Saturday, December 03, 2005
God called
Well, God decided that he would send us a message tonight...that we should all go outside and enjoy our new large ice skating rink that is coving all of central/south Indiana. Yep, that wonderful weather phenomena called freezing rain. So, you are from someplace warm and have no idea what I'm talking about... pull up a chair and I'll impart my meteorology skills on you.The temperature is cold outside, it is below freezing...their is precipitation in the forecast. What happens, is that way up high in the atmosphere it is snowing...you know that fluffy white stuff that Christmas dreams are made up and that skiers love? Well, it's is falling in it's long peaceful journey to earth when suddenly it hits some warm air and it melts...so now you have some 32.x degree rain drops...that are falling rapidly towards earth now.
These rain drops continue to cool as the speed towards earth, cooling to below freezing...then suddenly SPLAT, they hit the ground/tree/house/car/road/powerline and instantly freeze. They form layer upon layer of ice and cause hell on roads and power lines.
I'm not a huge winter hater, I don't mind snow nor the cold that much...but I don't like freezing rain. It is dangerous and there isn't much you can do about it...If you've never experience freezing rain I'll describe what it's like waking up in the morning with everything covered in a layer of ice.
You have trouble opening up the front door because ice has formed around the edge. You push and eventually it cracks open. You take one step out the door and your normally cushy astro turf door mat is not a solid ice spike mat. It supports your weight. You are then perilously walking towards your car and then wham you catch a wet icy spot and your feet fly out from under you.
Next think you know you are on your ass, your tailbone is on fire, and the hot cup of coffee you were carrying is now all over your nice warm coat. Oh well, you needed to clean it anways. You think to yourself that your stupid over price apartment complex really needs to throw some salt down. You realize that they probably won't do it so you go inside and grab your container of table salt and spread it around so that your fiancee doesn't bust her ass when she goes outside.
You are finished with the salt and walk towards your car. Well, your car now looks like an ice cube, it is covered in 1/4" of solid ice. You beat the ice off the handle and try to open it. Oh, it's locked. Good thing that cars have keyless entry now, because your lock is surely frozen over right now and would be impossible to open. You pull and yank and eventually you get your door open. You start the car and turn on the defrosters...anything to help with the ice melting. You grab your ice scrapper out of the back seat and decide to chisel away at the ice. It takes you about 20 minutes to get through the ice. Yep, it's that bad. Now you just have to drive on it. Well, I'm tire and fell asleep on the computer...my story is over...I'm off to bed. It's 11pm, and last night I only had 2 hours of sleep!
