TheBanyanTree: Weather Report

[Russ Doden]

Dear All,

The forecast snow hit yesterday - with a vengeance.  The 
forecasters kept saying 5-10 inches were possible - with the 10 
being at the extreme northeast corner of Oklahoma.  I went home 
about noonish yesterday because we were getting a lot of sleet and 
it just wasn't worth staying here with no business coming in.  

By 3 in the afternoon yesterday, I was starting to think that the 
forecasters had blown it once again, and all we were going to get 
was sleet - which is a pain in the cushion, but really there wasn't all 
that much of it . . . then it started to snow.  By 5 p.m. visibility was 
down to maybe 1/4 mile - tops.  Still the snow kept coming down.  
The vast majority of the news was the weather report and what to 
expect.  They were increasing the prediction for Tulsa, but not by 
much - but were leaving the door open for further adjustments.

They underestimated.  This morning dawned bright and clear . . with 
10.4 inches of snow being the official report - at the airport - in Tulsa.  
The town is nearly paralyzed.  Emergency vehicles are even having 
trouble.  The big news story this morning was how the ambulances 
had trouble getting to a house fire - they couldn't get up the street. 
This was in the top 10 largest snowfalls for Tulsa on record, and the 
most for November on record.  The extreme NE corner has about 14 
inches of snow!

Yes, I drove in to the office.  Not at my usual time though.  I waited 
until I had a pretty good idea of what to expect - and the sun was 
nice and bright - and well above the horizon.  Also, I have a 4WD 
vehicle so I can get around - but I went slow.  Nobody was in a hurry 
it seemed.  90% of the vehicles I saw on the roads were 4WD 
vehicles.  The other 10% were front wheel drive, and were regular 
cars - which means low clearance.  End result?  Once they got off 
the main streets that were plowed they had a good chance of getting 
hung up.  High centered is the term I guess.  Too much snow built up 
underneath them and they couldn't go any farther!  Cars were 
stranded all over the place.

I pulled one out of a hang up in the entrance to the building where I 
office.  She said she had been stuck there for 15 minutes and didn't 
know what to do.  She couldn't go forward or backward.  She was 
very grateful - and half froze as the temperatures are low teens this 
morning.  She had been drying to dig the snow from her tires - with 
just gloved hands and the floorboard rugs.  That doesn't do much 
good when you are high centered.  I was glad I had a tow chain 
tossed in the vehicle - just in case it was needed.  After I pulled her 
out of her "hangup" I asked if she would want to come into the 
building and warm up.  She looked pretty upset and near tears.  We 
have a cafeteria in the building, and even though it was closed, the 
room was open and vending machines with hot chocolate were 
available.  I think she almost cried that someone would think to make 
such an offer.  The poor thing was about at the end of her emotional 
rope.  After getting her settled in the cafeteria, I came in to the office 
and started printing some stuff I'll need this weekend.  I walked back 
down to the cafeteria a bit ago and she was sitting there, looking kind 
of lost and angry.  She told me her boyfriend still wasn't answering 
the phone.  The way she sounded that relationship may be in the 
tank as of this morning.  We talked a bit more and I watched as she 
went out to her car and drove off - making sure to stay in the ruts 
and away from high spots.  I hope she makes it to where she is 
going. 

I think that as soon as I get the things done here that I really should 
have done yesterday (or even Wednesday) I'll go back home.  
Anyone who needs CD's or DVD's copied for presentations or other 
things can just wait.  I don't see a lot of people going out and about 
today.  As a note on my wall says, "Lack of planning on your part 
does not constitute an emergency on my part."  When people find 
themselves in a big bind and expect instant service with discount 
rates I point to that sign.  They get the point pretty fast.  Politically 
correct?  Nope.  If they are that poor at planning though, I have 
learned that they are usually also pretty slow at paying bills!  

It is a beautiful day - and though it is very cold and travel is not 
recommended, I can still appreciate the beauty outside my window 
as I curl up at home on the couch with a cup of hot chai!

Russ