Ten Little Indians

Fred Thompson has dropped out of the race, officially leaving 10 candidates. I was so happy I actually got to use the "Ten Little Indians" reference! Fred was a big disappointment, wasn't he? Before he declared, he was hailed as the great GOP hope, but once he got in there, he just didn't have much to say. My impression is that he just didn't want to work all that hard to win the nomination.

I didn't watch the debate last night, but heard about it on NPR at work today, and now on the news. The local news poll was whether or not candidates should "bicker" or some such thing. I don't think they should get juvenile about it, but I do think they're obligated to point out the shortcomings of their opponents. Obama and Clinton were really lettin' the fur fly for a while, and NPR analysts said that Clinton's accusations didn't have a lot of truth behind them. Obama's did, sort of, but that when Clinton was on the board of Walmart, she DID work for changes, such as equal wages for women. Edwards got a few digs in, too, but Obama and Clinton were the big news.

In the meantime, Dennis Kucinich has filed yet another lawsuit, this one against the Texas Democratic Party. Stop him before he sues again! I'm thinking that anyone this litigious is just going to continue to be a general pain in the ass.

Well, as you can see, I'm feeling a lot better! I finished off the remainder of the Eggplant Parm last night, and I'm pleased to report that I had no symptoms like the previous night. In fact, the eggplant tasted even better the second night. I DID go to bed very early last night, though. I hit the hay at 8:15, read a bit, and turned out the light at 8:45. Wimpy, I know, but I slept the entire night through, and I'm a big believer that if you get plenty of sleep when you're ill, it gives your body a chance to work overtime on fighting off whatever ails ya.

We got a little bit of snow during the night, but I had no problem getting out of the driveway (that CAN be a problem at times) or getting to work. It continued to snow a bit during the day, but after work, I ran to UPS to pick up a package, the roads were fine, and I was able to get in our driveway and into the garage with no worries. We're supposed to get more snow tomorrow--yikes, it sounds like 6 or maybe even 12 inches!--but I'm off, and I don't need to go anywhere. Ken gets back tomorrow night, Lord willing, and he took the truck, so he won't have any problems getting home--assuming there are no delays with his flight. Keep your fingers crossed!

Speaking of snow, it was thirty years ago today that Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play. I'm sorry, I just can't say "thirty years ago today" and not throw Sergeant Pepper in there. No, actually, it was the great Blizzard of '78, and believe me, around here, it earned its capital letter status. Here's a little info from Wikipedia:

The Great Blizzard of 1978 struck across the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes on January 26, 1978, with a center in northwestern Ohio. A freak convergence of two atmospheric low pressure systems resulted in a "storm of unprecedented magnitude", according to the National Weather Service, who categorized it as a rare severe blizzard, the most menacing grade of winter storm. Particularly hard hit were the states of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and southeast Wisconsin where up to 40" of snow fell. Winds gusting up to 100 mph caused drifts that nearly covered some homes. Wind chill reached 60°F below across much of Ohio where 51 of the total 70 storm-related deaths occurred.

The lowest atmospheric pressure ever recorded in the United States, apart from a hurricane, occurred as the storm passed over Cleveland, Ohio. The barometer fell to 28.28 inches.

Snowfall totals

The following table displays snowfall totals during the January 25-29, 1978 time period.

State	City/location	Amount (inches)
OH	Dayton	*12.2
MI	Detroit	8.2
MI	Flint	9.9
MI	Grand Rapids	19.2
MI	Houghton Lake	*15.4
IN	Indianapolis	*15.5
IN	South Bend	36.0
MI	Lansing	19.3
MI	Muskegon	30.0
MI	Traverse City	22-28

*Total data for a 24 hour period.

Source: National Weather Service Detroit/Pontiac, Michigan

I remember it well. My parents were spending the winter in Florida, while my sister and her husband stayed at the house with me. We lived not too far from a four-lane highway, and it was completely closed. Three feet of snow will do that! The snow that piled up on the roadsides when the plows finally got through reached up to the power lines. I've never seen anything like it, even in North Dakota.

Our funniest family story of the blizzard comes from Cousin Shane, his Mom (my Aunt Bert), and his stepdad (Uncle Denny). I can't remember how long we were housebound, but it was at least three days. But Aunt Bert and Uncle Denny had a Blazer, and they were able to get out before anyone else did. Aunt Bert and Shane had a major jones for Pepsi (at that time, it came in returnable bottles--that is important), and Uncle Denny had run out of cigarettes. They eventually brought milk and stuff like that to anyone in the family who needed it, but their first stop was for Pepsi and smokes. Shane said that they didn't have a bottle opener in the Blazer, so they were prying off the Pepsi caps with a screwdriver, while Uncle Denny smoked like a chimney. I still crack up over that!

I hope you're all safe and warm tonight! 

 

Tags: Fred Thompson, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Dennis Kucinich, Blizzard of '78