OT: Oh No!!! Snowed in at WorkFollow

If you've checked a state-wide weather channel here recently there was a big snow storm that cruised through the midwest and headed into Illinois/Ohio area. So, living in an area where 2-5 inches of snowfall per storm is a big deal we are getting close to 20inches right now and nobody can get from their homes to work. I've been here for 12hrs already and the people currently here have to stay to cover the hospital. /cry

I work on the Medical Surgical floor and literally everyone that was supposed to be here at 7 a.m. has called in....everyone.

We are actually kinda concerned because we will be extremely understaffed, we won't have cafeteria workers to make patient meals, pharmacy workers to keep up with the stock and making of our meds......

I'm currently tucked in a room watching some patients that need extra attention, so I'm kinda bored/tired. Sorry just needed to vent.

WoW I would like to thank you for staying and making sure the patients you are watching are ok. Hopefully your Medical Facility will have some nice folks help get other workers into work today for you. I would think there would be a plan in place to get workers into work in a situtation like this.

Thank you again for staying and helping out.

We had snow on November 1st, but haven't had any since.

Did you all hear about the bears that refuse to hibernate and all? Heck, they even said in the radio that some of the trees are starting to grow leaves again.

Interestingly enough, my local morning news is doing something on the storm (and i'm on the west coast but hey) and let me say I feel for you... I just saw a picture of houses covered basically half-way or ALL the way to the ROOF in snow. Not sure what it was, but still it is all from the same storm system. Like others have said, it is great that you're staying there even though your shift has ended... and, at least you have the net eh?

I live in Des Moines, Iowa; we missed this storm but generally get a good amount of snow every year.

I honestly don't understand why rear wheel drive vehicles are even sold in the midwest or other places that encounter mild-heavy snow in the winter. It makes no sense.

To those who may not understand:

When you drive a rear wheel drive (back wheels provide the power, front wheels are just "pushed") vehicle and you are driving on a slick surface when your wheels spin on ice/snow the odds are very good that your rear end will be going sideways, causing you to ditch the vehicle or have a collision.

When driving a front wheel drive vehicle on a slick surface when your wheels spin you continue forward in the same direction, turning does nothing but your back end tends to stay behind you instead of beside.

Solutions:
Rear wheel drive: try as hard as you can to never spin out, not even a little bit.

Front wheel drive: left off the accelerator until your wheels again spin at the your rate of momemtum and you will regain control.

This is not to say it works for all conditions; if you're just driving too fast and hit ice and gain control 5 feet from a parked car you're in trouble not just because you hit ice but you were driving too fast for conditions.

Ice is just a harsher condition that loose gravel or sand. (I know some people that have never driven on any of the 3 actually)


Brakes are similar. Gather momentum, slam on your brakes to lock them (only works if you don't have ABS) and no matter what way you turn the wheel your direction does not change. Let off the brakes and you should regain control. Again speed and conditions are a factor. Smooth ice with a layer of snow on top makes for some very bad driving conditions as it can be extremely difficult to keep control.

The less weight you have on your driving wheels you worse off you are. An advantage of front wheel drive is that in most American cars the engine sits right on top of the wheels, adding weight to them directly and giving more control for traction. Rear wheel drive light pick up trucks with no weight in the back can end up being a heck of a lot of fun when spinning in parking lots but can be a major pain to attempt to drive home afterwards due to little traction.

Thanks for listening to my rant and I hope you make it through your crisis with minimal problems.

How many inches so far ?










































OF SNOW ! Geesh you gutter minded folks

Umm well if you really want to know snow.../wink lol

no seriously they are saying around 14-16 inches but the snow drifts are getting upwards of 3ft. so basically the shallowest snow in any place is at least 1ft.

sigh upcoming 18hrs....some good news just came they got the cafeteria opened up so we can actually get some food now. Hospital food sucks but it's better than the styrofoam cup I've been tearing to pieces lol.