(no subject)

The latest snowstorm has boosted Worcester, MA to the top position in this year's Golden Snow Globe National Snow Contest Snowiest US City Pop 100,000+. The top five: Worcester, MA at 90.1 inches; Erie, PA at 85.2; Buffalo, NY at 85.0; Boston, MA at 73.9; Syracuse, NY at 73.3.

(All totals as of 6PM on Monday, February 9th.)

(no subject)

As I was clearing snow off the car this morning it occurred to me that clearing the roof and windows used to be the easy part of getting the car ready to go.

Now it's the hard part. What used to be difficult was digging out, which to a first approximation I don't have to do anymore. I'm pretty sure I would bog in a meter of snow, but I'm equally sure that if I drove carefully I could probably drive through a third of a meter fairly consistently without serious problems.

Snow tires would probably improve this performance but as one of my friends said recently there are limits to preparedness beyond which it begins to look like hoarding. Where reasonable limits are is up to one's own situation and temperament.

I did see a guy across the lot from me dig out his BMW crossover fairly completely. It seemed like he'd gone to a lot of trouble to no real point. I have trouble believing his X3 would be less capable of getting out of that space than I would, particularly given his chunky tires. But I guess he got some exercise. We all decide where "reasonable" is.

(no subject)

All that said, I could really improve many people's lives if I owned a snowplow.

(no subject)

I find myself idly wondering what building owners do about ice dams on flat apartment building roofs.

The roof in question is a few stories above me, so it's definitely idle curiosity.