On Monday, February 11, 2019 at 8:40:05 AM UTC-10, tert in seattle wrote:
> People panicked here in the Seattle area last Thursday, as evidenced
> by my local Fred Meyer being completely out of shopping carts when I
> arrived around 6pm to pick up a few things. I had done my major shopping
> the day before and as always I managed to forget something. I soon found
> where all the shopping carts had gone - they were manned by restive
> customers standing in lines 20 deep, going halfway up the aisles. I
> must say things were pretty calm despite the gridlock and lack of
> essentials like bread and bananas. Fortunately I had "about 12 items"
> and the express lane lines were more reasonable.
>
> Friday I left work around 12:30 and headed toward the kids' school.
> I thought I might grab a bite for lunch before their early dismissal
> at 2:15 due to impending snow. Sure enough the flakes started coming
> down hard around 12:45 so I went straight to the school and after
> about 30 minutes had rounded up both my kids and we were on our way.
> Our trip home usually takes about 25 minutes but on Friday everyone
> decided to hit the roads at the same time so it took us two hours,
> mostly due to gridlock in the Central District. Fortunately I had
> pizza and clif bars for us to munch on during the journey. My main
> concern was my bladder but it still had some room left by the time we
> got home.
>
> Friday's dinner was bratwurst with sauerkraut and fried potatoes and
> a tossed salad. Saturday's breakfast was pancakes and bacon. Then we
> went out to play in the snow. We came back in for some pasta with red
> sauce, and discussed what our afternoon adventure would be. Well we knew
> we wanted to go sledding, it was just a matter of where. I tried my
> chains and decided after driving a couple blocks that maybe it's better
> to walk to the nearest hill rather than drive, park in the snow and not
> be certain if my car could get moving again. I'll save driving for when
> it's necessary.
>
> After sledding we came home to warm up and have some sandwiches.
> The boys' mom came to pick them up and I was on my own. I had the
> leftover brats and sauerkraut for dinner and some chips. Ice cream
> for dessert.
>
> Sunday morning I tried Bob's Red Mill "Organic Whole Grain High Fiber
> Hot Cereal" for the first time. I bought it because I've been wanting
> to try something organic and they didn't have organic steel cut oats,
> and I thought this might be the next best thing. Well, the texture is
> about a 1.5 on a scale to 10. There's nothing to really chew on, and
> it's got this glutionus almost rubbery consistency. The added butter and
> almond milk helped a little but I think all hope is lost here as far as
> an enjoyable eating experience. My homemade breakfast sausage offset
> the unpleasantness enough that I could choke down all that fiber. There's
> a recipe for muffins on the bag which I may attempt, although I will
> be prepared for a rubbery result.
>
> I wanted to make my lentil soup but didn't have any ginger so I decided
> to take a different approach. One of my kids loves that recipe but the
> other one says "there's some weird taste in there" which I suspect if
> not the lentils themselves might be the cumin. So I came up with something
> that tastes good with no cumin: tomato sauce and oregano! Here's the
> procedu dice one carrot and one celery stalk, fry in oil of your
> choice (I choose olive) and then add some minced garlic. Once they're
> all tender add 4c veg stock and 1c lentils. Let that cook for a while
> and add 1c tomato sauce, and oregano. Easy, and very tasty.
>
> After fortifying myself with a large portion of this lentil soup I
> headed out for a walk. The residential streets don't get plowed here
> but the arterials were wet or slushy. I didn't see a lot of cars driving
> around.
>
> Dinner was a massive BLT with dill pickles. I took my other BOGO pork
> shoulder out of the freezer on Friday in anticipation of being stuck for
> several more days, but temps are rising and this may all be over by
> tomorrow if the rains come and wash all the snow away. But the rain could
> freeze, too - so it'll be roast pork for dinner, with carrots and
> potatoes.
>
> I'm scheduled to report for jury duty tomorrow, so regardless of what
> Mother Nature decides, the disruptions to normal routine will continue
> for me.

The last time we were in the Seattle area during Thanksgiving, I was told that the locals were just freaking out at the snow that got dumped in the area. They weren't used to it. I thought that was peculiar.

My sister-in-law was going to great lengths in explaining how to get up the frozen hill to the church where we were having Thanksgiving dinner. It involved driving on the side or backing up the hill as well as ideas on what to do in case we got stuck. I was apprehensive when we finally faced "the Hill" but my son just drove up it with no problem. We were in a full sized AWD SUV. Going down was a little dicey though. Hee hee.

It's always a good time for us when we're in the area.