I don’t know when it became common to name snowstorms. I grew up in a region where foot-thick snowfalls happened from time to time, and I don’t recall anybody naming them like hurricanes. They were disruptive, to be sure, but also to be expected. In Michigan – even SE Michigan, where winters aren’t normally any more dramatic than anywhere else – we just called it “Winter.” And everybody knew there might be times when traveling even to the grocery store might be unwise for a few days, and planned accordingly. It would have taken really sincere stupidity to starve on account of it.
But that was then. Now, at least once a year, we get this nonsense…
Living that snowmageddon grocery dream baby! #DC pic.twitter.com/v1IKKFMIRm
— Cyprien Roy (@Cyp_Roy) January 21, 2016
I’m sure it is a nightmare for the storekeepers too. People….
I just went “shopping”… in the basement. Brought up two bags of things I saw were getting low in the upstairs pantry and freezer. My bean sprouts are about ready to use, so I’ll have a nice stir fried chicken dish tomorrow.
But I’m planning a trip to the city for spring. Down to three 96 oz jars of pickles. LOL And a few other things are getting low as well. It will have been a whole year since I went to the big town. Might treat myself to a nice dinner somewhere too. Maybe not. Need to get home before dark. 🙂
Even back when forecasting and tracking them was in it’s infancy, hurricanes didn’t sneak up on us. There is always a bit of warning. And (like winter) hurricane season itself arrives the same time every year. OK it’s predictable that bread, peanut butter, ice and batteries will disappear from store shelves when a big wind approaches, even though folks could stock at least some of that stuff in advance.
But that’s not what bothers me.
What really curdles my innards are the flocks of people clamoring for government food and bottled water THE VERY FIRST DAY after a hurricane, and bitching when it doesn’t immediately materialize. Don’t they keep anything in their kitchens? Do they really not think that far ahead? Where is their sense of personal responsibility?
Naming winter storms is strictly a marketing ploy by The Weather Channel.
I’m pretty sure they get to charge advertisers higher rates during these storms because of theoretical higher viewing rates.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_storm_naming_in_the_United_States
We call em French toast days,cause everyone seems to need bread,milk,and eggs.
Mamaliberty,one 96 oz jar of pickles would last me the rest of my life,and then some.
I used to make gallons of pickles when my boys were small. They would eat a quart of them a day if allowed to do so. Made ketchup too, put up in quarts. They wanted to drown everything in it. 🙂
I go through spells where I eat lots of them, and it’s always more in the summer, but the average is about one of those big jars every two months. So, when I get to WalMart in the city, I buy six of them… Those big jars cost about the same as the quart jars in the local grocery store. If only I could grow cucumbers here. sigh I do grow tomatoes, but I’d rather eat them fresh.
Just saw this no-electricity washing machine on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/coldservings/posts/10205264980843806
That is far more elaborate and much more badly designed than mine. Tiny drum, drains out slowly through its bottom so you need a floor with a drain, no way to rinse. Hate to imagine what they’re charging for it, but mine’s better.
The only thing ill be getting on the way home here in charmcity is beer cant seem to keep that in stock.:)
I hate to break this to you, Ben< but hive-dwellers have no "sense of personal responsibility“. They live in the hives because they want government to take care of their every need and every desire. And that goes not only for the Blue hives, but the Red hives as well. Because those Red hives are Rove Republican.
Being a sea level coastal and low desert region dweller from birth, my first storm in the San Juan’s was an eye opener. 4 feet in one day. Being me, I had all the supplies I needed for a month on hand, and that included beer and whiskey. I think the first wife and I were snowed in for 3 days….something like that. I never saw shelves this bare in Durango before a storm, even after half of Los Angeles moved there. What happened to the East Coast….you guys are supposed to be tough.
“It will have been a whole year since I went to the big town.”
ML – you are my hero! I would love to get to that point…
Thanks, JimBob. 🙂 It’s a combo of a number of things. I’m seriously “scotch” and frugal as well (there’s a difference). I’m no longer willing or comfortable driving long distances and don’t go out in the snow or the dark. I can get almost anything at Amazon.com these days, except fresh and perishable. That’s available in the small town nearby. I don’t need enough of it at any given time to make an 80 or 90 mile trip practical, even if I enjoyed going. In other words, it’s no sacrifice. 🙂 I wouldn’t have gone last year except I had to pick my sister up from the airport… and take her back later. I’ve gone three years without visiting the city. I don’t miss it a bit.
Oh, and I need to correct a mistake! About the big jars of pickles. I looked at one last night and was embarrassed to discover that they hold 62 ounces, not 96. No idea where that number came from. LOL