Ok it’s probably not really a blizzard, but it might as well be! Here in southwestern Ohio, we’ve been hit hard with winter weather in the next couple of days.
Yesterday morning, it didn’t seem too awful outside, and I knew today was going to be worse, so I decided to brave it and head into work. I have about a 40 minute commute… 40 minutes on narrow, curvy country roads that are not #1 priority for the county’s snow clearing teams. “Not priority” as in they might get to them by spring. So even though we didn’t have tons of snow, the roads I was on were pretty covered. I was doing just fine, though, until I started going down a little hill, and I totally lost control of the car.
I slammed on the brakes and did exactly the opposite of everything I should have done in that situation, and hit one of these head on:
Fortunately for me, the sign was enough to stop my car from going any further. Unfortunately for the sign, my car snapped it right in half.
I was able to get out of the ditch I landed in before any other cars came down over the hill. But I didn’t think twice about turning right around and heading home. No way was I going to work – that was enough excitement for me! I wasn’t hurt at all and my car was only damaged slightly (at least as far as I can tell. Futher evaluation by my favorite mechanic, Bobby Rapson, will be necessary), but it scared me to death! I was really shaky the rest of the way home. In the midst of my nervousness, though, I did lament the fact that I didn’t have a camera with me so I could post a picture of the sign I took out! You might be a blogger if…
But actually, our excitement for the day wasn’t quite over – when I got home, the garage door wouldn’t close. It would go down about 2 inches and go right back up. So after trying every fix I could find on Google (and everything some very kind Twitters suggested!), we called the repair man – the same one we had to have put new springs on our door a couple months ago – and he came out and put a brand new opener on. To the tune of $550.
So between the garage door and the car, we had a very expensive day.
Overnight last night, we got about eight hours of freezing rain to add to the mix, and this morning none of us are going anywhere. Andy and Kate had snow days, of course, and unbelievably I did too (which is unprecedented, I believe). So, we’ve already feasted on chocolate donuts, and pretty soon Kate and I are going out to build a snowman. I can’t wait to take Sammy out in the snow for a few minutes as well!
How are the rest of you Ohioans faring this morning? Anyone have a good story to tell?
Stay warm and safe!
