They say (the “they” in this case being the weather forecasters) that a big storm is headed my way. (Indeed, while I was writing this the snow has started, and it’s a pretty respectable display. Thundersnow too.) They are always predicting this horrific weather, which I suppose is fair, what with this being March in Toronto, but the whole “get prepared, go buy milk, rush around being worried” thing is lost on me. It’s a snowstorm, not a tidal wave or a massive hurricane. I imagine that when my laissez faire attitude bites me on the arse by leaving me with no milk for cereal when the big one finally hits I will be properly repentant, but that’s not today. So far, about twelve people (one of whom was carrying enough toilet paper to service a bunker for the duration of the apocalypse) have asked me if I am ready for the storm.
I’m not sure what “ready” means. Emotionally ready? Physically ready? I live in the city. Though I would undoubtedly prepare differently if I lived further out, here there are three grocery stores, five corner stores, a beer store, a liquor store, a police station, a fire station, two hospitals and about ten thousand of my fellow humans (eleven of whom I am related to) within walking distance (no matter how poor the weather) of my house. Frankly, any weather that would mean my family was in danger that I couldn’t solve with those considerable resources is not going to be fixed with 4L of fresh milk. (The queue at the grocery store would indicate that most of my neighbours somehow believe that they are either about to be struck by a storm that will shut down Canada’s largest city for six weeks, or that they do not live in Canada’s largest city.) Thusly, beyond the few things that every household should have in the event of an emergency (like candles, canned goods and water) I have prepared more personally. My personal storm emergency kit includes the following.
Freshly washed wool socks for every member of the family.
A decent bottle of red wine.
Six beers.
Two rented movies.
Chocolate.
My wits.
A pot of coffee
A pot of soup
Cheese and crackers
A small bottle of Glenlivet (if things were very bad)
An extensive stash of wool (both for insulation and entertainment)
My children (both for insulation and entertainment)
Frankly, any weather (or personal) emergency that cannot be handled with one of the above is too horrible to even contemplate.
Let it snow.
It certainly seems like you’re prepared!
With your list it sounds like you are all set! Enjoy the snow!
I know you were Scottish, under that Canadian exterior!
Sounds cozy. I think your list sounds perfect, except I would have some wood for our fireplace. Enjoy the snow…
As a neighbor to the south, (Buffalo, NY) I wholeheartedly agree- let it snow! Worst case scenario- you wait a couple more days and it melts 🙂
Admirable list! We are done with the storm here in Kansas. It struck overnight with an interesting mix of blowing snow, tornadoes and, yes, thundersnow. Have fun!
You HAVE to have milk…what about Hot Cocoa?
It’s nice to know that the Inclement Weather Madness is not isolated only to the Southern United States. I live in Arkansas. We do not see a lot of snow or ice, compartively speaking. If the TV weatherman says that there is even a chance of snow, everyone and their grandmother races to the nearest grocery store for bread and milk.
Craziness.
Yet no one ever rushes out to buy bread and milk during tornado season. And we get many tornadoes than we do ice &/or snow storms. One of my coworkers was trapped for a week due to a fallen tree & downed powerlines right outside her home after a tornado. I’ll bet she was wishing she had stocked up on bread and milk!
You have my kind of emergency list just scratch the red and switch to white. Curious, how many “snow allowance days” do you public school kids get? Our calendar allots for 4 in New Jersey.
Sounds like you’re set.. one of my staple goods was always non-fat milk powder.. my kids hated it. and it was always incentive for them to shovel the walk, bundle up and go out.. (to buy milk)
still if you get snowed in, just post an SOS on your blog, and hundreds of knitters will converge to dig you out!
Hmmm…the only thing you didn’t mention is a bottle of Screech. (To prevent insanity in case a “cabin fever” scenario should arise.) Well, if all else fails, hunker down and “knit on”!
Sounds like you’re set.. one of my staple goods was always non-fat milk powder.. my kids hated it. and it was always incentive for them to shovel the walk, bundle up and go out.. (to buy milk)
still if you get snowed in, just post an SOS on your blog, and hundreds of knitters will converge to dig you out!
A very good list. But for insulation I prefer my husband. He keeps me much warmer. And it is fun to use the wool for rubbing…Sorry, got carried away.
We had magnificent Thundersnow this morning at about 3:30am, then again about 7:00am. My children were awestruck…being 6 & 9 – they have never seen or heard this. The lightning was so spectacular I had to wake them to watch the show.
I love that you gave it a name!
People around me do the same thing. I’ve heard the explanation that it’s a hangover from the blizzard of ’78 (which, for most of Massachusetts, is the reigning definition of The Mother of All Blizzards), but I think it’s hard-wired troglodyte instinct.
Your inner troglodyte appears to be blessed with exceptional fortitude and forethought, and your thousand-greats-grandparents probably had the best cave and the finest paintings in all of Perigord.
A very good list. But for insulation I prefer my husband. He keeps me much warmer. And it is fun to use the wool for rubbing…Sorry, got carried away.
Glenlivet! My dh would love that. I got him Glenlivet for Valentine’s Day!
Love the bad weather list! My daughter and her DH do live further out – much futher out, and they are in the process of getting off the grid, so that if the power goes off in bad weather, their’s won’t! Enjoy the snow!
Here in the south, the shelves clear of bread, milk and hot chocolate. Oh, and the 12 packs of Bud. Eep.
I have boys, so they probably wouldn’t work well as insulation but they would make a mean windbreak!
I have never understood the bread and milk thing in preparation for a storm. If I’ve got wine, cheese and crackers (which I always do) then I’m ready.
I am currious about the thunder, is it fork or sheet lightening?
We Canadians can be funny about the weather preparations eh?
I thought I was the only one who didn’t hit the grocery store before a storm. I’m on the south shore of Lake Superior – we’re supposed to get up to 2 feet with whiteout conditions and 40 mph winds tonight and tomorrow. I think my kids will survive for 2 days if we run out of milk. Seriously, we live in town, it’s not like we couldn’t borrow from our neighbors if it got that bad! The only thing I did to stock up was hit the movie store and the yarn store (but I would have been there regardless)!
How about a keg of beer? If the kegorator is more than half full (or less than half empty depending on how you look at it)I think I can weather the greatest windstorm or heat wave (as I am in the desert.)Anything but fire, don’t like wildfire.
Anyway, I am you at the beginning of the week. You’re in my post today: http://pretendingtofarm.typepad.com/pretending_to_farm/2007/03/hopefully_hormo.html
Enjoy the being-snowed-in knitting time.
A good list, indeed. At my house, we must have half and half for our tea, as there is none to be had within walking distance. With half and half in hand, we can survive any storm.
Speaking of walking. I wonder how your eccentric neighbor is these days? The WonderBra neighbor? I wonder if *she’s* prepared!
Tried to post yesterday to no avail. What is that lovely green yarn you were using for the rib warmer? It looks so deliciously spring-ish. And I also ordered EZ’s book for the baby jacket pattern. Thanks for the inspiration!
Just wanted to let you know, I really appreciate that you share your ideas, experiences and knowledge about knitting. I was just looking for alternative methods for blocking with wire and found your posting from 2005 where you explain, in quite a bit of detail, your blocking methods. Brilliant!
You’ve saved me $35 in blocking wire and the time of having to wait for the delivery of said blocking wire. Plus, I feel more clever, even though it was your idea.
Thanks for helping me to work smart.
Having just experienced my first nearly-blizzard driving conditions yesterday (freak storm in Oregon + I’m a transplanted valley Californian = Not Happy. At. All.), I am in both awe and amazement that you are SO CALM.
It’s interesting that your wits only appear after wine, beer, and chocolate on the list of necessities. Is this a result of random order, or do those items need to be actually consumed before your wits kick in?
Too funny! Out here in the Wild West, you’d think the world stopped spinning if there was the hint of a snowflake. Reporters would be standing in the wind and cold on every possible overpass, hopefully close to a Starbucks for the necessary warmth. Oh the horror if something really DID happen and we were snowed in for a day 😉
Enjoy! I love snowed in days, more excuses to sit in front of the fire with a cup of coffee and knit! Though rumor has it Blue Moon Fiber Arts is hunting for a generator due to a snow caused power outage so they can get the Rockin Sock kits mailed. And they are only 45 miles or so from me. 😮
That is the *perfect* list! We just got snowed in ourselves, but rather unexpectedly. Thankfully we had most (all but the glenlivet, it thankfully wasn’t that bad!) and survived quite nicely!
Well, the sun that shone so brightly in Ottawa this morning is gone and the clouds are quickly gobbling up what remains of the blue skies. Although this sounds pretty grim, I have the day off tomorrow and already had milk and juice on my list of things to pick up before getting home tonight. I also have rice krispies and marshmellows on that list. Tomorrow is an excellent snowed-in day to teach the girls what rice krispie squares are all about!
Let it snow!
Too funny! Out here in the Wild West, you’d think the world stopped spinning if there was the hint of a snowflake. Reporters would be standing in the wind and cold on every possible overpass, hopefully close to a Starbucks for the necessary warmth. Oh the horror if something really DID happen and we were snowed in for a day 😉
Enjoy! I love snowed in days, more excuses to sit in front of the fire with a cup of coffee and knit! Though rumor has it Blue Moon Fiber Arts is hunting for a generator due to a snow caused power outage so they can get the Rockin Sock kits mailed. And they are only 45 miles or so from me. 😮
I tend to have the same reaction when we have bad weather here in Kansas. My family members around town will talk of “stocking up for the storm” while I momentarily contemplate whether I should call for Chinese food delivery now because it will take the driver longer in the snow, or take my chances with hunger and wait another hour.
When I lived in Kentucky, I always noticed that there was a run on eggs, milk, and bread before a big winter storm. And, as therefore I assumed people were going to live on French Toast for the duration, I wondered why there wasn’t also a run on maple syrup or powdered sugar.
Lovely list, I wish I were home with my own fun list. Instead I’m stuck in an office wondering how long the drive home will be. They said leave early if you need to, but I’m only 15 minutes away. Doesn’t seem like I need to.
Oh well, good thing I have my knitting with me. Even if I get stormed in at the office, all will be well.
Here in the Southern US, the disaster we have to prepare for is a hurricane. Luckily, I live high enough that it won’t flood, but the power invariably goes out for at least a few days.
Which is why it boggles my mind that everyone rushes out to buy PERISHABLES like milk and eggs when it’s likely that they will be without electricity in the middle of the summer (and most people don’t have generators). Seriously, what are they thinking?
We’re being told that the deadly storms are headed our way, too. For us it is to be thunderstorms and tornadoes. I don’t think bread and milk will protect us or prevent the bad weather from striking. I think I’m going to go have an ice cream. If I die tonight, it will not matter. If I must face tomorrow, I’ll do an extra exercise dvd.
Here in the Southern US, the disaster we have to prepare for is a hurricane. Luckily, I live high enough that it won’t flood, but the power invariably goes out for at least a few days.
Which is why it boggles my mind that everyone rushes out to buy PERISHABLES like milk and eggs when it’s likely that they will be without electricity in the middle of the summer (and most people don’t have generators). Seriously, what are they thinking?
