GSL Update 12/18/08

[Brown Jenkin]

Thanks for the update Scott. To anyone that complains about WotC's decision to shut down, when the city is pretty much shut down, I agree with an earlier poster's opinion.....

Its not about WotC decision to shut down, but rather to point and laugh at all seattlelites for freaking out about snow. They get snow and they have plows and there are snowy mountains in their back yard. But at least they are not like Detroit that gets dumped on every year and still doesn't have enough plows.

 

[Mark]

Not to turn this into a threadjack about weather, topography, and driving.

Typical Seattle area hill:

(snip)

With a downtown view up on of it's many hilly streets

(snip)

There seems to be less trees and buildings on that hill in the winter. They must slide off and get rebuilt every Spring.


Thanks for the email and have a safe holiday.

 

[RodneyThompson]

There's a lot of things at play...in Knoxville, TN an inch of snow/ice can shut down the whole world - not because they aren't made of Super Canuckinol (TM), but because they aren't prepared and never really get much. The cities aren't often ready with salt/plows, and the people aren't used to driving in it. In Michigan (my home), we're used to it.

This is true (trust me, until I moved out here I lived in Chattanooga, and then Knoxville, my entire life). But as bad as things get in Tennessee, I think it is actually WORSE out here, for two reasons. One, even though we know it's coming, the DOT never salts/sands the roads in advance, whereas back in TN we had de-icer on the roads at the first whiff of snow. Second, the problem is that the temperature fluctuates up above freezing, allows a lot of the snow to turn into slush, which then gets packed down by cars, and then it freezes again overnight, creating a layer of ice. It's not the snow that's crippling, it's the fact that most of the roads around here are solid sheets of ice, which is capital T Trouble when you live in hilly area (like I do).

 

[Erik Mona]

Its not like Seattleites are unfamiliar with snow (While snow in Las Vegas I can see causing problems). There are freaking mountains in the back yard where people can go sking. Seattleites know what snow is. Silly Seattleites.

The problem isn't so much the snow, but the ice. Our Metro department is completely unable to deal with the ice, which always develops the night/morning after a big snow. Since the ice only ever seems to last a day or two up here, I think they take the position that it's cheaper for everyone to just stay home for a day than it is to fix a problem that will solve itself in 24 hours (usually).

Also, the "freaking mountains" usually get dumped on much harder than the rest of the city, meaning that even if businesses like WotC call people in on dangerous, icy roads, a lot of the folks who live in the mountains are going to be trapped inside anyway.

Being from Minnesota I used to laugh at the puny Seattlites and their approach to winter driving.

Then I hit a patch of black ice on the sloped parking lot at work and slid right into Bulmahn's car, causing about $800 of damage.

These days I'm just content to work at home when it snows.

Thanks for the GSL update, Scott. Have a great holiday.

--Erik Mona

 

[davethegame]

Then I hit a patch of black ice on the sloped parking lot at work and slid right into Bulmahn's car, causing about $800 of damage.

Now that's what I call rolling for initiative.

 

[joethelawyer]

I grew up in Connecticut, but lived in Colorado for about 4 years. One day we got three and a half feet of snow in 24 hours when I was living in Denver. Living back in Connecticut now, looking out the window at the 1 inch of snow (they are predicting a whopping 6 inches!!) I just laugh. It was a bitch to shovel out of that though.

There was a period of time when I lived in the mountains of Colorado, in areas where there was 30 miles between towns, and nothing in between but 10,000 foot elevation mountain passes, bear, and deer. I had a scary 2 am drive at 10,500 feet, where the snow came out of nowhere and reduced visibility to 10 feet, with nothing to the right of me except the sheer cliff with a 700 foot drop and no guardrail, and to the left of me were oncoming vehicles on slippery roads. After that I made it a point to always keep enough clothes, food, and survival gear in my car to last me 3 days in the very worst conditions.

 

[kenmarable]

Then I hit a patch of black ice on the sloped parking lot at work and slid right into Bulmahn's car, causing about $800 of damage.

800 damage?! Nice rolling. Hope you remembered to take his stuff.

 

[joethelawyer]

800 damage?! Nice rolling. Hope you remembered to take his stuff.

He must have scored a crit with his +5 car of denting...

 

[El Mahdi]

Not to turn this into a threadjack about weather, topography, and driving.

Typical Seattle area hill:

Yikes! That makes me not want to drive (and I grew up in Michigan). Hills like that are good for sledding but definitely not good for driving.

 

[Rechan]

That there's a sleddin' hill.

Man, I'm jealous of you guys. I haven't seen snow since I spent a few months in D.C. It's 68 degrees here (Mind you, I'm not bragging; I want some damn cold).