Erieversible

The snow in the UK continues to cause chaos.  Here in Buffalo it has been a lovely day, with even higher temperatures forecast for tomorrow.  Looking at the pictures from the UK I have to wonder whether there isn’t some collective mental block at work.  Mass psychosis?  How else can you explain things?

Yes, the country was unprepared.  It doesn’t have snow plows in the numbers they do here simply because this is a relatively infrequent chunk of weather.  It would not be cost effective to have the resources available ready to deal with this weather whenever it happened.  However, all of the pictures I have seen have shown road conditions no worse than have been the norm here for the last couple of months.  So what’s the deal?

Is it that the British don’t know how to drive in these conditions?  Probably.  Not everyone, of course.  Unfamiliarity with the conditions is not an excuse - I’ve been driving in them daily recently and I have as little exposure to them as any other Brit.  However, what does it actually take to cause chaos?  Not much, is the answer.  It only needs one inadequate person to take an ill-equipped car out onto the roads, to get stuck, to jam up a road.  And maybe that’s the problem, that the consequences for that person are not harsh enough.

Or maybe it is a national, cultural thing.  I’ve noticed that in the US, when faced with a collective problem, the approach taken is to tackle it and get on with things.  With the recent weather in the UK the general approach seems to have been to complain about the weather.  Sorry, Brits, but the level of snow most areas have had is not sufficient for the havoc it has caused.  And if this global climate change stuff (whatever the reason) is true then you’d better get used to handling the snow.

At the front of the house we’re running out of space to pile up the snow.  One of these days they will be issuing avalanche warnings for the area.

Colleagues at work tell me that this is a really bad winter, with each snowfall being described as far worse than usual.  But I have no frame of reference for it all.  So far I’ve managed okay.  (I shouldn’t be saying this, if suddenly feels like I’m tempting fate…)   I haven’t had any real trouble driving, but I have been very cautious.  I don’t know my limitations, the car’s limitations or the limitations imposed by the conditions - I just drive carefully.

Next year I’ll at least be able to use this winter as a frame of reference.  Until then, this is winter.  I moved to this part of the world fully aware of the four full seasons and to a great degree have enjoyed the variety of weather I’ve experienced since June.

Mind you, I am looking forward to Spring already…

A week or so ago when I drove home to Erie from Buffalo I passed three vehicles off the road, in the snow, awaiting tows.

Two days ago, making the same drive, I saw three vehicles in the same predicament.

Today I left Erie this morning, rather than late afternoon, due to the weather forecast.  Want to guess how many vehicles had strayed off the road and were well and truly stuck?  

Is there a natural law at play here?

Anyway, safely tucked up at the apartment in Buffalo, watching the football.  See, I’m turning into a proper American!  :-)