A Bit Icey

The other day they were predicting an ice storm. That happens on a regular basis but more often than not the storm tracks slightly north and a bit south of us and we end up getting either rain or snow.  Or sometimes nothing at all.  This time, however, the storm tracked right over the top of us and we got the ice.  Schools began cancelling the night before.  Bright and early that morning Brombeere got a call from her school letting her know her school was cancelling for the day.  But I still had to go to work. 

So I went out through the garage, as usual, and was greeted by a driveway all shiny with a nice layer of ice all over everything.  Made me really wish we were able to park our cars in the garage but that's a story for another day.  As it was, from the garage door all the way out to the street was glare ice.

All the cars were coated with ice, cold and slick.  I knew the walk passed the first car to the one I was taking to work was probably going to be the hardest part of the commute to work.

Walking very slowly and carefully, I made my way to the car.  I unlocked it with the fob and reached in to start it.  Made me wish I could have remote started it but my check engine light had come on a day or two before so the remote start wasn't working.  After getting the car started I started chipping away at the ice on the windshield.  It took a while to make any headway against all the ice and before too long it looked like my windshield was all shattered and broken.

That was a bit of a trick because I had to lean across the front of the car and chip hard at the ice.  It reminded me of what I have heard about working in space.  When the first astronauts tried putting a wrench on a bolt and turning it they turned instead because there was no friction, no resistance.  That's kind of how it was chipping away at the ice.  I had to be real careful my feet didn't slip out from under me. 

My goal this and every winter was to not fall down. I am glad to report that I got the windshield scraped without falling.  It took a while to get it clear enough to drive. Fortunately, the car running began to warm up and help soften the ice.

None of these pictures really show it but there was at least 1/16th of an inch of ice all over everything.  Frequently in the mornings I have to scrape a bit of frost off the windshield but this took me a lot longer than normal.  But finally I got it clear enough to go.  And, sure enough, the worst part of the trip was my own driveway.  The city crews had been out since early and salted the streets thoroughly and the drive was pretty much like normal.