It's winter

Another long week has gone by. Lots of long meetings early in the morning (after I worked beyond midnight the night before). The real challenge this past week had been the snow and cold.

Above is a picture of the house shovelled out Monday. I finally got time Sunday and, with the help of my wife (much appreciated) and neighbors (many hands making light work about the area), we all got dug out.

It's been snowing since last Tuesday, but the big blast came over the weekend. We must have gotten another foot of lake effect with strong winds. Translated -- a blizzard.

I'm familiar with the dangers of blizzards (ask the family about the Blizzard of '77), and I travel with the weather in mind, but even I was appalled with the coverage local television gave the weather. Our Chicken Little Station, WOOD-TV 8, or as I like to call it, Panic 8, spent all day Saturday on the air spreading chaos over the airwaves about how Armageddon had arrived.

The broadcasters were talking about survival kits (Please. This isn't North Dakota) as they patted themselves on the backs for their bravery in standing by the local expressway as cars crawled along.

To put this in perspective: Yes, it was cold. Yes, there were strong winds. Yes, it snowed a lot. Yes, it was dangerous to be out in (I know. I was in it). But ...

No, there were not wide-spread power outages. No, people were not dying in their vehicles (like the Blizzard of '77). No, roofs were not collapsing from the weight of the snow.

So, the weather has been annoying and dangerous, but not the end of the world as Panic 8 forecast. That comes tomorrow!

Thought: How many days until spring?