MIssed it by "That" much...

Well, friends, I almost made it home yesterday..

You'll remember our hero drove to work at 4am yesterday, and it started to snow at 5:30? And the weatherman was telling us all night that it was going to be a rip-snorter of a winter storm, dumping at least 10" of snow on the ground????

Yes, well...idiot moi...tried to drive home at 11:30, after things had let up.

I had parked in the lot across the street--thank god I didn't park on the street (not only is it too expensive there, but when the plows came through, people were stuck there!), but rather in the Wolverine Parking Lot, and I got stuck trying to get over the snow-plow wake. A nice man who was slowly traversing Grand Avenue stopped in the middle of the road and pushed me out. What a nice guy!

Once on the road, I felt a little more confident, but I could see that the trip was going to be treacherous, if anything, and as my blood pressure rose to the occasion, I took a deep breath, and held it....

For over an hour.

Now, I don't really mean that I held my breath, but under stressful situations such as these, I tend to breathe much more shallowly, and turn the radio off...any sudden movements--such as breathing hard, might send me careening into the nearest snowbank...

I'm not sure where that idea came from, but maybe it's something that could be looked at?

So, our hero is on the road. Heading north, since Grand Ave only goes one way--and made a right turn on Michigan Avenue, which is a main thoroughfare, but only had one track plowed through it.

This was NOT looking good!

I figured that I would turn right again on Cedar, then head up to the onramp for 496 (downtown freeway) and hope for the best. It looked like the turn at Cedar Street had only one track plowed through it, too! Ho, boy, this was going to be such fun!

I had to drive to the middle of the intersection to find the place where things were plowed and make my turn. It sure confused the guy on the other side of the intersection, who was turning left, as to what HE might do--as Cedar St is a 4 lane road, with only one track plowed, my seemingly low-clearance car wouldn't make it through the places that weren't plowed...I knew that for a fact--which should have told me something, but all I could think of by this time was getting home safely.

I got stuck temporarily at the turn for the onramp to 496, but once I got going on the roadway, I was off and running, up the hill and onto the freeway. I am on my way.

And then the cell phone rang. Now there's something about a jangling phone that just sets the nerves on edge, and right about then, I was on my last nerve, so I ignored it, figuring it was my husband calling to tell me that he'd cleared the driveway. What a guy!

496 was relatively clear, except that you couldn't see the road, and it was a tossup whether you were in the middle of the road, or on the offramp--since I was only going about 30 miles per hour, I didn't figure it would be a problem, but people were passing me. I just waved and said, see you in the ditch down the road--which was true, in about 5 cases--

Hero--thy name is fear!

But even at 30-35 mph, I was making headway, and I only froze again when I had to take the off-ramp for the 96 interchange--which was plowed, but not very well, and things went dicey for a little bit, but I did make it onto the big road!

I drove along, slowly, without incident. Even when I saw 2 semi-tractor trailers stuck in the median--and 4 cars--who seemingly just drove right off the road into the soft fluffiness--without jackknifing the rigs! Quite surprising.

I expected my county road to be unplowed, and if it hadn't been plowed, I would have spent the night at the gas station, but it had been plowed, which surprised me. Even so, I stopped at the gas station to get something to eat, and to answer the call from my husband to let him know where I was, and why it was taking me so long to get home.

I ate a Subway wrap--let me tell you, there must be a ton of sugar in their wrap, because the meal part was beef, cheese, tomato and green pepper--the only carb was the wrap, which sent my sugar skyrocketing to 181--which is 60 mclg's over what my normal level has been since the first week of being on medication for sugar...but I digress. I got Jeff some chips for munching when I got home.

The drive down the county road was uneventful--except for the semi-tractor trailer at the intersection who got stuck, and looked as if it would tip over into the intersection below if it moved any closer to the edge of the road--and the wrecker trying to pull him out wasn't doing so well, either.

Finally, I arrive at the county road that I live on, and I'm less than 1/4 mile away from the corner, but I could see that it hadn't been plowed, and I did get stuck on the corner because a plow had done the county road, but I thought to myself that I was "this close", I should be able to make it up the hill to the driveway, and so, with much determination and trepidation, I continued down the road and found a track where a pickup truck or SUV had made.

My smaller car found the track a little too wide, but kept trying.

I got stuck about halfway. I called my wrecker--and yes, I do have him on speed-dial. Doesn't everyone? Unfortunately, even after digging and spinning, he couldn't do anything to get me out unless I wanted to go BACK to the county road--and since I don't know anyone on that road (I think it's high time I did) I was loathe to go back that-a-way. I also didn't want to stay where I was at, because, well, being stuck in the middle of the road isn't a good thing when you want a plow to come down the road.

I dug and dug, and finally gave up and called my husband to get a shovel and come down and help me.

When he arrived, and I was more than halfway home, he asked me if I intended to dig my way to the drive.

Frustration has never been my strong suit, and he just got on my last nerve by saying that--and I answered with as much venom as a poisonous tarantula--"If that's what it takes to get me home, then YES. I can't stay out here in the middle of the road--the plow won't be able to get through!"

I rocked the car and back and forth, and ended up with a little hill of snow in front of my car. It was a wild ride. Jeff stood behind my car and pushed, and pushed, and we finally got my car up the hill and into the driveway, and I got stuck again.

By now, however, I am so angry that I simply gunned it, and kept on gunning it. I am so close!!!!

By the time I got into the driveway in my normal parking place, every trouble light in my car was turned on--the brake light, the abs light and the check engine light!!!

sigh. Missed it by THAT much.