Part V, Or: This Is Just a Normal Day For a Midwesterner

After taking a delightful nap, I awoke to find the snow had stopped falling for the most part. The day was now sunny and clear and crisp, the type of day you can only have after a huge snowfall. Of course, this also means it’s alarmingly dry out, which isn’t really helping the dehydration I have on account of my illness. Thankfully I didn’t have to go anywhere, so I didn’t exacerbate that at all.

After spending a good hour doing as little as possible- i.e. my normal morning routine, reading Cracked, catching up on Webcomics, Facebooking- I decided I should accomplish something with my free day and begrudgingly got my laundry together. There are a couple Mexicans who work and possibly live in my complex, and they were already hard at work clearing the pathways- a tween-aged girl, presumably one of their daughters, was ‘helping’ them, which seems to had required her to do a lot of running and jumping and snow angel-ing in the snow. It looked like they were having fun.

I packed up my laundry, which I always seem to have more than I intend, and headed downstairs. Now, keep in mind, the path by my section of the building still wasn’t cleared. I put on my relatively waterproof boots (the $35 pair from Forever 21, not the $200 Uggs) and headed outside. The rest of me was garbed in athletic shorts and my OSU jersey. This might seem insane, but the wind was pretty much done and I have some sort of fever (more cowbell!) and so really it felt amazing. Despite the fact that my boots- which come to just below my knees- were not nearly tall enough to keep the snow at bay. Walking about in this weather in shorts and a t-shirt doesn't faze me the way it should. I've clearly spent too many years in the midwest.

Laundry set, I went inside and cleaned Like A Boss. (I do many things Like A Boss.) Spent the rest of the afternoon putzing around, watching the original pilot to Sherlock, reading my book, and making naan. The naan, by the way, turned out all right. I think my breadmaking skills are slowly but surely improving.

On my last trip downstairs, the trip where I actually fetched the laundry to bring it back upstairs, I walked by the apartment below us and caught the unmistakable scent of weed. It had a nice lemony kick to it and wasn’t too skunky, so it appears the neighbours decided to save their good weed for their snow day. I guess whatever passes the time. I also found beer cans being kept cold in little holes in the snow and people up in Evanston have been posting pictures of them jumping out their first-storey windows into the snow. (The first storey might not seem impressive, but their apartments are all set up such that it’s really like the second floor.)

All in all it’s been a pleasant snow day. I have to study for my exam I will no doubt still have tomorrow. Not that it matters; I don’t have a lot of hope for that class really. Fluids and mass transfer. Ridiculous.

I’ve been drinking vile lemon water all day to keep my throat from getting too swollen, as I only have one set of cold and flu pills left and want to save them for tonight. I suppose I’ll go into lab tomorrow, though I haven’t really got anything I need to do. Maybe I’ll just slice more mouse brains. The trains seem to be back to normal, but everything is still off Lake Shore Dr, so hopefully there’s a way for me to get between Evanston and Chicago tomorrow.

Part IV, Or: The Morning Yields No Reprieve

I woke up around 8, snapped another picture, and promptly curled back up in bed. I wish my snow day wasn’t going to be squandered on me being sick. I also wish it was possible to go anywhere to get more medication, as I have exactly one dose of cold/flu medication left.

My night was eventful, but only in the sense that I was sick and it took forever to fall asleep. The wind continued battering at my window until the wee hours, and the thunder and lightning periodically erupted, which didn’t help in the ‘no sleep’ department.

I can hear a train going by, so that’s a pretty good sign that the CTA is at least kind of moving along. It says Skokie service is suspended, but everything else is normal. The busses are all routed off Lake Shore, though, so I can’t imagine how that looks. Maybe I’ll brave checking it out. Elaine and I were considering dressing real warm and building a snowman- but right now I’m not even sure I want to pack my stuff up to go do laundry. The fact that I have to put on boots probably just to get to the basement of the adjacent building is less than appealing.

OSU didn’t end up getting an ‘ice’ day. Everyone in Columbus is a little sore with me, but to be fair, the weather here is awful. It’s not quite as windy and the snowflakes seem to be a little thicker, but the snow is still falling heavily. The cars along my street are in snow higher than their bumpers (it’s hard to tell from the crappy phone picture) and it’s drifting pretty high in some places. Hell, we could probably build a snowman on our little porch instead of going all the way out of the apartment. The wind does seem to have let up a bit, too. Really the conditions outside seem more “heavy snowfall” than “blizzard” to me (a subtle difference you pick up in Ohio) but since so much accumulated overnight, I can’t imagine going outside being anything but a nightmare.

