Snowpocalypse: This Column Has a Snow Day
David Corn
Columnist
Posted:
02/8/10
Snowpocalypse was fun -- that is, until our power went out and the heat vanished. That was two days ago. So I've been contending with the basics of survival: food and shelter. In between all that, I've been shoveling tons of snow.
Our neighborhood was placed low on the priority list for Pepco, the power company. I guess we just don't have political pull. (Rep. Chris Van Hollen, don't count on this precinct next time.) And more snow is predicted for Tuesday night. A few years ago, a Pepco service guy -- a contractor -- complained to me that the utility had shed itself of many of its in-house service crews and had moved to use independent contractors. This meant, he said, that during the next major event, the company would not be able to handle demand for repairs.
Bottom line: I tempted to say ice, for below the 2½ feet of snow covering everything within sight there's plenty of ice. Yet for the purposes of the column, the bottom line is this: no column today. It's a snow day -- big time.
Now I'm off to the house to check the pipes and generator. The good news is that the giant spruce tree that toppled a block from our house and is resting precariously on power lines has yet to bring those lines to the ground. The police have closed off the street next to our house, citing the possibility of electrocution, should the tree yield to gravity.
No electricity, but electrocution? Snowmageddon is full of drama. And as I write this, the lights in the house where we are staying -- blocks from our own home -- just went out. I'm wondering if that tree finally fell. We haven't heard any screams . . .
UPDATE: Those lights went out because a crew had turned off the electricity to take the tree down. Meanwhile, power has returned to my house. That means warmth -- and the Internet -- are back. But more snow is supposedly on the way.
You can follow David Corn's postings and media appearances via Twitter.
Our neighborhood was placed low on the priority list for Pepco, the power company. I guess we just don't have political pull. (Rep. Chris Van Hollen, don't count on this precinct next time.) And more snow is predicted for Tuesday night. A few years ago, a Pepco service guy -- a contractor -- complained to me that the utility had shed itself of many of its in-house service crews and had moved to use independent contractors. This meant, he said, that during the next major event, the company would not be able to handle demand for repairs.
Bottom line: I tempted to say ice, for below the 2½ feet of snow covering everything within sight there's plenty of ice. Yet for the purposes of the column, the bottom line is this: no column today. It's a snow day -- big time.
Now I'm off to the house to check the pipes and generator. The good news is that the giant spruce tree that toppled a block from our house and is resting precariously on power lines has yet to bring those lines to the ground. The police have closed off the street next to our house, citing the possibility of electrocution, should the tree yield to gravity.
No electricity, but electrocution? Snowmageddon is full of drama. And as I write this, the lights in the house where we are staying -- blocks from our own home -- just went out. I'm wondering if that tree finally fell. We haven't heard any screams . . .
UPDATE: Those lights went out because a crew had turned off the electricity to take the tree down. Meanwhile, power has returned to my house. That means warmth -- and the Internet -- are back. But more snow is supposedly on the way.
You can follow David Corn's postings and media appearances via Twitter.