Snow in New York

I took my annual pilgrimage to New Hampshire for Christmas again this year (driving my newly purchased car a significant distance for the first time). I try to plan my route and timing to avoid the worst weather (I hate driving in snow), and usually have decent luck (but Ohio likes to snow on me when you'd least expect it.)

I stopped halfway in Erie,PA, checked the weather the next morning before setting out and learned that there would be about an inch of lake effect snow near Buffalo in the course of the day. (If you don't know, Buffalo is about halfway through New York on the New York Thruway - the fastest way to get from the Midwest to New England). Although and inch wasn't too bad on the interstate, I decided to play it safe and take the southern route (I-86 - as far away from the lake and the "lake effect snow" as possible).

The snow started out light and I figured I'd be through the worst of it soon as I traveled east. Wrong! It turned to white-out conditions with the highway completely covered - not even a track to follow. I gave up in two hours after having made it 48 miles to Jamestown, NY.

I tucked myself into a hotel to wait it out and 10 hours and 11 inches of snow later - it stopped. I now longer trust the weather-guessers!

100,000

Of course, just a month after my 10-year old Honda Civic reached 100,000 miles (a badge of honor in my family) a woman decides not to stop at a light everyone else is stopped at and totals my car (Honda's tend to fold like accordions when hit).

The good news is that it's been replaced by a newer Honda Accord, the bad news is I really don't like stopping at stop lights when people are coming up behind me. With a little luck and some diligence by other drivers I might get this one to 100,000 too.

Dead traffic lights

I walk to work in the south loop area of downtown. I have to cross one particularly busy and dangerous street which involves traffic from four directions, turns with out turn arrow lights, and traffic coming off one of Chicago's busies highways merging with street traffic (often at very high speeds). This makes for some excitement. Also adding to the fun is a fire station less than a block away, if I don't get killed first I'm sure I'm going to witness an ambulance t-boning a bus at some point (I did witness a near miss already).

There is a poor hapless traffic light pole in the middle of this mess that gets taken out on a regular basis. I've decided to document it's violent life:


At one point I thought of the island the light pole stands on as a safe haven to stand on if I didn't make it all the way across the street in one light (which if you don't time it just right will happen, it's six lanes that need to be crossed) - now I know better, the light would have no chance in saving me from an oncoming speeding vehicle.

Vanity License Plates

I think of vanity license plates a little like tattoos – it’s almost impossible to find a single idea that is so important and timeless it won’t look a bit silly after some time.

Bragging about your job on Wall Street is a little foolish when the market tanks (especially if it’s attached to your sweet ride [it’s a Maserati] – it’ll make me [for one] wonder if you’ve made your latest payment).

I saw this one (on the bottom) shortly after noticing the Maserati – the only interpretation I can get from it is “GM stocks” –it’s on a GM car. But considering the shape the car industry is in, it’s not a great thing to brag about right now (I hope his pension isn't at risk).

People in the neighborhood

You never know who you might run into on the streets of Chicago on a sunny fall weekend.




Monks.

Sailors with Big Gulps.

Men painting a building high up on a scaffold.

Construction workers taking a lunch break.

A construction worker welding a beam in the middle of the street.

Young men playing cricket.

A freight train on the el?







This is why I like living in the city, and why I always travel with a camera.