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--- Snowstorm in Toronto (http://www.gatchamania.net/threadid.php?threadid=1435)
Posted by SJ_SwanJun on 16-12-2007 at 15:22:
Snowstorm in Toronto
So it looks like the planet (at least the areas in which the denizens of Gatch are living) is in the midst of a winter storm.
I am a Toronto resident - yes, people. SJ lives in the Centre of the Universe!!
The snow started here early yesterday afternoon. Flash and I got caught driving in it as we had to head up to Pickering to meet friends. Our new truck handled it quite well .. I'm impressed. She's a rear-wheel drive F-150 King Ranch, so we were concerned about fishtailing at what-not, but Flash weighted down the rear axle, and it seems to have worked. Provided we don't hit a stop sign on the middle of a hill, she has no issues at all.
Gosh I love our truck.
Today, gosh darn it, we have to trek out in it to do some grocery shopping - wondering if Flash might postpone that little adventure... We live on a street with a school, so even though it is a back-street, we get plowed fairly swiftly ... Of course then we come out onto Jane Street which is a major road, so it's always clear ... We'll see.
I will need to join Flash on a shovelling exercise fairly shortly. We generally get out a couple of times during the storm, then do clean-up after. It's easier that way. We have a corner block, nand therefore are required to clean the whole corner of snow, so it takes a while.
It was white-out here at about 9 this morning .... Yukky.
Hopefully it will end soon. I don't like snow. I don't like ice.
I'm an aussie. The only place I like isce is in my nice-cold drink ...
Grr....
Will take pics when I do out on snow-duty with Flash and Joshie...
SJ
__________________
Sighhh
Why do men snore when lying on their backs?
Because their balls fall over their butt holes and they vapour lock.
Posted by Sosai X on 17-12-2007 at 01:32:
I'm also in Toronto and we're about a foot deep in snow. The wind blew the chairs over on my balcony and now they are buried as well. I'll try to take pictures tomorrow (as long as the light is decent).
I knew the storm was approaching because my wife is a regular watcher of the weather network so we went out ahead of time and stocked up on everything so we wouldn't have to do it during the storm or right afterwards. 
I grew up in the snowbelt of Ontario (Northwest of Lake Ontario near Kingston) so snow like this is nothing to me. It reminds me of my childhood actually. I would say 3/4 of Torontonians don't know real snow (Toronto gets a couple storms per winter but usually not a lot of snow fall compared to the rest of the province). I would hate to be on the roads for the next couple of days. Luckily I work at home and telecommute.
It's starting to look a lot like Christmas...
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Cheers,
Tim
Posted by amyltrer on 17-12-2007 at 04:54:
Oh, Sosai, I hope there weren't any damages! Here have been lots of accidents because of the verglas on the roads!
__________________
It is the tiny spark of humanity that adds blaze to a villain
Posted by Sosai X on 17-12-2007 at 05:14:
No, nothing is damaged. The chairs are plastic deck chairs and get tossed around by the wind a lot. My balcony overlooks a schoolyard so there's no trees to stop the wind so it gets very windy sometimes. If the windows are slightly open, they howl in the wind (which is great when you are watching a horror movie *grin*). Now everything on my balcony is buried in about a foot of snow. 
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Cheers,
Tim
Posted by amyltrer on 17-12-2007 at 05:27:
I guess you'll have a great time blurting the snow out of your balcony, then!
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It is the tiny spark of humanity that adds blaze to a villain
Posted by Sosai X on 17-12-2007 at 06:41:
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I plan on taking pictures of my balcony and the area tomorrow but they won't be a nice as the picture you took. For starters, mine won't have a cutie like yourself in them!
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Cheers,
Tim
Posted by amyltrer on 17-12-2007 at 08:22:
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Oh , Tim
__________________
It is the tiny spark of humanity that adds blaze to a villain
Posted by Ebonyswanne on 17-12-2007 at 09:51:
While you all enjoy a white Christmas...
Ebony sits back in the warm sunshine in her swimmers by the pool at her bother-in-laws house...on a very hot day...about 35 -40 degrees celcius generally
"A Pina Colada thanks..." Ebony calls out to her DH as she puts on more sunscreen and adjusts her sunglasses... 
Yes thats Chrissy with my lot, lunch and then you can go sink in the pool afterwards!
