Done!

Feb. 6th, 2011 12:35 pm
mythicalgirl: (cylon)



A driveway clear of ice is a beautiful thing. 

I am tired, sore, have a headache, and am in serious need of a shower.  I also rock.  Huzzah!


mythicalgirl: (nap time)
Let me remind you what my driveway looked like on Wednesday after the ice storm and my pathetic attempt to clear the ice away.



This is what it looks like after 4 cans of table salt and a whole lot of brute strength.



I fall down, go boom now, K?

Damn Ice!

Feb. 5th, 2011 12:02 pm
mythicalgirl: (pirate)

Or ice dam to be more precise. 

I got up this morning at 7:30 am, which for me on a Saturday is pretty much unheard of.  Got dressed and went to the grocery first thing, planning to get it over with and maybe score some rock salt or ice melt.  I got the food but no rock salt as everyone is still sold out.  According to the couple of big box home improvement stores I called the shipments they were expecting were diverted to Chicago.  Yeah, pisses me off. 

Anyway I got 6 cans of table salt and 2 bags of kitty litter so I can make my own damn traction/ice melt stuff.  Because yesterday Mother Nature tried to kill me while I attempted to get my mail.  Getting the mail, especially when it doesn't contain anything but junk, shouldn't mean risking my life so I'm fighting back with the tools I have available - table salt and the stuff cats shit in.  Um, maybe not so much fighting back as just trying not to fall on my ass.

Got home, ate some breakfast, took a bath, walked into the living room and found this:


This discovery was followed by much cussing then a phone call to my expert, aka Dad.  Pics have been sent to so he can see for himself what I was doing a really shitty job of describing over the phone.  The general consensus is that I have an ice dam someplace - either in the gutters or around the chimney.  Which would put me in good company as pretty much the entire f!cking city of Indianapolis is dealing with the same shit right now.  No, that doesn't make me feel any better.  Neither does the knowledge that there is absolutely nothing I can do.  I could call a roofing contractor but all they will say is they can't do anything until it warms up - which it isn't ever going to do as this winter is going to last forever and ever and we're all going to die frozen in our beds!  *cough* Um, sorry about that.  I'm just a little sick of winter these days.

I'm sure it is still pretty to some people but I'm really done with snow and ice and winter in general.  Sunshine and green growing things can start any day now, thanks. 




Hammer Time

Feb. 4th, 2011 08:45 am
mythicalgirl: (splosions)
The temperature hasn't gone above freezing, hell hasn't even come close to freezing, since the ice storm.  Meaning my neighborhood street and more importantly my driveway are still solid ice.  I'm out of rock salt and pretty much no one in town has gotten in a shipment of ice melt.  (well, one place in Fishers was on the radio this morning talking about how they'd gotten some in but I'm not driving two hours round trip to get ice melt).

The sun was out all day yesterday with a temp around 20 degrees F.  The small patch I was able to clear Wednesday did warm in the sun but not enough to help melt the drive. 

Out came the sledgehammer.  I was loathe to use the thing as I don't want to damage the concrete.  Then I remembered that while I am stronger than I used to be I am still a weenie girl and the odds of me being able to swing that sledge hammer hard enough to damage concrete is, well, pretty much zero.  I was able to crack some ice though, managing to triple the size of the bare spot before I pooped out. 

So now I have a bare spot about 3x4 feet instead of 1x1 feet.  Better but at this rate I'll still be chipping away at this shit when spring finally arrives. 

Temps at freezing (32 F) or just above (34 F) over the weekend.  Also a chance of snow and no sun, which sucks!  Let's hope I'm able to score some ice melt today or tomorrow, the sun today works some magic, and I have enough strength to wail away with the hammer when I get home fro work. 