I love your list of storm prep necessities. I’m in TO, heard the thundersnow, and feel it is simply unfair that I have to spend this entire weekend working on a history paper instead of knitting and watching the snow from my window. I also wish very much I had the makings of a pot of soup…perhaps I will venture out. 🙂
Here in the Southern US, the disaster we have to prepare for is a hurricane. Luckily, I live high enough that it won’t flood, but the power invariably goes out for at least a few days.
Which is why it boggles my mind that everyone rushes out to buy PERISHABLES like milk and eggs when it’s likely that they will be without electricity in the middle of the summer (and most people don’t have generators). Seriously, what are they thinking?
Lovely list, I wish I were home with my own fun list. Instead I’m stuck in an office wondering how long the drive home will be. They said leave early if you need to, but I’m only 15 minutes away. Doesn’t seem like I need to.
Oh well, good thing I have my knitting with me. Even if I get stormed in at the office, all will be well.
I love your list of storm prep necessities. I’m in TO, heard the thundersnow, and feel it is simply unfair that I have to spend this entire weekend working on a history paper instead of knitting and watching the snow from my window. I also wish very much I had the makings of a pot of soup…perhaps I will venture out. 🙂
My HEAVENS… this is CANADA… why is everyone freaking out about snow this winter!?! It’s been the same here in Montreal. 20-25cm of snow in a 24 hour period, is, yes, a storm, but certainly NOT the end of the world! In fact, I’d call it NORMAL. It should likely happen several times per winter season.
In any case, it sounds like you are more than prepared for this encroaching disaster of winterness.
We are supposed to get the same storm beginning tonight. I’ve never seen Thundersnow – so, I am sort of looking forward to it…we are prepared too…lots of yarn to knit and four-footed babies to keep us warm!!!
I am starting to think it’s a conspiracy between the forecasters and the supermarkets to drive sales. We’ve got a “severe winter storm” coming too and the hype is overwhelming. I will be picking up a gallon of milk on the way home so that we won’t have to go without dairy for the 8 hours or so that the storm may last (6 of which will be spent sleeping).
Good Luck!!!!
We are supposed to get the same storm beginning tonight. I’ve never seen Thundersnow – so, I am sort of looking forward to it…we are prepared too…lots of yarn to knit and four-footed babies to keep us warm!!!
When I first started quilting, before I had built up an extensive fabric stash, I found out there was a big snowstorm on the way. I left work early so that I could go get the fabric I needed for my next project. I don’t ever remember running out to get milk or TP, but the fabric, that was important.
Well, I live in a much more rural area where we will be stuck for the day, so my list includes:
-the ingredients for a good baking binge–yeast, flour, eggs, chocolate chips, butter, milk
-coffee & half/half
-a bottle of red wine
-a good craft project lined up–we’re making mittens and hats from felted sweaters during tomorrow’s snow day
-a good book for each family member
-gas for the generator
Off to take inventory!
The night before hurricane Juan hit Halifax this is how I prepared:
1. I filled the bathtub with water (for flushing the toilet in the event that we lost our water)
2. I made a pot of coffee and put it in a thermos.
3. Got Mr. Happy to put the garbage cans in the shed.
When I walked out onto my mulched leaf and twig covered front step the next morning, bleary-eyed and sipping coffee, my neighbour asked, accusingly, “Where did you get the coffee?”
It pays to be prepared.
Man, I wish we had threats of snowstorms down here . . . living in Georgia, all it does is dump buckets of rain, like it is now. It’s a balmy 67 F right now, too. We’re lucky if we get flurries.
Enjoy the snowstorm! It sounds lovely. Like you, I have a very laid-back attitude when it comes to storms. Nothing better than a lapful of wool and Porcupine Tree’s “Stupid Dream” coming out of my speakers when the weather’s going nuts outside.
Love your list!! My husband, children and I are snowed in with a blizzard blowing in our very small (800 residents), rural South Dakota town. I had some concerns about milk and bread, but you’re right, with a nice pot of soup, bottle of wine, family and plenty of wool, I can weather whatever’s going to blow. I wish the Socks That Rock shipment would have come in the mail by now. 😉
I laugh at those in the stores hoarding all the milk, bread and bottled water. The funny thing is, I bet most of the people don’t even drink the milk! I live on the wild side and wait to shop until – gasp – when I actually need the groceries! Just give me some wine and knitting and I’m easily entertained. Thanks for the post!
The understanding in the grocery store business it that fifteen minutes into any kind of storm the store will be slammed by mentally panicked people who will buy any and all “staples”. We got our huge honking snow storm back when you were getting that odd warm weather. It dumped anywhere from 50 cm to a meter of snow on us and parylised a lot of towns. I still have 50 cm heaps of snow around my house and in the yard.
You missed Kitty litter and cat food on your list. Cats are convinced that any foul weather is your fault and that you must now fix it, immedietly. They also keep looking for the door that will magicly open into summer. They run to all doors and then look at you as if this is all your fault. A shortage of kitty litter or cat food on top of the insult of snow is not to be imagined. Have fun, my list is a little different but in general the basics are covered.
I think everyone’s gotten wussier in the past couple of years. It’s a snowstorm. We live in Canada. Whatever. Instead, they’re cancelling school buses before the snow even starts, stocking up like the world is ending and in general freaking out. 10 years ago, I used to go to work in storms all the time – just takes you longer. It wasn’t fun, but it wasn’t a reason to shut down the world.
Wussier. That’s the only explanation I can think of.
We’re in line for the snow as well. I’ve added frozen pizza and my new drop spindle to the Storm Survival Kit so I should be all set! Well…there may be a little bit of chocolate rattling around in that kit somewhere, too. Just a little bit…
Love it.
I do believe that 6 beer may not be enough, HOWEVER, give that there is a beer store within walking distance, you are forgiven.
I’m in Waterloo right now, and thought it would be an awesome idea to drive to my parents in Hamilton. Not so much. We’ve got about 50-100 m of visibility on the roads right now, and all I want to do is go out and play!
I do enjoy the snow, and am quite happy that it’s decided to join us agian.
You go Steph!
You plan for a storm like I do, wool, booze, chocolate, oh and firewood 🙂 Good Luck! We just got hit with almost 3 ft in Northern Vermont and only ran a little low on the chocolate WHEW!
I agree
You go Steph!
You plan for a storm like I do, wool, booze, chocolate, oh and firewood 🙂 Good Luck! We just got hit with almost 3 ft in Northern Vermont and only ran a little low on the chocolate WHEW!
The worst weather we had to deal with was the ice storm about what? 10 years ago? The one that downed major power lines all across the northern east US and Canada. We were without power for 5 days (some were out for 21). I learned to get up early, start up the wood stove and start heating water for washing, and cooking. We had 2 railroad lanterns and plenty of wicks for the oil lamps. It was inconvenient, but not painful. We spent a lot of time sitting around the kitchen table with the oil lamps reading, playing board games and cards. We survived. But I think if we hadn’t had a woodstove things would have not been so good.
Mary
Thank you for the dose of common sense! I am so tired of all the doom and gloom… gas shortages, bacteria outbreaks, winter storm… Enough with the fear mongering already!
You go Steph!
You plan for a storm like I do, wool, booze, chocolate, oh and firewood 🙂 Good Luck! We just got hit with almost 3 ft in Northern Vermont and only ran a little low on the chocolate WHEW!
I love the way you think. You can teach an emergency preparedness class ANY TIME.
We are in the midst of what I believe is the same storm here in the Minneapolis area. There is currently about 6″ of wet, nasty (as opposed to nice, dry)snow outside and it is still falling. I understood the need to stock up when I lived 30 miles from a grocery store on a road that was only plowed after the main and secondary roads, but now that I live 5 minutes from two grocery stores and a plethora of other stores, I just don’t get it.
BTW, Mercury is still in retrograde — I had to rip back an inch of baby sweater sleeves after realizing that I had cable at row 4 instead of row 8. Grrr!
I just read my dear husband your post because I was wondering what all the to-do was about. I was still going to drive to Stouffville for my daughter’s riding class when he pointed out of the window and we could not see the house across the road. It’s just a little blowing snow, after all, I said, laughing. I have been known to drive on the 404 thinking nothing was wrong and enjoying the lack of gridlock on a snowy day when they CLOSED the highway in front of me. Needless to say I was very put out to have to detour!
I guess that makes me Canadian with a capital C.
What an appropriate list. I remember when the weatherman would forecast a snow storm, we would bundle up and head up into the hills to my grandmother’s house and bake. We would bake while the snow sifted down around her house, sealing us in. It was wonderful. I love snow storms.
What an appropriate list. I remember when the weatherman would forecast a snow storm, we would bundle up and head up into the hills to my grandmother’s house and bake. We would bake while the snow sifted down around her house, sealing us in. It was wonderful. I love snow storms.
The only thing I double check when our weather people become all flushed and excited about crappy ass weather, is the dog food. Truly. I do not want to stumble around on ice and in snow for doggie bits for ze pooch.
I would replace the beer with Bailey’s, and make sure I have enough in my cupboards for hot chocolate (with peppermint), otherwise a perfect list.
I just read my dear husband your post because I was wondering what all the To-Do was about. I was still going to drive to Stouffville for my daughter’s riding class when he pointed out of the window and we could not see the house across the road. It’s just a little blowing snow, after all, I said, laughing. I have been known to drive on the 404 thinking nothing was wrong and enjoying the lack of gridlock on a snowy day when they CLOSED the highway in front of me. Needless to say I was very put out to have to detour!
I guess that makes me Canadian with a capital C.
We don’t have thundersnow in Georgia today, but we did have a thunderstorm…And if there’s the slightest teensy-weensy chance there might be ice on the ground, watch out. Cause there will be no bread or milk at the grocery store..People lose their minds a little bit I think..We had The Blizzard in ’93..At my house slightly in the country, we didn’t have power for over a week..I was only about 5, but I remember that we put the milk in the snow on the backporch to keep cold. And we all stayed in the living room, because that was the only room with a heater. That’s my snow story. About once a year here, we get a little ice, maybe a flurry, enough to cancel school for the day although it usually ends up being nice outside.
I just read my dear husband your post because I was wondering what all the To-Do was about. I was still going to drive to Stouffville for my daughter’s riding class when he pointed out of the window and we could not see the house across the road. It’s just a little blowing snow, after all, I said, laughing. I have been known to drive on the 404 thinking nothing was wrong and enjoying the lack of gridlock on a snowy day when they CLOSED the highway in front of me. Needless to say I was very put out to have to detour!
I guess that makes me Canadian with a capital C.
Here in the Southern U.S. the shelves clear of all sorts of perishables in preparation for any sort of storm. Fresh milk and meat come in quite handy when the power is out. I do not understand such people.
I always have a few cans of Meyersburg Goat’s Milk on hand. Reconstitutes nicely for drinking and works well at full strength for coffee. MMMM.
Which reminds me that it is fast approaching hurricane season (seeing that we are already IN tornado season).
