At the rental branch, my colleagues and I worked hard to get as much done before the weather hit hard. When it started to snow, we had plenty of vehicles to process from customers wanting to turn them in before the weather got too bad. I made several trips that afternoon to return customers to their residences--while traffic on the roads got much heavier. As the snow increased, we were not concerned about washing the exterior of the vehicles. Things wrapped up about closing time at 6 pm.
It was then that the real trouble began for me and other commuters. Streets were jammed with traffic and vehicles had problems with the snow and ice on the streets and highways. After nearly an hour of being stuck in traffic, I rerouted my way home using the Maps app on my phone. This involved taking side streets for the most part. They had very little traffic, but were tricky to drive on due to the snow that had not yet been plowed away. It took me about an hour on this route, but I arrived home safe and sound that night.
Waking up the next morning (12 January), I got dressed after breakfast to begin shoveling snow off the driveway. I first measured the snowfall to that point on the driveway. We had 7 inches (17.8 cm) here; other parts of the St. Louis area received up to 12 inches (30.5 cm). Then, I began to shovel the snow, and it was hard. The snow was wet and heavy, so it was a greater effort to move it than if it was a light powder type of snow. I took frequent breaks to rest up and reduce stress on my heart.
Sometimes, I came inside to rest, including having a cup of hot chocolate. That was most welcome on this day. I took some time to rest that afternoon, watching "The Grand Budapest Hotel" on DVD in my room. (The satellite TV was out until mid-afternoon, due to the weather.) Finally, I completed shoving all the snow off the driveway late that afternoon.
Because of the weather, three events I had planned to attend that day and night were called off. They included the Missouri Professional Communicators (http://www.mpc-nfpw.org/) meeting at the St. Louis Artists' Guild (https://www.stlouisartistsguild.org/) in Clayton, and the Cabin Fever festival at the Schlafly Bottleworks (http://www.schlafly.com/events/cabinfever/) in Maplewood. These will be held this Saturday (19 January). Also, a party for area Enterprise (https://www.enterprise.com/en/home.html) rental employees at Start Bar (https://startbarstl.com/) in downtown St. Louis was called off; it will be rescheduled for another time.
Just taking it easy at home today. Roads should be much better for tomorrow in getting to and from work, and Tuesday for the IPMS/Gateway meeting at Calvary Presbyterian Church (http://calvarypresbyterianchurch.org/).
Later.
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