Is there anything in the mother-lovin’ universe more unbearable than local television news coverage of a minor snowfall? Is there? Seriously, I’m asking.
Man, most of the roads in lower Fremont don't even have snow on them.
What whiners ... I used to - and this is NOT a joke - walk uphill two miles to catch a two hour school bus ride, pulling my sister on a toboggan behind me - in snow up to my chest. That's called living in the Rockies in BC.
You call THIS snow? I call it a light dusting.
Posted by
Will in Seattle |
November 29, 2006 12:54 AM
It amazes me that this city has NO plan for dealing with snow of any kind. I live in West Seattle and our street was a skating rink ALL day yesterday. I grew up in the midwest where every street was salted and sanded. I know it doesn't happen often out here, but 2 inches of snow can paralyze a MAJOR city??? F-ing ridiculous. Get a grip Seattle and get some salt trucks too!!!
Posted by
Snowdiculous |
November 29, 2006 6:48 AM
Are you kidding me? I love this time of year. It's always fun to see what name King 5 is going to give whatever weather event happens. I'm just shocked parka boy hasn't been reporting much.
The irony is that if the City were to invest in more snow removal equipment, the TV news would probably do a "special report" about how the taxpayers are "being bilked" by buying equipment that no one needs. I can just see Robert Mack quivering with indignation.
Posted by
catalina vel-durray |
November 29, 2006 7:34 AM
I concur with #6
I grew up in PA
I wonder if there is some evidence of the cost/benefit ratio of having more salt trucks. The city probably lost a ton of money yesterday. These roads would be bone-dry right now if enough salt was spread around.
I lived in Colorado, and they were just as bonkers about snow there on the TV news as they are here. The difference is that the Snowpocalyse trigger point in Denver is 12 inches where here it's an inch. Of course, Denver proper has few hills and only rarely do they get ice storms. But yeah, you should see them when there's a two foot plus dump. They're all Walter Kelley Hip Harbinger O' Doom Academy graduates.
And the problem isn't the arterials. The problem is the non-arterials north of 85th looking like bobsled tracks. There's no easy way up the hills in this end of town when you have an inch of ice on the streets.
All the people from places where snow is daily fact of life and their constant bitching about how a city where measurable snowfall occurs maybe once every three to five years hasn't spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on buying and maintaining ice/snow removal equipment.
Posted by
let's get some shoes |
November 29, 2006 8:50 AM
Although the roads are essentially clear in Seattle proper, they are pretty dicey from Bothell north -- where I'm guessing most of y'all don't spend much time, seeing as how there are few track-jacket boutiques up that way.
As for road treatment: We don't use salt on the roads because A) it kills the salmon or something and B) we want to keep our roadside concrete structures beautiful, unlike the salt-stained walls around the Kennedy in Chicago and near Minneapolis's freeways.
In other words, hippies and architects here have too much power.
Well, a paralyzed city DOES mean the cessation of a lot of economic activity. Toronto's never shut down for snow before, but during a transit strike, there were talks of economic losses of hundreds of millions.
Yeah, I don't have TV anymore. . . somebody tell me what the stations have named this particular "blizzard".
I've been housesitting in Crown Hill, and I can't get my car out. The roads are still solid ice. I'm about to go out there with a bag of rock salt my own fucking self. Grrr.
Posted by
Violet_DaGrinder |
November 29, 2006 9:06 AM
That's an interesting statement #16... killing salmon and staining walls... I didn't think of it that way. Seattle is a different kind of town.
Yeah, if the cost/benefit ratio proves that it is not worth maintaining extra salt trucks to deal with the few days of ice and snow each year, I understand. But it's still funny to me-- I can't help it-- that all of Seattle Public Schools are closed for the second day in a row because of a tiny bit of snow. The city's lack of snow planning equals financial losses around town, but it also equals a lack of education! What about the children!? :D They are loving it, I'm sure.