Our 24-Hours-Till-Landfall List:
*knitting
*propane
*coffee and Grandma’s drip pot
*pet food
*litter
*water for people and pets to drink
*bread, crackers, canned condensed milk, easy-to-eat canned goods like sardines, chili, soup, deviled ham, tuna, spaghetti-os
*first aid kit
*medications for people and pets
*transport cages deployed for pets in case of need to evacuate
*full fuel tank in case of evacuation
*locate family photos and other irreplacables in case of need to evacuate, as well as important papers
*lighting devices and batteries
*The Ferriday Flashlights (utter coolness) that appeared in my Christmas stocking
*charge all rechargable batteries
*fill ice chest
*fill various containers with water for washing and flushing
*do all possible laundry in anticipation of several-day power outage
*bleach and spray bottles for sanitizing
*toilet paper
*red wine, Guinness and Irish whiskey, none of which need to be cold. Warm American beer sucks.
But let’s see … a snowstorm in Canada? Geez. Unless you run out of T.P., sounds like you’re set.
Bwah! I couldn’t agree more! I’m even originally from the SE US (Georgia), where one flake shuts a city down. Now I’m in New York, and people STILL freak out at the grocery store at the THREAT of snow. Any snow.
Bread and milk? Heck no. I hit the liquor store.
By the way, we were hit with a big one Oct. 27 last year…and things are always great till you lose power. Maybe an interesting (?) read about it…plus pictures here on my blog:
http://www.thewoollenearth.com/blog_nov_2006.html
Just scroll down to the Nov. 1st entry. Of course, we aren’t in the city, so a little different.
Popcorn is a good addition to the list.
Here in Indiana, everyone rushes to the store when a storm is approaching for milk, eggs, and bread. Makes me wonder if everyone is haveing french toast!
Enjoy being snowed in — makes for good knitting time.
🙂
I grew up in California. There you don’t worry. The worst thing that will happen will not give you warning. You will be eating a popsicle and then suddenly the ground will be rolling and the tall things shaking. Folks in the Midwest have told me that this would make them worried all the time. I think most folks I grew up with found that it meant they made a box of supplies in elementary school and never thought about it again until the moment it happened. Having lived in Texas and the Midwest, I can say that I prefer being taken by surprise to being worried for weeks about storms and hurricanes, which are usually quite disappointing.
Just wanted to let you know, I really appreciate that you share your ideas, experiences and knowledge about knitting. I was just looking for alternative methods for blocking with wire and found your posting from 2005 where you explain, in quite a bit of detail, your blocking methods. Brilliant!
You’ve saved me $35 in blocking wire and the time of having to wait for the delivery of said blocking wire. Plus, I feel more clever, even though it was your idea.
Thanks for helping me to work smart.
I take hurricane warnings seriously enough to stock up on bottled water and other supplies. But I also take time out of “official” preparations to make a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies. If there’s the possibility that you’re going to be eating out of cans and doing without electricity for a few days, I figure a really good chocolate chip cookies — or three or four — can go a long way toward making life more comfy!
The storm hit here earlier today. I don’t stock up either but I do stay off the roads. I have my usual supplies for a household with 3 kids. I can walk to 2 grocery stores, the corner store (5 houses down) or the beer store & the lids are capable of walking home so I’m sittin & knittin.
We stock up for hurricanes in the Deep South. Fill the washer and the tub with water for flushing, make sure you have tons of batteries, foods you can cook on the campstove, wine, and recharge the phones, mp3 players, PDAs and gameboys. Most important, get wood for the smoker — there’s gonna be a hella block party once the storm passes, the power is out, and the freezer full of pork butts starts to thaw.
I note that your emergency preparedness kit does not include milk … but I agree with all of it! Stay warm!
In Ohio, what kills me, is that the news stations have to name or “brand” everything. Storm Watch 2007!! March Blizzard Tracker! Arctic Invasion! It’s ridiculous. It’s snow. We know all about snow and have all the right clothing and snow tires and salt (oh, we have the salt) and boots. Sit back with a bottle of wine, a knitting project, and watch nature do her thing. But, that’s just me.
Personally, I think the weather folks just enjoy having something to get worked up about. Most of these horrid storms are pretty standard by Canadian standards. Tomorrow all those people will wonder why they bought all that arse wipe in the first place.
Great list – about the only difference here is that I’d substitute a carbonated cola and Screech mixture for the Glenlivet, but that’s just me being my usual peculiar self.
Living in the buckle of the Snow Belt, I’ve gotten used to 14-inch snowdrifts on my sixth floor windowsills, white-out conditions, and an employer who is extremely proud of its “We Never Close!” attitude.
I KNOW! They do that down here in Connecticut, too. It drives me up the wall!
I love your methods of insulation and entertainment. Children and wool are all that anyone ever needs! 🙂
We’re having tornado warnings instead of snow. Of the two, I’d say I prefer the snow. I’ve never really been in a tornado, but any disaster in which they advise you to go to the basement is an unrelieved nightmare to me! I’d rather walk (be dragged?) headfirst into a tornado than spend a lot of time down in my basement. I wouldn’t dream of going down there even in broad daylight without a stick!
Our power was out for hours yesterday, on a 49F degree day in a typically-Californian house with floor-to-ceiling windows all over. Brr. No hot cocoa! The horror, the horror.
Ha ha ha ha!!!! I got a real laugh out of this post. We too are having snowstorms. We got about 10-12″ last weekend and are getting more today (I have no idea how much to expect as I don’t watch TV). I wonder what you neighbors were doing in December of 1999? Remember the craziness over Y2K? What were they buying then?
Have fun snow (and people) watching!!
Stay warm
Wine, Chocolate, Yarn and the BF are all I need
🙂
Great list, here’s mine:
-dog food
-diapers
-popcorn (microwave and loose)
-beer
-chocolate
-Spring issue of Interweave Knits.
I’ll update the picture of my driveway on my blog when The Storm finally comes. (It’s just snow, people. If you live north of the Equator it does happen occasionally.)
Oh yeah…my husband is having trouble getting out of Hawaii. Feel sorry for him?
Okay… I’m trying really really hard not to laugh. When snow is predicted down here (down here being Philadelphia), there is a rush to the grocery store for milk, eggs and bread. TP and other essentials apparently don’t figure in to the equation. I thought it was a phenomenom *strongly resisting urge to break into the MaNaMaNa song from Sesame Street* isolated to my hometown. Glad to know it’s not!
What I do want to know is what are my neighbors going to do with all of that milk, eggs and bread? One friend, not native to the area, suggested that they throw French Toast parties. *shrug* Makes about as much sense to me.
I much prefer your storm preparations! *grin* Bring on the single malt! *grin*
I love how coffee and wool came before the kids. Now those are my kind of priorities! 🙂
I’m with you. Pre-any storm, I am always bemused by the people at my grocery store stocking up on shovels (do you really need three?) and what all. It’s New England, folks. We know what to do when snow hits. You aren’t likely to be buried in your house for five months. I can understand wanting to make sure that you need three or four days’ worth of staples on hand, but beyond that …. I don’t get it.
Having your wits about you (as I can see you do, since they’re on your list) is the most important part of any storm-preparedness plan.
OMG, only SIX beers? You are SO. Not. Prepared. You should have at least one case per teenager. (Not for them, for you, when dealing with them.)
I live in the NE, and we are supposed to get a storm overnight tonight… I knew I ran out and bought more yarn this morning for a reason! Oops, but I forgot the milk!
Down in the Washington, D.C., area, schools start sending students home at the threat of snow. I could understand it if we lived in Atlanta or El Paso or someplace where snow is unusual, but we are still far enough north that we ought to have respectable snow plows and sand/salt and a budget to put those things together on the roads in a reasonably quick fashion…
I’m with you! (Almost literally, also living in downtown Toronto.) Let it snow — that way we won’t be dealign with freezing rain! Tonight be a good one to snuggle in with husbad, cats, and knitting, of course: all the supplies one really needs.
Stephanie, I’m considerably south of you, and the word “snow” causes great grocery hysteria. Some years ago a newspaper columnist who’d just moved to Philadelphia decided that there was some strange ritual response to snow in which everyone made French toast — because at the faintest whisper of the word, everyone ran out frantically to buy bread, milk, and eggs.
I love being snowed in, especially with good friends/family. It always makes for a good time.
I’m with you! (Almost literally, also living in downtown Toronto.) Let it snow — that way we won’t be dealing with freezing rain! Tonight be a good one to snuggle in with husbad, cats, and knitting, of course: all the supplies one really needs.
Hear, hear. I think it’s funny that you have both a “beer store” and a “liquor store.”
You would laugh if you lived in Missouri. Here, when they say that MAYBE, we MIGHT, get an inch of snow, people go crazy.
I work in a pharmacy and have had people call in to get an extra month of their medicine “just in case I get snowed in.” I have lived here my entire life and have never seen snow stay on the ground for more than 3 days, so I can’t imagine this happening.
Even in 1979, where we got a huge snow, people were not snowed in for more than a week.
People are funny, no?
No Screech???
Only 6 beers? Well, you did say there was a beer store nearby.
I live in Chicago, and I feel exactly the same way…I think the birth of the Weather Channel has contributed to the worsening of weather hysteria. My philosophy is, if I can’t see it out my window, why worry now–it is winter, chances are that a storm will come sooner or later. Also, when the suburbanites are in hysterics, I wonder why anyone lives out there, where driving is necessary and necessities (stores, wine, neighbors, libraries) are few and far between. Plus there are driveways to shovel. Give me drifted city sidewalks anytime.
Down in the Washington, D.C., area, schools start sending students home at the threat of snow. I could understand it if we lived in Atlanta or El Paso or someplace where snow is unusual, but we are still far enough north that we ought to have respectable snow plows and sand/salt and a budget to put those things together on the roads in a reasonably quick fashion…
I think you need more red wine and beer. but that’s just me.
Missing from your list:
“My hubby (both for insulation and entertainment)”
Denver is prepared for 200 knitters + standing room for 100 more when you come to visit. Talk about being underprepared!
When I lived in Nashville, the emergency run was on bottled water and loaves of bread, which always had a kind of prison feel to me (you’ll never see the outside again, Lefty). In other places, it was something different. Obviously, in Toronto it’s milk and toilet paper. I wonder how this determining of what you’re going to need is decided – is it geography? is it communal consciousness? Hummmmm….maybe there’s a doctoral thesis in this for someone? I’m sure funding could be found.
A few years ago in the Denver area we got “the big one”–close to 3 feet of snow in 24 hours. Shut us down for days. I thought I was prepared until I got up in the morning and realized I didn’t have any tampons–
–that was a loooong walk to the supermarket and back.
Joe?
Joe?
At 2:30p.m. our son was in Etobicoke. It is now 3:30p.m. and he is on the outskirts of Mississauga. Usual driving time – five minutes. We live in Caledon. I am wondering what our driving time will be. Since we live at the top of a hill, and freezing rain is predicted to start any time, maybe I need to wonder if we will be home before Friday!!
Why did we leave High Park Gardens??
