I am Done With the Snow!

Last week I heard on the weather channel that a snow storm was going to hit our area Saturday and Sunday. I was surprised when I woke up on Friday morning to 12-16 inches of snow and it was still coming down.

I went out and did the mandatory shoveling. My neighbor taught me that you shovel the first 6 inches off and then the next six, instead of trying to do the whole 12 inches at one time.

My neighbor was out shoveling and I mentioned that I thought the storm was going to come this weekend. He said that it got here early.

So the snow stopped around 2:00 yesterday and it warmed up into the 40's (4.4C) and a lot of snow melted from the sidewalks and street, which is great, cause you don't want it to turn to ice.

I woke up this morning and opened up the window blinds and OMG there's ANOTHER 6-8 inches of snow and it was coming down pretty heavy. It appears to have stopped within the last 15 minutes.

I hear California is bracing for a rainy day. Stay inside you guys where it is safe and dry!

I heard that because of this narly winter we are having that the weather guru's are predicting a narly hurricane season. That sucks! My mother, who had her home rebuilt after Katrina, could potentially loose it again! Well, we'll just have to wait and see.

Ciao

Let's Talk Weather!!!

Houston is expecting snow today. That's wild!

My sister lives in Houston and she actually got snow weeks before we did here in Pennsylvania.

I haven't written about "black ice". Mainly because I haven't seen too much of it, which is a good thing.

I first learned of black ice when I was in Iceland. I took this picture while in Iceland. This was right outside the door of my hotel. I wonder why they didn't put salt on the ground. The sidewalk was one sheet of ice. I walked in the street most of the time I was there. Talk about slippery.

Well, I guess by now everyone knows that we are experiencing an El Nino affect. Which will be followed by a La Nina affect.

I was poking around on the Internet and found an interesting website that pretty much forecast the weather for quite a bit. Talking about how the global warming that began in 80's would be ending around 2017 and then a global cooling will begin. Here is the link if you want to check it out http://forums.accuweather.com/index.php?showtopic=13603. It's a fascinating read that's for sure.

So right now California's bracing for more rain. Houston, Pennsylvania and Delaware are going to get a few flurries, not a big snow storm like we experienced a couple of weeks ago.

Ciao

It's Raining Cats & Dogs in LA

California's getting 4 rain storms in a row. This is much needed rain for the state. There is a lot of flooding occurring for 2 reasons; 1) a large amount of rain is coming down in shorter periods of time; and 2) for the last 9 months people have used the storm drains as garbage cans. It's pretty gnarly in LA right now, especially since Californians don't know how to slow down while driving in the rain. That makes for a lot of accidents. Which pretty much makes it unsafe to go anywhere so a lot of people are staying home, calling in to work sick, cancelling lunch plans... it's pretty funny to me.

Where is the snow? Where is the 1 to 3 feet of snow that the northeast is suppose to get in the winter time? The most snow we have gotten, so far, is about 2 inches. Everything has melted and it looks like a beautiful spring day outside with the sun shining! It's going up into the low 40's (4.4C) today. I love it!

The picture was created with color splash photography. I just learned how to created photographs like that. You turn a colored picture into black and white and only leave whatever color you want to stand out. It's pretty fun to do and really makes your pictures pop!

Ciao

It's Going to Warm Up!

This picture was taken by my friend, Luci, in Galveston, Texas. Yep, cold enough for icicles to form on Luci's home. That's wild for Galveston!

I talked to a client who is in Miami, Florida, yesterday and she said, "We just aren't use to this cold." She said, "You are use to it." I was like "What?" I am definitely not "use to it". I lived in the south for 28 years and California for 23 years. I am not use to it. It just is.. what it is...

The weather is warming up everywhere, except California..lol... their weather is doing to drop about 10 degrees. Next week they will get about 6 rainy days, which they desperately need.

One thing I am really surprised about is that "special guy" told me that the sun didn't show itself, here in Northeast PA, for several months during the winter. Well, I am delighted to report that this year has been different. The sun has come out 99.9% of the time, so far. I say "so far" because I checked the 15-day weather report and on June 23rd our sunny days will disappear for about a week.

I realize I talk a lot about the weather in this blog and it is because one of the main reasons that people live in California is because of the weather, sunny dry days. And one of the reasons that people live here is for the distinctive four seasons of weather. I like the changes in the weather, it feels exciting to me.

BTW, I think Luci Girl should seriously look into photography classes. This isn't the first great picture that she has taken.

Ciao

Time Zones & Rain

The majority of my clients for my legal business are in California, which is 3 hours earlier than the time here. Which also means that my work phone doesn't start ringing until noonish. I love it!

I can get up and casually go about my day doing what I feel is important to me before my work day begins.

Because of this time difference I am sometimes sitting at my desk at 7:00 or 8:00 at night, which is no big deal to me because I have done that a lot in the past. On most days I just stop around 6pm.

Los Angeles may or may not get rain on Monday. This will be the first rain of the season. They haven't gotten any rain since around April. Sometimes the rain doesn't get as far south, to Los Angeles, until November.

