Happy Holidays!

Hello again everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday. New Years is coming up fast and then after that, it's just the rest of the gloomy winter to look forward to. Not that I have anything against winter, but this year we have been hit with a lot of snow and cold. And we've just started astronomical winter just a few short days ago! Well hopefully this year spring will come sooner. The last couple of years we've had a late start to winter and at the end of the season, spring was slow to arrive. There've been a couple of memorable April snowstorms in 2006 and 2007. Hopefully this coming year will be different because we've had an early start to winter. It's amazing how high the snowbanks are on the streets and parking lots for this time of year. You would think it was late January or February. And from the looks of it, we aren't done with the snow quite yet. We're under a Winter Storm Watch for late Saturday and Sunday! It just doesn't want to quit. Time to get out those cross country skis and make the most of this winter onslaught!

The snow I don't mind all that much; it's just the cold that really gets to me. And it has been cold lately, too. Today's temperature reached the mid-30's, the warmest since earlier this month. For awhile we've been stuck with temperatures for highs in the single digits and teens. So today was a nice reprieve from the cold. The thing that's most hazardous as the temperatures rise is the possibility of freezing rain. As I ventured out to run a few errands this afternoon, it was drizzling but the temperatures were above 32. If those temperatures started to drop below the freezing mark, roads and sidewalks would begin to get very slick. I've never experienced a whole lot of bad luck while driving in trecherous conditions (knocks on wood). I nearly went into the ditch a few winters back while driving on a slushy road and I did a bit of fish tailing on a state highway last winter. But I am happy to say that is the extent of my driving nightmares during winter-weather driving. And that is just fine with me.

It's no secret that a lot of people drive too fast for conditions and take chances. I was driving home from work after working day shift when a car came up on me pretty fast. I was going much slower because the roads were very snow covered and they hadn't been plowed for awhile. The driver of that vehicle slowed down and stayed pretty closely behind me. There's nothing that annoys me more when someone decides to tailgate you just because you're being careful on the roads. Well, we were rounding a pretty sharp curve and the conditions were less than ideal to round this curve at a higher speed. I was probably going a bit faster than I should've, but I drove this curve many times so I knew how to handle it. The car behind me apparently didn't because at the next glance, I saw it start weaving back and forth on the road and was heading towards the ditch. Luckily the driver regained enough control of the car to keep it on the road. But the car was very close to going in the ditch. And I've seen a few other occasions where certain drivers would speed up to me and even pass me, only to find them in the ditch just up the road. I realize that some people are in a hurry and need to get to their destination without running late. And sometimes we forget to leave early and plan for driving in bad weather. But there's no excuse for going into the ditch for driving too fast for conditions.

So we are about to say goodbye to another holiday season and make the best of the remainder of this winter season. I tell ya what, this November and December flew by so fast, it's hard to believe that Christmas is over with already. Seems like we just experienced Thanksgiving just a few weeks ago. I'm not much of a shopper so for me, Christmas shopping is for the birds. I must do better at starting my Christmas shopping earlier in the future, though. I procrastinated too much this year that I actually started about a week in a half before Christmas. Then I worked two 12-hour shifts on the weekend prior to Christmas which really limited my shopping. I ended up finishing my shopping three days before the 25th. At least it's not Christmas Eve which would've really left me feeling embarassed. But I need to start earlier and always think of unique presents for my family because this year was more of a struggle for me than ever. And it doesn't always hurt to start shopping for Christmas even six months prior! So be sure and enjoy those after-Christmas sales for those that like that kind of stuff and be sure to make the most of the New Year. Hopefully it was as good, if not better than 2008 was.

That Time of the Year...

Last week we received our first official taste of winter and it looks as if winter may be here to stay; looking ahead at the forecast. Much of the snow we received during our first snow storm has melted and a fresh dusting of snow coats the ground today. Close to a foot of snow fell in some areas during the last event and the plows were not out in quick fashion as they should've been. And I can understand what the road commissions are dealing with as they are not receiving the proper funding from the state of Michigan. Let's be honest, Michigan is broke right now; we're one of the worst states in the U.S. as far as an economy and unemployment. Years of cutbacks have agencies that rely on state aid to look elsewhere or to cut back to bare bones. The road commissions receive state aid to do their job - roadway maintenance in their respective counties. As other costs continue to rise, such as fuel, health insurance, road building materials, etc; state aid remains the same and in most years, it continues to drop. The road commissions can't do their jobs effectively if the money is lacking. They've had to lay a lot of workers off over the years and they are continuing to cut back as the years go by. Honestly, when is it going to end?

I drove home from work after midnight shift the morning of the first snow storm, and it didn't even look like the plows had been out. It started snowing around 9 or 10 o'clock the evening prior and the roads were in terrible shape. M-35, a state thoroughfare, was a two-rut, rough, icy road. I was amongst a line of cars going 25 to 30 mph - any faster and each of us would've quickly driven into the ditch. These are the conditions that we have to face during a major winter storm. I've experienced situations like this the last couple of winters, in fact. And I know what some of you may be saying; just don't go to work when it's snowing. But the thing is, we get a lot of snow at least five months out of the year. If we all stopped driving when it snowed, there'd be a lot of missed days from work, school, and other events. Our worlds cannot stop just because of snow. In a lot of areas of the country, two to four inches of snow from one storm is a big deal. That's not the case here. Six to 12 inches of snow is a pretty big deal; but we often get a lot more during some of the worst storms. The plowing situation doesn't look like it's going to get any better in the future either. The local road commission has cut back on the amount of snow plow drivers and the effect is clearly evident on the roads. When will the situation ever improve?

I know there has been talk of increasing the state's gas tax - but all that does is increase the price of gas even higher than it already is (it's $3.29 a gallon around here right now). But what other options are there? Possibly regional road commissions in the form of consolidations, the state taking charge of plowing the state highways and the road commissions deferring to plowing local roads ... yes, there are a few possibilities out there. It's sad that it's even getting to this point however. Summer maintenance of roads is lacking as well and the infrastructure is falling apart. There is no money for maintenance/paving projects; at least not like there used to be. This is only one area where the state of Michigan in struggling. Just look at the Department of Natural Resources, the State Police, the Department of Corrections, and on and on. This blog could be many more paragraphs if I wanted. But for this particular blog, the point is on one subject; the plowing of roads in the wintertime. I guess one solution for those that live in Michigan (specifically the U.P.) is to buy SUV's to get through the higher snow totals on the roads.