LMAO….it took me a few to stop laughing after your post…..tooo funnny. What good will all the toilet paper do if your hit with a major snow storm? I guess you could use it to wrap up in and stay warm, although I could think of better things to help keep me warm then toilet paper, like say, I don’t know, maybe a blanket or a big pile of wool from my stash…..lol. I’d say your personal emergency list sounds pretty good to me and can’t think of anything I’d add to it.
At 2:30p.m. our son was in Etobicoke. It is now 3:30p.m. and he is on the outskirts of Mississauga. Usual driving time – five minutes. We live in Caledon. I am wondering what our driving time will be, from our office in Mississauga. Since we live at the top of a hill, and freezing rain is predicted to start any time, maybe I need to wonder if we will be home before Friday!!
Why did we leave High Park Gardens??
At 2:30p.m. our son was in Etobicoke. It is now 3:30p.m. and he is on the outskirts of Mississauga. Usual driving time – five minutes. We live in Caledon. I am wondering what our driving time will be, from our office in Mississauga. Since we live at the top of a hill, and freezing rain is predicted to start any time, maybe I need to wonder if we will be home before Friday!!
Why did we leave High Park Gardens??
Ayup.
I can see the calm attitude for a snow storm. Our preparation consists of making sure we have gas for the snow thrower. However the last two storms that headed my way also included freezing ran/ice which could mean a power outage and a wide-spread one too. That’s a different ball game and preparing becomes more involved. I think maybe people just feel better knowing they have enough of the essentials so they don’t have to go out in it.
I get irritated when I seen double-posts. I have no idea why mine shows up three times. I only pushed the Post button once.
Now I’m irritated at ME. Apologies.
Hello? Where’s Steph? Y’know, the one who was all panicked about running out of food a few weeks ago, and dreading walking to the market in the cold, and wondering how to get salad greens home unfrozen?
I live in the Minneapolis Metro. I agree with the ‘we got wussier’ comment. When I was little this kind of weather was not cause for panic, it was cause for calm and relaxtion. What else are you going to do?
I live in the Minneapolis Metro. I agree with the ‘we got wussier’ comment. When I was little this kind of weather was not cause for panic, it was cause for calm and relaxtion. What else are you going to do?
I hate when I actually need bread or milk or TP when the weather folks announce the certain doom of winter weather. I don’t go out and buy extra, just because. I am just a procrastinator that waits until I actually need something to buy it. That being said, my boys drink a lot more milk and eat a lot more bread when they/we are home on snow days – because there is more time for the preparation of leisurely meals – provided we have electricity! 🙂
Otherwise, they eat A LOT of cereal – just because they are around and it is around and nobody wants to make anything. Pour it out of the box and the carton and they’re done.
Only 1 bottle of Glenlivet? I live in Minneapolis and if I were you, I’d get another. It’s turning out to be a nasty one.
That reminds me….I need milk
😎
We are expecting weather, too, in VT. No one is running anywhere (It’s why we live here, after all) but I did just wind some nifty lace weight (lace weight!) malabrigio that I just bought. Along with other, less worthy, unmentionables. I’m ready, in fact, hoping, for anything:)! Ayah.
As someone who lives on the storm-ravaged West Coast in Canada’s third largest city, I’m glad to see that your attitude is as laissez-faire as mine.
I like the list. Are you sure you have enough wool and beer there?
I live where hurricanes happen all the time, and it’s actually not necessary to over-prepare for most of those, either. Unless it’s a disaster like Katrina that also involves levees, there’s mo reason to go buy out Wal-Mart. The things you mentioned will definitely suffice, plus a few extra batteries and a radio that does not rely on an electrical source. If the storm is bad enough to need more stuff, then you have to leave anyway. We Floridians get all wide-eyed hearing about snowstorms, but northerners attach mystical significane to hurricanes, too.
The only thing I did when Hurricane Rita hit a couple years ago was fill the gas tank. then, we sat and waited to hear if we were on the dirty or clean side of the darn thing. Turns out it hit farther east than us, so all the people who left town, left for no good reason. Houston was a veritable ghost town, but seating at the restaurants that weekend were fantastic!! As for the milk and bread, we had those from a shopping trip a few days before the panic. We also figured if we got up Friday, and were still in the danger zone, we’d leave then. It was a good plan because the Highways had cleared by then. We also had a stock of wine in the cabinet, and ouzo for DH, so when the kids got ansty, we got “relaxed.”
As for the spelling police- there are differences south of the Canadian border, and across the pond. Red Pen should get out more and experience life- and read some British Lit. It’s the differences that make this world fun!!
I *completely* agree with you on this. We are supposed to be getting a major storm tonight and tomorrow… and people are running around frantic about making arrangements if work is cancelled and blah blah blah. I want to stand up and scream at people to sit the heck down… that this is MAINE and snow happens here. A lot. I figure as long as I have some knitting and some beer, who cares about the snow!?
Ha! I love your list. I once put my not-quite-two-year-old in the car and slid down the road to buy a needle for my next project. (I hadn’t been knitting for very long and had a very low needle inventory.) I hated the thought of being stuck inside during a snowstorm without a knitting project! We DID stop to pick up a toddler-boggan, too (I love that name), for playing in the snow.
I live in southern New England, where the markets sell out of milk & bread before snowstorms. I don’t get it, myself. Why those particular staples? We now live close to the coast and are dependent upon electricity for everything–heat, water (the pump on the well is electric), light, obviously. We ought to have some sort of emergency plan, but I haven’t quite moved beyond making sure I have yarn & needles at the ready…
Yesterday, I stopped on the way home from work to get provisions for my cold. My list was remarkably similar to yours if you substitute Nyquil and Benadryl for Wine and Children. I mean, really chocolate and wool fix so many things.
Sounds great to me! We have rain and all my lovely snow is melting. I would only add firewood for my woodstove to your list, since I use that more than my furnace. I love snow, and rarely get enough to suit me.
I love that “my wits” appears fifth after wine, beer, and chocolate. 🙂 I mean, that’s having your priorities in order!
Truthfully we get more trouble in the summer with
hurricanes and tornados and what-not, but since we just
had an ice storm that knocked out power for a day or so
– dog food
– cat litter (doubles as sand on icy sidewalks
– cat food – a couple of years back, we got snowed in for something like 3 days, and when I finally got my car out, the first place I went was PetSmart to get animal food. Yon cat was getting a lean and hungry look.
– propane for the gas grill – a gas grill makes a darned good
stove/oven – but in the winter you freeze your buns off trotting
in and out cooking, so you need to put the grill under the shed
overhang to make sure you stay warm, it doesn’t blow over and
such. This did result in me thinking my neighbor’s house was
burning down when his grill flared during a storm some years ago, but at least I ran out and checked the extent of the flames before calling the fire department.
– milk goes bad in the summer when you have US style milk, beer does not, and yet as a teetotaler, this does me no good personally. So, sufficient stocks of Dr. Pepper are required.
– yarn and/or cloth to sew (this also works better in summer
when you can sit on the porch until 9 or 10 with enough light
to knit or sew by
– batteries for all lanterns and the radio
Once upon a time, I lived in New England, where people were much less wussie about snow than around here in the DC area. I have come to believe that (like it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity in the summer) that it’s not the snow, it’s the ICE that really freaks people out. It’s one thing to get somewhere in the snow. It’s entirely doable. But when the world is a sheet of 3 inches of ice? That is just so not fun.
On the whole, the worst one I can remember happening recently was the 5 day power outage after one storm, then we got power for one day and then a hurricane blew in and the power went out for another 4. That caused serious use of interesting verbiage when the power company came to town meeting to splain themselves.
I like your list. I live in Baltimore, where every predition of snow (we usually get an inch or two) brings the requisite hordes to the supermarket with the requisite purchases of milk and toilet paper. Do these people think that the storm will cause them to use the toilet to the extent that they will run out of toilet paper in the day or maybe in a bad storm two days that they can;t get to the store?
Two questions… What is TP?? and why are there so many duplicate postings? Oh, and by the way, winter storms are neat!
That sounds like Floridians and hurricanes. Although every now and then (think every 7 years or so) there is a big storm and everyone is just out of luck.
I love your list of essentials. And I hope it isn’t too cold for you all to enjoy the snow.
I’m a little worried that you only have one bottle of wine.
I’d put “wits” up with wool socks and wool as insulation, and add: in case the heat goes off, some kind of emergency warming system, like a winter-weight sleeping bag. After all, you wouldn’t want to risk damaging the stash.
My list includes oatmeal and dry milk. I try to keep a fortnight’s worth of dry staples (including TP) around at all times. Routine weather stock-ups involve bread and bottled water. MD doesn’t get a lot of snow, but we often get ice, which is much more dangerous to walk or drive on. Since at the moment I _can_ stay home, when the road is bad, I stay put.
I think “Be prepared” was instilled in me when in girl guides (many the year ago ) and LORDY am I prepared.! DH is worse than me . Between the two of us it is a sad state of affairs altogether.! We have enough food water candles, toilet paper etc etc etc to last us through till next years massive storm. We spent all morning running around to stores like two chickens with their heads cut off . RIDICULOUS !! I blame the weather forcasters for this panic in people–why not –they get blame for everything may as well add this one to their list . YARN !!! Oh my , there is alway time and room for more of IT and this is a GOOD excuse to stock up –must go to the LYS before we are snow bound for the next few months.
Now you see, I’d have thought you would have needed a large bottle of Glenlivet if things were very bad. Hmmm… or is a large bottle needed if things were very very bad?
SO & I have noticed that over the past 10 years or so, news broadcasters in the Chicago area have gotten fairly hysterical over winter weather. They act like the world is about to end if 4 or more inches of snow is predicted. Personally, I suspect that it is the gradual result of the big snows of ’67 & ’79. For the first one (interesting videos here: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=weather&id=4973699), I was just out of college & in my first apartment of my own a couple of blocks from Lincoln Park which is right on the lakefront. But I have to admit that stores did run out of food – especially milk & bread in 1967. They normally get restocked with those on a daily basis & delivery trucks couldn’t get though for about a week, especially in high density city areas with old narrow streets. January 1979 (http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-0603150212mar15,0,5181770.story) was even worse because the snow did not stop – it snowed every day. By then I was married with 2 little girls (preschoolers). We lived a bit further north still near the lake & the snow was so deep that you could not see any of the fences that divided our lot from the neighbors in the back yards. Again, there were food shortages. And, the mayor was not reelected because of the amount of time it took to clear the streets (the side street we lived on was never plowed & was impassable until mid-March). I suspect similar stories took place in many large northern cities & that is why they get so nutsy.
Glenlivet, nice.
You are better prepared than most of your neighbors! LOL! Heck who wants to drink milk during a snow storm?
You make me want to live in Toronto.
We’re having quite the winter storm here in Minnesota right now. I almost didn’t make it back from the grocery store this morning when I went out with my children to buy eggs and, you guessed it, a gallon of milk.
