Monday, January 25, 2010

This is getting old in a hurry

I am sorry but this post will have little to do with writing and a lot of gripes involved. Here we go: I have to say this is possibly the worst winter I have ever remembered. The weather has been one miserable storm after another with no breaks in sight. Even our "thaw" we were supposed to have this weekend only caused flooding and when it re-froze caused slick streets. Last night while coming home from my mother-in-laws (where we spent the previous night because, while we finally got power back after several days of staring at candles for entertainment our well has gone bad so we have no water) I saw several people in their cars slide off the road because of black ice. Black ice is ice that just looks like wet road. It is very dangerous because it looks so unsuspecting.

So my daughter doesn't have school again today. I have lost track of how many days they have called it this year on account of the weather. We don't have running water in our house (I am drinking my orange juice this morning from a throw-away cup and would do the same with my cereal if I had paper bowls to put it in.)

the only good news is that I have caught up on some of my reading. I read Sideshow P.I.-The Devil's Garden by Nathanial Lambert and Kevin Sweeney (which was awesome, more about that later) and I am halfway through Gary Pool's recollections of his Vietnam experience as an EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) Xuc May (Never Happen). It is a self-published book and has the grammatical errors of one but it is an interesting book that reads like he is sitting there telling you the stories in person (which he has, because he installed a central air conditioning unit in my last house). (I am going to give him a plug for it now, www.xucmay.com (no one will ever try to take that address from him) If you ever interested in reading a soldiers recollection of the military life (and maybe some ideas for your own writing, I have come up with several nightmare scenarios I could form a story around) I would recommend looking it up.

It amazes me how much reading you can get done when you have nothing else to do. I can't clean without water, I can't do dishes, wash laundry. Without power there was no internet, no television, no movies, no building things in the shop. I did get a little bit of writing done in my hopefully YA book I am calling Moonbow, at least until the battery died on my laptop. It makes one thankful for all of the modern conveniences that we take for granted every day. It also makes me wish that the sun put in more than half a day a week this year.

16 comments:

Alan W. Davidson said...

Sorry to hear about the continued nasty weather. From what you have blogged, and what I have seen on the news, it would probably be the worst I have seen as well.

I now bestow upon you the title of "Honourary Canadian." Wishing you warmer weather soon...

Jeremy D Brooks said...

Sucks...too many winters of that kind of madness is what drove me to the desert.

Jamie Eyberg said...

Alan, this is one for the record books. I will take the honor of being Canadian if in title only. :)

Jeremy, I have tried the desert for a week. I like having a green yard and seasonal change too much. I would need to move someplace temperate with very mild winters and comfortable summers. (Does anyone know of such a place?)

K.C. Shaw said...

Sounds like a horrible situation out there. I hope it thaws out soon and you have an early spring. But at least you have books to while away the weary hours!

Aaron Polson said...

Hang in there, man. Winters...gah. You can always write long hand in front of candles (while using the candles to thaw ice for drinking water).

Katey said...

Miserable about the weather, but the reading almost offsets! I love personal accounts like Xuc May, though I'm not sure if I can handle it. Vietnam stories depress me for weeks (yet I always come back for more.)

I really love the title Moonbow. If I saw that on a shelf-- now or when I was a YA myself-- I would've snagged it instantly and read the back, at the very least!

Cate Gardner said...

Counting the days until Easter.

Barry Napier said...

Winter is being mean to you, huh? but way to go on the YA book progress!

Unknown said...

Man, that sucks. I'm sorry you're having a rough patch there.

Fox Lee said...

Staring at candles is boring. It's when they start staring back that you have a problem.

Carrie Harris said...

Wow. I hope you thaw soon. Stay safe.

Jamie Eyberg said...

Katey, Xuc May is actually pretty light hearted. It does deal with war, but the side you rarely read about. Now I might have to consider moonbow as an actual title instead of a working title.

Cate, At the rate we are going we could still have months of melting to go from then.

Barry, my progress is being measured in sentences and not pages these days. Still, I will take what I can get.

Jeremy, I have a pioneer spirit (in a new 21st Century way).

Nat, maybe you just need different candles.

Carrie, and I just heard that Vancouver may have problems with having enough snow for the olympics. Something is wrong with this.

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Danielle Birch said...

I hope the weather improves very soon - am sending some sunshine your way.

Sara Jackson said...

It just goes to show you that modern conveniences can fail us, but books never will. When in doubt read, right?

Jamie Eyberg said...

Danielle, your sunshine arrived today, with only a little bit of snow preceding it.

Sara, exactly. I never have to worry about the pages in my books going out because the battery has died. I only need to worry about the flashlight I am reading it with.