Snowbound, Duty Bound, House Bound. . .Blog Moribund!

Okay, maybe not moribund. That means "dying," and in truth, the problem this week is just going to be time. During the past week, I got a semblance of my blogging mojo back. Maybe not full strength, but I got some stuff up there, much of it involving actual writing and thought on my part. So, yay me!

But this week is bound to throw in a whole toolbox of wrenches. Not only am I presently hopelessly snowed-in (which you'd think would lend me more time to blog, I know), but I need to get out. The Other Half is coming back after three weeks away working, and my parents--who own the manse I happen to be ensconced in--are coming back after a winter away. Beyond tidying up and preparing for that on the inside of the house, I've got to figure out the logistics of what to do about tons and tons of very deep snow in a very long lane.

This in addition to the regular telecommuting I do with my design work, closing on our new house, setting up utilities, and actually moving in. All amidst new snow, and all the other weather surprises Ohio can throw at me. So, the odds that this blogging space is going to look really deserted this week are quite high. I'll still try to get in here, I just wanted to drop this line of explanation.

Have a great week everybody. Here's hoping spring comes soon, and all over the place.

Behind the Blogger: Back to Ohio, Winter Update

Okay, so I've been back to Ohio now for roughly three weeks. After driving for the last four days of January from Las Vegas to Central Ohio (with a couple of stop-overs in Iowa to visit family), we managed to stay ahead of a big winter storm that had basically followed us all the way. We safely ensconced ourselves at The Other Half's sister's house on the west side of Columbus that first night, and then stayed for one more night before moving north to my parents' manse in the woods.

Since that time--all of February--I've been up here, in various stages of "snowed in," mostly. I picked a weird time to move from the Mojave Desert, didn't I? I know, because I kept my Las Vegas weather app on my phone, and can see the seventy-degree temperature gap for myself! At first, I was like a typical Las Vegan, one who had rarely or never driven on snow: a bit freaked out by the prospect. Odd, when you consider my very first experiences driving solo were in a very snowy winter, circa 1982-83. My sister--an experienced hand at both driving on snow and in a big honking diesel pickup truck--has been awesome about driving out here, (where the only access to the road is a half-mile long driveway in the woods, along a cliff) to tamp down the snow a bit for me.

Our poor cars, which have prior to now only known the desert.
Mine was cleared off 8 hours prior to this shot.

So, with the occasional melts, and my sis' efforts, getting out hasn't been 100% impossible. I've ventured out a few times, and in fact for one whole afternoon was unknowingly driving around in a level 1 snow emergency. I've--somewhat--got my "snow feet" back underneath me. Now, however, we've been buried under snow again. And I say "we" euphemistically, because in reality, I've spent most of my time up here in Frozen: Ohio Edition mostly alone. The Other Half went off to do some back-to-back-to-back trips for his work over a week ago. And he's not due back for another week!

The view from my temporary bedroom this morning.

Ah, so I have all this time on my hands. I'm not working, other than some few-hours-per-week tele-commuting design work. So, why am I not blogging? What in the world am I doing with my time? Aren't I bored? Yes and no. I'm finding that it's entirely possible to "do nothing," and still have a day zoom by. I'm managing to diet and exercise, including time on the treadmill, and the one-mile round trip in the snow for the mail. I've been cooking and cleaning up after myself (fortunately, I suppose).

Initially, there was the house hunt, and all that entails, including getting the financing, inspection and all of that. There was also the flurry of socializing with local family, though that's been largely curtailed because of the weather. So, right now, I'm in a holding pattern on the house, and pretty much a hermit under the snow. I had to go out to a funeral yesterday, but have no social engagements lined up. I have some work that's likely to come in, but probably won't go beyond a couple of hours' time in the next few days.

So, I'm going to try to get back into the blogging habit! For real! I hope. Here's the surprising thing: after blogging nearly daily for almost 8 years (even given the gradual reduction over the years), I've completely fallen out of the habit. It was a compulsion, a personal obligation for so long, I'd actually feel guilty if I skipped a few non-weekend days. I'd feel compelled to put up something, anything to let people know, "hey, I'm still here!" But I found out, once you willingly put yourself on hiatus, and then return with a "I'm going to slowly come back to this" disclaimer? The daily tug? Evaporates. I've utterly lost the feeling--when I'm once again sitting at the keyboard doing nothing in particular--to blog about this.

The new abode, assuming all goes as planned. Obviously before
the snow-mageddon.

Well, I'm going to try to get it back. I know I don't want the blog to go permanently dark, and I know also that there's not much point to a once-a-week blog either. I never want it to be a burden though, and I don't want to have a random assemblage of posts that only exists to fill some space. It's still got to interest me, and it's still got to be (hopefully) interesting to others. Now is as good a time as any--in fact, it's not going to get more opportune--for me to find that blogging desire and voice again. Barring an emergency or an unforeseen amount of work obligation, I'm going to re-train myself to blog again, and it begins this weekend.