You need to add something to entertain the four immediate relatives (the ones in your house with you) so that they leave you alone to enjoy the wine and the fiber……
I live in Minneapolis which is in the middle of the storm you are preparing for. It is a pretty serious storm. We, too are used to snow, but I took one look out the window this morning & decided to stay home. As a well trained child, I was alerady well stocked with survival supplies & yarn. Stay home & keep warm.
PS for those who doubt it, Mlps is about 140 miles north of Toronto.
I like this stuff.
Work sent us home before the driving got too bad – because we’re all techies and can work remotely anyway. I get more done at home, despite reading blogs.
And my bottle of red wine is right here with me. Teapot, cats… some yarn for when the shift is over.
Yep, I’m with ya – let it snow/sleet/rain.
Just had to chime in – we moved here to Austin, TX just after some of the bigger storms in FL. Hurricane prep there had gotten pretty routine – we just kept a closet full of canned goods, etc… since there was a warning every few weeks. (The Y2K food stash just morphed over into hurricane food!)
Here in Austin though it was a different story… when one of the big ones of 2005 was headed “toward” us (yes, 3 hours or so inland…) the grocery stores were full of everyone buying bottled water, tortillas, sausage, and eggs. Yes, Austin might blow away, but we are having our breakfast tacos! Luckily nothing worse than horrific traffic jams happened here. I guess each region has its own quirks of what you “need”!
Amen! Bring it on! We are having “a big one” in Minnesota right now. The forecasters have been going on about it for the past 3 days. (I don’t know this directly as I don’t watch local news, but my friends and neighbors seem to talk of nothing else.) My attitude for living through Minnesota winters is this: if it’s cold, you might as well have snow so you can enjoy it…snow is prettier than brown tundra/grass and snow can be played with/in/on. How do you tell kids, “go out and play on the frozen brown grass”? Snowmen, they understand. Snow forts, bonus. Snow sledding…the best. As for me, I love your list. All our after-school and evening events have been cancelled, so I have a bottle of red wine and some knitting ready to go. And my snowshoes are coming off the shelf tomorrow for the first time this winter. Snow? Go play in it!
Yes, I used to feel the same way you did. I live outside Colorado Springs, and this winter I was snowed in TWICE once over Christmas with my mother in law. Both times we ran out of eggs and milk, and had to make our own bread, but we never ran out of yarn.
I’m a stocker upper now.
Good luck.
I agree so completely. Here in Minnesota, we’re right in the middle of it. Newscasters have been rushing around for days telling us that this will be “the worst storm in years” and “cancel all plans”. The dog, the husband and I just walked the 3 blocks to the grocery/liquor store, and yes, it is snowing, yes we are wet, but no, this is not a disaster. Living in the middle of a city with good bus service it’s hard not to laugh at all the Chicken Littles.
Amen! Not to mention in Toronto you have Mountain Equipment Co-Op so if you need any survival gear, you could just pop in there. LOL
You seem to be prepared. Enjoy the snow! Send a big one here.
I completely agree. I love living in the city because I have access to pretty much anything I need at all times and in all weather. Your list sounds a lot like mine 🙂
Hmmm. Yeah, well you’re really going to think twice about waiting to run to the market when the time comes that you’re finally trampled over by that sparsley clad neighbor in the fancy gold shoes! I’m sure that she’s the type that would hustle right over your cold, limp body, laying in the snowdrift – in the hopes of make it to the last bit of milk before you do. Beware of that one. Just sayin’. ;D
~Suz~
Weather forcasts are all sponsered by the French Toast Council. They are the ones that started the bread and milk thing, and then when all predictions are wrong you have french toast with all the extras.
Weather forcasts are all sponsered by the French Toast Council. They are the ones that started the bread and milk thing, and then when all predictions are wrong you have french toast with all the extras.
*A small bottle of Glenlivet*
Only a ‘small’ one?!?
You forgot Joe on the list. Or is he manning his post ready to throw fresh rolls of toilet paper at anyone passing by who might need one?
I’ll take your wussies in Toronto for the wussies here in Portland OR. An inch of snow falls here and people go spazzo, like we’re going to have the Blizzard of ’88. In the 40 plus years I’ve lived here I’ve only experienced having the power go out for more than a few hours twice. Gimme a break!
Aye, I’m with you all the way on your attitude and your list….and Joe is…?
Actually, I’m quite envious, dusty old Oklahoma doesn’t get nearly enough snow…real snow.
I SO want to be snowed in in your home!
I never understood it either. If it is Monday and I usually go grocery shopping on Wednesday (or Thursday or Friday or Saturday or Sunday) and there is going to be a storm on Tuesday, why is everyone suddenly out of milk? They plow like crazy here, so a few hours after the storm is stopped everything is drivable. I think I could survive one whole day without milk 😉 Toilet paper would be a different story …
I believe this weather qualifies as “in like a lion”.
Good list, but I’d want a good book or two, especially since the movies are no good if the power goes out.
Had to look up what Glenlivet was. Now I feel smart.
I love that you used a new word, “thusly.” Take that poor spelling spellchecker!
Excellent list. I have never understood why people are not already prepared for major weather events when they live in places where such events occur regularly. Hurricanes for instance. There is a whole “season” when hurricanes typically occur. Is it not possible to stock up on plywood before the impending storm hits? Not like there is only a three hour warning that a giant windy swirl of death is bearing down upon you. And can’t said plywood be stored in a garage or shed until it is needed? Why the need for lines of people at home depot the day before the storm?
Sorry to those plagued by such events, but I’ve never understood why no one seems to think ahead.
I like your preparations – but being from California, and in an area where it never snows – my preparations for a big storm include making sure the house doesn’t flood, the roof doesn’t leak, and generally being cozy inside 🙂 In Minnesota, when I was in college, I just made sure I had food and drink and stayed inside!!
have fun, and hopefully it will be sunny again soon!
Lovin’ everyone’s comments. Weather doesn’t take that much planning here – Melbourne, Australia. But the panic buying that occurs before a Public Holiday is phenomenal. About 40 years ago shops closed at 12 noon Saturday & reopened 9 am Monday, but remained closed for Public Holidays. Back then 2 1/2 days without fresh produce might be tricky. Now our shops open EVERY day, except Christmas & Good Friday. No reason to panic at all. Even yarn is available 🙂
Saw snow fall in Melbourne CBD once,around 1970, from the 18th floor … it was gone before it reached the ground. 🙁
Enjoy your winter wonderland!
I was totally laughing as I read this post. I used to live in northern NJ, and I always found the hysteria surrounding an approaching winter storm, well, hysterical. I used to make sure that I had enough milk for coffee, movies to watch, knitting, and the makings for cookies if I got especially bored.
Now I live in St. Petersburg FL, and we hear storm predictions a few times a day during hurricane season. One day its headed right for your house, the next it will miss you by 500 miles. its enough to make a person crazy. We live right across the street from Tampa Bay. We take these things seriously. We’ve only had to evacuate once–and the storm missed us by about 100 miles.
But the supermarket–it actually makes the snowstorm shopping look funny. Because I could actually lose my house, and then no amount of canned tuna and bottled water (and pop tarts) would help me.
As you alluded, the snow melts. Enjoy the fluffy whiteness!
Forgive me in advance if this sounds cultural insensitive but your post left me wondering…You have separate stores for beer and liquor?
I was totally laughing as I read this post. I used to live in northern NJ, and I always found the hysteria surrounding an approaching winter storm, well, hysterical. I used to make sure that I had enough milk for coffee, movies to watch, knitting, and the makings for cookies if I got especially bored.
Now I live in St. Petersburg FL, and we hear storm predictions a few times a day during hurricane season. One day its headed right for your house, the next it will miss you by 500 miles. its enough to make a person crazy. We live right across the street from Tampa Bay. We take these things seriously. We’ve only had to evacuate once–and the storm missed us by about 100 miles.
But the supermarket–it actually makes the snowstorm shopping look funny. Because I could actually lose my house, and then no amount of canned tuna and bottled water (and pop tarts) would help me.
As you alluded, the snow melts. Enjoy the fluffy whiteness!
Rather than have a major sulk, because you are getting all that lovely snow and we still have nothing, NOTHING!, I will offer another bit of Yorkshire. When the approaching weather looks a bit ominous – you know, when the sky goes dark – we say “It’s looking a bit black over Bill’s mother’s”….
Your snow sounds rather “flaysome”…but I agree with your list. Except like other people, I’d have to up the booze quantities!
Have a lovely time
You are so right! People panic far too much about snow! But if you think it’s bad there, where you actually do get REAL snow, you should see the morons here in southwestern Indiana! If flurries are predicted, you cannot find a parking place in any grocery store lot, let alone any milk or bread. It is hysterical how people respond here!
Glad to see you are feeling a little better about life in general. I have been in a mood lately – and it’s all due to dealing with the morons that surround me daily. Thus my knitting is never far out of reach even here at the office! It soothes the savage within better than anything else that’s legal to have at work!
Love this blog, love your books and love your knitting! And I am still working on getting you to come to Evansville! Someday!!!
So glad I’m not the only one that thinks this way.
Here in northern Michigan I awoke to a news story about how much water I should have ready and that local grocery stores had to call in extra cashiers to handle all of the people getting ready for the storm. I began to wonder if I was alone in thinking that I can handle the storm with what I already have in my apartment.
Oh, and yay for snow days and getting to knit all day!
If you’ve got yarn, you can get through anything. Maybe this is Mother Nature’s way of telling us knitters its time to de-stash.
If you’ve got yarn, you can get through anything. Maybe those of us who knit/crochet that its time to de-stash.
Stephanie you never fail to enlighten and entertain me, usually on knitterly subjects, but often enough with your Canadian lingo. I have never heard of a “thunderstorm” until today and had to sit for a few moments to picture same. Keep in mind I have never seen a snowstorm so this was a two-fold activity.
But what truly blew me away and appealed to my Aussie heart was that you have a “beer store” as well as a “liquor store” nearby. A store that specialises in beer?
I can think of another good reason to be snowed in!
Out of sheer curiosity, I checked out your link to the “weather. Being an American, living in the U.S., too old to change her ways, and completely baffled by the metrick system, I have no clue if you are getting 5 inches or 5 feet of snow. Helps to keep the stress levels down tho. Happy Winter!
It’s funny to me that the way you are reacting to this snow storm is the way us Floridians react when the weather people tell us about the “gigantic hurricane” that is going to hit us. I’ve lived through many hurricanes, big and small, and the hardest things to deal with, in my opinion, are the constant scare tactics of the media and the complete shut-down of businesses for what usually ends up being a nice summer shower. 😉
Oh…your server no longer likes me. I check for your blog entries every day (and way too frequently I must say) and by the time I see the entry (after checking, oh, 10 minutes before) there are nearly 200 responses.