Besides all that, though, it’s a pretty nice day here in Chicago.

Part III, Or Where I Continue to Update People Who Don't Care

It’s 10:45 and I was just actually motivated enough to work out. Granted, I just did an arm work out, which while being good for my Flubber-ous arms, isn’t really that tough. But then, I didn’t want to sweat because the light in our bathroom burnt out a few days ago and I didn’t want to have to shower in the dark.

Speaking of dark, Caitlin out in Pilsen lost her power. I’m hoping the north side stays strong. Northwestern officially cancelled classes tomorrow, which I suppose is exciting for my many Chinese friends, as they can celebrate their New Year in peace. I’m sure Fiona is thrilled.

There isn’t much more to report. I took a look at 9:30 and again just now and the snow has gotten much thicker. Elaine and I were both taking pictures of the snow. I saw some poor guy wandering down the street, carrying a Target bag- I can’t imagine anything will be open tomorrow, so I’m feeling very organised and proactive for swinging by Target yesterday. I really should just turn this into an advertisement for Target.

Despite the day off, I still have work to catch up on. Thankfully I don’t have to go anywhere to do it- I’ve sort been keeping an eye on the CTA lines, and the Howard signal was apparently backed up for a while, and trains to Skokie were completely suspended. Apparently the yellow line is back up, but the Red and Blue are both delayed (the rest of the lines actually stop running pretty soon) and I wonder how they’ll fare by morning. This stuff is piling up fast. I can’t even imaging trying to ride a bus.

Almost exactly a year ago I was in Pittsburgh when they were hit with 8 inches. (That’s what she said.) Though that wouldn’t have been a big deal here, Pittsburgh actually doesn’t get a lot of snow due to its location along Appalachia, and many of its streets are old and cobbled and hilly. Over dinner at least three inches piled up, and the route back was so dangerous cars were literally sliding down the street. We had to get out of the car we were in and push, which was no easy task in heels. But the next morning, after the storm passed, was beautiful. Everything was encased in snow that was perfectly white and pristine- it looked like something on a Christmas card.

I’m looking forward to seeing that tomorrow. With the streets being nigh impassable, and even the trains running so slowly (I haven’t heard a red line in a while), and no one being stupid/brave enough to go outside, it’s going to be gorgeous. Of course, it supposedly will still be snowing in the morning, so maybe it’ll just be a wintery nightmare.

On the bright side (or not bright, if you take this as a bad pun) the lightning and thunder seem to have let out. There was about a two-hour time span where, if you didn’t realise it’s -7C outside, you’d have thought it was July. My weather widget even has the thunderstorm icon on it, instead of the blizzard one. Poor little weather widget, between the thunderstorm and the blizzard and the potential flooding and the icing, it probably has no idea what to display. I’m waiting for it to just quit and display 70F and sunny.

Meanwhile, the wind is gusting away, and it has continuously been sounding like someone is trying to break into our apartment. Obviously my lame tie-in with the Bed Intruder (He’s climbin’ in yo’ windows!) meme wasn’t as far off as I thought.

Note: Picture one is from 9:30pm, Picture two is from 10:45pm.

Part II

It’s now 6:12 pm, same day. I took a nap. That’s not generally a luxury I can afford on weekdays, which is a shame because sleep is one of my very favourite things, particularly at 2-ish O’clock, when I’ve already been up for eight hours and still have a pile of stuff to do.

Anyway, so we revisit Monday evening. I got off the train and headed to Target, Like A Boss, and stocked up on food. Target’s grocery and home sections were rather picked over. Random cartons of eggs were strewn about, cracked eggs leaking yolk on the shelves. Seriously. It was like everyone suddenly got together and prepared for the (inevitable) zombie apocalypse. I managed to find everything I needed except soy milk (which they never have anyway) and get out of there without major incident.

This morning I woke up at 6:20ish as usual, after hitting the snooze button only once, and set to work on my Immunology exam that was due at 5pm (are you seeing a trend with my work ethic here?). Immunology isn’t too tough, given that generally all I have to do is open the book and his notes and then choose the right answers. There are usually a few tricky ones, but I’m not exactly trying to figure out pressure exerted on the interface of two different density liquids in a centrifuge. That’s work for Thursday.

