Bitter Cold N Snow
Matt Seinberg

We had twelve days, yes, a dozen straight days, of below freezing temperatures here on Long Island, where I live. Believe me those dozen days weren't pleasant. I don't like to have to go outside wearing a vest, trench coat, scarf and gloves. Layers of clothing are bulky and make driving a little bit harder.

The world stops for a blizzard.

We had a blizzard last week, on Thursday, and both my wife and I didn't go to work. Luckily, both businesses closed because of the weather. I was off on Friday, so she got me up at 7 am to use the snow blower on the driveway and into the street.

My wife and kids shoveled the walkway and stoop. After I blew out the driveway, I finished off the sidewalk, which my very kind next-door neighbour did the day before. It made my work go by that much faster.

Here's the problem. The town, where I live, didn't plow us, again or at all! Our street still had snow on it and the end of my driveway was a bit hazardous because of that. Across the street, I have an idiot neighbour. He insists on parking his car on the street during snowstorms and directly across from my driveway. If I slip or slide the wrong way, I will hit his vehicle.

We have to go very slowly backing out. We must hope to avoid slipping and sliding, in the snow. It happened to me a couple of times; by some simple maneuvering, I was on my way.

I complained about the lack of snow removal.

I went on Facebook today to the town's page and left a couple of comments about the bad plowing job on my street. A few minutes later, I received a message, on Facebook Messenger, asking what street I meant. I replied, advising not to send a big truck, but a pick up with a plow on it.

Because it's actually warmer, today, the snow is melting. Now, I don't know if they came or not. I did manage to have my wife clear the walkway some more and clean out the end of the driveway, so it's safer now.

A co-worker told me that it was so cold that his battery died. He told me the battery was four years old. I knew it was time he had a new battery anyway. He has a Mazda 6, as do I, only a bit newer. My original battery lasted almost seven years, which is very lucky. My co-worker knew it was time for a new one. I told him what to expect to pay for it and make sure it fits right if he puts it in himself, as opposed to installation by an ostensible expert.

One feature I love about my Mazda 6 is the ability to put it in a manual shifting mode, so I can use first gear to slow the car down, without having to apply the brakes. I can use second and third gears to slowly accelerate and slow down, as well. This makes for effective defensive driving.

One day on my way to work, I had just stopped at a stop sign and I saw a silver Mercedes Benz blow through that intersection going at least fifty or sixty miles per hour. Had I not stopped, he would have gone right though me and we'd both probably be dead. That's just another reason to drive defensively when it's snowing.

How cold was it? I have a friend at work whose pipes froze, but luckily didn't burst. He turned his heat up, set up some space heaters and used a blow dryer on the pipes. Finally, after two days, he had hot water again. As soon as he told me that, I texted Michelle, who I knew was going to be home before I was and told her to turn on the heat in the basement.

This way the heat would keep the pipes in the basement ceiling warm, as well as in the utility room. We could also keep the heat upstairs a couple of degrees lower, since we were getting all that heat from downstairs.

Cats beat the cold by cuddling.

As for the three cats, they like to cuddle with us at night in the blankets. They keep each other warm and our feet, as well.