First taste of winter
Posted
Wednesday, December 05, 2007 5:36 PM
This is our first winter in Wisconsin, and, while we're no strangers to snow and cold, the differences in how people approach things are interesting.
For instance: Snow removal. In Ohio, my apartment complex did a phenomenal job of plowing/shoveling/salting. I was always able to get out, and the sidewalks were clear - even on the weekends. Not so much here. The first "real" snow storm of the season hit this past weekend, and I expected to see a plow in the parking lot, salt on the walks, etc. The snow started Saturday around noon, and they didn't start attempting to clear things up until after 6 pm. Now, it's Wednesday morning, and they've finally plowed the whole lot. (Last night's inch of snow must have startled them into action.)
Oh, and our apartment manager came out Tuesday morning and yelled at my friend as she was packing up her car. (She was here during the weekend snow.) He went on and on about how her Explorer was in the way, they couldn't plow, etc. He said he pounded on the doors "all weekend" to try to find the owner of the car. That's a joke - we were home for the whole weekend, plus, he has our phone number - and he could have left a note on the doors. So now, we're apparently not allowed to have guests when it snows - which is nowhere in our lease.
What the heck? It's Wisconsin! I hear it's going to snow for the next 3+ months! No one can come visit me? It would have been one thing for him to come to me (rather than my friend) and say "you know, when it snows, we need you to move vehicles until we clear the lot." I'd be a lot more understanding. Now, I'm just counting the days until we can start house-hunting. (We have to give 60 days written notice before leaving, and our lease is up at the end of June '08. Andy said we could start looking at houses after the first of the year - hopefully we find something!)
On a happier note, it was great to see how much Andy loved the snow. After living in Georgia for three years, he could hardly wait to go outside. We went for a walk on Saturday in the snow, and he made a snowman Sunday afternoon. It's almost as big as he is! And apparently, I'm learning to cross-country ski next... looks like winter could be lots of fun.