Brent Finnegan -- January 17th, 2008
In case you haven’t looked out the window in the last six hours, it’s snowing. So here’s the open thread. What are the roads like? What are you doing with your day off (assuming you have the day off)?
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Friendly City Food Co-Op, Harrisonburg’s consumer-owned grocery, invites the community to come see its new destination for natural, organic and locally-produced products at the store’s grand opening 11 a.m.-5 p.m. July 9 at 150 East Wolfe Street. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. with Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Matt Lohr, Harrisonburg Mayor [...]
HARRISONBURG, VA — Friendly City Food Co-op, slated to open this month in Harrisonburg, Va., has become the newest member of the National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA), a business services cooperative serving 120 consumer-owned food co-ops nationwide. NCGA helps unify food co-ops in order to optimize operational and marketing resources, strengthen purchasing power, and ultimately [...]
May 2: Harrisonburg was honored when the League of American Bicyclists announced the latest round of Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) designations over the weekend to kick off May as National Bike Month. Out of the 45 new applicants that the program received, 21 communities received awards. Harrisonburg was given a bronze‐level Bicycle Friendly Community designation. [...]
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Well I took the day off because my kids were out of school and I wasn’t going to attempt driving in this. My mom just got home and she said that the roads are pretty nasty. My ex called and his wife was stuck downtown behind an accident. Me and the kiddos just came in from playing in it! They had a blast!
I am having a lot of fun trying to walk through two inches of snow in my cowboy boots.
This morning I woke up about an hour before it started. For a minute I thought, where the hell is all the snow?
At 9:19 a.m. I received a text message saying my employer (a large state university in Harrisonburg) was closing at 9 a.m.
My youngest daughter Claire is practicing slide tackles for soccer with her airedale (a new mom if anyone is interested in a puppy) while I energetically look out the window once in a while.
The city just announced city offices will be closing at 2.
Thanks for updating folks on the city closing Finnegan.
Also, any city residents that have regular trash collection on Thursdays or had holiday collection scheduled for today, the city will resume pick-up tomorrow if the weather permits. So, if your trash isn’t gone from the curb this evening, don’t fret, the crews will get to you ASAP.
Stay home and travel safely if you must go out.
I’m driving back from meetings in Williamsburg. I made it to Richmond so far and haven’t seen any snow yet — just rain. Hopefully I-81 will be pretty clear by the time I get there!?
Don’t count on it Scott. Good luck
Packed up a hard drive and hit the road to Elkton. Took about an hour.
The roads in Harrisonburg were somewhat lousy. Route 33 in the county was varying degrees of “Hmmm, is that guy really driving that fast?” and “Hey, westbound looks pretty decent.”
The roads wouldn’t have been so bad without the people on the roads who don’t understand the concept of momentum. I was behind a genius in a hyundai that thought he could make it up the hill between CVS and the tattoo place on Reservoir at .5 mph. He or she did have the hazards on… the understatement of the day.
I know we had this discussion last time we had a snow like this, but why aren’t the roads treated as soon as the snow starts piling? I expected a smooth trip by the time I hit the road at 11, but the roads hadn’t been touched.
I see a lot of non-state/city vehicles with snows plows driving around – withOUT the plow down. It is illegal for non-government vehicles to plow public roads? Just wondering…
Bubby’s Snowblower Service is now up and running. Our motto; “We Put The Snow Where It Belongs – On Someone Else’s Property”
$20/50 ft of driveway, $15/100 ft. of sidewalk. Discounts available. Post all inquiries here.
Kai,
Snowplowing is like crime and fraud — the government hates the competition. But to give the Public Works people credit, there are a lot of variables that might lead to snow removal being perfect one storm, disastrous the next: road temperature, type of snow, duration, when it starts and stops. The one factor that never changes is that no matter how accomplished any given driver might be at snow driving, the lowest common denominator is the idiot, see above, who hasn’t mastered braking, steering, momentum, or self-preservation. I know how to drive in snow and I have a four-wheel drive vehicle. I leave it in the driveway where it’s safe.
