Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-35822929-20181210085407/@comment-35243530-20181211082119

I live in the country in a snow belt that starts about 15 miles outside of the city where my Canadian government employer is located. It has only closed once in the 20+ years that I’ve worked there and I was always expected to make it in and to stay until closing, no matter that the roads near home were closed or getting ready to close. The only time the office closed, I was off on disability, as I am now. I had to leave a couple of times if I was going to get home at all (there were a few of us who had to leave as we all live in the same vicinity) and I failed to make it in a couple of times because the roads here were closed and they made a huge deal about it! One of those times I had work home with me, but you’d have thought I’d committed a federal crime when I offered to work from home! I was expected to call in hourly with an update - um check your computer folks, it’s on the provincial website! Never mind that it’s illegal to drive on a closed road here, plus you do so without insurance coverage and if anything happens that you’re in an accident, EMS/police aren’t obligated to come and rescue you until the roads open. The second time we had 7 feet of snow fall in less than 24 hours. My husband had to keep clearing a pathway to the house and even then at one point I had to go through the screen in the screen door and dig us out because the door wouldn’t open and my Shepherd needed out. 😹😹 The power goes out here frequently too. We keep lots of candles at the ready. No generator, but if it’s out long enough we can always stick stuff out in the snow to stay frozen. A generator is on our list of wants, though. It would be nice to be able to charge the phones without resorting to plugging them into the car. We heat with wood most of the time anyway, so at least that’s not a worry, and the wood stove makes a great cooktop too! I just cringe when it’s out too long because we’re one of the few homes that has heat then. I don’t mind most of my neighbours, and all hands on deck in times of crisis, and all that, but there are a few that I don’t enjoy being forced to entertain over long periods of time and without warning... But I’ll take this over earthquakes and fires any day of the week!