The main worry here is bushfires, and yes they get them in Sydney because the city has national parks inside it...Lane Cove etc...but I only get the smoke from those...but after all this rain it should be good this year..no fires I hope on Chrissy day.
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Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up- Pablo Picasso.
Posted by Hinotori on 17-12-2007 at 11:45:
I've actually experienced warm Christmases too... I lived in Florida for about 5 years, so a "cool" Christmas was anything under 60 degrees. My very first Christmas there it was 75 degrees and humid - yuck!!Wearing a short-sleeve shirt on Christmas just didn't seem right to me... Now that I'm back up north, I don't complain about the cold or the snow (much.... ). I'm glad to have it back and it all seems very normal to me.
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Hinotori
Eagle in Charge
Posted by kimiko on 17-12-2007 at 14:11:
WHOOOO HOOO!! I had a snow day from work last night!
It's been snowing continuously all weekend here in the Hammer. Not exactly a blizzard (wind-wise) but lots of white stuff accumulating!
You know when there's alot of snow when you have to shovel out a spot for the dog to do her doodie!
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Putting the "Con" in Condor....Ooooo... shiny red button!
Posted by SJ_SwanJun on 17-12-2007 at 14:42:
Snorts in absolute amusement as she looks outside her office window
You know ... I don't get it.
Yes the souped-up Honda Civic is a hooning vehicle that looks good, drives fast and impresses the racing lot, but it don't do too well in snow....
I swear the corner - and most of the street - here at work is the worst area in the T.O. On my stroll down the street I must have climbed into about three complete stranger's vehicles to help them get unstuck. I'm a chick, so they think I can't push a car.
Okay. I am an ex-dancer. I might not look it, but these quads are the strongest sets of muscles I've ever seen - and I'm an ex Aussie Rules Football Trainer! If my feet can get good traction, I can push 240 pounds with these fuckers. (I tested it at the gym one day to see how strong they really were - okay, I only did it once, but ...)
But that's okay, I'll drive your pissy little vroom-vroom. I remind them I'm a chick. That I don't hold a full Canadian driver's license, and have NEVER ... I repeat NEVER ... driven in snow.
And, of course, all your shit is on the wrong side of the car too - not used to that.
Seems, though, that an Australian is more geared to snow than Canadians. I'm actually very comfortable for the most part in trekking through the white stuff.
So anyway ... One guy in a car so low to the ground he wouldn't be able to clear a speed bump, figured he could take on our Road (my street at work) before the plows had come in.
Idiot.
Three metres into the street he got stuck.
So I stroll up, ask my friendly guys at the coffee shop to mind my shit and ask for a couple of pieces of cardboard box and stroll on out to help.
Meanwhile I'd already offered my pushing services only to get shot down because - I'm a chick.
So I wander out, smirk, ask for a shovel, dig out his front tires, stick the cardboard under the wheels and suggest that he reverse out into Lawrence Ave and not continue into my road.
He ignores the suggestion. The cardboard works, he starts to move, and drives into my street.
Idiot.
Ten metres later, he's stuck again.
I shrug, look at the Asian guy standing next to me and say : "Fuck him, he's on his own now."
I get a funny look from him, so I point down the street. You can see all sorts of carnage.
"Okay. We have two 18-wheeler trucks stuck up there, three other small vehicles smoking and spinning ... And this asshole thinks he can out-do all of them in a Civic??!!"
"I helped him once, offered advice and he ignored me. Fuck him, I've got to get to work."
So I shrug and shake my head as I walk past him. And continue only to stop and help someone else.
My walk to work from the coffee shop is about 300 metres. It took me twenty minutes to get to the office.
Nuts, absolutely nuts.
I'm not kidding when I say we have the 18-wheelers stuck. I work in a high trucking area. We are a retail corporate office, but we have our distribution centre here. There are trucks all down this street...
Like, God. If a damn semi can't make it through, what makes a Civic driver think he can?
Like, buddy. The snow is 12 inches deep - you have a clearance of about six inches. Basic physics suggests that while the front of your vehicle will ride pretty much atop of the snow, the back end of your vehicle is lower, thereby compacting down and basically "plowing" the snow into the underneath of your car.
Of course I'm a chick - so what do I know?
smiles lazily I know that my F-150 King Ranch Super Crew truck (I love the way that name rolls off the tongue)with her 5.4lt Triton V-8 engine, even though she is a rear-drive truck, when properly weighted over the rear axle, is a fucking BEAST in the snow.
sighhhh
Our area got hit really hard. Flash and I spent about three hours last night digging out with both shovels and snow blowers.
