Stella goes "Pfffft" for us.

Well we seem to have survived "Winter Storm Stella", aka, the perfect storm that wasn't.   If it were the perfect storm, it would have been named  "Winter Storm Shelly".  Like the actress with great potential, it never lived up to its promise.

I should have known better.  These Baltimore meteorologists  have been chomping at the bit for a weather event and when looks like it could happen, it was "Oh, LAW! THE WHITE DEATH IS COMING!"

Turned out to be a normal winter's day for us.  Northwest in Carroll County and into the Appalachians got snow.  So did everyone else up into Nova Scotia.

But the people around here PANIC when you mention snow.  And with some good reason:

1. Noreaster's can be brutal weather fronts.
2. Noreaster's can dump a ton of snow on you. 
3. No one in the mid Atlantic knows how to cope with snow.  They don't know how to plow it, shovel it, drive on it or dress for it.  

I knew last night that this wasn't going to be much of anything because the two tiny four-footed weather forecasters in our house, Kevin and Rocky, where up and about and seemed rather nonplussed.

Usually when there is a storm to be had, they hunker down, are not perky and are more sleepy than anything.  But these guys were, at seven, like "Let's go for walk!" and playing tug-o-war. At eight nothing had started.  By ten something was coming down - fine dust-like snow.

Not even bad enough for board games.

When a storm doesn't start until two hours after the expected time, something was up, and the mammoth storm appeared to be going down for us.

So, all told, we have less than six inches on the ground, and some icy spots.

The worst part of the nonevent happened at 1PM today when the glacier and snow pack on the roof of the house decided it too was done with it and released.

If you have never been in a house, with a slate roof, when the ice and snow on the roof decides to let go, you are really missing something.  Unlike an asphalt roof which has a gritty texture, slate roofs are relatively smooth.  They also suck up the UV light energy, and the heat from the house below and layer of water forms from the melting snow, and that acts like a slip and slide.  Normally, things called "ice stops" are supposed to keep everything together, but the fact is, unless they are brand spanking new, they're no match for the glacier's weight.  And when that happens, the noise is like a train is approaching your house and the building shudders, followed by silence.  Outside, there is fresh pile of snow.

Awe, you shouldn't have, House.  No, really...

Anyway, it always catches you by surprise, and because the weather here is not Siberian, we kind of forget about these events until they happen and you have an "Oh, yeah," moment.

I have a roast in the over and now the dogs have crashed, which is their normal routine.  I spent the day scanning pictures (160 done, BOOM!) and making a roast.  My two new Flip and Folds arrived so there was a folding festival!

The silver lining is that we don't have to put up with Baltimore lousy snowplowing.  It is really pathetic.  It's like they hire blind people to drive the plows, or trained the seeing ones on a game of "Tickle Bee".

The husband is working from home today and goes back in tomorrow.  And it is back to normal tomorrow for Cookie, too.

When it comes, there will be white stuff, everywhere.

The nervous smoothing of skirts, twiddling of thumbs has begun.

Yes, we are sitting around, waiting for it.

It is supposed to be the biggest one to come to in 2017.

Are you ready for the biggest one this year.  Why, in Baltimore, it hasn't happened in months!

The ticking of the clock, the slowing of the hours.  

On TV, they are rapacious in their lust for it because the ratings will soar through the ceiling!

When, oh when, will it come?

And let us not even ponder the white mess.  It's amazing how fast that white stuff gets all watery.

Yes, a spring SNOW Storm is on the way.  Worst of all, its a Noreaster!

The panic buying in the stores has started.  The Giant was running low on milk.  Why?

BECAUSE WE HAVE TO BUY MILK BEFORE A SNOW STORM!

These people down here crack me up.  It is March 13th and you would think that they have never seen a Noreaster before.

Moreover, like I said, this is March 13th - it isn't like this is December or January and this snow is going to be with us for weeks.

More like a week, if that.

This is promising to more like a hot and heavy short term relationship with one great event followed by a lackluster finish.

UGH!

No, make that "ugh".

  

Yes, it is 2017 and we sit in the fucking dark burning candles...

...because BGE can't get its shit together.

Yesterday afternoon a weather front moved through the mid-Atlantic, bringing with it high windows that last 15 minutes.  So from 1:45 to 2:00 we had some wind gusts of up to 50mph.  EVERYTHING was fine until normal returned at 2:01.

At 2:03, the power went out.  Fuck, fuck, fuck.

BGE, aka Baltimore Gas and Electric, has some serious reliability issues so I called it in and the woman said power will be restored by 4:15PM.

So I started looking for things to do in the dimming light.  I washed woodwork, folded clothes, made the bed, made some files, and at 4:15, nada.  Still no power.

So I grabbed my laptop, called my husband and headed for the favored watering hole for the neighborhood.  I hunkered down and waited for the husband.

At 5:00 PM BGE has shut off its electric customer service phone center, and was playing a message that essentially said "You need to be quiet and use the online service."   But the online service wasn't working either. There were no updates, no nothing.

So we ate dinner, hung out until 6:30, went home, in the dark, got out the lanterns, found the fresh batteries, and noticed the people across the way had electric, so we headed down to our friend Trixie's house and hung out with her, which is always a blast.  We took the dogs so they could play with their buddies Buddy and Roscoe, so everyone was a winner.

I again called BGE who told me they could be out until morning.  Well, fuck me running.

FINALLY, at 9PM, the lights come up,

Well miracles of fucking miracles.  So we trudged home and spent a half an hour resetting clocks, timers, the battery on the security system - all of it.

Now today, the winds have been howling, and so far so good.

Still, it annoys the fuck out of me that 1) I need electricity this much and 2) A multi million dollar utility can't get it's shit together for a 15 minute fucking windstorm that knows out electricity to 2,000 homes.

Fuck you very much, BGE.  Fuck you.

And when we do our addition, its going to have a heavy duty generator built in.