL like going in..." so I got online and then went back to bed.


I got up and went to mom's about 1:30. I felt stupid, for wasting the whole day. Granted it was my own fault, I easily could have gone in at noon, or soon thereafter. But I didn't. And on my way walking to mom's I could see the stuff that HAD fallen melting. Man, did I feel dumb. I mumbled to myself something about how ironic it would be if it wasn't bad this day I took off, and then Saturday, when I HAD to get to work, all this melting stuff froze and it was real icey then.


yeah, you see where this is going, but stay with me. just wait for it.


Cut to this morning. I get up, get showered, and head out. I had left my car at mom's figuring it's easier to get from her place to a main road than the off-street parking behind my house (no alleys or hills from mom's place). So i get downstairs, cross the porch. There are three stone steps leading to the walkway. There's a metal handrail. As I reached the bottom of the steps, I grabbed the handrail, and felt it was all icey.

As I came to that realization, I put my left foot down on the walkway...which then proceeded to slid right out from under me. The walkway, even though I couldn't see it, was a solid sheet of ice. Feeling my foot moving, I dropped my other foot to the walkway, and that too went out from under me.

Luckily, they both went the same way: forward. At some point, I let go of the railing, which was good, cause it allowed to me slid away from the steps. I landed on my ass and then his my upper back. How I didn't smack my head on that bottom stone step is a mystery to me.


And I distinctly remember, as I fell, what my one lone thought was. It wasn't "I hope I don't break my ankle" or "what if I hit my head" or anything like that. No, my thought was, "God, I hope none of the neighbors are out and no one's walking by. I don't want anyone to see this." Can you imagine? What a freak am I.


So anyway, I put my right foot flat to try to push myself up, but with the slightest pressure, it slid forward again. There just was NO traction. Luckily, there was some grass right next to the walkway that my feet ended up in. I put my feet there, and used my hand (which slid once as well) to get back on my feet. Nothing was broken, nothing was bruised. Nothing was really wet. I wasn't down that long. And there was no one out anywhere to see me.


I walked over to mom's, slipping but not falling three more times on the sidewalks. I had to cross a major road, and it wasn't slippery at all, thank goodness. Once i got to her place I started to clean the car off. The trunk this time went up and stayed up. I think the problem the other day was that the trunk lid had snow on it. Today, it was just a thin layer of ice, and it stayed up fine. Having done that, I managed to get the cap to the can of de-icer, ready to use it. Except that, there wasn't enough in there. Only a little trickle came out. I was gonna throw the damn thing across the yard, but mom had come out and was standing on the front porch, and between her laughing at me, she told me to give it her she'd throw it away. And she did.


The trip to work was no problem at all. None of the roads were slippery at all. but nonetheless, my experience shows me that there IS such a thing as karma...and she's got a bitch of a sense of humor.


POLT Listening to "Goodbye horses" by Psycho


I mean, if you've ever been a governor of a state, you understand the vast potential of broadband technology, you understand how hard it is to make sure that physics, for example, is taught in every classroom in the state. It's difficult to do. It's, like, cost-prohibitive. - George W. Bush