Snow Storm Forecast & Politicians Play Up A Panicky Crisis

Okay, so maybe it will be more than a little snow that falls but not really all that much - at least not in the greater NYC area and on Long island and it will be cold (yes a high of 16 degrees is pretty cold at least for this area). Let's face it though folks, 6 - 12 inches of expected snow is not snowmageddon, even with the strong 30-40 mph  winds that should accompany it! It is now forecast that the snow should start to fall by 6PM tonight, Thursday January 2nd. The thing is that yesterday they were saying it would start to fall steadily by about 10 AM. That did not happen but still they are preparing for the worst and I mean the worst, they are not gearing up for a snow storm but for snowmageddon. So, not only are they preparing for a major snowstorm in this area but they are in a piss-pants panic over it. The governor, Andrew Cuomo (FUAC), according to the linked report, already reporterdly closed down the Long Island Expressway (I-495) on Tuesday night at the Queens - Nassau border but expected to open it again on Wednesday morning. Is the reporter that screwed up in his reporting or is the governor that much of a panicky wimp? I expect the first of those two choices is correct, it will probably be closed tonight not last night. Heck, the storm was not slated to hit until TODAY, yet they are saying he closed the LIE at midnight yesterday - the news media is as fucked up or more than the politicians! The LIE is THE major roadway from Long Island into NYC and is heavily used by commuters; really now, is it necessary to even close it tonight. Why not keep the plows clearing the roads. In addition, the governor has declared a statewide emergency. I understand they need to be ready to salt and plow the roads but he is going berserk closing roads throughout the sate - lots of road closures and they are all major highways from what I understand. If the government owned or contracted plows were out there, in the storm, doing the right thing, no roads would likely need to be closed for a mere 12 inches of snow. Buffalo, NY and other localities in the snow belt get many feet of snow each year, sometimes over 20 feet of snow in a single winter and you don't hear about the state closing roads then for a mere 6 to 12 inches of the white stuff! But this storm will hit Long Island and NYC and that is the heart of the liberal stronghold in NY State and Cuomo must think he needs to impress his voting base.

Of course, neither do you hear of schools closing early in places like Buffalo or Rochester or Watertown, NY on the day before a storm, in anticipation of it, and then the school officials not knowing if they will close on the actual day of a storm! A smattering of snow fell here early this morning, not even completely covering the ground, and some school officials have allowed schools to close early today even though the snow is not expected to start falling again until 6PM tonight! Let me reiterate, they closed early today while wetting their panties worrying about a storm that has not yet hit and was scheduled to hit only after normal school closing hours. Yet, they have no idea if they will close on the day, tomorrow, that the storm is expected to be at its worst and on the day that major roads will be closed in the area (source) by a paranoid governor. If this was Bizarro World that would be bizarre but not here in the US of A where it has become normalcy for lunatics to run the school system and for maniacs to run the government.

So why all this maniacal crisis intervention for storm that has not yet hit us. It can only be, as I see it, complete political BS. Cuomo and other officials want to show how grand are they in the face of a crisis but, of course, the governor and the others are making it more a of a crisis than it is likely
actually to become if left to its own devices. I am not saying it is not going to be a nasty storm; I am saying that Cuomo is not letting a crisis (real or manufactured) pass him by without exploiting it for political benefit, just as do most super-duper liberals in politics. I have never before seen nor heard of preparations like this for 6-12 inches of snow in NY State and, most times, storms of that nature have been dealt with pretty well and reasonably by those who have not panicked.

Me, I have a different attitude than panicking. I have decided, after receiving both a phone call and an email from the dealership service center for our Hyundai suggesting I change an appointment for tomorrow morning, that I will stay at home instead of trying to bring the car into the shop for a scheduled recall repair. I already called them and changed the day to Monday. I did that not so much because I am all that concerned about driving in a snowstorm but because the road I take there, the LIE, is likely to be closed because of our worrisome crisis enhancing governor.
Then, after the snow starts falling, I will go out to shovel it once there are a couple to a few inches on the ground, you know - just like state owned or contracted plows used to do to keep the roads open and passable. It usually makes it easier for me to do it in shifts than waiting for all of it to fall and trying to get it in one fell swoop and I am guessing it is, or was, the same when they clear(ed) the roads of snow. Just as I strive to keep my sidewalk clear so anyone could walk past my place easily, who needed to be out, they used to strive to do so on the roads so that people could still use them during a storm. Political crisis mongering seems to have changed that recently.

Back to me shoveling - if the wind keeps blowing it back on my side of the street, then I may decide to wait until it is all over to shovel it away but I will not panic over it now, just plan for it one way or the other. My brand new shovel, bought it about 2 weeks ago because the old one had it, awaits me in my garage as does ice-melt if needed. Other than that, I will remain at home tomorrow and enjoy retirement. We have food enough to last and will have heat as long as the electricity remains on allowing our furnace's electronic ignition to fire up. We will have hot water regardless, the water heater runs on gas and fires off of a pilot light. Now while we have no kitchen in which to cook, our's is currently in the middle of a remodeling job and stripped of all appliances, I do have two BBQ grills. If worst comes to worst, I can fire up a grill and crack open a few cans of spam or chili or both and have a whiteout-cookout. Wow, sounds like we are prepared to face a couple of lousy days - promised to be followed by temperatures rising to the mid forties by Sunday, all without the panic of our piss-pants governor getting the better of us.

All the best,
Glenn B