Archie FlorCruz / December 1, 2005 12:05 PM

ABS foot massage.

robin.. / December 1, 2005 12:10 PM

the best part was Abby Ryan's hyperbole on the 'bez traffic report this AM. i've never heard her say "horrible" and "terrible" and "a nightmare" with such certainty. she was *this close* to telling us all it was "chaos of near-biblical proportions on the roads this morning."

everybody watch yer step, and (yay!) isn't it nice looking for a day or so, before the slush and the grey settles over it all?

jennifer / December 1, 2005 12:20 PM

i love snow. nuff said!

Paula / December 1, 2005 12:28 PM

I'm torn. I love the way snow makes everything look all pristine and white and put me in the holiday spirit, I'm aching to try out the X-country skis I bought at the end of the season last year, and I can't complain about slippery driving conditions because my 4WD Hybrid Escape finally arrived, but it does make my rather long commute rather longer. That said, I'll take the occasionally shitty commute in exchange for the other good stuff.

Erica / December 1, 2005 12:51 PM

It put me in a good mood.
What's up with Chicago/burb drivers being all freaked out by a little snow? I can't believe how people who've lived here forever forget how to drive in snow every year.
E

Eamon / December 1, 2005 12:52 PM

Yay! Rebuttal?

Jimson Weed #1fan / December 1, 2005 1:15 PM

yea you know, I aint trippin off the snow cuz, I just moved down here and now I take the train to work, used to be you'd catch me on that turnpike out to my job but things change and now I push a train pass on my way to the grind, so, i say let em snow and let's try to pray to God nobody get hurt up on that highway with the slickness. God Bless

j / December 1, 2005 1:18 PM

Very perceptive Gapersblock.com, job well done...

Who cares.

Cinnamon / December 1, 2005 1:22 PM

I saw the snow this morning, had to get up earlier than usual, had two cats purring and convincing me to stay in bed, and I had the "I'm not getting sick, I'm not getting sick" mantra running through my head right away.

It's pretty but it makes me wish I could stay home with a cuppa tea and some bad tv to go with my knitting obsession.

amy / December 1, 2005 1:35 PM

This snow makes me think that Paul Konrad is a big fat liar....

I had to go from Homewood to O'Hare @ 5:30 this morning. According to WGN - there's light light snow in the southwest and western suburbs. I'm thinking cool - I'm southeast. Literally 15 miles from Indiana southeast.

Go outside and see 1" of snow. At 5:30 am - and everybody forgot how to drive.

I know the south suburbs suck - but for the love of god people - nothing was salted, no weather report said anything accurate and then I got to stay in a car for 5 HOURS this morning just to take someone to the airport and get back downtown to work.

On the other hand, I got my keys to my apartment NEAR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. No more car crap for me!!!

Yay me!

julie / December 1, 2005 1:40 PM

i love it.

i grew up in texas and didn't even see "real" snow until i was 16. i take what i can get now.

matty / December 1, 2005 1:46 PM

This is pure snow! Do you have any idea what the street value of this sidewalk is?

misty / December 1, 2005 1:47 PM

More please. Like back in 99. Snow gets good when it interrupts commerce. Though, you gotta keep an eye out for your elderly and otherwise not very mobile neighbors during those heavy snows, make sure they are warm and have their needs taken care of. It's something that our culture could stand to learn a bit more about. Anybody got any tips on bein' neighborly? It also means lots of road salt, which is hell on plant life and not particularly good for air quality either check this Chicago Wilderness article .

slb / December 1, 2005 1:49 PM

I hate it. the only thing that gets me through the winter is thinking about how nice it will be when it all melts, and things get green again.

on the other hand, it sure is pretty falling from the sky. if it would just fall, then melt on impact - i'd be a fan.

Dutch / December 1, 2005 2:07 PM

I am really really happy it is snowing. It is making me really want to go skiing, even though I haven't been for like 5 years.

I also like it when it snows enough to cause real chaos and disruption. It always amuses me.

hench / December 1, 2005 2:11 PM

gross gross gross. going to hibernate in garfield park conservatory with a thermos full of hot toddies.

paul / December 1, 2005 2:19 PM

Snow is fine with me. I only complain when it gets 'too cold to snow'.

I just came back from Phoenix yesterday, and I thought it was pretty cool to go from saguaros to snow in a few hours.

tony / December 1, 2005 2:31 PM

My feelings about snow were nicely captured in an old Calvin and Hobbes strip:

"SNOW!"
"COME ON, SNOW!"
*rrrgh*
"DO YOU WANT ME TO BECOME AN ATHEIST?!"

