This is where I get to blow off some steam about this ungodly weather we have been having. Warning: cabin fever is setting in.

The weather forecasters have not been doing a very good job with this one. We got socked with a good bit of snow on Saturday but they assured us that the arctic air would be out of here no later than Monday and everything would melt. Instead, we only picked up another 5 inches of snow last night, bringing our total to about 1 foot. Now they are hinting that this thing could last all week. I don’t have any chains for our little Nissan Versa, because we never freaking need chains around here. I always thought that any valley dwellers like us who get studded tires and chains for driving around here were overreacting. Turns out I was wrong. By the time I figured out I was wrong, all of the tire stores sold out of chains. TriMet isn’t running any bus lines near our house either. So Jennifer and I are stuck.

And I have to get back to work. Tek isn’t closing down, so any time that I can’t get to work is eating into my non-existant vacation time. Not to mention that we are making our big year-end push to get products completed. So I’m well and truly screwed. I’m sure my poor manager is freaking out right about now.

Just to make sure I wasn’t just fooling myself about the severity of the road conditions, I took Baxter for a walk down to the main arterial a few blocks from my house. Our road is a sheet of packed snow and ice, but I thought that maybe there was a chance I could make it once I got out to the main road. No such luck. Once we got out there, it was hell. There was still a good couple of inches of ice even in the well-worn tracks in the road. No vehicle without chains was making it out there. So Baxter and I trudged back home, tails between our legs.

You’re probably wondering what the hell the Bilzzak stuff is about? Some tire manufacturer has been running TV commercials for a tire they called Blizzak. It cracks me up, because it sounds like the name of some warlord out of a fantasy movie or some mythical snow god than it does a tire. So, in my delusional state, I’ve appropriated the name for the angry god who has visited snowmaggedon on our humble city. Cue By-tor and the Snow Dog.

Oh, and all I have to say about this is:

No, seriously, that stinks. What bad luck. I hope that you get home soon and safely.