Winter Surfing

Did you know you can surf in winter? You can, you just have to find an appropriately icy surface, push off on one foot and away you go! I suppose others would call it sliding but to me there is a difference. Surfing is intentional, sliding isn't. So, given that....this morning I attempted some Chevy surfing. It was working on a few roads. Then I tried some sidewalk surfing. That was pretty successful, although surfing uphill isn't as easy as downhill (of course). I even have monster treads on my shoes and was still having issues. Naturally, everyone overreacts to the first freezing rain of the season and nearly all local schools closed for the day, which, in turn, means that we are short on staff with everyone having to be at home with their school-aged children. I got the typical reaction "Gidget, what on earth are you doing here?" You see, of the staff in the office, I live the farthest out and therefore have the first reasonable expectation of a winter absence. But I dared the wrath of Mother Nature since I didn't want to take today as a vacation day. I'm hoarding my vacation hours for February and missing too many days because of winter could force me to have to take a leave of absence without pay in February (if I don't have enough vacation time accrued to cover those days).

However, my decision to come in was based on the expectation that it was supposed to get up to 40 degrees, melting all of the ice, and not worrying about the return drive home. But we have one small problem. It's only 28 outside and it's not getting any warmer. The meteorologists mispredicted the weather. SO....what am I to do? Wait until 5:00 and risk the icy roads home? Leave early, stop by the hardware store and buy some sandbags (most likely). If so, what time? How much time am I willing to use to assure myself a safe trip home? I'll tell you one thing. Tomorrow I'm riding the carpool....I don't care what kind of errands I need to run around town. They can wait!