 

What Happens in Vegas: Will It Snow, Will It Snow, Will It Snow?

Well, it's almost time to retire my What Happens in Vegas feature, along with the year of 2014. In a month or so, I'll officially be a Buckeye again, after a lapse of 20 years. Time will tell if I develop a Useless Nut feature when Greenlee Gazette takes up root back in Ohio.

For now, my soon-to-be abandoned adoptive state and city look to be giving me a going away present: snow on New Year's Eve. It's never happened, at least with anything resembling accumulation, since people have been keeping track of such things. I've been here for a handful of  Las Vegas' very few recorded snow storms, and I'm very much looking forward to this one! If it happens. I know I'll quickly have my fill of snow when I get back to Ohio, but there's something different about it when it happens here. Probably the palm trees.



Yeah, yeah. You've promised this before.
Image from source, LVRJ.com

Still, the tourists from out of town have got to be cursing my enthusiasm. Some years you don't even need much beyond long sleeves on the strip for NYE. This year, you'll freeze your (by now, pointless) 2015 novelty glasses off.

[Excerpt]

It’s gonna snow! Probably.

People celebrating the eve of the New Year in Las Vegas may be seeing more than confetti falling from the sky. The best chance for snow — it’s a 60 percent chance — will come late Wednesday afternoon and early in the evening, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Stachelski. Even though the storm system is carrying less moisture than was forecast Saturday, Las Vegas will likely see between a half-inch to an inch of snow and record low temperatures, Stachelski said. . .

Read more at: Las Vegas Review-Journal

Chicago: The Day After Tomorrow, TODAY!

This picture just blew me away. It was cold here in the Las Vegas desert today, but our temperature span ranged between the twenties and the forties.  I wore a sherpa hoodie today, not even a winter coat! I'd like to say I feel your pain, Chicago (and the rest of the country), but I'd be lying!

Source: Chicago Tribune

Giant Ice Monster Consumes Most of the United States

Whoa! So, I guess I shouldn't complain about our temperature dropping down to 34 (feels like 22!) here in Las Vegas? Hey, that's cold for us!

Thanks to my sister, Jen for the link.

Source: Yahoo! News

Snow Falls in Vegas, Which is Cool

Image from source, NPR

Yeah, I know, the blog is still light even though the big holiday stretch is over. Sorry. Having motivation problems. Plus, haven't you heard, I'm on a diet and stopped smoking. That might tell you exactly how many active brain cells I'm working with.

But it is true that it snowed here in Las Vegas on Monday, and that was pretty cool. I'd heard we might get it, but just saw moist earth here when I left for work for my first day of 2011. Bare minutes later, I was driving into snow flurries, and minutes after that, the snow was driving into my car!  We got no accumulation, since it was in the high 30s, which is unfortunate. But the mountains that ring the Las Vegas valley got plenty, and it'll stay there lookin' purty for some time.  Meanwhile, I'll try harder to get into the blogging mood, and bring you more interesting things than winter happening in the wintertime. Sorry.

[Excerpt]

What Are The Odds? Snow Falls In Las Vegas



Gamblers on the Las Vegas Strip awoke to snow flurries Monday morning as part of a winter storm that turned the main highway between Southern and Central California into a snowy, icy parking lot.



Hundreds of motorists returning from the New Year's holiday found themselves stuck after Interstate 5 was closed for a second day over the 4,160-foot-high Tejon Pass, about 70 miles north of Los Angeles. . .

Read more at: NPR

Frivolity Break: Time Lapse Blizzard

When I was a kid, I made a stop action movie with no plot, with my mom's 8 mm movie camera. When I was a young adult, I did the same with a video camera. With the advancement of technology and the ease of use (not to mention ease of editing), I'm surprised I haven't tried a similar project in my encroaching middle age. Oh, who am I kidding, middle age.  So, I found this pretty cool.

December 2010 Blizzard Timelapse from Michael Black on Vimeo.

Travelogue, Part the Third: I've Killed My Parents?

What a trip so far!

First day: arrival and pizza, plus helped prep for the big party..

Second day: picked up The Other Half, helped prep the manse for the big party.

Third day: sickest day of my life. The Other Half works in my stead. Big pizza & beer night w/family sadly spoiled.

Fourth day: sickness continued, party ensued anyway.

Fifth day: Rain turned to snow, briefly to blizzard. Had to take The Other Half to the airport in the worst of it. Sickness abated simultaneously--thank goodness--but I had to resurrect my "driving in snow" skills from 1-1/2 decades ago. Drank a quart of Gatorade, and suddenly feel just fine. Arrive at parents' house after hours driving in snow to find. . .

