October 23, 2012

Outside Temp: 21 F (it was chilly and cloudy, but little snow during the day... that doesn't count last night!)

What I cooked today:
Beef Stew: I picked up a 'family pack' of beef roast, so I kept the larger of the two roasts for later this week, and chopped up the small roast into chunks and made beef stew.  Totally yummy on a chilly day!  I did use a large number of potatoes, so I warned the family that it was potato stew, with beef.  No problems... they all seem to enjoy potatoes!

Update:
Snow... and cold... and a little more snow.

The roads were very icy overnight.  We heard reports of at least 5 accidents between here and Stanford.  One occurred just a mile away, next to a neighbor's barn.  Just a reminder to take your time and relax. 

I have to try to remember about cold weather and cars.  I know, it sounds silly.  After all, we survived the winter last year, and I think I learned a few things.  Of course, it's been the entire summer, and things get forgotten.

First off, when it's snowed the prior evening, expect to spend at least 10 minutes getting the car ready in the morning.  You might be lucky, and be able to jump in and start the car and drive away, but in the off chance that you can't, giving yourself extra time will ensure that you are not late (like I was today... by almost 15 minutes, which is really bad for me!).

Second, put your de-icer in the washer fluid BEFORE it gets cold.  Opening up the hood, when it's covered in snow and ice, is really hard to do.  And your hands get cold.  (fortunately, we had purchased the de-icer already, and it was in the trunk.  We just hadn't gotten around to getting it into the car.  It doesn't do much in the trunk.)

Third, while credit cards work okay to get the ice off the windshield, an ice scraper works better.  Spend a few minutes looking for your ice scraper from last year, and make sure it's in the car. 

Fourth, and probably most importantly, do NOT set the parking break.  EVER!  I should have remembered this from last year, as we had exactly the same thing happen.  But, I was silly and thought that 20 degrees wasn't that cold, so it wouldn't be a problem.  Of course, 20 degrees is still below freezing, and ice and snow and rain does freeze into ice.  And, when the parking break is set, and there is snow and ice on the break and the tires, those two things freeze together.  It's not a fun sound when you push the break to release it, and it doesn't release.  Then, you try to go forward or back, and the car doesn't move.

So, as you can tell, I had a fun morning trying to get into the school to pick up Ryan.  Our driveway is in the shadow of the house, so it doesn't help that the sun was up, as our cars were in shadow and still totally covered in ice and snow.  I spent about 10 minutes trying to get the van drivable, only to find that it was frozen solid to the parking break.  So, then I spent another 5 minutes getting the little yellow car ready to be driven.  I pulled out of my house with a little 'window' in front of the drivers side (the passenger side was still frozen solid), and both windows down (I didn't have time to scrape the ice off those). 

By the time I got to the school, most of the ice had melted and I was doing fine.  Up until the moment when I went to get out of my car, and the door wouldn't open.  I pushed hard against it a few times, before I realized it was locked.  Which would have been fine, if there hadn't been a student watching me, trying really hard not to laugh at me.  Okay, I'm kind of a dork.

But I learned a few things.  And I'm sure I'll do better next time (which probably will be tomorrow!).