Snow day

To those who tried to get a hold of me today, I wasn't available. Reason: Werk was really, really rough. As soon as I got home I had dinner, then lied down for a minute and *zonk* I was out like a light.

Werk sucked today because half the people that are supposed to be there didn't show up. We had some snow dropped on us last night (but NOT THAT MUCH) and everyone decided to take a day off. I, knowing that the snow wasn't too bad at all really, went to werk. Guess what, the roads were wet, but CLEAR for the most part.

There are only very specific weather-wise situations that will keep me from going to work (or anywhere for that matter):

1) Ice.
Snow is one thing. Ice is another. In snow you have traction, even if limited. In ice, you don't have any traction at all. It's gone. Bad ice will keep me homebound every time.

2) Extremely poor visibility.
If I can't see more than 25 yards in front of me I won't go out. Why 25 yards? That's easy. At 25 yards you can see brake lights and/or other bad things in front of you should there be any and have time to STOP. Conditions that can cause this are drifting snow or hard rain with high winds and dense fog. Not more than 2 months ago there was fog bad enough where you couldn't see more than 10 FEET in front of you (it was so bad I pulled into the wrong driveway to get to my own house).

3) White-out.
Anyone who lives in a region where it snows knows what white-out conditions are. This is where you literally can't tell where the road starts or ends unless you have something above the road (like a stoplight) to guide you. Very scary situation. It's caused by massive amounts of snow covering everyrthing. Guard rails/posts, mailboxes, curbs and other things on the side of the road are completely covered. The only thing you can see is a white sheet in front of you. You can't see tire tracks because the snow is covering them too quickly, and literally have to guess that you're going the right way. Fortunately for me I've never hit anything during a white-out condition because I've been smart enough to get off the road fast when it happens.

4) Hard rain/winds.
Hard rain with wind normally occurs at the beginning/middle of summer around these parts. You've got poor visibility (see above), "sheeting" and spraying by cars on the highway, and tons of debris (and possibly downed power lines/trees) on residential roads. Flooding also sometimes happens.. but not in my area, we're too far away from the coast. Out of all the situations above, I would probably still drive in this anyway. Rain, while deadly when heavy, can still be driven in if you've got everything in check, like good wipers, a clean windshield and your wits about you (a.k.a. not driving tired).