Geoff / December 1, 2005 2:33 PM

Snow hasn't really affected my day so it is still too early to be able to tell adventure stories about the snow.

This morning I was brushing the snow off my car and my neighbor decided to just drive off without brushing the snow off her car. She stopped almost half a block later when she must have realised what a mistake that would be and brushed the snow off her car as well. I was amused. I've been stuck in my office since then but I'm loking forward to more adventures in the snow.

I wonder how many people have started claiming their own parking spot already.

steven / December 1, 2005 2:35 PM

Snow is great, up until right after New Years, then I'm done. No mas, por favor.

And if anyone tries to save a spot with a chair/bucket/lamp on my block, too bad, I'm taking it.

YAJ / December 1, 2005 2:51 PM

Yeah! I love the snow for the promise of a season of cross country skiing to come.
Our ever-goofy dog appears to love it too. He was skidding around the yard this morning trying to scoop/shovel it with his face while still running. We rescued him last spring, too late for skiing. I can’t wait to get him out on the trails this year.

My hubby keeps this hand-me-down snow blower that he’s always gonna fix injustaminute, but I just shovel it, toss it at the dogs, bury the remaining un-raked leaves and cover my patchy lawn with it. Ahhhh snow!

jen / December 1, 2005 3:09 PM

you call this snow? hah! hah, i say!

what we got today is a dusting! why does everyone here shit their pants when we get 1"?!?
[i'm sorry, but i grew up in the snow belt. all this panicking over what may accumulate to a whopping 6" is pathetic!]

and i agree with steven. i'll move your lawn chairs and brooms to the trash, i don't give a shit. you move it, you lose it. that's why i keep a shovel in my trunk.

leah / December 1, 2005 3:23 PM

This morning the guy in front of me made the loveliest snow squeaking steps as we headed to the train. I think it was his shoes b/c I could've snuck up on a cat--no snow squeaks coming from me.

emyduck / December 1, 2005 4:21 PM

it makes me incredibly happy i don't have a car anymore. no shoveling, no searching for spots amongst snow drifts, no chipping ice off the windshield.

just standing in the freezing windy cold waiting for the bus.

Carrie / December 1, 2005 4:22 PM

I love the first snowfall when it's still pretty and clean. As soon as the cars and dogs come out and mess it up, I'm done with it.

Actually, as long as it's my choice to be playing in the snow, then I don't mind it. I get kind of crabby though when it's all slushy and my boots and pants are getting all crappy and I'm just heading into work. I'm very against cold, wet feet and pants.

And PS: this is barely snow. I could still see some grass on my way in this morning.

bam / December 1, 2005 4:25 PM

Love, love, love the snow. Little snows, big snows, but especially the massive ones (12"+) that cause everyone to slow down, cancel 'important' plans, and spend a day doing nothing much at all -- like sipping wine and baking bread and reflecting upon our relationship with the natural world.

Just laid on a fresh coat of NikWax on the boots, freshend up the DWR on the gore tex pants and coats! I'm ready -- bring it on!!!

Kevin / December 1, 2005 5:16 PM

Our dog loves to channel his inner sled dog when he sees the snow (he's a 65 lb pure-blooded mutt). If you give him any slack on his leash, he nearly rips your arm out of the socket. It never fails to amuse me.

Stephen / December 1, 2005 8:08 PM

I don't mind the snow. I like it when the snow reflects the general city light, making the cloudy sky glow orange in the middle of the night. Coupled with how it insulates sound, going outside in the fresh snow at 3am is always a quiet treat for me.

I gots me some snazzy snow tires for my car too so I actually look forward to driving in the stuff.

mike-ts / December 1, 2005 9:25 PM

Ask this question when there is an accumulation of snow that deadens traffic noise, not for a dusting.

I'm sorry, but if this was Ft. Lauderdale and we got snow, or if we got an amount to tell future generations about then hey, let's discuss this. But this sort of thing happens every year since this is, well, the place it happens. Kind of like Tuscon people talking about the sunny say.

But yet, seeing the way people drive as if they haven't driven on it before, maybe it is a new, novel item. No two snowflakes are alike, so maybe no snowfall is like the last one, so hey, let's approach the stop sign at 20 mph and lock brakes at the last second, even though it's early and no salt has been applied yet, expect to stop on a dime.

vit / December 1, 2005 9:54 PM

There was snow today? I hardly noticed. I did like the snowfall, but honestly folks, there was hardly any to speak of.

