A Different Direction

I hope everyone is learning from my posts about plantar fasciitis. There will be a part 3 about current clinical trials, but for now I’m going in a different direction. I need to talk about the ice and sleet.

I haven’t been out for a run in about a week. I’m sure everyone is aware of the terrible sleet and frozen precipitation Tulsa and other parts of Oklahoma has been getting, especially if anyone has read posts from Regina regiVizz or the Red Fork Hippie Chick and the Hippie Chick’s other post.

At one time I said I would never run if the temperature dropped below 30 degrees, but that is not really the truth. I did a training run last year in January 2006 when the temp dropped to 19 degrees. Then in February, I ran a 5K and it was 27 degrees.

One morning this week it was 9 degrees and another morning it was 11 degrees. Call me a wimp, a cry baby or whatever you want, but I refuse to run when it is that cold. Besides the cold, throw in the most terrible ice storm I’ve seen since 1987, and we come up with unbearable conditions for any outdoor activity.

The ice was so bad that even with the defroster on full blast and the windshield wipers on, it was next to impossible to keep ice from building up on the windshield.

Here are some headlines from our local newspaper, the Tulsa World:

“Parking lots stay iced over as plows hit rock-hard surface ”

“Protect pets from ice, cold”

“Rural clan battles the ice”

“State road crews busy, backlogged”

“Area schools closed again as side streets remain slick”

“Tulsa totaling up storm costs”

“Utility crews working to restore electricity”

“City’s trash collection falls behind”

“Mail delivery becomes challenging”

“Newspaper Delivery May Be Delayed”

“Storm-related falls keep emergency rooms busy”

Here’s a quote from the last headline:

Tulsa-area residents have been slipping, sliding and falling their way to local emergency rooms following the weekend ice storm.

By Tuesday, increased foot and automobile traffic had polished the thick ice covering the region to a slippery sheen.

The road in front of my house is at an incline, or I could say that from the stop light, it declines directly to my property. On Monday the 15th, a truck slid right into my front yard knocking down my fence.

Then on Tuesday the 16th, a truck jumped the curb causing a blowout to his front passenger side tire–no damage to me or my property.

Later that day, another truck came crashing into the back of our truck which was parked in the driveway. The impact was so loud that neighbors from around the corner and several houses down said they could hear it.

On Wednesday the 17th, the insurance company came to our house with a check in their hand for the damage to our truck. I have never seen or heard about an insurance company acting so quickly. I was amazed.

Regarding the fence, my husband told the guy not to worry about it. That means the fence repair is our expense.

On Wednesday morning, when I first looked out the front door in the morning, I noticed that the streets in front of our house were salted and sanded. We have lived in this neighborhood for 15 years, and they have never salted or sanded the streets of this neighborhood. In fact, it is a rare occasion for them to do that in any neighborhood. They generally stay on the main thoroughfares.

Now it’s the 19th and the roads are slushy, dirty, muddy, and nasty, and we’re expecting a foot of snow this weekend. I don’t mind the snow though. It’s not as slippery or dangerous as the ice. Many areas, including my yard still have a thick layer of ice lingering. In fact, everywhere I look there is still ice except on the roads.

This is a day-by-day report of how my week has gone.

I took lots of photographs, but the battery on my digital camera (Sony Cybershot) is dead, so I took the photos with a disposable camera. I still have about five shots left before I send it off for developing. I use a photo lab in Seattle, Washington. I like their service, and the quality of photos.

As soon as I get the photos back, I’ll post them so everyone can see the damages of the week.

Praying that everyone else had a better week.