Archive for December 22, 2011
Baby, It’s Cold Outside…
by John Weckerle
Update 12/23/11 – In this article, we erroneously referred to our tire chains as Euro-Chains. This is apparently a colloquialism; they are in fact Alpine Premier chains made by Laclede Chain Manufacturing.
The denizens of New Mexico Central headquarters wish it to be know that we are collectively fed up with tropical weather. It’s warm, and elicits a response of laziness – and perhaps most significantly, it is decidedly elsewhere.
Now into our fourth major, pre-Christmas winter storm, we have a few things to bring forward. First, a few images depicting the aftermath of Storm #3…
One of these made the evening news on KOAT yesterday. Who knows what images tomorrow may bring?
Second, after having been stuck in snow and ice no less than three times so far this year, we finally took some friends’ advice and purchased a set of Euro-Chains yesterday in preparation for today’s storm. Predictably, your editor got stuck driving his Hyundai Sonata up the usual hill, at the usual spot. After popping the chains on – perhaps a couple of minutes or so for each of two wheels – the previously snow-challenged vehicle crunched its way right on up the hill, through the probably-8-inch-drifts on the road, and safely into the garage. Cedar Crest Tire carries the chains, and we gave them a call to let them know that we heartily recommend them – and now you know, too.
Third, we received an e-mail from Bernalillo County announcing that they were out salting the roads in advance of the storm. We saw no evidence of any such activity on either Mountain Valley Road or County Line Road, and neither did we observe any police, fire, or other emergency response assets during our drive along the thoroughfare at about 5:30 p.m. today. Mountain Valley Road is of greater importance, given the preponderance of north-facing slopes and the fact that it is the only through road from Route 66 to Frost Road between Tijeras and Edgewood. Then again, the worst of the storm is still just ahead of us and it’s not clear that a little salt in advance would help these roads given the nature of the meteorological event in question – that having been said, it’s probably all the more important that the roads be patrolled to ensure that assistance is rendered to any stranded motorists. We’ll drop a line to State Representative and local road condition hawk Jim Smith, who has been instrumental in working with Bernalillo County Commissioner Wayne Johnson to remedy the relatively frequent oversights associated with keeping Mountain Valley Road clear. To our readers, we wish a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa, Blessed Yule, and wonderful holidays to any who we may have forgotten to mention.