11 Incidents

That’s how many car accidents (including cars that skidded and ended up facing the wrong way)I counted in a 30 mile radius on the Dulles Toll Road (for those in the urea). A friend and I headed to the Leesburg outlets so I could exchange a pair of shoes I’d bought before the Christmas holidays and didn’t see a drop of snow or even rain in D.C. When we reached the toll road we saw some flurries but nothing major. In Leesburg, an hour from DC the snow was coming down so we decided exchange the shoes and run into one other store before heading home. We were at the outlet stores for maybe 45 minutes and then headed up only to find the highway had accumulated at least an inch of snow. My silver bullet is great and reliable but isn’t a snowmobile so I kept my speed to about 40 mph.

Unfortunately there were a bunch of other Bozos who figured they should keep at the regular posted speed limit and ended up on the side of the road, in a ditch or with a jacked up car. I was anxious to get home, it was after all a snowy Sunday afternoon which means sitting in my pjs watching TV and drinking hot cocoa but despite my interest in getting home quickly I had no interest in dying so I keep it slow.

This is our first snow fall of the winter season and people in the DC metro area are notorious for loosing their minds when it snows. What I don’t understand is why won’t folks just SLOW DOWN! Ain’t nothing at the end of the journey to risk my life or someone else’s for. The folks with the SUVs are also notorious for speeding during inclement weather in these parts; I haven’t read anywhere where SUV manufacturers say they’re safe to drive fast in snow and icy conditions.

Let’s talk about the supermarkets; I walked into a Safeway near my house for Empanada fixings and quickly walked out. The lines were at least 30 minutes long. No way, when I didn’t need to have Empanadas tonight. Armageddon is not here, so I can’t understand why EVERYONE had to be at the grocery store today even though it was snowing. I figure the majority of the patrons lived in the area so that means there are also at least 2 mini market/bodegas/7-11 type stores within a two or three block radius of everyplace in DC proper so there’s no threat of starving to death if folks run out of milk or bread.

I’m hoping for more snow so I can work from home and if that happens I’ll just walk to the local mini market or grocery store if I run out of food.