Snowpocalypse II: The Reckoning

This weekend's storm has made December's original Snowpocalypse look positively quaint in comparison. For starters, last night's snow was the usual heavy, wet kind we get around here, which put a strain on all our trees and bushes. Fortunately, we did NOT see the 25-35 MPH winds some weather people were calling for, which may have knocked one of the trees over.

But more importantly, there was the matter of the power outage. It conked out at 5:30 this morning, and it turned being snowed in from vaguely fun to "Yeah, this pretty well sucks" in short order. Normally it takes about 36 hours before cabin fever sets in too badly, but no electricity, and therefore no TV, no Internet, no hot food, and not least of all no heat, put us all a bit on edge. We weren't too keen on taking the kids outside to play, either, what with the interior temperature creeping downward. Hard to get warmed back up with no hot cocoa and the temperature at 60 degrees. Fortunately, the power kicked back on at 12:30--just as we were trying to figure out if we could set up a sterno stove to heat up lunch. I have never been more thankful for hot soup. (I am also deeply thankful for our next-door neighbor and his snowblower.)

We joke a lot about Laura Ingalls Wilder's "The Long Winter," the most ridiculously blizzard-filled winter's tale ever put on paper. But this weekend has forced Kristin and I to conclude we'd be lousy pioneers. Ma and Pa did have a wood stove in their cabin, but I'd still venture to guess that place was colder than 61 degrees (the temperature in the house just before the power came back on). But we were bemoaning our fate, and wondering how low the temperature needed to get before we thought about going to a hotel. Modern wimps, we is.

Hooray for the fine people of Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative, however. After lunch we did go outside and attempt to dig out a bit. The girls waded through the snow, and we shoveled tunnel-like pathways from the house to the playset, much as I did as a kid. I cooked a nice dinner, and plans for Super Bowl Sunday pizza and chili are back on track. I can't wait to down a manhattan, then sleep for like ten hours.

Linking Fool Friday

I'm posting this early, before I escape from the office as Snowpocalypse II descends upon us. If you're in the District, or otherwise close enough to Metro that you can still get out and about, We Love DC has a helpful list of bars and restaurants that intend to stay open.

I enjoy this counter-Westboro Baptist protest.

Canada: still awesome. Did you know they managed to avoid the financial chaos we've had over the past couple years? Is it just COINCIDENTAL that they regulate their banks and other financial institutions much more closely than we do? Because completely unchecked capitalism is always awesome, right?

Also, bipartisanship is crap.

Excellent piece by the excellent Joe Ponsnaski on the history of NFL Films. Via Jason and his Yankees blog, a canonical list of major league ballpark statues. I'm surprised the Nats rank so high.

Enjoy the snoo, people.

My cousin is hell of talented

Linking Fool Friday

Howdy. It's been a while.

A pet peeve of mine is Republican/conservative types who shout that liberals are RUINING THIS COUNTRY and are coming to TAKE YOUR FAMILY AWAY AND EVERYTHING YOU HOLD DEAR OMG WTF. I keep looking for specifics ("Which part of the Constitution, specifically, do you believe is being 'trampled on?'"), because as far as I can tell Obama and Congress haven't really accomplished much. (I realize this is pretty much a tactic meant to rally the base and scare stupid people, rather than something most of them truly believe, but bear with me here.) I can't get over this item where Andrew Sullivan runs down what a true Obama-liberal utopia would look like at this point. Ain't a one of them things happened yet.

Speaking of right-wing rhetoric: Deficits matter! Unless it's a Republican administration. And don't cut defense spending or Medicare, and never ever ever raise taxes. But deficits matter!

Speaking of raising taxes--I likes me some online poker. So should the US Government, because they could tax the hell out of it.

Closer to home: Local food blogger spends a week in a DC school kitchen. Not surprisingly, it ain't pretty. I don't say this to attack DC schools, as it must be a completely thankless job (not just here but anywhere, and making food that's affordable, healthy, and palatable to kids is well nigh impossible. But it's an intriguing read, and clearly an area where we need better answers.

How do you feel about Lasik surgery? I always figured I wanted at least ten years of post-op side effects on the books before I'd even consider it. Looks like I was right to wait.

Great post by ?uestlove of the legendary Roots crew, now Jimmy Fallon's house band, on how the music industry handles royalties for talk-show walk-on music. Also, after reading his Rolling Stone article on their best moments so far, I Googled for the Elmo clip, except I put in Jimmy Kimmel rather than Fallon, and got this, which is just as good if not better.

Lastly, Mark Morford on our astonishing ability to be disappointed in everything.