h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have this view of myself as someone who just gets on with it without complaining much (other than the extended drain-whinge earlier this year, but I really was very freaked about that).

I am warm.
I am dry. (So long as I don't go outside).
I have enough food for a couple of weeks if I don't mind living off nothing but boiled mung beans at the end of them.
I have loo roll for a week.
Animal food for four days (which is a bit worrying) and cat litter for a week maybe. Heavy stuff, cat litter.
Not sure how much oil I've got in the tank. (Very worrying).
I have supportive neighbours who keep an eye out for each other, some of whom have four wheel drives.
I have a bank account, an internet connection and a phone line.

Above all I have a roof over my head. I am constantly grateful for that.

But I am now also mightly, incredibly, supremely pissed off with the snow.

It's 18" going on two foot. (It was 18" when I measured on Friday, Saturday and Sunday were sunny but still below freezing, and it's been snowing steadily all morning. I'll go out with a tape measure later).

The really annoying thing is that we didn't park the cars up where the roads are passable, so they are under a foot or two of snow each, and we don't have shovels to dig them out or the access to passable roads to drive them on.

We walked to the supermarket on Saturday; 4 hour round trip, and that included taking a taxi half way home. You get very focused on buying things that are good value-for-weight when you have to carry them a mile or more in 18" of snow....

Whine. Moan. Whinge.

I am dry. I have food. I am warm. Thank you Maslow, for reminding me of this.

Ben

You are welcome to complain, just as long as you don't complain about the heat when summer comes (according to my husband!)

Do you usually get that much snow, or is this winter exceptional?

Ah good ol' Maslow's hierarchy

Aye it is pretty unusual for Britain in *recent* times. We've had I think, around 7 mild Winters in a row discounting the heavy snow last year. (but it was for a limited time). So for younger people it does seem somewhat excessive!

Suppose it's the depth of the snow and the continuing sub-zero temps which also make it out of the norm. Sure we get temperatures below zero every winter, but usually just for a day or two at a time, not a couple of weeks or more.

Personally I'm all for it

It's exceptional, Titania.

I think I can remember getting falls of more than about 15 or 20cms only twice in my lifetime, and only half a dozen 15cm falls.

It is almost unprescendeted to get snow before January, real "siince records began" stuff.

It's unusual for it to remain below freezing for more than two or three days in a row.

So 16" (according to my B&Q tape measure about 20 mintues ago) starting in November and lasting 10 days and counting really is exceptional.

It doesn't help that where we've chosen to live is two miles from public transport, which is not a problem when you can drive to the station...

Ben

~~Katie Underwood, 18, who has been a waitress at the Lion Inn for four years, said: "The novelty is definitely starting to wear off." ~~

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/8181485/Snow-leads-to-ultimate-pub-lock-in.html

I don't know whether to be piteous or envious.

Wait... she started waitressing in a pub at 14? Is that even legal?

I think so, as long as they don't try to serve alcohol.

They can cleat plates and deliver food and stuff. Our local used to use such kids for this until recently.

So likely of you to bring Maslow into the whinging - which, by the sound of it, is utterly permitted.

I haven't actually measured but don't think that we have quite 18" other than in drifts. And of course at the moment, the roads will almost all have seen some kind of plough.

Not that this will necessarily continue...Yes, we consider ourselves a Nordic country that can cope - but the harsh winter we had in January-March meant that the local councils' budgets for snow fighting suffered and with the early onset of a tough winter, already in many places all they get from the coffers are hollow echoes. So they will have to cut back - and small roads may actually not be cleared at all in many places.

We do still have continuous frost - during the weekend they threaten with day time +3-5 and some rain with frost in the nights. And then back in the deep freezer next week. Hey ho - we're going to have some seriously icy conditions in the mornings, methinks...

Rain followed by frost, eh, Santra? Definitely a recipe for some very nasty ice.

We've a thaw forecast for Thursday onwards, and once it happens I'm getting myself fully equipped for the next bout. It's always hard to know what's ridiculous apocalyptic fantasy and what's intelligent preparation. I was intelligently prepared for 3"-4" of snow, and able to cope with 6"-8".

We've got a shed though, and I am damn well filling it with dry goods like loo-roll, cat litter and cat-food.

Ben

"It's always hard to know what's ridiculous apocalyptic fantasy and what's intelligent preparation."

If in doubt, err on the side of the former.
That way, you might end up with some kit in the shed that you never use, but so what? Better than having everything you need apart from one vital bit of kit that renders half your other kit pointless.

Remember you're putting together a *system*. Each individual piece of equipment links together to ensure comfortable survival through whatever sistuation you're prepping for, so each piece of kit is a potential point of failure. In this senario you're preparing for a large base (ie, your home) not an on the move preperation or potential bug-out, so weight isn't an issue.

Well, Z was astonished that I had torches ready for power cuts... until we had a powercut. I have always loathed having only one heat source and I particularly hate it that central heating systems rely ion electric pumps.

Interesting bit of reframing, that it's a system, Kerr. I'll take that one to heart.

B

Cool I just misread that and thought you had an ion pump.

I was in Star trek universe for a moment.

My dilithium powered living room heater is sadly on the blink at the moment.

Just posted the Big Pictures take on winter over in the Salon - thought that'd give you a nice careful approach to them in case you maybe did not want also to see pictures of snow Pretty they are, though...

(and you must get a prize for the best use of snowballs as list bullets, btw )

Well, look at it this way. You've already said you haven't got any shovels, right? Well, shovels would form the part of the system that allowed you to get your car out. Now, even if you had snow chains, and grit and deep winter antifreeze, plus spare blankets and thermoses and everything else you'd need to consider for taking the car out, the system fails because of the absence of shovels.

Torches are good, as long as you remember to check the batteries on a regular basis. I keep Snap Lights as a back up.

I am very exicited about the idea of coming home tonight.

Is it all this talk of Ben in gaiters?

Ah... Edinburgh is apparently only under 1 foot of snow.

http://i.imgur.com/nufXU.jpg

Apparently there's been almost 4ft in upstate New York since the weekend. Rather them than me.

I do believe that there is hope for mankind as long as someone still gets such ideas and actually go do them