Ok, storm preparedness. I used to make all the jokes (just love how peanut butter, milk, and bread fly off the shelves). Really makes me wonder what the heck these people do NOT have in the way of basic foodstuffs. The phrase that will now strike fear into my heart though is “wind storm.” We did a bit of pooh-poohing of that last December and then many of us spent days and nights and days and nights with NO power in a city that seemed to almost immediately empty of batteries, fuel (for cars, generators, fireplaces) and with temps in the 20s. And boy howdy, was the city slow on the uptake in providing appropriate shelter and information. Anyway, as a major earthquake survivor, I should KNOW to keep more of this stuff around the house and I got a wake-up call on some of these things right before Christmas. I’m not a milk & bread purchaser with a snowstorm on the horizon, but I *am* prepared now for the unforecastable (mostly) because I realize that when (not if) this city has a major earthquake (or heaven forbid, the volcano finally does her thing) I’m on my own for a while. And it’s gonna be longer than the 2-3 days they normally tell you to prepare for.
Beer, wine, and glenlivet of course all have their appropriate place next to batteries, duraflame logs, and the propane stove 😉
For insulation and entertainment – I am grinning from ear to ear. Of course, here it is going to be rain – lots of rain – and people are probably mauling the grocery stores for milk and bread anyway. Since I’m still not allowed to drive yet, though, I’m not worried.
Yes, a brief encounter with Denial.
Emergency preparedness be damned….. I like your list better. It sure is snowing here (north of you)- can’t see across the yard. I have my coffee, chocolate, and wool. And if the storm gets too bad, I may actually finish the second sock of the pair that’s been on my needles too long! Let it snow!!!!!
A beer store and a liquor store? I’m guessing one is for Canada’s favorite beverage (much like a great yarn shop for knitters), and the other is strictly for harder stuff? Differences in permits, perhaps?
Hmmm . . . Wikipedia, here I come. I just love Wikipedia . . .
Oh–and I figured out my email display problem. I just need to put my blog URL in the appropriate place, (lol), and my name is a blog link, instead of an email link. Problem solved. ;o)
O GREAT – all the Minneapolitans (also known as Minne-SNOW-tons) are talking about their storm, we import our weather STRAIGHT from Minneapolis. Well, the DH believes in sales, so he “stocks up” when they occur and if we can’t get out we’ll be fine until June. I think the weathermen have all this Doppler and stuff, and what they’re REALLY doing is calling the weathermen to the west, and looking out the window. And on the subject of woosies YES people are now. Threat of snow closes the schools; when I grew up in Minneapolis, we could take a bag lunch to school with us…IF it was -20 or colder AND we lived six blocks from school or further. There was no cafeteria in the school, we ate our bag lunches in the library. But — if it was -19 and we lived five blocks from school by gum you went home for lunch. Woosies today. Yup.
You only have 6 beers and a small bottle of Glenlivet? Heck, even in the best weather I have more beer than that IN THE FRIDGE, and probably 2 cases in the house. I also have 3 bottles of single malt scotch largely thanks to a father in law who leaves his holiday leftovers and friends who give good scotch as gifts.
In fact, if there is ever a situation that a well stocked liquor cabinet can solve, I’m probably the go-to house. I am frequently short on mix though. Because basically, I’m a beer drinker.
I’m sure it is possible to live for days without milk. You might need to hit the beer store though.
Oh, and I just noticed Annalea’s comment. On the radio the other day our morning host was telling a story about a trip she took to the States many years ago in which she had brought several cases of beer (because she hates American beer, obviously). The customs guy asked is she had any liquor in the car and she said no, fully believing this to be true. He never checked. So, yes, annalea, beer isn’t really liquor.
I’m with Lene on this (also, that is conveniently where I left off reading comments). Canadians are turning into a bunch of pussies.
First, this is the *south* down here in GTA land. It’s barely even classifiable as winter, comparatively speaking.
B) this winter didn’t even start on time. There was a bonus month of grey season at least.
iii) when *I* was a kid on the Prairies/in the Maritmes/up North (aka military nomad), we had to watch where you walked when trudging on a snowy road in case you fell between parked cars that you didn’t know you were on top of.
And 4) we drank powdered milk *all* the time.
Plthhhht! Bunch a babies. 😉
As some others have commented, I’m assuming that “Joe” is a given and therefore not necessary to the list.
Yes, walking distance. You live, obviously, sensibly for an urban system with reasonably good transit. But for the owner of the honkin’ SUV in suburbia, the 4 L of milk is probably a thing of which one could only dream….. When will planners include good public transportation — and more space for yarn stores?
BTW, loved your comment about your Granny yesterday. Mine had a spine of steel. Hard to live with at the time –but much admired now and then.
I agree with the idea that, “egged” on by weather forecasters, people are becoming wussier. I grew up in Minneapolis, where it was regularly below 0 F. for weeks on end. (This was in the 1950s–I’m not sure it gets or stays that cold anymore, boo on global warming.) We just dressed for it, and watched each other for frostbite.
I particularly remember my high school sophomore prom. It was 30 below 0 F. that night, but we just put on our snowpants and boots under our strapless gowns, put on our coats, etc., and sallied forth. It didn’t occur to us or our parents that we should stay home–it was just snow and cold, after all. Our dates already knew how to drive in snow and ice at the age of 15-17, so away we went. We had a blast.
I was reminded by this post about the hysteria in California when a storm is coming. We’re talking about a rainstorm, by the way, not snow. There is sort of a mass insanity that hits Californians when it rains, “What is that strange wet substance falling from the sky? Will we die from it?” And of course, the media is no help at all, with ominous graphics heralding “STORMWATCH 2007.” It’s really funny in Northern California, but it’s truly hysterical in Southern California where the amount of rain they get is akin to a good spit.
Here in Philly, everyone runs out and buys, beside the mandatory toilet paper — bread, eggs, milk and butter. Now, the only thing I can figure is that they all make French toast for breakfast. We’re only getting torrential rain (I think), but there was a woman yesterday in the store who had 10 gallons of milk, 6 dozen eggs, 6 loaves of bread and 4 pounds of butter. Seriously. Was she cooking for a football team? Oh, and I forgot the 4 packs of 12 double-rolls of toilet paper.
But, as to your list — shouldn’t the wool be up front? And don’t you need more coffee than one pot?
hey!!!! amazon has got your new photo on the cover of your book!!! It looks great!!!!!
I have requested that my sister attend the event in Anchorage and then she is going to send me the book.
And, your prep. for a storm sounds like mine for a typhoon…. except that it gets hot/muggy and stuffy in the house and we hope that the roof doesn`t blow off. But we get the beer and the candles and the food ready.
Sounds like a fantastic way to enjoy the storm! I miss the wilder weather, all we get here in Western Australia is sunshine and humidity at the moment. Snow, wind and cosy days indoors would be divine!
Here in the San Francisco bay area we don’t have weather events, though of course we never know when an earthquake might happen….I just hope for the best since I never bother with any of those preparedness lists, though wine would indeed be a must-have!
The morning after the Chicago Blizzard of ’68, I walked down the middle of the main road to the only open grocery store (the closer chain store was closed). They were short on milk and limiting what people could buy. I remember one man telling his young kids they would have to drink soda,as the baby needed the milk. Needless to say, they were heartbroken…(Not).
(I was 11/12 at the time, but the memory sticks.)
I must have had a Harlot whispering in my ear on the way home! After renting movies, I picked up a bottle of wine – yet something made me linger a while in front of the single malts. Now you have me reconsidering passing on the chocolate – let me just get my boots…
I must have had a Harlot whispering in my ear on the way home! After renting movies, I picked up a bottle of wine – yet something made me linger a while in front of the single malts. Now you have me reconsidering passing on the chocolate – let me just get my boots…
I would have Earl Grey tea and half & half at the top of that list. Of course a hend held can opener might come in handy as well.
We are in Michigan and thus were compelled to experience The Great Northeast Power Outage of August 2004. I was never more grateful for my gas stove… I could light the burner with a match, I could heat water, I could pour said hot water through coffee grounds. Turns out that our need for coffee exceeded all others. We keep a supply of water and those long kitchen matches and we do not allow the weather reports to panic us anymore. If the gas ever goes out, though, we are doomed!
I live in the southern US. With any threat of snow, people race out to buy bread, milk, eggs, and bananas (apparently for banana pudding). Somehow it makes me feel better that they do that in Canada too. Well maybe not the bananas.
You know why people buy bread and milk before a storm? So they can trade them for beer and cigarettes! Apart from the need to always have cat litter on hand, I’ve never understood this pre-storm hysteria. I have 4-wheel drive–what else do I need?
Julie
You know why people buy bread and milk before a storm? So they can trade them for beer and cigarettes! Apart from the need to always have cat litter on hand, I’ve never understood this pre-storm hysteria. I have 4-wheel drive–what else do I need?
Julie
And see, if things were REALLY bad, I’d be wanting a *large* bottle of Glenlivet. 😉
(I grew up in southeast VA, with threats of hurricanes from June – November every year. Thirty-eight years old, and I still don’t understand the insistence of so many people to go stock up on bread and milk before a storm. Seriously, if something terrible’s going to happen and your power goes out, the milk will spoil, people! *sigh*)
Chocolate and cheesecake. NOT chocolate cheesecake. That’s weird. But there’s this white chocolate with cookie bits in it and it’s AMAZING. I’m an addict. Try some.
Many years ago there were tornado/flood warnings in my small town. The schools were closed early and everyone was advised to go home immediately and get to your basement. I called my mother to make sure she had whatever she needed for the next two days and she said, “Oh, pick me up some bread so your father can have his breakfast.” I slogged through the raising water and brought two loaves of bread. Mother said,”Good. I was down to my last three loaves IN THE FREEZER (emphasis added).”
Quite a few Minnesotans here all snowed in. I had to shovel my car out of a drift this evening, shovel my way up the driveway to get the car off the road, and shovel my door open (I seem to use places that catch the wind swirls. While my husband is out cross country skiing to the store to get a loaf of bread for dinner, not a necessity but it makes the soup better, I am in charge of making sure we will survive by mixing up mexican hot chocolate with lots of cinnamon, chile powder, and tequila. It is never so bad that you can’t strap on the skis to get some milk when you really need it.
God, I love Glenlivet. MMM, MMM.
Loved the recollections of SERIOUS snow falls in Chicago….there was another really impressive one in about ’64 (?)….in January. People were cross country ski-ing down the Dan Ryan! I lived in Hyde Park (UofChi area) and had to walk to my (later ex-)fiance’s mother’s house to look after her cats….it was +/- 35 blocks with about 18″ of snow! (I grew up in Wisconsin so this was not necessarily The End of The Known World.) Things were just about back to normal and we had another Serious Storm! It was amazing!
I’m now living in Iowa (after 20 years in the Caribbean) and hunkering down for Something tonight. Hopefully not as bad as they are predicting as I have to drive 25 miles to work tomorrow morning!
In the meantime….have just had a martini, am having some cheese & crackers and will make up a pot of chicken soup tonight. I have the only gas stove on the block and was VERY popular last weekend when we were without electricity for 26 hours!
Spring will come!
Lee in Iowa
PS….I have a SERIOUS stash of yarn for knitting and weaving…!
I think that same list would apply to freak, big weather and natural disasters – I live in San Francisco and I think I need to add a few things to my emergency supply list! What I would need in a time of crisis is wool.
I’m with you; perhaps it’s because I am half Canadian. As they say, “Better enjoy the weather as it’s the only weather you’re going to get.”