My parents have the same illness I just climbed out of! Both are solidly down for the count, as is my sister. I have a very small family, but seem to have taken three of them out. Oy. Only one day to go!

Glenn Beck vs. Rachel Maddow: The Battle Continues

As promised, here is Rachel Maddow's rebuttal to Glenn Beck's charge that she lied. Gotta love her spirit, I have to say. "Back off!" Excellent.

Glenn Beck vs. Rachel Maddow: The Battle Begins

A little while back, Rachel Maddow had Bill Nye the Science Guy on her show to talk about the "snowmageddon" in Washington D.C., and in the East and Midwest. The reason Nye was there was that many vocal right-wing bloviators had been using the snow as "evidence" that climate change (global warming) is a hoax. They've done everything but call for Al Gore's head.

Maddow used clips from the inexplicably popular FOX "News" host Glenn Beck's radio and television shows to help show what was being said. Maddow is being accused by Beck of selectively editing out sections of Beck's commentary. And in fact, the show did edit out a sort of "disclaimer" by Beck saying that one snowstorm doesn't disprove global warming. Maybe she should have put that in, I don't know. Because even though Beck did put that little asterisk in there, he has made the cold weather disproves global warming claim countless times, often without the asterisk. As have Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and others.

But one thing you can't do? You can't complain that you were taken out of context while taking your accuser out of context. Which is what Beck does here. For evidence of that, come back in a little while when Maddow's side of the story is uploaded. I'll be doing "The Battle Continues" as soon as it is up, and will cross-link. For now, here is the Beck side.

UPDATE: Here is the link to Rachel's rebuttal. It's good.

[Excerpt]

Glenn Beck Calls Rachel Maddow 'Dishonest' 'Propaganda'

Conservative talk radio host Glenn Beck has struck back at Rachel Maddow for her gross misrepresentation of his position on global warming by calling her a dishonest purveyor of propaganda. . .

Read more at: NewsBusters

Sean Hannity is a Moron

Some headline, right? I mean who doesn't know that? This time, the subject of Sean Hannity's idiocy is his conclusion that "global warming" is a hoax, because it is snowing in winter. And while I could give the Manatee the benefit of the doubt and say, he knows that climate change includes all sorts of unusual weather and that he is simply lying about it. . . Well, actually, that is a valid option. Let's give him a bit, and assume he is equal parts moron and liar.

[Excerpt]
Hannity: Snow Storms ‘Seem To Contradict Al Gore’s Hysterical Global Warming Theories’


. . .As the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson has explained, “winter snows do not invalidate the reality that the planet just experienced the hottest decade on record. Scientists have been warning for decades that global warming would increase the severity of winter storms.” And a recent National Wildlife Federation report has found that winter storms are getting fiercer even as the season gets warmer. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

Media Picks Up on Las Vegas Snow Storm

Image from source, Huffington Post

Believe me, as shocked as the media is by the snow storm in Las Vegas, it doesn't match how we residents felt! I moved to the desert to escape this stuff. Still, it's kinda cool. I mean, it looks like it's late evening instead of night time. Everything's all glowy. But the trees are creaking, and I'm not sure that the roofs and vegetation out here are made for the weight of snow.

[Excerpt]

LAS VEGAS SNOW: Strip Covered In Snow

Tourists and residents of Las Vegas alike received quite a shock as a snowstorm blanketed sin city's most famous monuments. It also caused some travel headaches:

The ongoing snowstorm has stopped flights from landing or leaving at McCarran International Airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. . .

Source: Huffington Post

White (Almost) Christmas in Las Vegas!

I just arrived home (early) from work, due to a snowstorm in Las Vegas, Nevada. That's right, Vegas. And I'm not talking about a little dusting, that would ordinarily grind our city to a halt. No, this is an actual snowstorm, one that would be impressive this early in December even back home in Columbus Ohio.

Please indulge me, and take a look at some pictures of my house and neighborhood. I've lived here in the Las Vegas Valley for 14 years now, and never seen anything like it.

Blizzard Hits Ohio, Las Vegas Sunny!

Photo from source, AOL News

There are some bizarre things about moving 2,000 miles across the country. One of them is experiencing a beautiful, sunny and warm day, when your brother calls from back home where there is a blizzard going on! Every time I wonder why I moved to the southwest, I'm reminded by something like this. Stay warm, you guys!

[Excerpt]

Heavy Snow Buries Midwest States

A heavy winter storm walloped Ohio's capital city with more than 20 inches of snow, while blizzard conditions shut down highways and stranded air travelers across the state and parts of Indiana on Saturday. [snip]

"It's horrible out there right now," said 58-year-old Carman Bonfiglio, a FedEx Corp. driver who was stranded at a truck stop in Sunbury, about 20 miles northeast of Columbus. "Trucks are just spinning right here. In my days of driving I've never seen anything like it. . ."

Read more at: AOL News