It snowed Monday night/Tuesday morning. I mentioned it briefly in yesterday's post , but today I'm going to actually tell you about it because that's the kind of person I am. The weather people were forecasting copious amounts of snow; but being the skeptic that I am I wasn't buying it. Sunday night the weatherman had downgraded the possibility of snow and by the time I woke up Monday morning they were saying that there was probably going to be a whole lot of nothing. So, I went to bed Monday night thinking there would be no snow on the ground come Tuesday.
I woke up around 2:00 a.m. for a bathroom break (just being honest here) and peaked out the bathroom window and didn't think I saw anything; however when my alarm went off three hours later and I turned on the news, I was shocked to discover that there was snow and it was still coming down. I took Pippa outside, as is our routine and then tried to check Twitter to see if there was any news of road conditions, but I couldn't get my feed to refresh and eventually discovered that my internet service at home wasn't working properly. So, I tried to call the ISP, but then my phone started roaming and I couldn't get a good signal. In other words, the snow had put quite a damper on all forms of communication.
Since I couldn't get online or use my phone I made the decision to just brave the roads and go on in to work. So, I showered and got ready to go, making the executive decision to wear jeans rather than attempt putting on any dress clothes. I took Pip outside again before leaving and this time she ran around like a crazy dog and it was such fun to watch. I wanted to stay home and play with her; but, alas, I need a paycheck more than fun time with the dog. So, I brought her back in and then headed out the door.
The Parkway was closed so I had to take Andrew Jackson/California/Whitesburg until I got to the portion of the Parkway that was without ramps. I drove about 20 miles per hour the whole way in. The roads weren't terrible, but they also were not great. You could definitely tell that the plows and salt trucks had no been out and it was hard to tell one lane from the other. Thankfully, everyone drove at a snail's pace with the exception of a few fools from Jackson and Marshall counties. It's these people and the ones who take pictures while driving that cause the accidents on days like this. I didn't see any accidents myself really, but there was one car who somehow had slipped on the ice or lost traction and was in a horizontal position on one of the hills on California Street. This particular section of road is often icy so I wasn't too surprised. I managed to make it around the car with no problems. Hopefully the car was able to correct itself and get going before someone plowed into the side of it.
I stopped to fill up the tank with gas as I got closer to work. I had about half a tank, but wanted to have a full tank in case the conditions on the way home were not good and I ended up being stuck somewhere. I finally made it to work about 7:20, having left home around 6:30-6:40, so it definitely took longer than normal to drive the 12 miles to work.
Once I arrived at work, it was like a ghost town, as very few people came in. A lot of people who work where I do come from outlying areas such as Guntersville, Boaz, Albertville, Arba, etc. and those areas received much more snow that Huntsville. There was a report of six inches from a co-worker in Guntersville, 3-4 inches in the Arab area, and five inches in Eva. All of the people who came in were residents of Huntsville and therefore didn't have too long of a drive. There were maybe 15 people in the office when there are usually 50-60 of us. Meri made it in as well and not long after she arrived we walked down to the cafeteria to get her something for breakfast only to discover that the cafeteria was closed due to weather. I hope people had money for the vending machine or brought their lunch. I keep a supply of snacks at my desk and offered them up to anyone who needed a snack or something to eat, but only one person took me up on it. To say it was a quiet day at the office was a bit of an understatement. It was very quiet, but it made for a productive day and a relaxing day at that, which is rather unusual at work these days.
Another round of snow and ice is expected Wednesday night and it is predicted to be worse than what we got last night. They said this morning maybe 3-5 inches. So, who knows if I'll make it to work after that wave; only time will tell I guess. In the meantime, I just hope I make it home before dark so I can let Pip run around and enjoy some of the snow because it is, in fact, rather entertaining.
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