Kevin Standlee: Fandom Is My Way of Life

We had (by our local standards) a pretty good snowfall over Friday night into Saturday. For a change, the snow got all the way up to the door, even though there is a metal awning over the front door.

( Another Snow Day )

After getting rid of the snow, I trudged through the ankle-deep snow to the Wigwam to get breakfast and to let the birds get back to eating theirs.

This appears to have been the worst part of what looks to be around another week of unsettled weather. For example, last night we had light icy rain, which made me glad that I'd iced the walks. The rest of the week doesn't appear to have a whole lot of snow accumulation expected. But driving across the Sierra Nevada is still something I wouldn't want to do.

While the weather is warming just slightly, there's a new storm system forecast to move though on Sunday, and as I mentioned yesterday, we have ice up to 2 cm thick in certain sheltered places, and we're running out of rock salt. So this afternoon, Lisa and I went over to Lowe's and bought a 20 kg bag of ice-melt to lay down when and where it starts icing up again. We still have plenty of non-salt grit for the areas where we can't use salt like the front porch.

Sunday morning was bright and pleasant and sunny, but things changed dramatically in the late afternoon. While I was watching the Super Bowl, Lisa told me to look outside.

( Mini Blizzard )

After the worst of the wind and snow subsided, Lisa came out and spread ice-melt on the sidewalk. Very little snow actually fell (maybe 1-3 cm), but it got cold very fast and the snow formed an icy crust. Lisa and I were both happy we had no place we needed to be today. Listening to the radio scanner, I felt for the police and fire services who were out in that weather dealing with accidents. A big accident just east of Fernley on I-80 was made worse when someone came along, ignoring all of the emergency vehicles, driving much too fast on an ice-covered freeway, and crashed into North Lyon Rescue 61, the ambulance/paramedic unit responding to the existing accident. While according to the posting, none of the crew were injured, the rescue unit was seriously damaged. NLCFPD only has three such units, so this is going to hurt while they deal with getting the damaged unit replaced/repaired.

( What a Difference a Day or Two Makes )

Meanwhile, the Super Bowl did not go the way I wanted. Near the end, as the Chiefs were making their (ultimately successful) comeback, I was hoping that the 49ers could hold them to a field goal that would have tied the game, and then that time would run out, sending the game to overtime and paying off $100 to me on a "prop" bet. It was not to be. I lost all of my bets. Fortunately, I'd only wagered the money we won on the keno ticket last week, so we're no worse off than we were before that dinner. I do try very hard not to wager anything I can't afford to lose.