Playing in the snow.

I got to play in the snow at the mall. Thank God I didn't have to shovel anything, but getting there was a challenge. My car barely made it out of the drive way. The God of Momentum really helped out there. I figured leaving an hour before work would be the best thing. Except, I needed gas and every fool was out Christmas shopping. What is it with fools and Christmas shopping. The crap will be in the stores tomorrow, give me a break. They should have stayed off the streets.

At night during the worst of it when I was on my way, everyone seemed very prudent in their driving, just too many idiots unwilling to cancel their plans because Mom Nature decided to show us what she is like on PMS. When I was starting out, it was kind of harrowing, because my park is built on hills. They are very steep hills. I am not going to be going down to the mail box for a few days that is fer sure. That's OK though. Nuttin but junk and bills in there anyway! After testing my car sliding reaction skills for a bit I finally got to the entrance in a relatively short time. The real process is to keep the momentum going, just don't go too fast, and for God's sake, keep that foot off that brake! I did a little sliding as I came up to the highway. The plows had been working all night, but so was MOM. She dumped a record 7 inches of snow on us. Needless to say, I wasn't having fun.

Then, the "low fuel" light came on. Oh yeah, I was going to do that but I was sick and desired the comfort and safety of my warm bed that morning and neglected it. So, I am going ot be late to work it is obivous. Pulled into my favorite Gas station. "Favorite" is a relative term when dealing with gas nowadays. What with the prices these days, feeding the insatible Victor-Victoria is getting to be a pain. So, I fill up and that's another $50 down the drain, and get back on the road.

I get on Highway 30 to 270 and discover to my dismay that some idiot had spun out or something. Anyway, the road was blocked and no one was getting by. My only alternative is to turn around and get back to 141 and head 5 miles out of my way to Interstate 44. There I can head back to St. Louis and then hit 270 and head on in to work.

The road feels like I am driving on gravel. Maybe I need to get my shocks fixed. Well, I get onto 270 and continue to drive in. I pass by a UPS truck on the side of the road, one of the double trailer ones. Now I knew it was really serious. They don't leave those things on the road, and its CHRISTMAS. I bet some dispatcher is going ape over this truck sitting there.

This stuff is still comming down and comming down. The roads suck. Anyway, I figure that now is a good time to fish out the scanner and listen to see what is going on. In Ladue, some idiot decides to commit suicide and the fire trucks are dispatched. Another Ladue fire trusk is stuck. I hear the police at Richmond Heights, (where the Galleria is located) talk about the exit ramp I have to go down. Apparently its getting a lot of spinouts and sure enough, when I ge there, lo and behold there is a Mitubishi Eclipse and a stretch limo (What insane fool would drive one of THOSE behemoths in weather like this) trying to negotiate the ramp with out hitting each other. Fortunately there was a curb between us and I didn't stay to see if God was blessin them, I was already half an hour late to work. Even though I was late, I decided to stop at the Shell station for supplies. Two liters of bottled water, some gum and a tube of cough drops later, I am heading to the mall across the street.

The Mall was a mad house. Nothing really bad, just the fact that all the snow was comming down. The Mall Operations Manager is here and hasn't left really since he arrived at 2 the previous morning. I don't want to find out what kind of mood he is in, so I want to stay out of hsi way all night if I can. A lot of the maintenance staf is there as well drivin our plow trucks in a somewhat vain attempt to keep the snow at bay.

Nothing much happened to me, as I settled into the nice warm camera room for a night of television viewing. Anyone who bitches and moans about what kind of crap is on TV orr if TV is boring, hasn't had to sit all night and watcha Closed Circuit Televisoin system. Apart from the ocasional bouts of mischief that people do in parked cars on dark nights when they think no one is looking, it is incredably boring.

I entertain myself I have a CD/WMA player and have copied my hard drive onto various disks. The disks fill a small bag which I carry around. Each CD has their own indivdual sleeve, plus a variety of 20 CD carrying cases. Its a mess that needs organization, but that is another day. I get the Player out and plug in the mini-speakers. (Whoever invented those needs to win the Nobel Prize cause I can listen to my tunes without headphones). I watch for people gettin frisky in the cars. Haven't caught one yet though. I am also watching for things like break-ins and things like that. Tonight is especially important as I need to watch out and make sure people aren't freezing to death trying to get their cars started or stuck.

We had one lady get into her car, start it up, then get out to clear the foot thick layer of snow that was on it. In the meantime, we have a smart car. They have computer brains you see. And they think, they're smart. They think "How can I screw up this poor lady's evening? Its been ages since you gave me an oil change. And that puppy has got to go, and if I hear Celene Dion on the stereo one more time, I am just gonna... WAIT, I got it!" So, the computer in infinate vengence, locks the doors. The lady went ape. We can't unlock the doors. The corporate lawyers won't let us. They have to call a tow service. OK, on a night like this, what do you think the wait time on that is going to be? Eventually she called the cops, and the cops came by and told her THEY couldn't get it open. They called the towing company, which bumped her up the priority list. They were there in an hour, but the car had its vengence with a snicker. Bet she won't forget that oil change next time....

The rest of the night was uneventful. Then comes the ride home.

I didn't see many spinouts, but the UPS truck stranded by the side of the road was gone when I returned there. In its place a Metro (the mass-transit system) "Call-a-ride" bus was in the ditch, upright and undamaged, thank God. Now these are for the severely handicapped and are equipped with wheelchair lifts and set up to handle handicapped. There was no ambulance, so no injuries, another good thing, but there was another bus. I have to wonder how they were going to transfer a wheelchair bound person from a bus slanted down in a ditch to the other sitting on the highway with just a police officer, Metro supervisor and two drivers. Normally an ambulance is called for that, but I suppose they had other priorities. I didn't see what happened there but I bet the TV crew caught it on the camera's they had set up on theoverpasses for the live shot they were doing. Vultures.

My park had been plowed in the night, but he can only do what he can do. Still, I have to complement him on his job. I got to my carport at least.

I love to play in the snow, as long as I don't have to shovel it.

God bless ya all and hope you are all well. Pics to follow in the photo log.