The freezing rain and sleet started about 8:30 last night and continued for another 12 hours before turning to snow.
Fortunately, it was more sleet than freezing rain and we didn’t get such a dangerous buildup of ice on trees and power lines, so the lights stayed on and the branches stayed attached to the trees.
Austin had about a quarter-inch of ice on his car, but he was able to open the driver’s side door and start the engine to warm it up while he hacked away at the ice on the windows and windshield before leaving for work about 7:40 a.m. My del Sol was solidly encased in ice and there was no hope of getting the doors open, even though I left them unlocked last night.
The Subaru spent the night in the warm garage, so there was no scraping needed. I drove Maria to work, mostly to have the use of a car rather than pretend that she couldn’t manage a little ice on the road. After all, we’re both native Hoosiers and today’s weather is no big deal for us.
It clearly is a big deal for folks around here, though. All schools are closed, as are a lot of businesses. There was almost no traffic on U.S. 49 coming in to town and the streets were mostly deserted.
I stopped by the optometrist’s office to pick up my new contact lenses and found the dispensary was closed. Fortunately, the doc was in and he authorized his people to give me my lenses and take my money.
I drove to Hastings, following a utility company pickup truck that fishtailed at every stoplight (I sure do like Subaru all-wheel drive and ABS). Hastings normally opens at 6 a.m. on weekdays, so I figured I was assured my usual cup of coffee. When it got there, I found the place dark with a sign on the door that read: In case of inclement weather, we will open at 8 a.m.
It was 8:24 a.m. at the time.
So I drove across the street to McDonald’s for a parfait and coffee breakfast and am using their free Wifi to post this blog entry.
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