Scott's writes: How I Survived the Blizzard of 2011

It snowed in Austin. It snowed perhaps 3 inches. Under that snow was a nice 1/2 inch layer of ice. Now couple that with the fact that most Texans really don't know how to drive on ice and you have one hell of a fun day on the highways. That is why I opted to walk to work today.

When I headed off to bed lasts night about midnight, I knew the bad weather was coming. There had been a freezing mist falling all evening, after the sun went down and snow was forecast for the early morning hours. When Angela took the old dog out to answer the call of nature at 4AM, there was a blanket of snow on the ground. When I got up at 5AM, the snow had stopped falling and it was white all around our house. Snow! Glorious snow....

It was not that I was worried about driving the 4 blocks to work that made me decide to walk. It was the thought of my new truck being parked in the middle of an ice rink all day and having the shoppers playing BUMPER CARS with the parked vehicles. I bundled up in by North Face winter coat and layered up with underwear, tights (leggings), military pants and two pull over shirts. I had gloves, a scarf and my trusted Bavarian hiking hat with the deer hair tassel on the side. I was ready for anything. I had to be at the store by 8AM and I only had to walk just a little over 1 mile to get there. I decided to head out by 6:30AM since I had remembered once before having to walk about 5 miles to work one winter and all the fun I had that year slipping and sliding all the way. This time, the walk was not a problem. I stuck to the fresh snow and avoided the ice and I actually made it to the store in about 25 minutes. Along the way, I managed to say good morning to a few folks out seeing what Mother Nature had deposited in their yards. One little boy was out walking his cat. Another group of kids were throwing snowballs at each other. School was cancelled today and the authorities were saying that if your were not essential, stay home...so, most folks stayed home. Amazing how you make that decision that you are not essential on days like this.

When I arrived at the store, I went for a cup of coffee and headed to the Pharmacy. I was a bit surprised to see one of my techs walking in about that time. He had gotten a call about 6:30 AM and had switched shifts with one of the girls who lived across town. It was going to be just Jeremy and me for the morning. We were the essential employees this morning. (I read an email when I got to work saying that if we thought it was too dangerous to drive, stay home...I wish they had sent that one to my home this morning). We only had one customer for the first hour or so after we opened. I did have my sweet Wife, You Know Who, walk up to the counter with my lunch, which I had left home. She always walks in the morning for exercise and this morning she swung by the store as part of her hike. I know she must have put in about 5 miles on her trip around the neighborhood.

The customer/patient load was light, the delivery orders were not coming to us before the afternoon (due to ice on the highway between Austin and San Antonio), and most of the Doctors were out of the office today. When things did thaw out, the patients began to venture out to our Pharmacy. By that time, it was the end of my shift and time for me to consider that walk home. Lucky for me, You Know Who came and picked me up. All and all, it was a nice day. I was glad when the shift was over. I am tired today after that short night and fun day. I hear that we are in for more snow this coming week. Oh Joy!