Fagstein » snow http://blog.fagstein.com Can you think of a better name? Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:54:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Snow http://blog.fagstein.com/2009/01/02/snow/ http://blog.fagstein.com/2009/01/02/snow/#comments Sat, 03 Jan 2009 03:09:11 +0000 Fagstein http://blog.fagstein.com/?p=3524

This is what it's come to folks: Snow is the No. 1 story in this city in 2008.

Now, it would be easy to blame the media for over-hyping this issue, pushing snow as news during a season when very little other news happens.

Instead, I blame you.

You who talk about nothing but the weather, who whine incessantly about how there has been snow on your street for a whole five minutes and the city hasn't done anything about it yet. You who want your street cleared ASAP but are too lazy to move your car out of the way first. You who made the Weather Network one of the few networks not to face a significant downturn this year. You who are so disconnected from society that the weather is the only conversation material you have available in half your conversations.

It's snow. Get over it.

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]]> http://blog.fagstein.com/2009/01/02/snow/feed/ 2 Beware the tow trucks http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/12/29/beware-the-tow-trucks/ http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/12/29/beware-the-tow-trucks/#comments Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:57:42 +0000 Fagstein http://blog.fagstein.com/?p=3505 An army of tow trucks clear out one side of a single block

An army of tow trucks clear out one side of a single block

Leaving work late last night, I noticed an army of tow trucks hooking onto cars parked on Ste. Catherine St. near Peel and hauling them away. The orange snow-clearing signs say no parking between midnight and 4am, so there's no excuse for being there past 2am when this photo was taken.

Just because there wasn't any snowfall that day doesn't mean the guys with the snowplows don't need the street when they've reserved it.

(And what were these people doing parked on the street downtown at 2am on a Monday anyway?)

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]]> http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/12/29/beware-the-tow-trucks/feed/ 1 Snow = slow http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/12/12/snow-is-slow/ http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/12/12/snow-is-slow/#comments Fri, 12 Dec 2008 07:01:06 +0000 Fagstein http://blog.fagstein.com/?p=3406

The first snowfall of the year hit the city this week, and the usual whining came quickly. So quickly that the National Post saw fit to make fun of us (even though nobody called in the army).

Because the storm was larger than expected, and because the worst of it hit during rush hour, traffic was backed up, and buses and plows couldn't get through.

Patrick Lagacé asks: Is this normal?

Allow me to answer:

Yes this is normal!

Every year we get the same crap. People expect that ever block in the city has its own private snow-clearing team waiting for the first flakes to fall. Every year they forget that it takes a couple of days to clear snow off every street in the city.

The people who were unprepared for the first snowfall weren't working for the city, they're you. You without your winter tires. You without boots that have traction on ice. You who thought it would be a good idea to take your car downtown when the forecast called for snow. You who didn't add extra time to your commuting schedule to account for delays caused by heavy snowfall.

I admit I'm a bit spoiled in all this. I take the metro exclusively to work (and during odd hours), so I rarely have to wait in line in the cold for a bus that's half an hour late.

But even when I lived on the West Island and took an hour and a half to get downtown every day, I still understood that snowstorms cause delays. Why is it so hard for everyone else to understand the concept?

UPDATE (Dec. 14): Stéphane Laporte agrees with me: Winter happens. Get over it.

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]]> http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/12/12/snow-is-slow/feed/ 12 The orange sky http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/11/25/orange-sky/ http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/11/25/orange-sky/#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:05:14 +0000 Fagstein http://blog.fagstein.com/?p=3162 Taken at 3 a.m. on Nov. 25

Taken at 3 a.m. on Nov. 25

I dislike snow. Or at least I always complain about it. Snow means it's cold and winter has officially arrived. On the other hand, I enjoy playing with snow, even when everything I wear is soggy afterwards.

The other thing I like about snow is the night sky after a snowfall. The city's lights bounce off the bright, white sheet that has covered everything, then bounce off the low, white cloud, and scatter off the millions of little snowflakes falling to the ground. The result is an orange, almost purple sky that creates a strange middle ground between night and day.

Usually by the next night, the snow has finished falling, the streets have been plowed or the thin sheet has melted, and the clouds have dispersed. And night becomes dark once again.

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]]> http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/11/25/orange-sky/feed/ 0 Schools closed today http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/03/10/schools-closed-today/ http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/03/10/schools-closed-today/#comments Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:09:43 +0000 Fagstein http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/03/10/schools-closed-today/ Here's the lowdown:

(Decisions apply to all schools and head office unless otherwise indicated)

English CEGEPs:

All open (or at least none say they're closed)

Universities are usually open through all but the most crippling of snowstorms. Check individual class websites or student portals for details.

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]]> http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/03/10/schools-closed-today/feed/ 1 Creative Parking 2 http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/03/09/creative-parking-2/ http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/03/09/creative-parking-2/#comments Sun, 09 Mar 2008 20:54:57 +0000 Fagstein http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/03/09/creative-parking-2/ (UPDATED with late-night shots)

You've seen the original. Now the all-new sequel, following the storm of the year.

12 Feet

12 feet from the sidewalk. A new record. Not anymore. See below.

Camouflage

There is a car in there, right?

Garage 1

It's like a little fort!

Garage 2

A fort for a car!

