As many of you know, Philadelphia is now recovering from the worst
blizzard in recorded history.  We just received over 30 inches of snow
breaking several records including the most snow from one storm which
was 21.3 inches.  With sustained winds of over 35 mph the wind chill
has been well below zero.  Although we received only snow, the plows
have been minimally effective since the wind keeps blowing the snow
back onto the streets and sidewalks.  They've resorted to hauling
truck-loads of snow away and dumping it in the river.  Driving is next
to impossible and is in fact illegal until 6 am tomorrow - the fine is
$300.  They've closed the airport and shut down the city.  They've
declared a state of emergency and it's only a matter of time before
they impose martial law.  It's very exciting.

On the bright side, it's very pretty out there and will likely remain
so until the snow turns black.  With so much of it out there, I can't
see that happening for a while, at least another 24 hours.  It's quiet
and white everywhere you look.  It's like the North Pole, but with
less traffic.

I spent the morning listening to the news coverage, but had to turn it
off after the 17th time the used the phrase "6 am in the morning".
Then I spent two hours putting on layers of clothing and one hour
removing excess layers to prevent heat stroke.  I wandered around town
for a while and, in the spirit of killing the messenger, I delivered
one of Anthony Kosky's home-made muffins to the local weatherman.

Some reactions to the storm...

Jonathan Crabtree:

	Call this a blizzard?  Why, back in England we used to
	routinely have 30 or more inches of snow.  Take the 70s, for
	instance; we must have had at least this much during the 70s.

Anthony Kosky:

	Sounds like fun.  Just think, if we were all still in Philly
	then we could build a giant 6' snow-penis, and then throw
	snowballs at Craig while he pretended not to know us.

Brett Achorn:

	I loved it.  It was better than Cats.  I'm going to see it
	again and again.

Craig Sayers:

	Yesterday I filled the windscreen washer bottle with
	anti-freeze de-icing stuff.  This morning turned on the
	washers for the first time, streams of blue liquid covered the
	windscreen and I happily waited for the wipers to swish it all
	away.  There was a clunk, the wipers came unstuck and started
	to move, but unfortunately it was so cold the rubber stips
	wouldn't bend to meet the glass so they just swished back and
	forth above the ponds of blue liquid conveniently blocking my
	view.

	I think I'll move to California.

Have fun Craig.  I prefer blizzards and hurricanes to earthquakes and
Anthony.  It's comforting to know that we aren't expecting another
major winter storm for four days.  Please send donations to MACE
(Mothers Against Cabin fEver).