Month: February 2023

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More Snow… Oh happy day

So the forecast calls for another ten inches possibly in the next 24 hours.

Wonderful!

The winds are kicking up too, so being outside is truly miserable. The dog walked outside, stood on the deck for a moment then turned around and came in. Even he’s over all this now. 

I was able to take yesterday off which is a good thing. My knees were starting to complain a lot.

I’ve got food so I’m not going to starve but I think it’s going to take a long time to be able to get the car out.. 

I don’t have to be anywhere thankfully.

One of my neighbors is super pissed off at his employer of 19 years. They’re bitching at him to come to work. He pointed out that the roads are closed and have been for almost a week. He directed them to the CHP and CalTrans both of whom say there are closures and travel restrictions. 

His employer’s response…

No you can’t use your vacation days. No, you can’t take the time unpaid, You chose to live there. So your job is now in jeopardy.

WTF? 

That’s like telling someone after an earthquake or mudslide, “Well you chose to live in California.” Or telling someone who lives near the coast, “You chose to live near the ocean, so missing work due to a tsunami is your fault.”

This is why employees typically, and justifiably hate their employers. It’s not necessarily your boss. It’s the HR and Executives dogmatically and heartlessly following a set of rules, policies and procedures. 

I’ve been though what my neighbor is going through now, with some of my previous employers. It truly sucks and stresses you out in addition to dealing with the shit you’re facing.  It also places people at risk.

Years ago, I spun out on icy roads and trashed my vehicle due to threat of losing my job. When I got back to work in a rental car a day or two later. HR demanded to see the CHP accident report. I gave them a copy of the report and then told the HR director to go fuck herself while I was being “counseled” for my unexcused absence. She was truly surprised that I quit on the spot. I didn’t need to clean out my desk and didn’t. I grabbed my backpack and walked out. She called security trying to have them stop me from leaving. Yeah, it was that important to her to have the last word. The security guy waved me through the door with a big grin. He whispered, “Fuck that cunt,” as I walked out.

I’m hoping now that San Bernardino has declared an emergency that the neighbor gets his employer off his back. 

I understand the concept of employers being about making profit and that employees facilitate that profit. I’m good with it.

However, blaming someone for where they live is out of bounds. This storm is an unusual event and storms like this happen only once in ten to fifteen years. You’d think that an employer could look at the situation with heart not just through the lens of rules and regulations.

I’ll note that none of the employers in my history EVER once said, “Thank you for staying in a hotel so you can be here during a major storm at your home.“

They were very quick to berate me when something unforeseen prevented me from being at work.

Employers will happily fuck over every employee with bullshit rules about gender equity and trans rights so they can virtue signal. But be a “Normal” person who’s shown up, & done your job, for years… Oh you’re disposable.

It’s not nice, but I really hope my neighbor’s boss and his union representative have the roads to their homes inundated by a mud slide. I think that it might be funny for them to have a taste of their own medicine. 

If I was my neighbor, I’d be waiting to tell my boss and the union rep, “Well you chose to live in that area…”

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The Dog has more common sense

IMG 2561Here is a picture of the dog this morning. He has no appreciation for all the effort I put into clearing the deck and the stairs so that he could get down to his yard.

He literally went down stairs, peed, and this was him immediately after he’d finished. 

Note the ears, that’s his “Oh HELL NO,” attitude.

IMG 2557

While my driveway was clear yesterday.  The snowfall over night was enough to park waist high snow in it.

This is without question the worst snowstorm I’ve seen in 30 some od years up here. 

Global Warming… My ass! 

I’m kidding, I know that you cannot judge the validity of climate change by only one storm. I’ve also been here long enough that I remember 3 similar storms occurring about every 10 years or so.

IMG 2580This one is the worst but only by a foot or so of snow. I don’t remember one being so late in the season. But conditions were apparently just right.

It’s the luck of the draw. Some years there’s not a lot of snow, other years the snowfall is pretty evenly spaced out and years like this, Winter saves it all up and hits you just when you’ve put the snow shovels away.

IMG 2572The lump in one of the photos is a car. I don’t know exactly how much snow we got. I can tell you that there’s no place to pile it up anymore. 

We got a break for a couple of hours this afternoon and then got hit again with heavy snow for a few hours. It’s tapering off now but it added about 3 inches to the grand total. After I’d managed to dig a trail from the base of my stairs out to the street.

It was annoying, but that’s the breaks.

The main street that comes into our neighborhood has not been plowed. No-one is going anywhere until that street is done and even then, it might take a couple of days of sun and warm temperatures before it’s a sure bet we’ll be able to get back up the street.

IMG 2568Going down won’t be a problem. Gravity will see to that getting back up the street is the hat trick.

I’ll work on posting some other photos later.

Right now I’m exhausted and thinking about heading to bed early.

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I thought we were done with Winter.

Uh NOPE!

IMG 2547We have blizzard warnings here in Southern California. What???

It’s been snowing pretty consistently for the past 24 hours. Thankfully it’s been light and fluffy instead of the wet heavy stuff.

That being said, it’s very windy and bitterly cold. Today 28°F is warmer than it was yesterday. The wind chill is making it feel like 18°F.

The dog who loves snow, wanted out. When I opened the door the wind kicked up blowing a bunch of icy snow in his face. He looked at me, then turned around and curled up on the couch. I’ve never seen him do that before.

I’m going to have another cup of coffee and breakfast, then I’ll bundle up and get to work. I’ll have to fire up the snow blower to pitch in with the other neighbors to keep the road open.

IMG 2550Finding places to pile the snow is going to be a problem. We’re expecting it to keep snowing until Sunday. Some forecasts call for up to 5 feet. For us it’s more likely to be 3 or 4 feet if the forecast is anywhere near right.

Then we’ll have a break for a day. The forecast calls for additional smaller storms until Wednesday.

On the plus side, I’ve got nothing to do except continuing to clean up stuff around the house. On the down side, I’ll run out of space in the trash bins and it’s likely the trash pickup will be delayed next week.

I’ll try to update this post with pictures once I get out in the neighborhood.

If you’re a skier or snowboarder, DON’T come up here right now. The roads are a real mess. Our resources are stretched thin and if you get into trouble, you’re probably going to be on your own.

IMG 2549Even in good conditions, you should travel with water, a bit of food, and extra, warm outfits. There’s nothing quite as uncomfortable as having to wear wet clothes in the cold.

Be Safe