COLUMBIA SPY

Thursday, February 6, 2014

A few extras

Following are some pics I was posting last night right before a power interruption. I heard a loud bang - what sounded like a transformer blowing up in the distance - and then my computer shut down. The neighborhood street lights went dark, but the house lights, including mine, stayed on. Anticipating further problems, I kept the computer shut down, pulled the plugs, and kept them out until tonight.

Clearing the sidewalk: some do it; some don't.

A cycloptic snowman tuning into approaching weather patterns.

Actually, that thing on his head is a DIRECTV dish in the background.

It even snowed on the river.

Stuck!

You saw it here first

Just saw a news story on WGAL's 6 p.m. report about Columbia residents using chairs to preserve their shoveled-out parking spaces. Remember folks, you saw it here first, specifically, HERE and HERE.

Street closed

Safety cones on Barber Street to alert motorists that the street is closed (due to a low-hanging utility wire). Scenes like this one were repeated at various locations around the area over the last two days.

The winter of our discontent

OK, I'll say it - this is, or is fast becoming, "the winter of our discontent." And by "our," I mean anyone suffering under the burden of snow, ice, winds, and freezing temps. I assume that's everyone in this area. It's too easy to reach for that Shakespeare quote, but in this case, it's appropriate, because nothing else adequately describes the gloom and frustration that is this winter. One could possibly apply Thomas Paine's famous, "These are the times that try men's souls." Women's, too, although a long stretch of nasty weather doesn't quite compare to a nation in the throes of revolution.

These are the times, however, when we must all dig deep and find what sustains us, whether it be religion, work, or drink, because in the end, we need to remember yet another quote, this one biblical: "This, too, shall pass."