Watch Out For the Flakes

Whew! I thought I'd never make it to work today...what with all that snow. We Richmonders really got hit hard, as usual.
And, a special tip of the hat to WWBT. On Sunday morning they had their Slush Team 12 on the air at 5:30 or so. As you already know if you live around these parts, we had a major snow dusting Saturday night into Sunday morning. True, it wasn't quite as major as what New York City faced, but those two inches scared more than a few of us here.
Evidently it downright petrified the good folks at channel 12. Every reporter was just a little more traumatized than the preceeding one. I saw one gal in the field showing us all the slush that had accumulated on a back alley. It was probably almost as much ice as that time I emptied out onto the ground my McDonald's Diet Pepsi cup before throwing it in the trash. I know there had to be at least 1/32 of an inch of accumulation on whatever roadway the lady was standing beside. I wish I knew her name. I'd like to thank her personally for sacrificing her own safety to bring us that report.
I woke up and saw all the church closings crawling across the bottom of the screen and figured we'd gotten a wallop. I guess there are a lot of preachers out there who would do anything to not have to get up on a cold Sunday morning. You'd think if you worked only one day a week you'd be anxious to go to work that day. Think again.
Channel 12 was scrambling desperately to turn the overnight dusting into a reason for a special newscast. They sent one reporter out to the airport. He breathlessly filed a story on how the weather was playing havoc with the airlines' schedules. And to prove it, he interviewed a guy who had braved the slushzard to go meet his wife who was flying in.
The guy said he expected his wife's plane to land in about ten minutes. Imagine that sort of wait. But wait, there's more. The reporter then went on to admit that the gentleman's wife's plane had not been delayed, but he assured us that some planes were delayed. Evidently he just couldn't find anyone who was actually impacted by that.
Jim Duncan had gotten up early to tell us that we had dodged another bullet. I hate that. Boy, did he have egg on his face. No, I don't mean he was embarrassed. I think that really was a little yoke stuck to the corner of his mouth.
Anyway, we surived this one...somehow. But don't start feeling too comfortable just yet. I hear the weather gurus are calling for frost later on in the week. Be careful out there, and whatever you do, no matter how harmless the weather might seem to be, there's one thing WWBT's trauma team kept reminding us of, and, I'll pass that reminder on to you. I'll come right out and say those two terrifying words that will keep all sane folks off the road until at least mid-March...black ice.