I'm pretty sore today.
Half the office called in sick. Half of those who came in are late - and got stuck down the street (that's what happens when you buy pretty little expensive cars like Lexus/Porsche/BMW)
But lil'ol me ... I made it in 45 minutes early ....
I rock
SJ
ETA: Yes, I was offering my help and digging out cars in corporate office wear, yet these guys who couldn't do their own shit were in jeans and winter jackets - I don't get it.
ETA: A courier just gave me a hard time and said - AND I QUOTE:
"I don't know why you don't go out there and clear the road."
Huh? What?!
Me, personally? The company?
Fuck you, buddy. We did our carpark, our sidewalk, and all entrances. The city is responsible for the road, not us. And I'm not going to walk out onto the road and shovel it just to make your pathetic and miserable ass happy.
__________________
Sighhh
Why do men snore when lying on their backs?
Because their balls fall over their butt holes and they vapour lock.
Posted by clouddancer on 17-12-2007 at 14:49:
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interesting you should say that. My dog decided to go on the walkway to the front door I had just dug out. I thought that was just her.
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Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.
Posted by Transmute Jun on 17-12-2007 at 16:25:
I hope you guys have managed to di g your way out. I have not-too fond memories of that much snow... yuck... 
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Posted by SJ_SwanJun on 17-12-2007 at 16:38:
LOL
We just had an argument with our snow-plow company.
I informed our higher-ups that we had an issue with the plow job they did last night:
Both fire exits are blocked
The fire escape is completely blocked up
The handicap parking space no longer exists
All wall-area parking spots are half obliterated by snowbanks.
The top three issues are ones that need immediate fixes, as we can get heavy fines for that.
So we call them back, and what does the idiot do? Loads the fire escape even more with a 8' snow bank.
When we got out there to tell him it needs to be CLEARED, and so does the Handicap spot, he shrugs and says:
Well you will just have to lose the spot and find an alternative escape route.
What?
Uh ... Did I hear that right?
"Lose the spot ..."
He then tells us that if we want the snow removed then we have to call in to their office for actual removal ...
Huh?
UGH!
EVERY FUCKING YEAR we have this problem with these people ...
Gah...
SJ
__________________
Sighhh
Why do men snore when lying on their backs?
Because their balls fall over their butt holes and they vapour lock.
Posted by Sosai X on 17-12-2007 at 16:39:
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I have to take exception to this! It would be more accurate if you substitute Torontonians for Canadians and then I would agree with you 100%. In the rest of Canada, Torontonians are notorious for not being able to handle any amount of snowfall. Most Canadians know how to handle snowfall. Besides, all Toronto got was a bit of snow. The worst of the storm missed us and has headed out East.Here's the pictures of my balcony as promised.
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Cheers,
Tim
Posted by SJ_SwanJun on 17-12-2007 at 16:42:
My apologies, Sosai.
I would never dare to suggest I am geared better than a maritimer, a north-west territory resident, or anywhere other than the T.O.
My very bad. I'm sorry.
And ... it looks as though your balcony didn't get his as hard as we did ... I must remember to take a photo of the snow-bank at our house ...
Glad you're at home today, though.... I'm jealous
SJ
__________________
Sighhh
Why do men snore when lying on their backs?
Because their balls fall over their butt holes and they vapour lock.
Posted by Sosai X on 17-12-2007 at 16:47:
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LOL! No problem. I wasn't suggesting that you couldn't handle the snow either. I just didn't want to be lumped in with most of the idiots in Toronto who can't. *grin*
I'm sure the snowbanks are nice and high (which I used to love as a kid). Course that used to peeve me off when I finish shoveling the driveway and the plough would go through filling the entrance of the driveway that I just shoveled. Grrr....
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Cheers,
Tim
Posted by clouddancer on 17-12-2007 at 16:51:
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So am I .
I suspect anyone who had to dgo to work today is jealous.
__________________
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.
Posted by clouddancer on 17-12-2007 at 16:53:
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That is the ONLY thing I hate about shoveling snow. That stupid plow that "sits" just around the corner and drives past as soon as you think you are finished.
__________________
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.
Posted by Transmute Jun on 17-12-2007 at 16:55:
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I had to go to work today and I'm not jealous.
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