Thanks - And A Little Venting

Life is rough in Paisleyland

Thanks to the dear friends who took the time to call or drop me an email after yesterday's blog posting.  You really touched my heart.  Things are OK here, and I slept well last night, although now I have added some new concerns. There's always something to worry about, isn't there?

Yesterday's snowfall was manageable, only 5-6 inches, but the freezing drizzle that is falling on top of the snow promises to create major problems for the rest of the winter.  It allows the snow to pack into ice, and will give everything an icy armor coating.  Now I can worry about ice dams on my roof too, something I have not had for 15 or more years.

More snow due on Thursday, although so far the forecast for Friday and Saturday looks OK.  We will all be very disappointed if we can't get to my sister's home in rural Wisconsin for Christmas Day.

This will be the 6th Snow Emergency for the city of St. Paul, something the cash-strapped city can ill afford.  Although this particular snowfall is not as heavy as the previous one, there is a lot of clean up left from the last one.  Hopefully they do a careful job this time and plow us curb to curb. 

Several of the busier streets in my neighborhood are no longer wide enough for a car to get through when there are cars parked on both sides of the street.  Duh people, use some sense here!  One street over is a major roadway, and because people don't park close enough to the curb, there are places where two cars going in opposite directions can not pass.  WHY do people think they have to park far enough out from the curb to let their passengers exit - and then just leave the car that way?  Just let your passengers out and then pull up close so you are not obstructing the roadway!

My other complaint is the fact that sidewalks are to be shoveled "edge to edge".  What part of that do people not understand?  No where does it state that a narrow path through the middle is enough.  It states that sidewalks are to be shoved edge to edge, and that if you live on the corner you are responsible for BOTH sidewalks, as well as the curb cuts.  I could cut people some slack if they were seniors or disabled, but most of the offenders are hale and hearty, and some of them have teenagers living at home.  So why aren't those kids out shoveling, working for their spending money?  Which brings up yet another point - why does it seem that kids (at least in this neighborhood) no longer try to make money by mowing or shoveling?  There's plenty of money to be made this year, and no kids to looking for shoveling jobs.  Too busy playing with their computers or video games?     Eeerrrr.

Wow, Spellcheck caught only one error!  Wonder how many mis-used words it missed?