F@#^&ing Potholes

Driving around Milwaukee and the metro area is like traversing the surface of the moon.
I drove down Bluemound Road yesterday on a trip out to Brookfield Square to go shopping (a successful trip, BTW). Well, more like I swerved all over creation avoiding the crater-sized potholes that longed to swallow up my car.

This morning, I noted how rough the roads I take downtown were. On the way home tonight, I noticed strange noises coming from my car. By the time I hit the halfway mark, I knew what was going on. I had blown a tire. AGAIN.

Yes about 3 weeks ago, I blew a tire. It sucked then, and it sucks now. The first time, I managed to make it to Alex's daycare before stopping. This time, I made it to the CVS at 61st and Lisbon. I called Craig right away. He of course was in the helicopter for the early evening newscasts. He promised to come as soon as he could. I made that call at 5:25PM, and he and Alex came to rescue me at about 6:20PM. What a mess! We traded cars, Craig changed the tire, and we were all home and accounted for by about 7PM.

It has just been a really long winter. With the ice damming and now two blown tires in less than a month. The good new is it was finally above freezing over the weekend. There was significant meltage going on. I heard ducks quacking in the parkway this morning. It's still light out when I'm leaving work. Spring is right around the corner. AND NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON!

That's it, we're moving someplace warm!

It's been snowing since last night. I know it's winter. I know I live in Wisconsin. But this is ridiculous. We had something like 27 inches of snow in December. Now we are in the midst of the worst snow storm I believe I've ever seen in my 32 1/2 years on this earth. Minimum of 18 inches already on the ground, and an hour and a half left in the storm warning.

I went to work Downtown this morning, and it was the easiest commute ever. We decided to shut down operations at 2PM. I left my office at 1:30PM, and it took me 45 minutes to get to Alex's daycare. He was happy to see me, but that was the single worst drive home ever. I don't think I've ever driven in snow that bad.

I actually got stuck in an intersection. A really nice woman got out of her car and helped push me through. (WOMAN POWER! At least 4 big pickups driven by men went around me. The woman in the minivan stopped!)



Below right, please notice my car, stuck at the end of the driveway. Our drive has a bit of an incline. Add 18 inches of snow (still coming down) and you have trouble. My plan if I couldn't get into our drive was to park at the neighbors (who are in Vegas). They have a level drive. I couldn't get into ANYONE's drive. So I just managed to get far enough off the street so the plows could get by to do their job.

More picture explanations. Top, the view of the wooded area that divides the two sides of our street. In the spring it's pretty, and full of wild life, even though we're in a fairly suburban area. Today it looks like a postcard for winter tourism.
Middle, one of our bushes heavy with snow.

The snow is deeper than our dog is tall, so when poor Shadow went out to potty, you could barely tell if she was going. I tried to shovel out a little spot for her, but it was already filled in by the next time she went out.

On the upside, Alex and I get a little more time together. This is my first snowday since college. I don't have to spend the day writing unique headlines for the "White Death."
But I am truly tired of snow.

Road Rage = Not a good way to start the day

So much for the 1-2 inches of snow we were supposed to get. It was closer to a foot. My 30 minute commute took me over an hour today. The combination of stress and frustration over being late and having zero control over the situation put me in a tremendous bad mood for the day. Driving in snow is not complicated. You take your time, and pray everyone else does too.


Unfortunately for me today, everyone was driving horribly on the unplowed roads. It took me 15 minutes to go two blocks... right next to the parking ramp I needed to get into! UGH! The drive home was equally bad. One of the busiest intersections on my ride home... the traffic lights were out. The funny part is it's right in front of a huge police station. You'd think someone would have called to see if a couple of officers could come out to direct traffic. That would have made sense!


On a better note... my book club is finally getting together again! The holidays are always crazy, so we usually take December off from reading. It's been a couple of months since we've been able to meet. We are heading to Habanero's for "drinks, dessert, discussion, and disbursement" as Therese put it. I can't wait for some girl time! It will be great! Last year we reorganized, and read more books that we ever have as a group! I hope we can keep it up this year. I also hope we can challenge ourselves with the books that we choose. If you want to see what we've read this far, check out my goodreads.com profile.


I'm relaxing with a glass of Pinot Grigio tonight. I think I deserve it. Here's to a better day tomorrow!