I wish I could build up a tense, atmospheric aura about the morning commute. I can’t, though. I dredged my way to Wilson, clutching the strings that hang from the earflaps of my hat together in my (fortunately) gloved hands in an attempt to keep it from flying off. This is more dramatic than it sounds, given that my hat is this huge, furry monstrosity that looks like something a Russian in Siberia might wear on a Tuesday in April. I couldn’t really look up, I just focused a few feet in front of me and attempted not to run into any early morning Target shoppers/ bus waiters/ hobos/ crazy hoodlums. Although I think even the crazy hoodlums seem to have decided that this weather is too much for them. In Uptown, that’s pretty impressive.

Fortunately a train rolled up right as I climbed the stairs, which, while forcing me to run clumsily up the stairs in my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Uggs (seriously, those things aren’t waterproof and have no traction. They are NOT worth the $200 dollars I didn’t pay for them- thank god for Nordstrom Rack) and attempt not to trip, did prevent me from having to wait on the platform. I did notice that downtown wasn’t visible from the stop, though I could still vaguely see the lights for Wrigley Field. Not that they were on or anything, I could just tell they were there.

I managed to get a seat- not always an easy task on the 9am trips- and set to reading some good ol’ Neil Gaiman. This managed to absorb my entire trip, so I didn’t pay close attention to the conditions on the way home. When I disembarked at Chicago and headed toward Lake Michigan, I regretted that, as the wind caught me unawares. It was fine until I crossed Michigan, at which point I suddenly felt like Helen Hunt in Twister. The walk east bit at my face and forced me again to hold my hat on, though the block I had to walk south was worse. The tall buildings of the Northwestern Medical Complex acted like tall buildings tend to act, and made the worst wind tunnel I’ve ever experienced- and this includes the fact that I used to walk along the north side of the RPAC at OSU. I pretty much toppled inside, relieved, flashed my card to the security guy who probably recognises my funny hat anyway, and headed upstairs.

I worked from around 9:30-1. I went to the upper floors of my building and worked at slicing mouse brains for a while. It was not terribly successful, but it wasn’t awful. Turns out mouse brains are really tough to hold down and cut without turning them into a fine pulp. But anyway, no one wants to hear about taking brains apart, this entry is about the epic blizzard of epic.

I periodically checked outside the window, but it’s hard to tell what’s going on when you’re as high up as I was above the ground. All I could see was periodic drifts of snow and the cold, icy water of Lake Michigan. I was at enough of an altitude to not be able to discern what actual water conditions were like, though weather.com had been warning of impending waves of tsunami proportions.

We only got through three brains and by then it was 12:30 and I had some culture cells to pass, and my co-worker had to get on the Green Line to go home (which, as my roommate will tell you, is the worst) and we all decided it was best to pack up and get going. In the meantime I checked Northwestern’s website and my mail and found that after 5:00pm classes had been cancelled, including my second of two classes. Not that I had been planning on it, but I definitely was not going up to Evanston now.

Unlike my trip to downtown, I paid sharp attention to my trip back uptown. The one block I had to traverse south again was excruciating. The wind was blowing due west (though I’m almost positive it had been blowing due east on my way in) and I had to hold onto my hat and coat. It was just before one at this time, and people were trickling out of all the buildings around. Tiny blades of ice stabbed my face, and I tried to determine if they were blowing off the lake, but it wasn’t worth the effort of turning my face in that direction. I was glad I wasn’t heading to Evanston on the intercampus shuttle- Lake Shore Drive has to be a treacherous mess.

Once I turned onto Chicago it wasn’t so bad, mostly because I was walking with the wind. Though I could barely see up the Hancock, ground level seemed oddly clear. Snow trickled down, but it wasn’t heavy yet. The streets weren’t packed (yet) and even the temperature seemed reasonable. I suppose anything was better than that awful wind. I’ve been on Michigan a few times at that hour, and there are usually tourists wandering around- you can spot tourists from a mile away within a month of living here, mostly because you’ve got somewhere to go and they don’t. There were no tourists today. Just locals in a hurry to get to the CTA. I approved of all of them.

A tiny part of me was actually tempted to stop by the Anthropologie or the beautiful, shiny, organised, new Nordstrom Rack. But I resisted- mostly because I don’t have any money. No one was shopping anyway. I didn’t even see people inside the McDonald’s. The only direction anyone seemed to be heading was toward the train, but it wasn’t a mass exodus or anything. Just a steady line of people who had given up on accomplishing anything with their day.

