The madness of scarlettina, part II

[scarlettina]

It occurred to me about an hour ago that my vow not to leave the house had one drawback: It meant that I couldn't retrieve and deposit my unemployment check. So I left the house. I retrieved the mail, check included, and went to the car.

From my carport, I pulled into the alley safely and got halfway down the incline. Then I saw a car on the side street I was headed for slowly sliding sideways downward. Suddenly this isn't such a good idea.

I try to pull back or turn around, but there's no getting back up the alleyway. I carefully jockey my car into the street and see a vacant parking spot. The car starts to slide. Another car very nearly hits mine. Together, the other driver and I spread some kitty litter on the road (there goes the spare I bought for the boys), got me into the parking spot and got the other car on its way. I hike back up to my place, and here I am.

My street--that to which the icy side street connects--is also a hillside sheet of ice. So right now, it doesn't look like I'm going much of anywhere any time soon. My two anxieties are my car getting swiped on the side of the road and my not being able to get to the bank to deposit my check. Now, I don't have to worry about any automated withdrawals hitting until January 5--this is good. But I have other stuff I need to address, so this is a challenge.

I may brave walking into Fremont to deposit my check, but the sidewalks are just as bad as the street.

Good thing I went grocery shopping before the storm hit. I may be here a while.

ETA: More objective evidence for me being crazy and Seattle being dangerous in snow. With credit to anaka for the link.

Comments

[mysticalforest.livejournal.com]

Unemployment does direct deposit now, dont'cha know...

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

I know. It's prolly time to switch.

[alicebentley]

Glad you made it back unscathed!

What would you say the options are likely to be for driving around Seattle on Monday?

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

No clue whatsoever at this point. I'm sure that the main arterials are in pretty good shape. It's the side streets that are miserable.

[prettyshrub.livejournal.com]

Well, if you have any sort of cleats, now would be the time to dig them out.

Otherwise, I'd stay home if you can manage it financially. A twisted ankle or a broken bone would be highly unfortunate.

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

Nope, no cleats here. I have sneakers and hiking boots, but that's it. I'm staying inside.

[oldmangrumpus.livejournal.com]

Use Spanky's claws...

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

In case you ever decide to get something, these (http://www.yaktrax.com/) work well for me.

[anaka.livejournal.com]

Yes, I just walked the five blocks down to the corner to the nearest semi-main road down my hill to see what the damage was, and then back only to decide that borrowing from my neighbor was much saner than trying to get down that hill and back up again in my car (or on foot, for that matter). On the good side, I got to pull out my lovely waterproof boots that I bought for Chicago. On the bad side, waterproof does not equal sufficiently warm. :)

[ironymaiden]

could you just put it in an envelope at the ATM? there's one in Weter Hall on the SPU campus.

[kate-schaefer.livejournal.com]

Glenn and I just walked up from our house to the Wallingford library and the post office, a fairly level walk. It wasn't bad, but I would not want to drive in this. There is supposed to be a storm tomorrow afternoon or evening compared to which what we've seen so far is trivial (of course, what we've seen so far would be trivial in the midwest, where a) they know how to deal with snow and b) the world has been pretty flat since the glaciers retreated and c) the ground is usually frozen by the time the snow falls, so there is no layer of ice formed by micro-snowmelt between the ground and the snow).

By the middle of next week, temperatures will be back up in the forties, and we can all go back to pretending that we never have any real winter here.

[lisagold.livejournal.com]

We walked to the Ballard Market this afternoon to get groceries. The sidewalks are icy, but by slowly and carefully walking on the snow-covered grass next to the sidewalk we were able to complete our mission without any falls or injuries.

[mikigarrison.livejournal.com]

That was across the highway from my office, so we have spent a good chunk of the day staring.

Then again, I haven't had a big problem at all driving around either yesterday or today. I've done some seriously round-about driving to avoid hills, and a few times I've pulled off into a parking lot just to give an idiot a chance to get far, far away from me. But I've been to work, several doctors appointments, run errands, gone shopping, etc. I'm not stupid, though -- I'm on my way to my crisis line shift, where my plan is to park in a lot on westlake and take the stairs up to queen anne rather than drive. I also have these awesome claw things that attach to my shoes for ice -- it's like having chains for your shoes!

[herself_nyc]

Yikes! I know what the hills are like where you live, so the thought of you trying to walk them with ice underfoot is scary! Stay safe and warm, chica.

[robespierrette.livejournal.com]

Are there any buses to Fremont? They've got the chains on them, and all.

I drove to the Foglios today, via 65th, Sand Point Way, Montlake, 520, I-5, Northgate, then Holman to 85th. Rather the long way around, but the streets were almost clear! :D I didn't park back in my driveway when I got home, though - it's much nicer up on the cross-street, where the sun hits.

[kefiraahava.livejournal.com]

Yeesh. Glad you're all right!

[neutronjockey.livejournal.com]

Lock yourself indoors and don't come out until the thaw. We'll collect monies and Fedex food and entertainment.

[criada.livejournal.com]

Well, there's a literal case of "Who's the bigger fool--the fool or the fool who follows him?"