I have no idea why things in Seattle closed. Rainier and MLK were completely clean. As I told a dear friend of mine from Portland, I think it has more to do with the wimpy city administrators. She claims that in Portland things dont close cuz its a smaller city. I think we close things in Seattle cuz the city administrators overreact.
I was at the stadium during the "snow storm" and every one there was having a great time and nobody was complaining, people knew the commute was going to be long. No biggie. I took the 42 and was home in 1/2 an hour. People adjust. If there is ice, you drive slow and you watch your turns, no biggie. Stop scaring people with these goofy news casts and school and downtown buildings close downs. Downtown was a ghost town yesterday when I came to work and thats just nonsense. People here in Seattle arent wimpy with the weather, hell most of us grew up in colder or hotter climates. I think it is the city administrators.
Unbearable? You must be kidding. They are SO MUCH FUN! I especially like the poor guy on KOMO radio who they make drive around in the traffic. Good times!
yeah, the local news goes bonkers over the most trivial of stories, (if i hear, "it's like: a)a skating rink, or b)a parking lot, out there" one more time...
BUT, it is pretty bad...ice, hills, & heavy commuter traffic are not a good mix...and it's compounded by the fact that it's a relatively rare event so it doesn't make sense to pour millions into de-icing equipment and the locals don't have the driving skills to navigate such conditions...(and if you're wondering, I'm from the Midwest, so i KNOW how to drive in crappy weather) You can't compare driving in icy conditions in Seattle with driving in icy conditions in Pittsburgh or Omaha or Toronto....the locals are used to driving in the shit, and they don't have the hills we have...
have you ever driven in So-Cal during a winter rainstorm...those fuckers fall apart 'cause they don't know how to drive in rainy conditions and they fall apart...fortunately, most of them drive really, really slow when it rains so it's not so bad...
Posted by
michael strangeways |
November 29, 2006 9:56 AM
I personally love the cheese factor of local newscasts when a winter storm comes through.
Snow equipment isn't a huge priority because snowfall usually melts the next day, 2 days tops. As a kid, snow days were AWESOME!! Until June, when you had to make those days up.
And Pittsburgh is surprisingly rather hilly, #23. But yes, ice on Seattle's hills is way different than ice in flat cities.
It's not about government offials over-reacting. The roads are still icy and dangerous right now. Most of the arterials are clear, but many streets are still are slippery. There is no reason to risk a school bus accident or big pile-up on the freeway. It's only a couple days, and it doesn't happen very often here. It's no big deal to take a little time off.
i beg to differ #23
Pittsburgh has many steep hills. And crazy ice storms. And the bad weather lasts for months. The people that continue to winter there are nuts. (I think I am allowed to say this because I spent my first 19 years in that town.) But you are right, the locals certainly are used to driving in the shit. I'm glad I don't have to deal with it anymore. But I've become wimpier. Poor Seattleites. Stay home in front of the fire and drink some Irish whiskey and coffee.
Remember when Charlie Chong either bought or almost bought a bunch of magic snowplow blades from someplace that didn't need them, only to find out that they didn't fit on the trucks Seattle owns? I think that was the day Charlie's political career ended. Ah, good times in the old burg.
it drives me crazy. no work = no pay (or use of vacation time). it took me over 2 hours to make a 15 minute commute this morning because the buses only stop on dry, warm ground and nobody seems to know where the alternate stops are.
No question the media exaggerates; however in this case I was stuck on a bus on 405 for FIVE FUCKING HOURS. And this was a bus that had chains. Yes, there wasn't much snow/ice in Seattle, but up north, east & south it was a clusterfuck, and it could be again. Newsflash: local news covers ALL of the Puget Sound Area, not just Seattle. Don't like the coverage? Turn it off whiner.
Oh yeah, and if I didn't mention it before, there is something more annoying than local television news coverage of a 'minor' snowfall: BEING STUCK ON A BUS ON I-405 FOR FIVE FUCKING HOURS.
stop whining and who cares where the fuck you're from. go back there and save us your pity story.
sure it snows, and yes it's funny to see the KOMO team sponsored by North Face in matching outfits on TV promoting 'winter blast 2006 brought to you by Arbys!'. whatever. if you think we didn't get hit take your hipster ass up to shoreline and check out some of the side streets. Seattle should take time to promote telecommunting rather than making their employees truck into work.