Brittany / December 1, 2005 10:38 PM

Oh, Lordy!

Adoresixtyfour.com / December 2, 2005 12:23 AM

No, there wasn't much snow. Yes, people are freaking out about it too much. But then again, so were both of my ankles, one of which has been broken twice and the other of which was sprained last week. So who am I to say anything?

matty / December 2, 2005 7:57 AM

I don't know if someone else has mentioned it but you can weed out the natives from the transplants here once winter comes around.

A true chicagoan knows that:

1. When it gets cold, you wear a coat.
2. When February rolls around, and you just can't take another day of salted, grey streets and cracked marble skies, you head to L.A, where everyone is beautiful and it is always sunny and you say to yourself "I could live here" but then you go to a bar and you realize that you actually have to speak to these people and you start missing Chicago like all get out and you come home just in time for spring and the city blossoms once again and you say to yourself "man, I'm glad I'm home!"

Moon / December 2, 2005 8:42 AM

SNOW!
It won't be long until all be there with Snooooooooooowwww!
I wanna wash my face, my hands, my hair with snow.

Do re me fa so la ti SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW!

spence / December 2, 2005 9:04 AM

Don't eat it if it's yellow.

matt / December 2, 2005 9:18 AM

jen brings up an interesting point...

Why the hell does everybody try and make it out like wherever they grew up the weather is SOOOO much worse than [insert new place of residence here]. Am I supposed to think that you're cool because your hometown had shitty weather? Seriously?

jen / December 2, 2005 9:38 AM

yeah, i'm saying i'm better than you, matt. no, i'm saying this snow is nothing (and if you'll notice, it's all but gone today anyway).
where i grew up was also, generally, less cold than here in chicago, and definitely less windy. so chicago is SOOOOO much worse than [where i grew up] - does that make it better for you?
hahahahaha.

the Scrubbaboy / December 2, 2005 9:41 AM

And everyplace says it about everyplace else...

matty / December 2, 2005 9:58 AM

go bears

Transient / December 2, 2005 10:27 AM

"I don't know if someone else has mentioned it but you can weed out the natives from the transplants here once winter comes around."

You sure can ... The natives mark their stupid parking spots with lawn furniture and the transplants don't.

e_five / December 2, 2005 10:48 AM

I'm from Los Angeles, and I've been here 20 years now. Once I learned about the importance of layers and Carmex, I've hardly noticed the weather.

Emerson Dameron / December 2, 2005 12:44 PM

Love it in November-December. Hate it in February-March. Hate February in general. Grew up in NC, so I still get excited about it, even though I'll never get used to the wind. Feels like someone hitting my fingers, one at a time, with a hammer.

Emerson Dameron / December 2, 2005 12:47 PM

Our resident ray o' sunshine e_five is from Cali? Honestly, I'd've never guessed.

Veronica / December 2, 2005 1:22 PM

Aside from it being a little too early to be this cold, I'm a fan. Snow is so pretty when it's falling and you get to make the first set of footprints. I love bundling up and wearing scarves and gloves and then changing into fleece pajamas and pulling my blankets up to my neck. Coffee and tea taste better and soups are infinitely satisfying.

The wind, however, I could do without.

Steve / December 2, 2005 3:24 PM

Sadly, the first morning snow of my self-employed, work-from-home, no-commute-of-any-sort life has already come and gone....

dav3 / December 3, 2005 12:49 AM

snow? what snow?

Kelly / December 3, 2005 6:45 AM

I'm from California, too - the first winter I was miserable, even under all my layers. By the second winter I just miraculously adjusted - I still packed on the layers but I didn't feel like I was going to die each time I stepped outside.

One thing I can't quite get a handle on, though, is keeping my hands warm. I wear up to three pairs of gloves at a time, and they still just hurt like crazy.

Leelah / December 3, 2005 1:45 PM

There's never enough for me to go cross country skiing more than once in a season....
More snow, fewer ice cold, below zero days!

sousboy / December 4, 2005 2:03 PM

It's Flacky!

Brandy / December 4, 2005 2:43 PM

Yesterday I was in Ybor City next to Tampa. Just in time for Santa Fest. They shipped in a corner of snow piled up. Kids were lined up forever to get a chance to frolick in the stuff. Down the street a snowmaking machine had people going nuts.

Gave me a nice appreciate for the white stuff when I saw it out the airplane window at 7am this morning.

Eamon / December 4, 2005 2:59 PM

My neighbors shoveled my walk this morning since I raked their lawns last week.

Best. Neighborhood. Ever.