SNOWPOCALYPSE!!!

Snowmageddon '82

Are my fellow Midwesterners ready for snowmageddon? Everyone my age that grew up in St. Louis probably has a vague recollection of the Blizzard of '82. Most of my memories of that storm have come from pictures like the one above and to the right (Gravois Rd and my backyard, respectively). I've heard a lot of talk about how some parts of the area are about to see a storm to rival the legendary '82 blizzard. The weather people have been talking about it for days and it seems that they have really put the fear of Ice in everyone. Just in case you haven't heard...we're due to get anywhere from .25" to 2" of ice and then an additional 3" to 12" of snow on top of that. Then as an extra special bonus, the temperature is going to drop below zero. Moving to Alabama isn't looking like such a bad idea right now (still have that room ready for me, Cheryl?).

My friend Katie came over today and we spent a wonderful day being crafty and catching up. As she was leaving we both realized that there were a few things we should probably pick up before snowmageddon and so we decided to head to the store together. IT WAS AMAZING. I worked at a grocery store for a couple of years when I was in college. I've also had to make a lot of last minute trips for groceries before major store closing holidays. I have NEVER seen anything like this. They ran out of bananas, for goodness sake. BANANAS!! And I don't mean that there were only bruised or horribly green bananas left. They ran completely out and put up a sign so that people would stop asking. Interestingly, bread and milk were both still available. Another thing that was out? Diet Coke. Who knew that Diet Coke ranks up there with bananas, bread and milk? The true test came when we went to check out. I have never EVER seen lines like this at a grocery store. They had almost every lane open and the lines were still halfway down the aisles. If I hadn't seen and someone had just told me about it, I would have thought they were exaggerating. Here's the proof...

What isn't evident in these pictures? The fact that everyone (workers and customers) was dealing with it really well. The people in line around us were smiling and very friendly, and our checker had a better attitude than most checkers in a non-snowpocalypse situation. Good for you, St. Louis!!

My biggest issue with the coming snowpocalypse is this: unless the 2" of ice knock out the power at Zip Mail Services, I will still have to go into work. I don't think getting there tomorrow morning will be a problem, but I'm a little worried about getting home tomorrow afternoon and generally about transportation on Tuesday. So I've done something that I should have figured out long ago. I've checked the bus schedule and figured out what buses I need to take and the transfers and everything. Take that, Mother Nature! Now, if Metro decides to halt bus service, I may have a problem...who has 4 wheel drive and would like to spend some quality time with me?

Good luck, everyone, and please...BE CAREFUL out there.