Listen, the local media is just helping us get snow days like we're kids in elementary school. Don't knock it. Besides, it is an event when we get snow here. It's just like back in the '80s when it actually fucking rained in Los Angeles.
It's not that insane that Seattle's crippled by a light snowfall. With the density of its population on the hills, and a downtown built of some of its steepest streets, there's really no city like it in the states.
I don't really see any reason the city should be investing in a contingency plan. The snow never sticks for more than a day or two. Chill out people. Take the day off. Walk. Do whatever. Most of all, please take turn driving your 4x4 down icy Republican to 12th ave, so whoever lives in my old apartment can laugh at the show as I once did.
I lived my teen years in rural and suburban King County where the snow really does pile up, I think does a the county actually does a decent job of keeping things safe... enough. There's way better uses of government money than a bunch of snow plows so people can, uh, DRIVE MORE.
Also, yeah, salt, sand, and antifreeze chemicals washing into the storm drains - great for the envirnment, even better for your car. One of the reasons the life expectancy of a car in Michigan is about 10 years. We don't need it.
For those of you from Chicago, bite us. We have hills you have snow.We get snow maybe once a year- you still don't have any hills.
There are too many old people in this town. I'm not talking age, but mindset. My husband is a good example. While he is only 32 yrs old, he constantly harps on the weather, no matter what it's like. He checks accuweather every 10mins. I don't personally care what the wind chill factor is- "fucking cold" works for me.
Yes. The local news coverage of WINDSTORM 1995 was way more annoying. Hours before any dangerous wind was seen (other than the hot breath of newscasters, perhaps), news of the potential devastation was all over the local stations, including closure announcements for businesses, schools, etc.
At least I've seen firsthand how badly .5 inches of snow cripples the city, so I can understand the overreaction.
Don't watch the local news when there is weather. anywhere. ever. It will only annoy you.
But, did any catch KIRO who had two dudes come from Everett to sell Seahawk tickets, run out of gas, have no money, then had to spend the night and most of the next day in their car? I never laughed so hard as I did at those two broke dumbass's plight.
Who in their right mind invests their entire net worth into the promise of gain based upon scapling Seahawk tickets? During a Seattle snow storm? Without a full tank of gas to get back home? Not only that, but those losers had no one who wanted to drive in the snow monday or tuesday to pick their sorry asses up? And, and a big and at that, they tell the story on the local news.
Thanks for the laughs, dumbasses, hope you got home safely, and for the record, take Metro north, transfer onto Community Transit heading north, then hop on Everett transit to get home. Sure, that trip takes like 4, maybe 6 hours, but when your income is speculatively gained from the resale of Seahawks tickets, I suspect you have hours to burn.
Posted by
The Peanut Gallery |
November 29, 2006 3:30 PM
King 5 was reporting earlier today on a town near Arlington (pop. approx. 100) that was snowed in and running out of supplies. Straight-faced, ominous tone, and you fill in your own horrific conclusion - "film of mass starvation after two days at 11". It had to be the pinncale of overwrought coverage.
The storm was no bigs to my neighborhood either. Icy sidewalks, mostly. Seattle proper was shielded from the worst of the storm by the Olympics, while Kent-->Tacoma and Snohomish County took the brunt of the bifurcated storm stream.
I was at the Football game on Monday too and it was a lovely and quaint winter wonderland. Post post-game brew, with no cabs to be had and already dressed for the weather, I was fortunate enough to enjoy a very quiet 35 minute walk home and not a multiplied, nighty-icy drive.
Posted by
Lloyd Clydesdale |
November 29, 2006 6:19 PM
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And I was hoping to see Snow King out there...maybe tomorrow.
No.
