Oh, cheery, cheery....

The forecast says "warming up" but the radio observes that this does not appear to be happening, so far. It is supposed to be raining by this afternoon, but right now it is 27 degrees. Which is 6 degrees warmer than this time yesterday, but still not promising of a quick melt.

The streets are a mess. Chains are required (I'm not clear if they mean legally required, or "you aren't getting anywhere without them" - UPDATE: legally required) on I-5 from Salem up to Wilsonville. Righty-oh, that would be where I live....

Everything is closed, almost. Some things are closed until noon and will announce later if they are opening at noon or closed. Wilsonville and Lake Oswego schools are closed, along with the rest of reality. Scott's company announces "contact hotline", which is more than they said yesterday. Might have something to do with those workers coming from further south, since they're just off the south Wilsonville exit also....

State offices aren't opening until noon in Portland/Salem/Eugene.

Clackamas County road crews are reporting dangerous conditions countywide. Roads are a sheet of ice in north county east to Sandy. Snowy conditions are being reported from Sandy east. South county is icy, but road workers are reporting some thaw from Mulino south. Freezing rain continues in most areas of the county except east of Sandy where it is snowing. The county has plows working the Mt. Hood area and plow/sanders in north county, Holcomb/Redland area and the Stafford area. More plows are heading out soon. Trees on, or hanging over roads have been reported on Redland Road, Central Point, the Canby-Marquam Highway and on Buckner Creek Rd. Officials are urging extreme caution if people must travel.

That would be the county that I live and work in. Mulino is southeast of me. It's not thawing here yet, but it gives some hope.

I'm not sure I want hope: this is really pretty and I can work from home with no problems. But I'm definitely thinking I'm not going to get out for a while. They are reporting that not only are the side streets bad, the major arterials are worse - instead of cleared, they are packed down and slick.

Cheery!

And yes, despite my phrasing, I kind of enjoy this. Then again, I have power and heat. :)

I'm so glad I'm not going anywhere.

MAX is shut down again today. Ice on the tracks and the overhead wires....

And the airport has like 140 flights cancelled so far this morning, nothing has departed yet. Continental has preemptively cancelled the whole day, Southwest has preemptively cancelled through noon, Horizon through 10 am....

It is supposed to be warming up at some point. I'll believe it when I see it. I'll be disappointed, too. This is pretty, and interesting, and amusing. :)

Why we both stayed home today....

And I have no intention of so much as collecting my library books. First, one of the front tires each from Scott's car and mine, iced over:

     

Then we have the back window of my car (note the complete coating on, well, everything):



And then there's the example of ice build-up on the plants:

What a fascinating thing....

It was supposed to hit the 40s today, but in fact, now they think it may or may not hit 32, based on what the radio says.

I went outside to take photos and check on the iced tires. Things are thawing out there, where they're in the sun and thin enough, but it's real half-hearted. It was enough to let me break the bulk of the ice loose from the sides of the tires, though, which I did. Then I went and got the mail.

I have long said that I think I still have asthma, that I sometimes have almost-attack moments where I don't actually need an inhaler. But they're rare, and I sometimes doubt that it's anything but me being dramatic. Going to get the mail was stupid. I only fell once (when I tried to stomp through to snow and that particular patch of ice-crust proved sturdy enough to resist a stomp - OOPS!). But I was panting by the time I got back to the house, and feeling it a little in throat and effort required. It is all fine after a bit of sitting about in the warm and I will refrain from venturing more than photographic distance.

I did not get enough sleep last night. I was not feeling it today. I was awake, energetic, amused by the snow, fascinated by the weather, worried when I thought Scott would try to drive in it...I was too busy to be tired. Now my arms are trembling in left-over reaction to the nerves after that episode and I'm very tired. I have been working from home since 7 and I am going to finish my present task (which is needed by someone for whom it is two hours later than it is for me).

And then I'm going to go take a nap.

By the way, if you want more frozen land pictures....

...check out pheon who has up a couple, one funny and one pretty; susandennis who uploaded some yesterday; and solcita who took some neat photos today as well.

Weather. Yes, I know you're sick of it. Also, work, briefly (see, I CAN talk about other topics!)

Work today went well. Got a lot of reviews done, gave some answers to people with questions, did a couple tasks. I had to get an update to someone, which was complicated as my primary box for doing that is located in the office, and I had not prepared my laptop for doing those updates because, well, I didn't expect to need it! Fortunately, I was able to connect in to a box in the office (not the one I normally use, but who cares) and get what I needed.

I feel bad for a coworker - he is onsite in the middle of this storm mess, sick, and cannot drive home or be driven home (which would otherwise be fairly quick) as the roads are not clear enough. Poor guy.

( Ah, yes, speaking of weather. )

Also, the nap earlier helped muchly. I'm awake, alive, feeling good. Wandered out a bit ago as you can tell from some of the babble above, but no further than Scott's car, and only that far because I was curious how bad it was.

Okay, I must concede, the weathermen weren't completely wrong this time.

Just off by a bit. It's still warming up, which I hadn't realized, that it would warm steadily through the night this time. Now the snow on the roof is melting, and rain is falling. The forecast says it will not chill down again. It had better not as the ice will be awful if it does.

If it keeps this up, I will have little snow in the morning. Right now, it is all as it was earlier, but with a coating of water puddled on the ice (which can still support me without cracking). Very treacherous. But if this keeps up it should be good by morning.

I will miss this weather if it goes, but it would be good to get things done. If it would like to drop down over the weekend and supply another layer of snow (no more ice, thanks!) that would be great, but if they are right, it will not be doing so.