An articulating bus run askew on Olive Way. The funny thing is the tracks left by everyone who has to drive practically right up next to the bus before they figure out they have to turn around and find a different route. As if the bus was, I dunno, invisible?
It’s really good to see Northwesterners helping each other, which is uncommon when compared to New York:
Strange – I moved three thousand miles to get away from this kind of crap. God is a funny guy.
Seattle has recorded (at Sea-Tac airport since 1948) single-day snow totals of 7 inches or more on around eleven different occasions since 1948.
And 21.5 inches was measured on February 1, 1916! There were reports of snow drifts to 5 feet with that crippling storm.
It will be interesting to see where this week’s storm lands on this list. As an additional point of reference:
[Clicking on this image will take you to it’s source on the Weather Channel site.]
And here’s a snap of Cherry Street in downtown Seattle during the “Big Snow of 1880:”
It looks a lot different now:
Well, Old Man Winter has finally arrived after a record dry December.
Half an inch was predicted here in Everett, and we’ve got almost two already. It’s a heavy snow, as the temperature is hovering right around freezing. In our backyard, the main bamboo stalk (almost twenty feet tall now) was bent all the way to the ground under the snow load, so I shook it loose of the accumulation, and did the same for all the rest of the plants. You could almost hear a collective sigh of relief. Combined with shoveling the driveway, it feels a little like being back East.
A couple of years back, we had snow like this, and some of our plants did not like it one bit. A couple barely survived, and another one or two are stunted. So I’ve covered the most fragile ones with plastic drop cloths. We’ll see if that helps at all.
Jeff takes glee in reminding me that I told him (before he moved here) that, “it never snows here.” Or words to that effect. Of course, I like to blame him – he must have brought the foul weather from Buffalo!
Update
Jeff sent me this image from further north, where the skies are already clearing:
Laying Travertine tile in the entry. I finished grouting today, so now I have to wait a day or so for final sealing and re-installation of the baseboard millwork. I’ll be writing more about this misadventure soon.
‘The two most abundant elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity’ – Harlan Ellison
A Public Service Announcement for those who need it: (Science’s Best Hangover Cures) 😉
“Without heroes, we are all plain people, and don’t know how far we can go.”
– Bernard Malamud
Excerpt:
“Attorney General Eric Holder announced one of the biggest fair-lending settlements in U.S. history with Bank of America (BAC: 5.60 +2.38%) agreeing to pay $335 million to settle complaints levied against Countrywide Financial Corp. by the Department of Justice.”
“During a press conference, Holder said his office investigated discriminatory lending practices that impacted 200,000 African American and Hispanic homebuyers in 180 geographic markets and 41 states across America.”
“Holder said his office found qualified minority borrowers were steered by Countrywide, which is now part of BofA, into subprime loans that come with higher penalties, fluctuating interest rates and a higher chance of default.”
“To settle the dispute, Holder said BofA agreed to pay $335 million in compensation to impacted borrowers.”
“Dan Frahm, senior vice president of Bank of America, responded to the suit saying the settlement resolved legacy Countrywide practices that occurred before BofA acquired the subprime lender in 2008.”
My comment: This is a sick joke. This works out to about $6,000 per victim, provided they have the sophistication and wherewithal to figure out how to work this “settlement.” The “Too Big to Fail” cancer trundles on unpunished, unabated.
The world is a bit dimmer today with the passing of Václav Havel (5 October 1936 – 18 December 2011). He was a Czech writer, dramatist, and politician. He led Czechoslovakia’s 1989 “Velvet Revolution” against communism, was the last President of Czechoslovakia, and the first President of the Czech Republic.
He was a personal hero of mine, he was a romantic idealist who proved that intelligence and philosophical depth could triumph over military force and venal political ideology. In an era of staggering mendacity and corruption, he sincerely promoted (and as far as I can tell, lived by) the frequently and hopelessly disregarded ideal that “Truth and love will overcome lies and hatred.”
Václav Havel waves to well wishers on December 29, 1989 shortly after he took the oath as President of Czechoslovakia. (AFP Photo/Lubomir Kotek)
The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life, but that it bothers him less and less.
– Václav Havel
Christopher Hitchens—the incomparable critic, masterful rhetorician, fiery wit, and fearless bon vivant—died today at the age of 62. [1] [2]
“I burned the candle at both ends and it made a lovely light.” It was, indeed, a very lovely light. The best of Hitchslap, and a selection of Hitchens’ work.
I hear the drone tried to convince the Iranians that it was only hiking.