It's a real mess when the rain arrives in California. All of the oil from the highways comes to surface on the first day making driving dangerous. People don't know how to drive in the rain and there will be specials on television about hydroplaning. All of the mountains that burned will get soaked with water and begin sliding.

It began raining here the night before last. Intermittent showers with grey skies and a cool breeze. I love it! It feels like a creepy movie. It's like rain... without all the drama you have in California.

One thing I have to do is force myself to go outside. It's not that I don't want to go outside, it's just that from living in California for 23 years I am kind of conditioned that you don't go outside when it rains. It's just a California thing. You actually plan everything around rain. Some people won't even go to work when it rains. I can remember a zillion times when I would have plans to meet a friend for lunch and get the call in the morning, "Hey we need to reschedule, it's gonna rain." or "Hey it's raining, we have to reschedule lunch." In the south and the east people go about their life like normal in rain and snow. This is something I want to get right this fall/winter.

I have a friend who moved from California to Idaho and she wouldn't leave the house in the fall/winter because of the conditioning from living in California. She gained over 100 pounds! Ouch! So I definitely don't want that to happen to me.

Ciao

Rain...... Snow

It's still raining here in Los Angeles. Which means it will be another slow work day. The mail will be delivered 2 hours later than normal. One of the reasons is because yesterday was a holiday and then combined with the rain.... it really slows everything down here.

The thing I just don't understand is here we are getting snow in the mountains and on the "Grapevine" freeway and they are saying you can only drive if you have chains on your tires. To go up in the mountains to ski they are saying you need "studs" in your tires. In Pennsylvania people were driving around in the snow with no chains on their tires or studs in their tires. Maybe it has something to do with plows and salt. I am not sure ... something new to learn about.

I know that I said that I would be rolling out of California on Memorial Day (end of May) however I am feeling that it will probably occur in April. There were 2 reasons to stay until the end of May; 1) My apartment lease is up then; and 2) It's the official anniversary date of when I moved here 23 years ago. My reasons for moving in April are; 1) April is a slow work month for me as every one's busy with their taxes; 2) Gas prices traditionally rise in the month of May when schools are ending for summer vacation (keep in mind I will be driving across country); and 3) I am ready to go.

This picture was taken a few weeks ago when I was in Pennsylvania home shopping. Check out my coat, I got it in Iceland. I was in Iceland in February 2007. I actually purchased this coat and a wool jacket. I knew I wouldn't be able to wear them in California. They are perfect for Pennsylvania. I had on my water proof boots, leather and cashmere gloves, killer coat and hat and I was a warm as a bug in a rug trucking through the snow.

Ciao

The Rain's Coming

I was suppose to have lunch with a friend this week, except he called on Friday and said "I am not sure about lunch next week. The rain is coming." And there was a pause and I thought "WTF". And he said, just what I thought I heard, "The rain's coming." Even after living here 23 years it is still hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that life pretty much comes to a standstill when it rains here.

I am sure that the grocery stores were packed yesterday in anticipation of "the rain". And I am sure that if I turn on the television I will be able to catch the "Storm Watch" on any local channel.

So here's the real scoop on "rain" in California. We don't get rain from about April to October. This year the rain came much later and it was December when it arrived. During the time of no rain the storm drains get filled with trash. Then when the rain does get here the storm drains don't work properly and we get a lot of road flooding. Also, people in California drive the same way that they do when it rains as when it doesn't, which isn't good.

My Mother came to visit me about 10 years ago and it was in February. It started raining on a Sunday night. The next morning my Mother turned on the television and she was shocked when she heard that there had been 425 car accidents in the last 24 hours in Los Angeles County. This number can be a bit misleading, so to be clear, LA county covers 88 cities. Still 425 car accidents are a lot.

The first rain of the season is the most dangerous. All of the oil from the roads comes to the surface. The new channels have special segments about hydroplaning.

The biggest mess that occurs when it rains here is that the mountains that were on fire. Remember we get the "fire seasons". Well, when the burnt mountain gets soaked with rain it starts to slide. So houses will slide off of mountains and into the roads. It can turn into a big mess.

Most people don't even go to work when it rains. I have noticed that my work line rings a lot less when it rains.

A few weeks ago I was on the phone with my Honey and it was 23 degrees and snowing in Pennsylvania. He said that he wanted to call me back because he wanted to move his vehicle. He said that his new neighbors were moving in. I was shocked. I said "It's snowing. They are moving in the snow?!?!" And he said "Yes. The grocery stores are open, the mail gets delivered and life goes on."

On a recent visit to Pennsylvania we were driving around in the snow following the real estate girl and walking around homes out in the snow, all like it wasn't even happening. I was a bit surprised when I saw a school bus stop and a bunch of teenage kids getting off with short sleeve shirts on walking, talking and laughing just like it wasn't even snowing.

My friends, who were born and raised here in California, have informed me that I will need to purchase not one but two generators! My Honey who was born and raised in Pennsylvania informed me that he remembers the power only going out once and it was for about 15 minutes.

The picture is of my cat, Kitty, in my living room.

Ciao