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(snow) on the road agan

yep, weather’s turning crappy here again. basically, our winters are mild. like mid 40’s for highs, mid 30’s for lows. all winter. right? misconception that we have a normal northern hemisphere/northern north american winter — on this side of the mountains, we’re moderated by the ocean and the Puget Sound so our winters are milder.

so far this winter we’ve had several storms that have really sucked. i’ll continue to gripe about them if you choose to read more.

these storms happen when a cold front comes through from the northwest, combining with moist air that’s here, and causing much havoc. it usually goes like this: rain, rain, crazy rain, high wind. crazy high wind. like tree toppling, 60+mph gusts. then, snow. snow snow snow. well snow that kinda melts to slush. it’s a lot of snow, for us.

then – the cold front is here. so that means, cold. cold cold cold. mid 20’s at night, at first. then depending how strong the high pressure system, maybe teens at night. remember the snow/slush i mentioned? yep, now it’s frozen. on the sidewalks, it’s an uneven crusty surface. on the roads, a literal skating rink.

last time this happened, it took people 12 hours to go 20 miles on I-405. there were neighborhoods in valleys that turned into new-car junkyards. there were places that didn’t have power for a week.

right now, we’re at the end of the snow snow snow part.

new house color

yes, i’ve been procrastinating. here’s the new color of the house!

remember, the under-porch area isn’t painted because we’re going to enclose it and make a back hallway between the kitchen and the laundry room.

it begins, again.

just in case anyone was concerned that i would have extra time on my hands, we’ve taken care of that.

this week i enrolled in and began taking college courses again, after having worked exclusively since 1996. boy things are different now, especially taking classes online!

as carrie pointed out, it’s come full circle: i left college to do work online. now i’m going online to return to college. read on to get the details of the program & classes.

look different? new host + new software!

yes, things look quite different. let me explain.

i’ve switched web hosting companies, which in itself should not make a marked difference in the site. but while i did this, i upgraded my site to the latest release candidate of Drupal, an Open Source website management system (they call it “community plumbing” and i think that suits it well).

wacky northwest weather, part II

yes, it’s been weird. again.

over the weekend, we got snow. starting about mid-afternoon sunday. don’t believe me?

that was only the beginning.

Thanksgiving 2006 trip, part 1

yes, we’re back in the Pacific Northwest, after a week in the Northeast for Thanksgiving, 2006.

it was a good trip, although it started out on a sad note. read on for details about driving, hotels, nostalgia, and mundane details that only i’m really interested in. part 1 of 2, or 3, depending on how chatty i get.

chilly northwest

so, here in the Pacific Northwest (or “PNW”), at least on the west side of the Cascade Mountains, we’re used to moderate temperatures. this is all thanks to the enormous body of water that most of our weather travels over before arriving here.

this weekend shifted to a pattern from the north/northwest instead of the west/southwest — which means the air comes from a much colder place. last night we dipped into the 20’s, and are looking at the same for tonight. our average lows for this time of year are around 40 degrees. (yes, this is all fahrenheit).

so, we’re bundling up and keeping the woodstove going at night. and wishing (at least i am) that i’d gotten more done outside when the weather was nicer. oh well.

parents: dress the kids up as something warm — an eskimo, perhaps, or even the michelin man? otherwise they might come back from trick-or-treating tomorrow looking like popsicles.

new building, new desk. awesome!

so, as i sit here at work, supporting a software deploy, i’m compelled to blog about my new office space. my team just moved to a new building (and by new, i mean brand new). 39th floor. it’s absolutely amazing.

read on for more details and pictures, but here’s a teaser — this is the view as i approach my cube.

Buffalo gets hammered

and not in a good way, like when we were there for the Buffalo Brew Festival. several feet of snow have fallen (in mid october!)

my brother is hooking up a generator for my parents right now, as they’ve been without electricity for 2 days.

here’s the story at the buffalo news: http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20061014/1042271.asp

the dahlias continue to bloom.

yes, it’s the middle of october. but some of our late Dahlias are just getting started! let’s hope they all bloom before we get out first frost.

sadly, some of them succumbed to their own success — we had some heavy rain, and the blooms were so big, and collected so much water, that it toppled the stems. but most of them did well. next year, we hope to make them bloom a little earlier, so we’re not going so late into the season and risking bad weather at the end of the season.