Chicago blizzard 2011 (lease, to buy, taxes)

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by Drover

The point is, when a plow finally comes down the street and clears out that 4' snow pile, your car is basically dug out and ready to roll. Granted, you'll probably have to dig out again after the plow comes through, but it's easier to shovel 20 inches twice than 40 inches once.

Well, once you dig out all the snow that gets plowed onto your car you're ready to roll

[andrew61]

I'm very disappointed. Only No. 3? I was rooting for this storm to break the record for Chicago's worst of all time. Oh well, better luck next time.

I was surprised, early this afternoon, to see that the snow had stopped, the sun was out, and according to the weather reports, the wind chill was a manageable 8 degrees.

I was going to just stay indoors for the day, but around 2:30 pm I changed my mind and headed out for a walk. I ended up hiking about four miles round trip -- from Irving Park/LSD to Clark south of Wrightwood and back. Which was no easy feat given that most of the sidewalks had not been cleared off, even on the main commercial streets (Broadway, Clark, Halsted, etc.).

I was surprised at how many people were out and about walking as well. I'm not sure why since, from the looks of things, most everything was closed for the day. I ended up at Yen's, on Clark just north of Diversey, one of the few restaurants in the area that was open, and treated myself to a huge portion of Hunan Chicken plus a pot of hot tea, then headed home.

I've become a bit more of a wimp about bad weather lately, and have to remind myself that I'm a Great Lakes boy, born and bred. Heck, when I was a kid growing up in Cleveland, I used to trudge through snowdrifts up to my waist like it was nothing... not to mention walking miles in zero-degree weather.

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by ParkerP

I think Tony needs to go work for wgn. Goodness man, how long have you been up? LOL

Haha, that would be fun. I always had in interest in Journalism. I almost went into it when I was younger. To answer your question, I think I stayed awake 21 hours.

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by MannheimMadman

I'd like to go dig my car out, but the hardware store is closed.

You are kidding me? They could have made a killing on a day like yesterday.

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by mjtinmemphis

Did the southside of Chicago get left out of the blizzard? Im kind of confused with the media coverage. No news at all from the south or west side? Do we need a seperate station for the southside and west side of the city to keep people informed?

I see the south side made sure they did not stay out of the blizzard news.

Chicago firefighter attacked on South Side - chicagotribune.com

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by RedJacket

Abandoned vehicles litter northbound Lake Shore Drive on Wednesday morning. (E. Jason Wambsgans, Chicago Tribune

That is one hell of a pic.

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by dewthedru

I stupidly left my company car parked on the street. (Irving park ave) will I have a ticket when I return on Sat?

If you are lucky, it will be just covered in snow and ice when you get back. If really unlucky, it will be at the pound. A ticket is the least of your worries.

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by andrew61

I've become a bit more of a wimp about bad weather lately, and have to remind myself that I'm a Great Lakes boy, born and bred. Heck, when I was a kid growing up in Cleveland, I used to trudge through snowdrifts up to my waist like it was nothing... not to mention walking miles in zero-degree weather.

Haha, sometimes I wonder the same thing too if I'm starting to more and more wimp out about cold weather, as I slowly get over. And this is despite that I'm not even 30 yet! (will be 29 this summer, for the record)

It also doesn't help that long term, I really am yearning to move somewhere with a slightly less extreme winter, but still can easily have access back to Chicago. For whatever reason, the Cincinnati/NKY area always has seemed very attractive to me, since I know it's both on an Amtrak line, and it very often seems to be one of the very warmest cities in the Midwest. Megabus even also serves it, as well.

Enough of that, I hope to get some pics up soon(prob will try for sometime tomorrow) of the blizzard around my apartment building, and all the shoveling I helped in doing(along with 3 others in my building, including my mom) today. I'm just about to make one last attempt to see if I can finish off some shoveling I started earlier today, before I go to bed. Hopefully I'll get somewhat close to my final shoveling goal....

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by ImaloneJill

I can't understand what someone was doing walking along the lake trail. Dear lord.

By any chance, do you or anyone else know how much the lake biking trail was shoveled off at all? My guess was that very little of it was shoveled off, if any at all, considering how much the city was focusing on trying to get LSD(regular part, not the inner drive) completely shoveled off.

Didn't try walking to Lake Michigan or near LSD, since I got so busy shoveling. Maybe I'll try going over there tomorrow to see how the lakefront park looks.....

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by Drover

Did his power stay on? When I rolled through GPark yesterday at about 5:30 there looked to be sporadic power outages between Lawrence and Foster.

Yes. But his place is a few blocks from the park. More closer to Bryn Mawr. Many alleys around there are really screwed. There is 6-8 feet of snow on one side of one particular alley that is blocking every single garage door.