Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Unconventional Wisdom

I'm not one of those people who races for the supermarket when the first snow flake hits the forecast, but there's one activity I do perform when the forecast turns nasty.

You can find me at the gas station, filling up.  My ride to work is only eight miles.  Yet, I feel the need to have a full tank, or close to it when a storm is on the way.

There are a couple reasons.  The added weight of a full tank probably helps my vehicle perform better in the snow.  I know people who were stuck on the highway during the Valentine's Day snow storm several years ago.  They had to be extremely careful about fuel usage because they didn't know how long they would be there.  Thanks to PennDOT's incompetence, it was a very, very, long time.

My tank is filled.  The storm is due to hit on one of my days off, so I don't have to travel.  You can't put a price on peace of mind.

I normally don't pity broadcast meteorologists.  It seems like a pretty cushy gig, and they really appear to enjoy their niche filled with geekiness.  However, this week was tough.  The weather office was filled with people, myself included, wondering about the latest model runs.  Tom and Joe barely had time to get their work done between answering questions from winter weary co-workers.  This storm seems more interesting than most.  It has the potential to be huge, and we're all hoping for the low end of the scale because we're so tired of winter.

Good luck in the snow.