A question for those whom have never known snow...

The harshness of a winter is relative to each person based on what they've been accustomed to. A 60 degree day now would feel warm, in June, cold. Same thing.

Isn't it, though? So pretty as it falls. It's starting to stick, too... 2 to 4 inches by morning.

I kind of realized that to those with little snow experience; snow = lovely & picturesque, something to appreciate for its beauty.
But to those who(m) have become accustomed it and what it brings; snow = chaos & pain, something to fear!

we all suck and are bitches.

For me, heat will always trump cold because in few parts of the country does heat hurt. Sure, you can suffer heat stroke and heat exhaustion, but rarely by just standing around, and even in hot parts of the country those aren't usual risks for a typical summer day. Waiting for the bus in sub-zero weather, bundled up like that kid from A Christmas Story, and still in pain because of how cold the air is when I inhale? Dud. But that's just the "I hate being covered in sweat after walking to the mailbox" analogue; ultimately there is not much objective to say about weather except to note that it happens.

We had quite a good snowfall about three years ago, really thick and heavy and the best I've seen in my lifetime.

Last year Kev and I went 'snowchasing' and ended up in a carpark in Aberfoyle doing handbrake turns in the two inches of snow. We were only about thirty miles from home but even as we drove back towards Glasgow the snow was disappearing.

How do you make snow cream?

Give it a blow-job fnar fnar.

I don't think I could live without snow. Like rain, the sea, wind etc. It's good that I live in Scotland.

It's both to me. Sometimes simultaneously.

I'm with Tep re: The Heat vs. The Cold. In addition to what he said, The Cold is more soul-destroying than heat. Heat makes you lazy and tired and sweaty. Cold makes you want to kick God in the balls with cleats. I don't know how it is elsewhere, but here it's cloudy 4 out of 5 days in the winter. That coupled with The Cold makes one miserable. In Phoenix in July, the heat is oppressive but at least it's sunny. Sunshine does me good. I spent a good deal of time in Phoenix during the summer months, helped my sister move when it was 113F. It did suck, but not as much as the time I helped her move back to Chicago and it took me half an hour to get the lock off the back of the truck because it was frozen. In a Phoenix summer, the night provides a bit of a respite. Still hot, but you could go for a hike or a stroll without too much discomfort. In a Chicago winter, it's cold as fuck during the day, and EVEN COLDER at night. Fuck this shit.

but doesn't being angry have more soul than being lazy??

(but yes of course if you did manage to kick god's balls, he'd damn well really destroy your soul)

Funny, oops.

xpost yeah that would be ideal. nice place to visit, etc.

In Chicago, people are the same way. Those going way too fast tend to be SUVs and others who have 4 wheel drive, which helps you get going in the snow but doesn't help at all when braking, genius.

shutoff for the bathroom could be in the basement. i would call a plumber to see if they can tell you where it might be even if they can't come out right now. could save you a lot of trouble and $ in the future. like your bathtub falling through the ceiling as in breaking bad!

we don't have basements here! as f. hazel was saying, I believe the tub that is against the exterior wall is the culprit.

I've had frozen pipes in Georgia and Oregon and both times the problem was a pipe within an exterior, noninsulated wall

I worked on a gut and remodel of a Craftsman-style bungalow, when we got to tearing off the exterior walls, the insulation was torn up newspaper from the '20s.

Tons of houses like that in Houston and Dallas - in the Sun Belt boom areas, the situation is less dire with houses built later.

Yeah my house growing up in AU had external pipes, or at least exposed and in the garage.

Even we once had blocked pipes due to a freezing winter (about -10C). But only the once.

...and we're back to sunny and highs in the upper 60s. it's beautiful outside, which belies how deeply traumatized people are.

only a 60 degree shift in less than a week, no biggie. It is very strange how it's just gone, but there's a lot left to do to get back to fully functioning.

I think the rapid shifts increase the psychological weight - it happens every lesser winter storm, everyone is dazed for a few days because it so quickly ramps back into being nice. This time I'm seeing so many people with a thousand yard stare.

Yeah, and after a year of COVID a lot of people went into this with not much left in the tank. And having your own home turn into hostile territory after months of being your sole refuge just breaks your brain.

I checked my receipts, and it looks like I started planning for this on the 7th, I bought a bunch of firewood and placed a big HEB curbside order for the 10th. At the time it seemed like overkill, now I'm glad I did it since I ended up hosting a guest for four days. My hands are still all torn to shit from digging in the ice for water shutoff valves.

And this was a statewide disaster event, unlike a hurricane, which just pounds the coastal areas but generally falls apart into rain and minor wind incidents by the time they get to Austin or DFW.