No pictures today.  Sorry!
mythicalgirl: (splosions)
The power went out several time last night, luckily never for more than a few minutes.  Whew! 
We also got lucky in the the second wave was mostly sleet here in Indy rather than more freezing rain.  I really think that's the only reason I have power right now. 
I didn't have internet until a little while ago - that went down sometime in the night and wasn't back for several hours.  But I'm up and running now.  Since I was without connectivity for half the day I decided to just go ahead and take a vacation day today rather than stress over work stuff.  I did log in to check email once I was able to - and promptly got booted by the remote system as it once again can't handle the load of nearly everyone working from home.  *sigh*

I'm off to sit in front of the fire with a good book.  I plan to brave the outside world to go to work tomorrow.  The word on the street (ha!) is that the roads are in decent shape once you get out of your neighborhood.  I can see the main street from my house and it looks like traffic is moving well so I think I'll chance it tomorrow.  I shouldn't have any trouble getting out of my driveway - getting back up it is a different question but I'll deal with that when I have to.  I'm hoping the sun comes out enough tomorrow to start melting some of this stuff while I'm at work so I can come home and pry it up. 

I went out earlier to try to chip away at the ice.  Um, yeah, not a great idea.  I didn't get far and after 20 minutes I stopped, feeling kind of wet noodle-ish.  I need more salt.  Or explosives. 





mythicalgirl: (bipolaroid)
I was finally able to get logged in to work around noon.  So I managed to work a half day rather than a whole one.  Overall I'm happy with this.  I haven't lost power yet (knock on wood) although the lights did dim/flicker a couple of times between 1:00 and 2:00 pm.  No idea what that was about.

Now I can hear the freezing rain sleet hitting the windows, meaning the second wave has arrived.  We have an official ice storm warning, something I don't recall ever seeing before.  The rain has started, the wind has picked up, and it is COLD!  Perfect recipe for downed trees and power lines.  I'll be cranking up the fire here soon.  And praying that the power stays on. 
mythicalgirl: (pirate)
I'm supposed to be working (from home) but the remote system servers are crashing.  Too many people trying to get in remote rather than brave the roads.  The boss man says that once you get out of the housing additions and to the main roads things are fine, just wet.  The problem is getting there.  My street is a smooth sheet of ice about 1/2 an inch thick.  Really, I could go ice skating in the cul de sac. 

So the plan is to maybe fix some lunch then try to log in to the office again.  If I still can't get in then today is a holiday.  Surely IceAggedon counts as a holiday?

The second wave is just now reaching Illinois so its about 2-3 hours away.  That wave is supposed to nail us with more freezing rain leaving up to another inch of ice then a coating of a couple of inches of snow.  The weather advisory goes until 7:00 PM tomorrow so I'm not expecting to go anywhere for at least a couple of days.  I hope to be back in the office on Thursday but it kind of depends on my ability to get out of my neighborhood. 

Have some pictures of the IceAggedon! )
mythicalgirl: (H is for Holy crap)
Checked the radar and all the blue and pink (YIKES!  Pink Bad) are quickly approaching Indianapolis. 

I've already told the boss man that if there is any ice I will be working from home.  I do not do ice

The latest weather hype is calling this a "potentially catastrophic" storm.  Depending on how the storm tracks Indianapolis could get an inch or more if ice by Wednesday evening - OR - a third of an inch of freezing rain and sleet tonight followed by a foot of snow tomorrow.  Really it all depends on which way this thing tracks.  As the first wave is pretty much here already I'm going to guess that here in the city we're going to get mostly ice while the big snow is going to stay north. 

Fingers crossed that the power stays on. 

Incoming!

Jan. 31st, 2011 11:00 am
mythicalgirl: (OMG Corpse Bride)

I'm watching the weather closely today.  Unless the storm track shifts Indianapolis is right smack in the path of a monster of a storm.  We are looking at .5 to 1 inch of ice followed by several inches of snow.  Everything should start sometime this evening and then goes until nearly Wednesday evening.  Right now I'm trying to decide if I'm going to get permissions to work from home - providing I have power - or if I'm just going to say screw it and take a couple of floating holidays for tomorrow and Wednesday. 

One thing I do know - I do NOT drive on ice.  Hell, I don't even try to walk on ice. 

Want to know a secret?  I am absolutely terrified of walking on ice.  Seriously, I get all shaky and just want stand still and cry.  So nope, if we get what they are predicting I will be staying inside where it is safe(er).  And all the weather channels are predicting the same thing so it looks like we're in for a major ice smackdown. 

Gives me the heebies just thinking about it. 
 


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