The ride home was uneventful. The northbound train was pretty packed for that hour. I had to sit next to one of those people who isn’t fat exactly, but just seems to take up a lot of space. It’s a pretty natural occurrence in the winter, and an obvious hazard with everyone in their puffy jackets and their bags, but it’s still annoying when you’re trying to hold a book open. Things thinned out by the time I hit Belmont, though, and I got home again without incident.

I finished my Immunology exam around 2:30, emailed it, and peaked outside. The blizzard was slated to begin at 3:00 pm, yet the blustering had begun already. Snow swirled from the ground almost up to the second floor windows of the apartment across from us. I shivered in our poorly insulated living room, curled up in my bed, and promptly fell asleep.

In the Eye of the Storm: A Firsthand Account of the Great and Terrible Destruction Wrought Upon Us in the Second City

Chicago Blizzard, February 2011

It’s seven minutes until 3PM on February 1^st, 2011. As Robert pointed out, there’s a certain irony in the fact that on day one of Black History Month there is a massive white out panning across a third of the country. Or maybe that’s racism and not irony, but you get the idea.

This epic really began on Sunday night, as I noticed the facebook status of one of my fellow bridesmaids from Sydnie’s wedding, which said, “If there was ever a time for a meteorologist to be wrong, this is it ... They are calling for 24 inches of snow by Wed afternoon. Shoot.Me.Now” Knowing that she lives somewhere in the general vicinity of this fine city of Chicago of which I have so recently become a proud resident, I did a little digging on the topic. Which means I looked it up on weather.com. Sure enough, 18-24 inches of snow were expected in our quaint little town.

I do not have a normal reaction to that kind of news. Instead of hoping for a snow day or grumbling about the pain-in-the-ass that is attempting to leave the house once snow gets deeper than four inches, I grew excited. I love inclement weather in general, and though school got cancelled several times during my time in Columbus at The Ohio State University, it never really felt validated, given that the snow never went beyond the eight-inch mark on those occasions. Indeed, on one, all we had was an inch of ice. Having grown up on the banks of the god-forsaken Lake Erie, I was prepared for conditions to get a lot worse than that before anything would get cancelled.

Chicago, I knew, would deliver. Chicago is not a city of exaggerations. Chicago is a city of truths, they are just ridiculous truths. The home of gangsters, and corrupt politicians, and gang wars and really cheap liquor (compared to Ohio, anyway). If Chicagoans were buckling down for the storm of the decade- or perhaps even half-century- then I was prepared to buckle down with them, or God have the storm take me with it.

Never one to pass up on an opportunity to share my hilarity with the rest of the world, I made a terribly trendy Facebook status that night, “White Death! T-minus 36 hours! Hide yo' kids and hide yo' wife because apparently Snowpocalypse is upon us starting Tuesday.” Yes, I know, it’s little wonder I haven’t started working for Cracked yet. I went to sleep that night, a bit excited, but mostly dreading the fact that I hadn’t done any of my Cell Bio homework, which was due at 4 pm the next day.

So it’s Monday morning (no particularly weird dreams) and I wake up, and I do my Cell Bio, and I mentally prepare for getting margaritas with Caitlin and Michelle and Elaine (what can I say, I need things to look forward to). In lab I brought the cookies I had baked out of procrastination the night before (on my beautiful new KitchenAid) in order to make people like me. I find that baked goods are an excellent way into the hearts of our fellow man.

Eventually, as I am wont to do each and every afternoon, I took the ca. 40 minute bus ride over to Evanston Campus, where Dr. Gregory Beitel teaches me about the wonders of Cell Biology. (That’s only partially sarcastic, I do enjoy the class) In the meantime, both Michelle and Caitlin cancelled on margs, and since last time I had gone out just with Elaine to drink, we’d been kicked out of the bar (that was Friday night- another story for another time), it seemed appropriate to cancel. Plus in class I had found a link to this: http://lenkendall.posterous.com/the-very-clever-designerdanb-created-a-t-shir which proves my genius from the night before had been stolen. I had to hold someone culpable.

And so, with White Death imminent upon the city, I set forth on the Purple Line home, though not before checking CTA train tracker and noting that while four trains were heading, 3 minutes apart, to Linden, only one was heading out to Howard, 12 minutes after we got to the station.