Sideways

Angle of parking is just a suggestion.

Snowed in 1

Hopeless

You have my sympathies.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the metro. You should too.

UPDATE: All of these cars are parked:

Double Parked 1

Double Parked 2

Double Parked 3

Double Parked 4

And just when I thought 12 feet was extreme:

15 Feet

This car set a new one: 15 feet from the curb. It was so far out, cars going by had to cross the yellow line. (On a six-lane street, that's really something.)

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]]> http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/03/09/creative-parking-2/feed/ 5 Creative parking http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/02/05/creative-parking/ http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/02/05/creative-parking/#comments Tue, 05 Feb 2008 06:55:38 +0000 Fagstein http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/02/05/creative-parking/ Creative parking 1

As the snow fell this weekend on Montreal, the post-snowfall ritual sprang into action. It usually starts with lots of people complaining about the fact that the snow hasn't been plowed yet. The complaints come so fast I have a feeling they're written before the snow starts falling in the first place. With the complaints come increasingly ludicrous suggestions on how to fix the problem, such as:

Almost all the letters are ignorant of just how much organization goes into plowing streets in Montreal, and assume that, without having spent a single second inside a snow plow, they know better how to efficiently clear streets.

Really, the complaints are more misplaced frustration at having to spend two hours digging out their car with a shovel when they were already late for work. Sadly, no magical solution has been found for that yet.

The city then gives a guesstimate about how long it will take to clear, overemphasizing the fact that more snow or rain will delay the operation.

Then, as the plows finally come by to clear the streets, car-owners who ignored no-parking signs panic to relocate them before getting a ticket.

The big difference this time is that the city decided to open up its paid parking lots for free overnight parking (when they're not used anyway). Drivers can park their cars in them during snow-clearing operations, provided they get them out of there by 6am 7am (thanks Andy) the next day.

Except, because the move was poorly publicized (or because no one wants to get up that early), the lots sat unused this time.

So instead, drivers desperate for a place to park had to each solve the standard snowbank parking dilemma. When faced with a free spot knee-deep in snow, there are three options:

  1. Find some temporary place to stash the car and dig the spot out with a shovel, hoping nobody swoops in and steals the spot after you've cleared it (this also presents the recursive problem of where to put the car when you're clearing the spot)
  2. Declare the spot unparkable, and keep going looking for another one, which most likely doesn't exist
  3. Drive the car as far as it will go into the spot, and then give up, leaving it either parked diagonally, parked far from the curb, or both

The pictures below show some Montreal drivers who chose Option 3 on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

Creative parking 2

This was pretty mild compared to the diagonal parking going on.

Creative parking 3

Aside from the coolness factor of a bus passing by as I took the photo, this shows clearly that one diagonal parker begats another.

Creative parking 4

Though there are deep snowbanks here, each car clearly has another three or four feet at least behind it.

Creative parking 5

Ditto here (license plates blurred to protect the guilty).

Creative parking 6

I had to measure this one. There isn't a single part of this car less than 10 feet (3 metres) from the curb. The law gives a maximum distance of 30 cm.

Creative parking 7

12 hours later, it's still anarchy.

Creative parking 8

These cars all look like they're waiting in line for the red light in the middle lane. Well, they are in the middle lane, but they're all parked.

Creative parking 9

This one set a new record: Over 11 feet (3.3m), 11 times the legal limit.

Creative parking 10

I can't begin to describe how illegal this park job is.

Should this be tolerated?

Even though these vehicles were all parked illegally (and drastically so), not one had a ticket in the windshield. It seems police quietly tolerate such activity during snowstorms, giving drivers a break, at the expense of traffic and especially large traffic like buses and trucks which have to squeeze through what little space is left on the road.

Is this right? Should some short-term anarchy be tolerated because of the difficulty in finding alternative spaces to park? Or should drivers be screwed over, forced en masse to find some other solution that either doesn't exist or is already being used to capacity?

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]]> http://blog.fagstein.com/2008/02/05/creative-parking/feed/ 11 It’s another snow day! (mostly) http://blog.fagstein.com/2007/12/17/its-another-snow-day-mostly/ http://blog.fagstein.com/2007/12/17/its-another-snow-day-mostly/#comments Mon, 17 Dec 2007 07:53:56 +0000 Fagstein http://blog.fagstein.com/2007/12/17/its-another-snow-day-mostly/ Since people have been Googling about school closures tomorrow (Monday, December 17), here's a quick list of decisions that have been made as of 11pm Sunday. (Assume "open" means "tentatively open" and check the website before leaving in case they change their minds.)

School boards

(Decisions apply to all schools and head office unless otherwise indicated)

English private schools

(That I could think of, have your butler check the website (or CJAD's list) if not listed here)

English CEGEPs:

Universities are usually open through all but the most crippling of snowstorms. Check individual class websites or student portals for details.

Doing my part

I was going to do some Christmas shopping today, but because (a) shopping malls amazingly are still closing at 5pm on weekends two weeks before Christmas and (b) I took one look outside, I decided to stay home and be one less strain on the transportation network.

That kept me in perfect position to see the lightning that everyone's talking about, along with its acoustically suppressed thunder.

UPDATE (Dec. 18): The Journal wonders if the schools jumped the gun and if the closings were really justified.

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