Snowmageddon

Well this has been a very interesting week and it is only Tuesday night!! 

Why is it that Seattle and surrounding areas are never prepared for when it snows - not like it never snows here - and they knew this storm was coming, the City of Seattle decided yesterday morning that their schools were going to be let out early to try and get the kids home before the real snow hit.  But once again they were caught with their pants down and people were stuck everywhere. 

Here is how my Monday went -

• Got up early to head out and catch a bus at 630.  It was Day 1 of Payroll and I wanted to make sure I got in early so I could get a jump on everything.  The news was talking about snow and schools being late or closed.  I looked outside and there was no snow up here.
•  Got to my PR and there was a HUGE LONG line of people!  A small metro bus pulled up - not our usual accordion bus - the driver said they were on snow schedule and that this was just the shuttle down to the Transit Center and we would have to catch a bus from there into Seattle.  I thought at that time - Wow - they are really getting a jump on things and planning ahead of time. This should be better than a couple years ago.
• Got to work about 830 - bus ride was slow because they had on chains.  Got started on Payroll - I could hear everyone giving snow reports - I tried not to stress out.  A few people headed out around noon.  I stayed until just about 4 -  most everything I needed to get done for Day 1 - I headed out to catch the 554.
• Got to 2nd and Pine and waited for about 15 minutes for the bus.  When it got there - the bus driver announced that he would not be going up to the Highlands - we would have to catch a shuttle at the Transit Center.
• It was a very slow trip to Issaquah - got dropped off at the Transit Center at 4:45.  The wind was blowing - it was snowing - I was not dressed close to as warm as I needed to be - there were about 50 of us waiting for a shuttle to show up.  We waited there for an hour before one showed up.  I literally was 5 minutes away from deciding that Chrissy was going to have to fend for herself in the kitchen because I was going to go see if I could get a room at the Hilton Garden Inn across the way. 
• The trip up to the Highlands - normally a 5 - 10 minute drive - took an hour!!  I was starting to get very nervous about how I was going to get from the PR to home.  I was not looking forward to the possibility of having to walk the 3 miles in the snow.  I decided to just try it and see how close I could get to home.  I said a prayer - started the car - and headed out at a slow and steady pace.  Repeating over and over - Get Me Home Safe.  It went pretty well until I got to the front entrance to Klahanie - the cars that had gone on ahead of me had drivers that must not have ever driven in snow before!!  They were all following too close to each other up the small hills at the entrance - when the first car slowed down a bit the ones behind put on their brakes, slid, and weren't able to start back up the hill.  There weren't any cars exiting so me and a few others turned up that side of the road - we went one at a time - slow and stead - had not problems!  I made it home in one piece!  Yay Me!  Yay Ford Focus! 

 Day 1 of Snow came to an end!  Day 2 went pretty well - I think the few people at work that came in were surprised that I made it in.  The road to the PR this morning was actually not that bad - the longest part was the waiting for buses and the actual bus rides.  Got to work - submitted payroll by the 530 deadline - everyone should get paid on payday!  Headed on home - buses were still not running on regular schedules so I ended up waiting for just about 45 minutes for a bus out of Seattle and then 30 minutes for a bus up to the Highlands.  I am not sitting in my comfy chair right in front of the fireplace thawing out my toes! 

I think I've had enough of the snow - although - it was rather beautiful on the way through Klahanie this evening - the trees were white, it was very quiet, the moon was bright and just about full!  Awesome!

De