Friday Fives

Blizzard edition!

1. What is your earliest memory of snow?

I grew up in Phoenix, so I have no early memories of snow. If I think way way way back, I remember a Christmas spent back in Buffalo at Grandma & Grandpa's house on Grimsby. It was Christmas eve and we got a snow... probably not unusual for Buffalo. I was so excited I went out in the street and wrote 'Merry Christmas' in footprints in the snow. I was rather dismayed to see as soon as I finished it was totally covered over in fresh snow. Being from Phoenix, I clearly wasn't up on the thermo dynamic properties of snow.

2. big storms like this... curse, or joy?

joy! Fortunately, I am off work on vacation for tonight's & tomorrow's and Saturday's snow storm. So, I can chill here and watch movies and keep the driveway shoveled. Since I have the largest truck on the planet, getting around in these storms has not yet proven to be a problem (yet). Also, since I grew up in the mohave desert, I still get super excited every time it snows.

3. Favorite snow memory, worst snow memory

favorite would be that one mentioned above with my mom and grandparents. Worst maybe this one, as I was trapped. See, last week I was supposed to fly to sunny Phoenix to spend Christmas with the fam. That blizzard closed the airport so we couldn't leave. We decided to just drive. Without much planning, we hopped in the truck and drove out 15 hours as soon as they opened the road.

Then, while having an excellent vacation in Arizona we learned of this current blizzard. We had no warning and had to high tail it back to Denver ASAP cutting our vacation short(er) to avoid this storm. The drives were fine and we had an amazing vacation. However, weather made everything a HUGE pain in the ass... and chopped two days off our vacation.

4. Would you rather fight Mike Tyson or talk like him?

Um, the first. After the serious and proper ass kicking I received (deservedly)... I would heal. That voice thing is forever though.

5. well, it looks like you aren't going anywhere for the next few days... what is your plan? Do you have any blizzard rituals?

I sure do, as this is now my fourth big storm since we got here almost ten years ago. Firstly, I stock up on DVDs and booze. Secondly, I then consume those things just mentioned above. That is pretty much the whole strategy. Oh, I also do some rescue stuff inevitably driving around, so I keep the truck stocked with: a full tank of gas, tow rope, portable battery charger, wool blanket, army shovel, road flares, and probably some other crap. Most important: a full tank of fuel. I can't emphasize this enough as a safety tip.