Entry 31: 23 December 2002, 2:15pm
About 11am the rain switched over to snow. By 11:20 the snow had started sticking to the ground (the temperature was still 34 degrees, but the snow was falling faster than the ground could melt it). The above pictures (click on any for a larger version) were taken at 1:45pm, less than 2½ hours after it had started sticking. I've already lost my satellite signal once due to snow on the dish (about the only drawback to having your local broadcast channels coming over the satellite). At least on my side of town we've already  had a good half-foot of snow, and it's not supposed to be over for another 24 hours.

As I'm typing this it looks like the snow has stopped for the moment, and none too soon. I've been hearing branches cracking off some of the trees in the back yard (upper left pic, BTW). It's just a matter of time before one of those branches falls on a power line.

In a way, I'm glad I screwed up paying that one bill. If I hadn't, I'd've been out today doing Christmas shopping. But since I have to wait until next pay day, I can stay at home all snug & warm. As long as the roads are cleaned off by the time I have to go back to work Wednesday, I think I'll be fine.

As long as I don't have to get back up on that ladder to clean off the satellite dish again. Can't stand heights.


Entry 32: 23 December 2002, 2:43pm

Here's a link to Channel 2's towercam, to see how the roads currently look. There are some other streetcams out there that I usually frequent, but as of this typing they're all snowed over. This one is the only good one I coud find. Another currently-good cam can be found on Channel 6's home page, here's the link for it. (Can't link you straight to the web cam, because channel 6 frequently and selfishly rotates the page location, so that people like me can't provide links to particular graphics; they'd rather make you visit their home page so they can deliberately inflate their counter numbers.)

The news stations are breaking in with updates roughly every half-hour. According to Travis on Channel 8 (OK, equal time: here's a link to that station's weather page) the Tulsa area has received from 3 to 8 inches of snow, depending on what part of town you're in, with another 1-2 inches expected before the storm passes tomorrow. And Travis says if you don't have front-wheel drive, don't even try to get out in this.

It has started to snow again here, but very lightly. At least, compared to what it was doing earlier.


Entry 33: 24 December 2002, 10:16pm
Well, the final totals are in: Tulsa officially got six inches of snow yesterday and another 1½ inches this morning, guaranteeing Tulsa's sixth White Christmas in my lifetime (37 years). The sun ever-so-briefly tried to shine through today, helping to create some whopping icicles, as seen above left. And above right are some people playing in the nearby schoolyard. Hard to see it in the picture but at the bottom of the slide they had formed some snow into a launching ramp. One kid was a good few feet in the air. 

The snowfall caused part of the roof to collapse at the 31st & Garnett Hobby Lobby. Maybe now they'll have an excuse to redesign the place. Most women I know who go there are only after stuff at one end of the building or the other, and they don't care anything about the stuff in between. I realize that was probably the point of designing it that way, but that still doesn't make it right.

Tried to take a picture of the outside of my house last night, but as I tried to do it from the street so I wouldn't have to walk through deep snow I was too far away to get anything good. Was able to get a closeup of one area, though.

Well, tomorrow it's back to work, so hopefully the sun will come out and try the roads off, despite how cold it's gonna be (it's already 22 on my front porch, so it's gonna be a coooollllllllllllld one tonight). Probably won't have another update for a few days, so let me take this time to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Oh, and wish me luck on tomorrow night's Powerball drawing.


 Entry 34: 30 December 2002, 10:10pm
 On Christmas Day, I indeed had to return to work. The side streets were still yicky, but the main roads were pretty much cleaned off. The above pictures were taken Christmas morning in my driveway while waiting for the car to warm up. Took several more pictures along the way to work, which can be found over on a new section of Roadklahoma, Excursions. Kinda like Sidetrips, except it's gonna mostly be comprised of pictures, with very little commentary.

According to the temperature gauge on my front porch, the last time the temperature was below freezing was Thursday morning, so the snow has been melting continuously since then. And melting into my basement. And flooding the base of the hot water heater so that the pilot light goes out. I have had to relight the pilot five times since Friday, and I still have to do it a sixth. The snow was totally melted by Sunday afternoon, so hopefully this will be the last time.

We finally got around to looking at the Christmas lights last night. Got several pictures of the lights, most of them blurred, but they have also been posted to the Excursions section.

Didn't win Powerball (didn't match a single number, in fact), but have started early designs on my Powerball house. Three stories, connecting indoor-outdoor pools, and miniature golf course. If there are enough millions left over, a Route 66 museum with a unique shape. More on that some other day.

Not much else has gone on. Special message coming tomorrow.

Entry 35: 31 December 2002, 2:32pm

Well, here's the Special Message, from my neighborhood Coney Island:


Does it get any more blatant? Anyway, here's wishing you all a happy and safe new year. Hope your 2003 is infinitely better than your 2002.