Some snowstorm. We didn't get shit on Beacon Hill. Nothing stuck.
Man, most of the roads in lower Fremont don't even have snow on them.
What whiners ... I used to - and this is NOT a joke - walk uphill two miles to catch a two hour school bus ride, pulling my sister on a toboggan behind me - in snow up to my chest. That's called living in the Rockies in BC.
You call THIS snow? I call it a light dusting.
People still watch local television news? Why in the hell would you subject yourself to that unbearable inanity?
It amazes me that this city has NO plan for dealing with snow of any kind. I live in West Seattle and our street was a skating rink ALL day yesterday. I grew up in the midwest where every street was salted and sanded. I know it doesn't happen often out here, but 2 inches of snow can paralyze a MAJOR city??? F-ing ridiculous. Get a grip Seattle and get some salt trucks too!!!
Are you kidding me? I love this time of year. It's always fun to see what name King 5 is going to give whatever weather event happens. I'm just shocked parka boy hasn't been reporting much.
The irony is that if the City were to invest in more snow removal equipment, the TV news would probably do a "special report" about how the taxpayers are "being bilked" by buying equipment that no one needs. I can just see Robert Mack quivering with indignation.
I watch local news because Jeane Henderson is batshit insane. Funny stuff.
I concur with #6
I grew up in PA
I wonder if there is some evidence of the cost/benefit ratio of having more salt trucks. The city probably lost a ton of money yesterday. These roads would be bone-dry right now if enough salt was spread around.
We don't waste money on snow equipment because it hardly ever snows here.
People are inconvenienced about 3 days every five years.
What's disturbing about local TV news is regardless the subject, they are reporting it at the same time. Change the channel and it's the same topic.
Undoubtabley due to all of them subscribing to the same news source.....the local newspapers.
---Jensen
They have nothing else to get excited about. They're tools.
You all are just precious.
I lived in Colorado, and they were just as bonkers about snow there on the TV news as they are here. The difference is that the Snowpocalyse trigger point in Denver is 12 inches where here it's an inch. Of course, Denver proper has few hills and only rarely do they get ice storms. But yeah, you should see them when there's a two foot plus dump. They're all Walter Kelley Hip Harbinger O' Doom Academy graduates.
And the problem isn't the arterials. The problem is the non-arterials north of 85th looking like bobsled tracks. There's no easy way up the hills in this end of town when you have an inch of ice on the streets.
Yes, Anthony. Yes, there is.
All the people from places where snow is daily fact of life and their constant bitching about how a city where measurable snowfall occurs maybe once every three to five years hasn't spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on buying and maintaining ice/snow removal equipment.
Although the roads are essentially clear in Seattle proper, they are pretty dicey from Bothell north -- where I'm guessing most of y'all don't spend much time, seeing as how there are few track-jacket boutiques up that way.
As for road treatment: We don't use salt on the roads because A) it kills the salmon or something and B) we want to keep our roadside concrete structures beautiful, unlike the salt-stained walls around the Kennedy in Chicago and near Minneapolis's freeways.
In other words, hippies and architects here have too much power.
Well, a paralyzed city DOES mean the cessation of a lot of economic activity. Toronto's never shut down for snow before, but during a transit strike, there were talks of economic losses of hundreds of millions.
Snowpocalypse = lol
Yeah, I don't have TV anymore. . . somebody tell me what the stations have named this particular "blizzard".
I've been housesitting in Crown Hill, and I can't get my car out. The roads are still solid ice. I'm about to go out there with a bag of rock salt my own fucking self. Grrr.
That's an interesting statement #16... killing salmon and staining walls... I didn't think of it that way. Seattle is a different kind of town.
Yeah, if the cost/benefit ratio proves that it is not worth maintaining extra salt trucks to deal with the few days of ice and snow each year, I understand. But it's still funny to me-- I can't help it-- that all of Seattle Public Schools are closed for the second day in a row because of a tiny bit of snow. The city's lack of snow planning equals financial losses around town, but it also equals a lack of education! What about the children!? :D They are loving it, I'm sure.
