Yesterday, I discussed a winter storm that’s set to affect much of the Northeast, including Albany, where I live. I said then that the storm will turn out to be nothing, at least for Albany the city and Albany the county, which is now under a state of emergency as declared by our governor.
States of emergency are not issued for fun, so maybe, just maybe, there’s something to this storm. As I opened the door to receive my Chinese food delivery (yes, I tipped extra because of the weather!), I saw that the snow has started, several hours before it was supposed to. Allegedly, the Capital Region as a whole is set to receive up to a foot of snow.
Already, numerous schools in the Albany area have already thrown in the towel and will not be open tomorrow. More than a few businesses and government offices will not open tomorrow, despite the fact that this storm is going to affect us somehow, but all these unreasonable closures are simply not needed. A lot of businesses will likely close early today, a true sign of weakness.
Though I’m not out and about to see for myself, I am certain that people are now or have gone into a panic buying frenzy. Me? As soon as i saw the weather reports, I ensured that we’re stocked up on food, soda and other essentials. We are fine on toilet paper as we still have plenty left over from the COVID panic.
Yes, I really did buy that much, and yes, I got around the purchase limits by going to numerous stores in the area. I waited an hour or so and went through again, and then I repeated. By the afternoon, stores were out and there were people in the aisles crying, really, really crying. I laughed knowing that I took toilet paper out of the hands of many, including children. No regrets.
The point is that I am prepared to the point that I do not have to leave the house for anything for two weeks. I did not panic buy. I purchased wisely and aggressively.
But I digress.
I am glad that I thought ahead and stocked up. As I said, numerous businesses are already closed and will remain closed tomorrow. I do have to work tomorrow, but since we’re now under an official state of emergency, I have to wonder if the powers that be will shut down tomorrow as the items that we need to do our jobs may or may not be delivered tomorrow. If those items don’t arrive, going into work will be a waste of time and effort.
For my part, I will happily report to work whereas many of my co-workers will wuss out and call out, creating more work for myself and others who do the right thing as opposed to letting a state of emergency scare them away. I continue to monitor my work email and my text messages and even Teams.
If we do close, the decision will be made later tonight. If I don’t hear anything by bedtime, I will simply text my boss so that if a closure does happen, my efforts to get there will be for naught. It’s really unlikely that we’ll close. We provide critical services and closing will cause a backlog, requiring us to stay late on Tuesday. I never stay late. Ever.
But back to the storm. The snow is starting earlier than the forecasts predicted. As of the time that this article was published, the snow is light and doesn’t seem to hit the ground. But in the hours ahead, the fun will begin. I won’t be affected until tomorrow morning, unless work is closed, where the last time a closure occurred, it was 2014.
As I stated yesterday, tomorrow will not be a wise day to drive. I’m not worried about me; I have driven across this great nation several times and I have safely operated vehicles in every weather emergency imaginable. No, I’m worried about the idiots who cause collisions because they’re too retarded to drive properly in a little snow.
If I do have to report to work, I will be taking the buses. It takes two buses to get to where I work. As of right now, CDTA has numerous route deviations, but none of them are due to the weather. Things could change though. It’s almost certain that buses will run tomorrow, albeit with some delays.
The last time that CDTA pulled buses off the road was over a decade ago, so I am confident that I will make it into work. It’s a lot safer in a bus if there’s a traffic incident. It’s easier to survive in a bus than in a car. Now, if CDTA truly does stop running, I will sadly call out of work as I am not willing to put my car at risk just to make $192.
It’s possible, but highly unlikely, that we in the Albany area could experience blizzard conditions. That’s not really a big deal; people should be reporting to work and school. A tiny little snowstorm like this should not make everyone go full retard. You never go full retard. Those sorts of people go full retard and they do so in a spectacular fashion.
As of this moment, numerous municipalities across the area have declared local states of emergency, even though the statewide SOE renders that moot. For its part, Albany has not yet declared an SOE, and likely never well. At least our city’s government gets it: there’s no need to go crazy. All those other areas that have called it, including ones right next door to Albany, are thinking emotionally, not logically.
There’s not much else to say but at this point, whatever’s going to happen will simply happen. All I’m saying is that people shouldn’t panic. No one should cancel anything. Put on your big boy pants and deal with it!