I wish I could be there for the curling...sounds like a great setting and the more curling I see, the more of a fan I become.

I am being (or trying to be) funny about all of this...trying to lighten up what can potentially be a bad set of circumstances for the parts of the country that aren't prepared for it. I think that we all understand why they might not assign a high priority to snow removal down there in Texas...I'm sure that there are other things that the local governments have to spend their money on (rattlesnake abatement?). One of the most dangerous things is the trees that freeze from the cold and then get lots of snow weighting them down...these are the ones that really aren't used to the serious winter weather and break all over the place squashing cars, taking out houses and bringing down power lines just when the electricity is needed to heat homes.

Look at it this way, my sister-in-law and her husband, the retiring cop, decide to move to Florida to get away from these winters. Now they're driven out of their house by brush fires from one side and hurricanes from the other. Brother-in-law was looking for a young cop to give his service revolver to but I told him he ought to keep it for the alligators that he would be encountering pulling his car out of the driveway...he laughed...guess what he found between him and his Toyota a few months later? Wherever you go, it's going to be something.

Alex's news about his area not being prepared surprises me. A while back, here in Chicago, an entire city administration got booted out of office because they flubbed the snow removal during what was an average blizzard (you know that you're hardcore when you refer to an "average blizzard"!).

Alex, have you considered running for public office? I'm from Chicago...we can send over a couple of "campaign aids" to help stuffing the ballot boxes...

Best

AA