I have no idea why things in Seattle closed. Rainier and MLK were completely clean. As I told a dear friend of mine from Portland, I think it has more to do with the wimpy city administrators. She claims that in Portland things dont close cuz its a smaller city. I think we close things in Seattle cuz the city administrators overreact.
I was at the stadium during the "snow storm" and every one there was having a great time and nobody was complaining, people knew the commute was going to be long. No biggie. I took the 42 and was home in 1/2 an hour. People adjust. If there is ice, you drive slow and you watch your turns, no biggie. Stop scaring people with these goofy news casts and school and downtown buildings close downs. Downtown was a ghost town yesterday when I came to work and thats just nonsense. People here in Seattle arent wimpy with the weather, hell most of us grew up in colder or hotter climates. I think it is the city administrators.
In fact, the media itself may have more to do with the needless citizen hysteria than anything.
Unbearable? You must be kidding. They are SO MUCH FUN! I especially like the poor guy on KOMO radio who they make drive around in the traffic. Good times!
yeah, the local news goes bonkers over the most trivial of stories, (if i hear, "it's like: a)a skating rink, or b)a parking lot, out there" one more time...
BUT, it is pretty bad...ice, hills, & heavy commuter traffic are not a good mix...and it's compounded by the fact that it's a relatively rare event so it doesn't make sense to pour millions into de-icing equipment and the locals don't have the driving skills to navigate such conditions...(and if you're wondering, I'm from the Midwest, so i KNOW how to drive in crappy weather) You can't compare driving in icy conditions in Seattle with driving in icy conditions in Pittsburgh or Omaha or Toronto....the locals are used to driving in the shit, and they don't have the hills we have...
have you ever driven in So-Cal during a winter rainstorm...those fuckers fall apart 'cause they don't know how to drive in rainy conditions and they fall apart...fortunately, most of them drive really, really slow when it rains so it's not so bad...
Snowpocalypse = word of the day.
I personally love the cheese factor of local newscasts when a winter storm comes through.
Snow equipment isn't a huge priority because snowfall usually melts the next day, 2 days tops. As a kid, snow days were AWESOME!! Until June, when you had to make those days up.
And Pittsburgh is surprisingly rather hilly, #23. But yes, ice on Seattle's hills is way different than ice in flat cities.
It's not about government offials over-reacting. The roads are still icy and dangerous right now. Most of the arterials are clear, but many streets are still are slippery. There is no reason to risk a school bus accident or big pile-up on the freeway. It's only a couple days, and it doesn't happen very often here. It's no big deal to take a little time off.
i beg to differ #23
Pittsburgh has many steep hills. And crazy ice storms. And the bad weather lasts for months. The people that continue to winter there are nuts. (I think I am allowed to say this because I spent my first 19 years in that town.) But you are right, the locals certainly are used to driving in the shit. I'm glad I don't have to deal with it anymore. But I've become wimpier. Poor Seattleites. Stay home in front of the fire and drink some Irish whiskey and coffee.
Salt also destroys your car.
Remember when Charlie Chong either bought or almost bought a bunch of magic snowplow blades from someplace that didn't need them, only to find out that they didn't fit on the trucks Seattle owns? I think that was the day Charlie's political career ended. Ah, good times in the old burg.
it drives me crazy. no work = no pay (or use of vacation time). it took me over 2 hours to make a 15 minute commute this morning because the buses only stop on dry, warm ground and nobody seems to know where the alternate stops are.
i meant pittsburg KANSAS...:)
not really...
No question the media exaggerates; however in this case I was stuck on a bus on 405 for FIVE FUCKING HOURS. And this was a bus that had chains. Yes, there wasn't much snow/ice in Seattle, but up north, east & south it was a clusterfuck, and it could be again. Newsflash: local news covers ALL of the Puget Sound Area, not just Seattle. Don't like the coverage? Turn it off whiner.
