Weather
- Thread starter etoille
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Borzak
Bronze Baron of the Realm
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Like poor people want a job lol.
I'm here all day because we have the contract to support the Exxon refinery (basically we are their maintenance shop) and they never shut down, and even if they wanted to it would take weeks to months to do so. Anyway, was talking to one of the chief DOTD guys and he said they called some agencies in IL and CO and they said they really had no ideas for getting thru that much ice.
Famm
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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At least people in Atlanta right now are living in the age of electronic traction control and anti-lock brakes. My grandfather used to tell a story about being in Houston once in the 50s when it snowed and he said you could stand on any street corner and listen to all the cars smacking into each other every time the lights changed.
Borzak
Bronze Baron of the Realm
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I guess. Breaking it up seems to be working somewhat on the ramp. Getting rid of it is another issue apparently. The railing is a good 3.5 feet tall there and even then it's over another road and some houses. Not to metnion I bet a sheet of ice 3" thick 4' x 8' weighs a shitload.
Speaking of Houston. Around 2000 I was working in Houston and it got pretty cold, for Houston anyway. I guess it got down to about 18F. An overpass had a water pipe that ran between the road and the railing. Well it froze and busted and then leaked down the far side of the overpass. So 5am rolls around and there's 10 million people going 75mph on the way to work and the backside of this overpass is a solid sheet of very thick ice from the busted water pipe. I think they said 100+ cars piled up before someone could block off the road.
Yea had my nail-biting experience this morning. Made the mistake of stopping at the stop sign UP HILL coming out of my apt complex. Let off brake. No forward movement. Sliding backwards. Now sliding sideways. Oh jesus. This is fun. I managed to figure it out but wow it sucked.
But basically, yea, around here, the city is like "Hey sorry guys, you're on your own. we're staying home. it's dangerous out there!" so they do nothing to de-ice the streets. Nightmare. That's why a teeny bit of snow in the south is such a huge deal. we just aren't equipped to deal with it. ugh.
Borzak
Bronze Baron of the Realm
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I gotta run to the store. I put the chains on my truck and tried to make it out of the office parking lot. Forget about it. Warming up the cherry picker now. It will likely do OK because it has a super low gear and outriggers I can put down. We'll see.
I saw a guy at the shop next to us dirve out today in their crane and come back.
I saw a guy at the shop next to us dirve out today in their crane and come back.
Right. That's the difference. It's freakin' ice. Even when it "snows" here, it's just wet. Everything is wet bc it's so humid.
Even our heat is hotter. I remember being in New Mexico for the first time and it's like 100+ degrees in the desert and I finally understood what "dry heat" meant. It wasn't suffocating and I also remember thinking "Oh! That's how sweat is supposed to work!". Bc in the south, it doesn't evaporate. You just stay soggy.
I was one of those people who slept in their car in Atlanta last night. Took 28 hours from the time I left to get home. I can get into more details about the whole situation tomorrow if more are interested about what really happened there. The whole southerners can't drive in the cold hurr durr notwithstanding, this was the worst response by the leadership in this state I have ever experienced in the 25 years I have lived here. Going to drink some more beer and go to bed now.
I'm interested. Spent two hours chipping ice in order to go piss away my time at work since almost no one was out and about. Crawl across town with assholes who don't know how to drive in snow/ice and they decided not to open ten minutes before opening. Didn't call anyone either. The three of us who showed up were pretty pissed.
Gravel
Mr. Poopybutthole
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I've had to use the AC in my car the last 3 days. At least for a little bit, cause my car has been getting close to 80 sitting in the sun all day. I might go to the beach this weekend.
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Looks like kids head back to school tomorrow for the first time in a week. Probably. It's still going to be wicked cold, though.
Chukzombi
Millie's Staff Member
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i have a 3 mile commute from work and my last car was rear wheel drive. had a nasty fucking ice storm while i was at work 7 years ago and the bitch boss finally decided to let us poor bastards leave 15 minutes early. took me 30 minutes to get home and that 3 mile drive had me going sideways, backwards and every other way imaginable. luckily because my boss was a cunt it saved the lives of the other motorists who i surely would have smacked into on the way home. i was basically the only car on the road the whole way. with my front wheel drive convertible though i have not run into much ice but i make sure i drive granny slow the whole way just in case there is. 3inches of ice sounds pretty bad, but if you go really slow and have front wheel drive you can do it. just plan your route beforehand and if you have unavoidable big hills on the way, id say just stay home. car repairs or worse is not worth a days wage.
Vandyn
Blackwing Lair Raider
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We got about 3 inches in the Raleigh, NC area, went through the same exact shit that Atlanta went through back in 2005. It was the same exact scenario too, everyone goes to school and work and then it starts snowing and the freakout happens. Schools and business let out early, nobody knows how to drive in it and that's what you get. Plus if the roads aren't treated, you're screwed. This idea that they didn't think it was going to hit Atlanta is bullshit. A winter storm warning went into effect at 3:30am Tuesday morning, that's when they should of at least called the schools out.
Anyway, because we went through the same thing, our county schools basically call it if there is even a hint a of flake that's going to fall between 9-3pm.
Anyway, because we went through the same thing, our county schools basically call it if there is even a hint a of flake that's going to fall between 9-3pm.