Pee Wee Vs. Blizzard '06

'26 inches? Yeah, right.'

The day started off normal enough.

I was actually awake, and prepared to be on time to work.

While getting ready, I was checking out the weather reports. The Weather Channel said 'snow, with accumlations up to 14 inches'.

Yikes.

Channel 2 said to expect a blizzard, with up to 26 inches of snow.

Whua?

Previously, they had told us on Tuesday, that we should expect light snow all day, and temps in the low 30's.

Well, it never snowed, and was hovering around 40.

So who to believe for Wednesday?

I figure to prepare for the worst, and dress for the blizzard. My cotton moleskin jeans from Banana [they're heavy material - good for cold days], long sleeve shirt, hoodie, and long johns.

I leave my place and I think to myself, 'It's not that bad. They're probably full of shite, again.'

I get to the station, and they announce my route is running late.

Really? It's not that bad outside.

My bus is late.

The next bus comes, but says he is not dropping anyone off at the 84th Ave. Park 'N Ride [my stop].

Another bus comes.

This one says that he is 'spearheading', and isn't making any stops at 84th, either.

By now, I am on the way to being 30 minutes late. I'm livid.

I march over to the little command center thing-a-ma-jig, and bang on the door.

Out comes the supervisor, and I begin wailing on her, how two buses came and went, and refused to make my stop. By the look on her face, I could have been speaking Esperanto, or something. She couldn't fathom why a bus wouldn't stop, yet, she did not share my pissed-offed-ness.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the next bus come. She runs in her office to grab something, but rather than press the issue, and miss another bus, I leave to hopefully catch the arriving one.

As I get on, I realize, it's a newbie being trained.

'Great', I think to myself. 'Just what I need on a day like this'.

We get going, and as we are getting on I-25, there is a red truck, perpendicularly crashed in to the retaining wall. No cops. Just a woman on a cell, with a look of shock.

The bus driver shimmies past her, and we head on.

There was about two inches of snowpack on the road, but nothing major. All of the mag chloride they had put down, made the snow into mush, instead of ice or hard pack.

Traffic seemed to be moving at a relatively normal speed, so I don't know why the busses were late.

I get to my stop, and head in to work.

Again, it's not that bad.

I get logged in, and realize the place is a morgue. Partly due to the holiday, but also the snow, and traffic, I guess.

I have a morning ritual, of which websites I visit, as I get set up for the day. The first site I visit, is 9news.com, so I can catch up on local stories. Today, they had a live streaming webcast covering the storm. I was already sick of the stations I listen to, for music, this week, so I figured, I'd check it out.

The day goes on. People eventually get to work. The buzz is all about if we're really going to have a blizzard.

As the day progresses, things on the webcast get worse and worse.

I'm doing my work when an announcement comes on, that the governor is putting the National Guard on stand by.

Uh oh.

I go outside to smoke, and realize that it is now snowing sideways, and windy as a mofo.

My boss works on coming up with the fail over plan, so we can work from home. This takes a bit, since our work is heavily application based, and isn't completely accessible from home.

We finish up what work we have, and people begin trickling out.

I decide, I only have two tickets left, so I'll just stay and finish them, and then go.

Huge mistake.

Next chapter: 'Journey To The Vestibule'