Oh yeah, and if I didn't mention it before, there is something more annoying than local television news coverage of a 'minor' snowfall: BEING STUCK ON A BUS ON I-405 FOR FIVE FUCKING HOURS.
stop whining and who cares where the fuck you're from. go back there and save us your pity story.
sure it snows, and yes it's funny to see the KOMO team sponsored by North Face in matching outfits on TV promoting 'winter blast 2006 brought to you by Arbys!'. whatever. if you think we didn't get hit take your hipster ass up to shoreline and check out some of the side streets. Seattle should take time to promote telecommunting rather than making their employees truck into work.
Listen, the local media is just helping us get snow days like we're kids in elementary school. Don't knock it. Besides, it is an event when we get snow here. It's just like back in the '80s when it actually fucking rained in Los Angeles.
It's not that insane that Seattle's crippled by a light snowfall. With the density of its population on the hills, and a downtown built of some of its steepest streets, there's really no city like it in the states.
I don't really see any reason the city should be investing in a contingency plan. The snow never sticks for more than a day or two. Chill out people. Take the day off. Walk. Do whatever. Most of all, please take turn driving your 4x4 down icy Republican to 12th ave, so whoever lives in my old apartment can laugh at the show as I once did.
I lived my teen years in rural and suburban King County where the snow really does pile up, I think does a the county actually does a decent job of keeping things safe... enough. There's way better uses of government money than a bunch of snow plows so people can, uh, DRIVE MORE.
Also, yeah, salt, sand, and antifreeze chemicals washing into the storm drains - great for the envirnment, even better for your car. One of the reasons the life expectancy of a car in Michigan is about 10 years. We don't need it.
For those of you from Chicago, bite us. We have hills you have snow.We get snow maybe once a year- you still don't have any hills.
There are too many old people in this town. I'm not talking age, but mindset. My husband is a good example. While he is only 32 yrs old, he constantly harps on the weather, no matter what it's like. He checks accuweather every 10mins. I don't personally care what the wind chill factor is- "fucking cold" works for me.
Yes. The local news coverage of WINDSTORM 1995 was way more annoying. Hours before any dangerous wind was seen (other than the hot breath of newscasters, perhaps), news of the potential devastation was all over the local stations, including closure announcements for businesses, schools, etc.
At least I've seen firsthand how badly .5 inches of snow cripples the city, so I can understand the overreaction.
Don't watch the local news when there is weather. anywhere. ever. It will only annoy you.
But, did any catch KIRO who had two dudes come from Everett to sell Seahawk tickets, run out of gas, have no money, then had to spend the night and most of the next day in their car? I never laughed so hard as I did at those two broke dumbass's plight.
Who in their right mind invests their entire net worth into the promise of gain based upon scapling Seahawk tickets? During a Seattle snow storm? Without a full tank of gas to get back home? Not only that, but those losers had no one who wanted to drive in the snow monday or tuesday to pick their sorry asses up? And, and a big and at that, they tell the story on the local news.
Thanks for the laughs, dumbasses, hope you got home safely, and for the record, take Metro north, transfer onto Community Transit heading north, then hop on Everett transit to get home. Sure, that trip takes like 4, maybe 6 hours, but when your income is speculatively gained from the resale of Seahawks tickets, I suspect you have hours to burn.
King 5 was reporting earlier today on a town near Arlington (pop. approx. 100) that was snowed in and running out of supplies. Straight-faced, ominous tone, and you fill in your own horrific conclusion - "film of mass starvation after two days at 11". It had to be the pinncale of overwrought coverage.
The storm was no bigs to my neighborhood either. Icy sidewalks, mostly. Seattle proper was shielded from the worst of the storm by the Olympics, while Kent-->Tacoma and Snohomish County took the brunt of the bifurcated storm stream.
I was at the Football game on Monday too and it was a lovely and quaint winter wonderland. Post post-game brew, with no cabs to be had and already dressed for the weather, I was fortunate enough to enjoy a very quiet 35 minute walk home and not a multiplied, nighty-icy drive.
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