2017.01.16 PDX Snow

Good Parts

It was genuinely, magically pretty. The thick snowfall wafting down, and huge plumpfs of white on everything. The lack of annoying humans spoiling the area most of the time, especially annoying vehicles.

Playing in the snow with the kids. They had a fun taste of snow up in Canada this holiday, but here we've had deliciously stolen days of sledding at the local hill between the schools. Not to mention the various snow forts and snow beings all the neighborhood children have constructed and played around.

Driving in the slippery conditions in the Subie really is hugely enjoyable for me. My rusty skills are more than compensated for by the modern stability and traction control. And the Subaru really has been unstoppable, clambering up every icy-snowy incline I pointed it at.

More general quality time with the wife and the kids, without having to cram it into our regularly-scheduled Rube-Goldberg lives.

I got to shovel some snow. Actually, I got to shovel a lot of snow - with a pretty crappy shovel. Not only did I do our own driveway, but I also assisted a couple other neighbors to free their cars. I'm not really in snow shovelling shape (is that a thing), and I had to take frequent breaks, but it's a great way to burn off anxieties and to work some under-used muscles.

Work stress. It's not like my deadlines are moving to accommodate the weather, and staying home to parent the kids due to school closures is erosive to my mental well-being.

Other drivers - lacking either the skills or the equipment to be driving in the snow. Or both. Oh, look: a super-slippery section? Why, yes, let's proceed with due care and caution. But for the love of fuck, stop creeping along at walking speed for a mostly-clear straight section. It's like the same idiots who didn't know when to slow down when it got slippery don't know when to speed up when it isn't. And, for fuck's sake, recognize that momentum is a thing. Leave some damn room, and don't pause on your way up a hill. I wish there was some way to get these chickenshit maladapted sloth fuckers out of my damn way.

We're going to go broke. With so many cancellations, S's practice has been sucking wind this whole while. Like, to the tune of half a kilobuck a day - gross. This does not bode well for my mountain bike and Tesla ambitions. Especially since I just had to replace my personal computer.

Parenting. I love my kids, and I love being with them, but I also need breaks from them. I mean, they're 4 and 7, which means they're essentially psychopaths with extra narcissism. It's hard to witness most of the humans you're around having meltdowns because they can't find the toy that they haven't even looked for yet. And it's emotionally exhausting watching them be endlessly petty with each other (even if it is probably genetic).

PDX special sauce. Now it's raining, and it's probably going to freeze into a glaze of ice on everything. We are probably stuck here for a while.