Enjoy the snow.
Well, for our 14-20 inches of blowing whiteness, I’m substituting Lagavulin for the Glenlivet. Pork chops, tatters and red cabbage have us, yes, absolutely, I’m quite certain: prepared! Now if we can just get a snow day tomorrow…Have to get the A4A socks out in the mail!
Heh. I’ve long been convinced that the mania for buying milk, bread, eggs, and toilet paper when a snowstorm is threatening is actually a crude attempt at sympathetic magic: take home enough white stuff, and the white stuff out of the sky will go somewhere else!
My husband I continually mock our local weather forecasters and newsteams for the Spectacle they make of snow “storms”. Nice to know we’re not the only two who find a couple inches of snow or a little bit of ice nothing to get worked up over. If we lived in, say, Miami, I could see the population getting into a bit of a kerfuffle, but in Michigan? Pfft.
I love that you commented about this, because I have been alternately amused and appalled at the hysteria surrounding any storm these days. I grew up in Connecticut, went to college in Maine, and now live in NYC. Where I grew up, any thunderstorm resulted in a guaranteed blackout for at least a few hours. Even when we had a tornado (’79) in my home town and had no electricity for 3 days, we still had school and had to do our homework by candlelight. It was a shock when I moved to NYC, and I didn’t need the candles, but even a quarter inch of snow could mean a 40-car pile up on local highways.
I find the hysteria weird, and irritating when it means that trying to get normal groceries on these nights means an hour-long line in the stores. In its (no apostrophe, lurking anal copy-editor troll) own hysteria for a story, the media creates and feeds a panic frenzy in the public. Besides, weather forecasters are wrong so often in NYC, I have often wished that I studied meteorology, and gotten a job that pays well to be wrong 70% of the time.
Good luck with the storm, we are only getting rain – with FLOOD WATCH warnings in effect.
I’m chuckling wryly because shortly after our lovely LYS opened a few years ago the owner was facing her first potential Hurricane landfall and possible flooding. Several many customers ran down to the shop to help pack, into plastic bags and bins, yarn that only a few weeks prior had been lovingly and prettily put out in their bins for the very first time. We were somewhat stunned to realize that many many knitters who stopped by to shop [and ended up helping us to bag yarn] were so happy to see the store open simply because the thought of heading into a Hurricane and perhaps being marooned without “enough” yarn, or a “new project”, was akin to death!
They “needed” yarn along with the other necessities like the milk and bread they had bought or were going to buy at the supermarket accross the street. We were a little shocked to realize yarn was as important as, maybe more important than, food to so many!
So many knitters were incredibly generous with their time in staying to help us despite the very tense situation as apparently even the thought of waterlogged or potentially ruined yarn was enough to make customers pale – and did! 🙂
Yes, considering being without our favorite way to de-stress in the face of a Hurricane was serious business! And yes, many of them checked on families and relatives in Hurricane hit areas of the state and then returned to help us unbag and put yarn away, again –WendyE, Tampa, FL
Apparently this shopping frenzy extends to yarn. Webs, which is open on Thursday nights ’till 8pm, was packed in anticipation of snow.
But I must say laying in a supply of yarn makes a lot more sense than a supply of milk.
We have to “storms” this winter, both with ice. It shut down almost our whole state. This wasn’t because it was so bad, it was because I have moved to the land of idiots… The kids missed 5 days of school. Before I moved we had 24 inches of snow, in 24 hrs with 40-60 miles MPH winds, the kids miss 2 days of school. As soon as it stopped snowing/raining, they cleared everthing and off we went. Now I was stuck in my drive way, but we got someone with a tractor to blade it for us… wool is good.
Hear, hear, let it snow!
I must agree. Those of us who live in the northern US barely sniff at snow. We’ve already recieved about 6 inches in my little Montana town. Let it snow! Makes for better skiing anyway.
Oooh, Girl. I like your style!
Central WI is in the midst of the snow you will see. Quiet day at the clinic as most people cancelled their appointments. Could have worked on dictations, but instead I came home a little early and am sitting, curled up with a comforter, knitting socks, and listening to old episodes of the British comedy Round the Horn on BBC 7 online. Thought I might go out to do a first round of snow shoveling tonight, but the wind sounds pretty horrible just now. Makes me wonder if it would be worth it. Stay warm and safe.
Coffee, you forgot coffee !!!!
The beer! I forgot the beer!!
However, I am A Wisconsin born Minnesota transplant, and darn it, if I need to go out for beer I can handle it.
Loved that post. Can you send it to my weatherman??
Yes, you sound close to ready. However, from personal experience having spend a week at 37 degrees with no power earlier this winter, I would suggest batteries for the flashlight(s). The dark is very, very long.
You mean you’re not terrified? What if there’s no toilet paper to be found anywhere in Toronto? For days? What if one bottle of wine and 6 beers turns out to be insufficient and the liquor store is closed? Oh, the horror…..
You would love the the weather dudes (and dudettes) in Florida… especially during hurricane season. They get themselves all in a tizzy over a little storm here and a little storm there. They are not very good at hiding their “joy” over the fact that a storm’s a comin’! One even got so excited over all of his weather toys that during Hurricane Francis he announced “we’re gettin’ an emmy for this one, folks”. Didn’t even get nominated (heh heh heh ).
It is this ridiculous behavior that earned them a particular knickname in this family. Weather Wonks. Now that we’ve moved to Washington we’ve noticed the same behavior up here as well. So now we refer to all weather related individuals as Weater Wonks.
Good luck with your snow. Stay warm.
Only one bottle of red wine? You lightweight.
erin
I bought a chicken. This is unusual behavior for me, therefore I will blame it on the Storm.
Don’t forget to put toilet paper on your list! For some reason, beings house bound in a snow storm seems to “unbind” my three teenagers and I have plunged the toilets more times than I care to count recently. Add a broken dishwasher to this mix and I feel like I only exist to feed, wash and clean up the p**p!
I love the new book cover!
Will think of you all getting cold and snowed in with your milk, yarn and TP stashes. Right now I’m off to pick lemons in the back garden.
Moving to a subtropical climate has its advantages.
Delurking because you’re such fun to read I feel guilty just reading.
I’m sooo copying that list to head the Earthquake Preparedness list. And as amusing as Thundersnow sounds when you tell it, I’m glad to live in the more temperate climes of California, earthquakes and all.
Have a lovely time nesting in all the yarn. Hmm, sounds nice, maybe I’ll pretend we’re having a scary winter storm and nest myself.
Loved your storm preparedness list – can I come stay with you guys next time the weather’s threatening?
Actually, I’m posting to ask an obvious question – clearly, hundreds of your readers (myself included) agreed with your comments about the red-penned but not very well-informed editor who keeps emailing you with erroneous spelling corrections. (And just for the record, I love your Canadian spellings – they are charming (and I definitely don’t mean that in a patronizing way) and a pleasant reminder that we are NOT all alike.)
But this question has been nagging at me for a couple of days now, and I’ve just got to ask. Did the red-pen emailer respond to your post? Did she (I’m assuming it’s a she) apologize? Pray tell, what’s the next chapter??
Good Luck with the Blizzard!!! 🙂 Knit a pair of warm wool socks 🙂
If the power goes out you will not be able to watch the two rented movies. You need handheld games and a lot of batteries.
They do that crazy hoarding thing in Washington DC, too. It drives me crazy!
A very good sign that you are Canadian.
You might want to chuck in some hair ties and lip gloss for the girls. Though really, they’re Canadian, they should have their own personal snow lists, right?
oh my I have never even heard of thundersnow – almost wish it was snowing here just to have the excuse to sit and knit instead of going out!!
Here in Central NY we are getting the ice part of the same storm. I did go to the grocery store yesterday but it was to get my mother some groceries. And for me? I went to the liquor store to buy wine and vermouth. I was worried about making coffee if the power went out but my husband reminded me that he has a French Press coffee maker so we’re all set! Plenty of yarn for insulation purposes.
Mmm real whiskey! I think I’d have to have milk on my emergency list as I wouldn’t be able to have a cup of tea otherwise (Nooooooooo!!).
Ah, but the folks who have stocked up won’t have to walk to the store in an ice storm. I’m with them (although, stocking up on enough toilet paper to supply a brigade does seem a bit much, even to me)
Kate, the weather wimp.
Wow I’m glad it’s not just Americans who do the run-buy-white-things insanity. Toilet paper, milk, and white bread in mass quantities. As if you will have to hole up in your house for a month. I guess being a moron knows no national boundaries. My favorite time to go to the grocery is the morning after the frenzy.
Stephanie, how are the roads in Toronto today?
I am driving to Toronto this afternoon for the Peter, Paul and Mary concert. Say, I have an extra ticket, would you like to join us for the concert? I really mean that.
We have an extra ticket since my husband decided to fly to Virginia for the weekend to see a friend get an award. Most of the usual suspects who would join me for this have other things happenin this evening.
I’m from southern Sweden, where it snows, but it usually doesn’t stay on the ground for more than a week or two and is actually quite mild, and have a friend who, having grown up in the north where weeks at a time of -30 degrees (c) isn’t uncommon, thinks it’s hilarious when people in the sound do that whole storm preparing thing. And then, no matter what, it’s called SNOW CHAOS in the news and the power goes out and what have you. It’s hard not to agree with my friend when she says “Why are you surprised? It always snows. It always has, it always will and why on earth do you act like it is the first time?”
I think the insanity is spreading from the US. Our school district, which used to be the last to cancel or delay, has used up 6 of its 5 snow days (yeah, we need a make-up), at least 3 of which were due to cold. Sheesh! I used to walk to school (no, not 5 miles or snow over my head) and I don’t recall any cancellation ever for temperature. Get a clue, parents. If your kids walk, they need warm clothes, gloves and boots. If they’re waiting for the bus, then they need to be old enough to let themselves back in the house if the bus fails them, or you need to wait with them.
A couple years back they cancelled school due to cold temperatures. There was one town that didn’t. The reporters decended upon their high school to interview the students. There was a student with the “how dare they not care about our well-being” wearing no hat with his coat unzipped. I think they are trying to save us from our own stupidity as common sense has been exchanged for “let the world take care of me cause I deserve …”
Now those are some items they should mention when creating Emergency Preparedness lists!
The storm is passing thru here now. 60 mile an hour winds, snow up the wazoo, no school, no work, shingles blowing off roofs, tree branches coming down, whiteout conditions everywhere… and 2 new pairs of snowshoes and 2 kids who REALLY want this all to end so they can go out and use them.
We did stop and get milk and movies. And we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the power doesn’t go out. Already saw the old folks who live across the street out with their dogs, so all is well in the neighborhood.
I also share your attitude towards storms. Well, I did until I got caught in a bar in downtown Halifax during a hurricane. I managed to make it to a friend’s house for the night, only to return to my apartment to realize the only thing we had to eat was pre-packaged Rice Krispie Squares.
I take storm warnings with a little (tho, honestly, not that much more) respect. AND, I haven’t had a Rice Krispie square in 3 years.
