Remember when you were a kid and you couldn't wait for the winter to come and the snow to fall? Oh yeah, when you're a kid, winter is all fun and games. It sure was for me. Building snowmen, making snow angels, snow ball fights, tobogganing, etc. I used to love winter when I was a kid. But now that I'm all grown up, winter can never end soon enough. And I'm sure that I'm not the only one that thinks so, even in Canada where we're supposed to be used to harsh winters and all the crap that comes with them.
Remember last winter? It was the winter from hell frozen over where all of us in Canada endured minus double-digit temperatures without end; where sidewalks, streets and even lawns became giant skating rinks, and where a freak ice storm knocked out power to thousands of residents in my home city of Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area - Just in time for Christmas. Now of course, not all winters are as bad as last year's (THANK GOD!), but no matter how good or bad a winter is, chances are that for at least some part of it, you're gonna get screwed.
Let's just pretend that it's the morning of a big snow storm. Being a responsible person, you've probably checked the forecast the night before to find out what kind of misery you'll be facing on the way to work. And on the morning of the big snowstorm, you get up extra early so that you can get to work on time, even though you still feel like your head just hit the pillow. But before you can even think about heading out, you'll need to figure out what to do with the kids, because school has been cancelled due to heavy snow fall. Once you've figured that out, you go outside and find your car covered by several feet of the white stuff. So you spend a few minutes brushing off the snow and scraping off the ice. Now you're finally ready to drive to work. Uh oh, not so fast! Your car won't start. Time to break out the jumper cables! You eventually do get your car started after fifteen minutes or so, then you spend another five or so minutes warming it up before you're finally able to get it moving - or so you thought. Your driveway is covered in snow and before your car will move even an inch, you'll have to shovel your way out. This will take, say, another half hour (at least). At last, you get on the road - only to fight the seemingly never-ending traffic that is bad at the best of times and almost unbearable during winter storms. And for those of you who rely on public transit to get to work; sorry, but it's not going to be any easier for you either. As usual, the TTC and GO Transit struggle to cope with the big, bad winter. Your GO train is delayed and you won't get to work on time. The Scarborough RT is frozen (oh, now there's a surprise) as is the entire streetcar network. And as usual, the subway system just can't keep up. Ready for the really bad news yet? You have go through this crap all over again to get home! Isn't winter great? Yeah, I don't think so either.
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