My friend Alan hates snow angels. Not that he’s against the religious connotation or anything. It’s just that snow invariably gets down his neck, pants and shoes as he flaps his arms and legs in the snow.
So this morning, rather than wait until the snow accumulated on the ground deep enough to create a snow angel, Alan laid down on his lawn before the snow even started. He knew it would snow because Harrisonburg City Schools already had closed — a sure sign.
Alan layed on the ground all during the morning’s heavy snow. After it was about five or six inches deep, he got up. Alan scared the crap out of the mailman as he emerged from the snow.
But what was really funny was that instead of a snow angel on the ground, Alan’s shape looked like one of those police murder scene outlines. He’d forgotten to move his arms and legs in the time-honored snow angel format for the three hours he laid there.
We stood as the snow continued falling into Alan’s shape in the grass, perfectly outlined by deeper snow. We stood there for a few minutes and watched the snow continue to fill up his body’s shape. Alan looked at me and said that he thought he was taller than he appeared in the outline. I said I thought is was about right. Then we whizzed on it.
When I went into work around 11:30 to receive a delivery (we were closed), the roads were passable if you took your time. There were a fair number of drivers sliding through corners and being either reckless or naive to driving in snow. I thought it humorous that the only car I saw in the ditch was a ford explorer with colorado tags!
Chicago avenue looks clear now from my window.
Haven’t seen a snow plow all day. Didn’t get any mail. A horse drawn sleigh went by.
Thanks for letting me know there is still life out there.
Hey MAW, there is life out here but we are sitting in front of a roaring wood-fueled fire!
Ice cold brew, had 3 Newcastles, 2 Stella Something or other and now on good ole’ Coors Original. Nothing like trying out a little of everything in the cooler…now that it is our garage.
Looks like the HHS classes will run all day to finish exams tomorrow and then they have Mon & Tues off. Barb got out a little bit into Elkton before returning home for a nap and my training days have been pushed back until next week.
We are alive and well…just not out in the street…especially with the beers and all.
PS ~ We did get mail but no garbage/plow trucks on Emery…which is good cuz there won’t be much ice tomorrow, compared to when they plow without ice melt being dumped.
Thanks for asking though.
The first plow through the Purcell Park neighborhood just passed the house at 6:10PM. 6″ of snow on the back porch, and that’s after the sleet knocked it down a bit.
Wow, Main Street downtown has had some serious swipes today, the crews did a great job here ( I’ve been downtown since 10 so I can’t speak for anywhere else).
Roads were much better around 7 this evening than they were at 11 this morning.
Rockingham County just amended their schedule since they are closed tomorrow. They will go to school on Monday, but it will be an early release day.
They will now be out on Wednesday.
MAW, who is off on Wednesday? Ally has visitation to her father this weekend, so the more info, the better.
Thanks
Best sledding today in three winters! Once we packed down a 200-foot trail through the field and put a ramp about halfway down the slope, those $3 saucers from Walmart were slick! I only wish the chiropractor had evening hours.
Around dusk we walked a very pregnant & uncomfortable cow back to the neighbor’s barn.
Andy,
Too bad Columbia’s “Tested Tough” story contest is over. Alan’s experiment sounds like a winner.
Rockingham was supposed to be out on Monday, but now they have to go Monday, but will be off Wednesday.
Still no snow plow.
If anyone hears anything about city schools let me know!
I’ve been sitting in the Public Works office working the phones since 7:30PM. At this point, all the snow has been pushed and the slick spots and bridges have been hit with grit and salt. I got a call from the school superintendent at 11ish telling me that City schools are 2 hour delay. Word from the snow crews is that the biggest danger on the road now is fog.
The morning after is the prettiest part of the snow…just amazing!
Ben, I hope that you survived the night long haul. Thanks for the info