And I thought only Philadelphians went crazy with the prediction of snow. My family calls it “French Toast Weather”, all the buying of milk, bread and eggs…I think we could survive for weeks in my house with all the random canned goods in my house. We might be eating tuna for breakfast, but we would. not. starve. Thanks for the update on the Storm of the Century. It always is.
I am purposely traveling to a spot that is having bad weather this weekend, armed with knitting, wine, and junk food just for the sheer pleasure of hunkering down. No one I know understands this sort of behavior other than my DH. People in RI run out for bread and milk when they predict 1-3 inches – the parking lot of the grocery store looks like Thanksgiving-time it’s so crazy. Sigh. People need to relax!
Previous poster- French Toast Weather, that’s a good one!
Stephanie-I could just see the news report that your family survived by huddling together under hundreds of skeins of wool. 8)
I do love the way you think.
please don’t tell the red pen “editor” there is a word spelled wrong in my comment from yesterday. I don’t think I could handle being corrected. 🙂
My first stop when a storm is coming is always the craft store for emergency yarn and children’s crafts! THEN I go get the milk for hot chocolate…
The weather forecasters have the most perfect job (at least in Northeast Ohio). They can be wrong 50% of the time and keep their jobs.
And, when they are right, they spend so much time clapping themselves on the back.
When they are wrong, it is “phew, folks that was a close one, if the winds hadn’t shifted/the Lake had been frozen/the Lake had not been frozen/the lower pressure cell shifted south/north (pick your favorite), we would have been blasted.”
I don’t have to stockpile, my DH does that on a regular basis (we do have an inventory of not only our pantry but of our deep freezer). If he gives me hard time about something, I threaten to play with his inventories!
Hope you don’t get caught short.
We had a blizzard of 12 inched Thursday as well as thundersnow here in Nebraska. Be prepared…be very prepared
Boy, can I relate! Good luck finding water and batteries in our stores when the weather folks yell “hurricane” in Florida. I just don’t get it, since if you’ve lived in Florida for any length of time, you should already have these things on hand, and if you don’t, it serves you right for having to wait in line at the 11th hour. Enjoy the snow! It’s pouring here in the tropics and I’m stuck in a cube, dreaming of playing with yarn.
You forgot Bohus and some hip waders.
I bought 8 litres of milk yesterday. I was really hoping for a snow day so I could stay home and knit (and drink lots of lattes).
Hey Steph The storm just is in the finishing stages here in Minneapolis/St Paul and we did not get the thunder snow they kept saying we might. Just lots of heavy thick wet snow. Nice list but you forgot a warm cuddly cat to sit in your lap, while you knit. Looking forward to seeing you in April at the Yarnery.
A very special thank you – I have survived my ten year olds surgery with two weeks post not leaving the house. I have knit my brains out. I want you to know that you inspire me everyday as both a woman and a mother. Thank you.
My dream is to see you on the daily show with john stewart –
We have nearly identical lists. Mine, however, includes ice cream, not so much the Glenlivet–extra wine fills in. I do have a tin of Spam that was purchased getting ready for the Y2K thing, but as I’d never eat it under any circumstances, it does not, in hindsight, appear to have been such a good idea.
We’re getting slush from the sky here in the snowbelt NW of Boston. Wuss, this storm is. Nyah.
Beer Store? You mean, you have a place that just sells beer? Not groceries and not liquor? As an unlearned American, I am fascinated by this unique establishment. Please elaborate. And good luck with your impending white fluffy doom.
Haha, when the big snow storm hit New Mexico back in January, the one thing that was impossible to find in stores? Snow shovels and ice melt. Not too many people own such things here in the desert…
Here’s hoping for a lovely time being snowed in with booze and wool! I wish I could join you 🙂
I used to work in a grocery store, and you could tell as soon as the Channel 5 Doppler 8000 Weather Desk Snow Alert Warning System Headquarters released a flake report because all the bread would sell out. In southeastern Ohio, people are ill-equipped to deal with any accumulation, especially if it’s the first snow. In 1998, the first snow was half an inch of snow with a little bit of sleet mixed in. My future husband and I watched from my ghetto apartment window as 5 large, muscular men piled into an old Monte Carlo, turned on the booming bass, started the car, and started spinning the wheels. ZZZZzzzzZZZ! [boom, boom] ZZZZzzzzZZZ! [boom]
For 5. Whole. Minutes. Then, they turned off the stereo and left the car. Not one of these large, muscular men thought to get out and PUSH the car, or *gasp* grab so much as a handful of gravel from the other parking lot and stick it under the tires. Nope. They were effectively trapped. Crack sales suffered dearly that fateful Saturday. Meanwhile, malls were closing early and churches were telling people to stay home.
I used to work in a grocery store, and you could tell as soon as the Channel 5 Doppler 8000 Weather Desk Snow Alert Warning System Headquarters released a flake report because all the bread would sell out. In southeastern Ohio, people are ill-equipped to deal with any accumulation, especially if it’s the first snow. In 1998, the first snow was half an inch of snow with a little bit of sleet mixed in. My future husband and I watched from my ghetto apartment window as 5 large, muscular men piled into an old Monte Carlo, turned on the booming bass, started the car, and started spinning the wheels. ZZZZzzzzZZZ! [boom, boom] ZZZZzzzzZZZ! [boom]
For 5. Whole. Minutes. Then, they turned off the stereo and left the car. Not one of these large, muscular men thought to get out and PUSH the car, or *gasp* grab so much as a handful of gravel from the other parking lot and stick it under the tires. Nope. They were effectively trapped. Crack sales suffered dearly that fateful Saturday. Meanwhile, malls were closing early and churches were telling people to stay home.
I have frequently been tempted, when the prediction is for three or four inches of snow and the parking lot at the grocery store is jam-packed full of cars, to drive by with the windows down and yell “This is NEW ENGLAND people! It is SUPPOSED to snow! Get over it!”
But this would not endear me to my neighbors, I know. So I stay quiet.
I love the list. Here in CT we got Rain. Heavy Rain. Flooded everything. What I don’t get is the poeple that drive into the puddle even though there is a car already there, Then don’t get it when they get stuck too. I wish for a good storm that has me cleaning out the freezer & cabinets but doesn’t make me loose power. Though I would survive with it. I have all I need to stay home for a few days.
For all those non-Canadians curious about The Beer Store, their website is http://www.thebeerstore.ca/
I think it’s funny that you think it’s funny.
Oh, and you should see the liquor store. The LCBO (Ontario’s liquor store) is the largest single purchaser of liquor in the world.
G’day mates…. I am soooo sun burned. I saw wild kangaroos today, and a wild flock of cockatos is yelling over my head as I type. we are in the Grampians mountains at a place called Halls Gap. Need to go find the aloe gel for my red red legs.
Cheers mates injoy the slush. love denny.xoxoxox
Several weeks ago when we had the blizzard in the midwest U.S. The day before at the grocery store people had their carts loaded like they weren’t going to be able to leave their homes for three weeks. It was funny and at the same time somewhat frightening. In reality, we were home for two days.
Did you know you made the Language Log?
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/%7Emyl/languagelog/archives/004262.html
hee hee…with your title I was hearing Scar from Lion King in my head…
(be prepared for the storm of the century
be prepared for sensational snow
a shining new winter is looming much clearer
so where do socks feature?
just listen to teacher
I know it’s a forecast but sit where you’re warmest and watch these two movies with me…in chocolate and warm soup I swear, be prepared…)
I’ve had good luck with oversize pull-on rubber boots, the kind with no real seams. Then I put felt liners in the boots. Then I wear a pair of thick wool socks over silk liner sockers. My feet may be large, clumsy, and ugly, but they are dry! My grandfather taught me to do this.
The Bohus is beautiful!
Even living in a hurricane prone area (and even after Katrina and Rita brought their snarky selves through here), I’ve never seen the point in amassing several weeks worth of supplies. December through May I keep 3 days food and water for each person, increasing that to 7 days June through November (hurricane season) and should a storm approach, I might increase that supply to 14 days. However, if a storm dire enough to require more than 14 days of rations is heading my way, I tend to just evacuate. Failing that, I would hope to find our way out or be rescued before 14 days passed. Oh well, I guess some people just like to freak out.
You know those red mittens you made with the bits of fluff knitted in? Make a pair of oversized socks like that and wear a large pair “spring” water-proof boots (wellies, galoshes, or whatever you want to call them) for slush walking!
You tickled me….. I laughed with Joy. You are an amazing writer. I hope that you are expressing this gift of writing with humour and honesty, that you are clearing your blocks enough to write and make a (massive) living out of it.
A joy to “meet” you
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Glad to see someone else has the same attitude towards the “big storm” as I do…
and we survived another one!
For us, getting ready for the storm means filling up the bathtub with some water (for toilet flushing and other misc uses), filling a few milk jugs with drinking water, and waiting it out. Doesn’t always work great (see: ice storm of ’98) but I never listen to any of the other hype… maybe it’s just because I’m used to it.
PLEASE read Marlyce above about drying times.
Also, sanding and painting! NOT GOOD THINGS TO MIX. Patience is rewarded. ‘They’ always talk about prep first when painting. That includes a clean, dust-free surface — so the paint sticks to the wall/ceiling and not the dust. Been there, done that.
Take time. Really wait for the urethane to dry. Consider it built in knitting time.
Hey, if only the floor is ready by the end of the week, the beautiful pine will knock Joe out just as much!
I vote for the color immediately below the left-most dot (but I also like the leftmost dot). The darker color will cover the old safety-yellow walls better. Even with a coat of primer over the yellow, you will still have a hint of bleed-through with the yellow, especially if you use the water-based type of primer. Also, this will give more contrast with the floor, making it look larger, and will brilliantly contrast with bright white trim.
Very Important with elderly dwellings — the darker you go, the richer the wall looks and the better it covers minor flaws in ancient plaster. Major ones, too.
All the colors on the left are pretty, but they contain a fair bit of yellow undertone, and will not age as well as the leftmost color.
Be sure to be an extra-OCD McPhee and use painter’s caulk around the edges of all the molding where it meets the wall — at least around the windows and on the exterior wall(s) — before you rpime, to prevent drafts. And don;t forget the top of the window frame.
I vote for the color immediately below the left-most dot (but I also like the leftmost dot). The darker color will cover the old safety-yellow walls better. Even with a coat of primer over the yellow, you will still have a hint of bleed-through with the yellow, especially if you use the water-based type of primer. Also, this will give more contrast with the floor, making it look larger, and will brilliantly contrast with bright white trim.
Very Important with elderly dwellings — the darker you go, the richer the wall looks and the better it covers minor flaws in ancient plaster. Major ones, too.
All the colors on the left are pretty, but they contain a fair bit of yellow undertone, and will not age as well as the leftmost color.
Be sure to be an extra-OCD McPhee and use painter’s caulk around the edges of all the molding where it meets the wall — at least around the windows and on the exterior wall(s) — before you rpime, to prevent drafts. And don;t forget the top of the window frame.
Let me get this straight…you guys have both BEER stores AND liquor stores?
I think I need to investigate living in Canada further. 😉