The thing about icicles

The Icicle of Death isn't going anywhere.

Thanks to the non-stop snowfall our roof has started accumulating vast amounts of ice. I've always found icicles quite pretty, but those of Buffalo take on a gargantuan quality that is at once impressive and intimidating. The largest of the icicles hangs over the driveway and our entrance to the house.

For the last 48 hours we've had a bit of a reprieve from the snow, even a heat wave on Thursday when we made it all the way up to 32°F/0°C!! I took the opportunity to wash my car which has taken a beating from all the salt on the roads, but the "warmth" didn't touch the giant ice stalactite. Today it's back to 11°F, and thus the Icicle of Death isn't going anywhere.

Fearing for my car, and more importantly, my life, I decided I needed to cut the icicle down to size a bit. I vertically chucked tennis balls at it for a while, hoping to knock it loose, with very limited success. Finally, I turned to a running shoe for better leverage, but still no luck. If it wasn't for the nearby windows, I would have resorted to something heavier, like a part of the Icicle of Death's smaller predecessor, the Icicle of Near Death, which fell last week from the same location:

Anyway, if anyone has any icicle removal suggestions, please let me know. I'm fairly certain one of these days I'm going to drive under it and it will come plummeting down, crushing my car and maiming anyone in my passenger seat. Seriously, this thing is huge! Since this picture was taken it's grown---now at least a foot in circumference!
Anyway, the snow is pretty at least. :)

The thing about the Wintry Mix

I should amend my previous post. We've got a mad snow storm going on outside and my Gmail doesn't know it yet. It still has grey clouds hanging around. There's still hope.

Did you know it frequently snows sideways in Buffalo? On those days my house shakes fairly violently due to the wind.

Humorously, when I studied abroad in Seville, Spain I used to laugh at the local weather reports. Nearly every week would be like this, give or take 10 degrees:

Monday: Sunny, high of 85°F
Tuesday: Sunny, high of 79°F
Wednesday: Sunny, high of 80°F
Thursday: Sunny, high of 82°F
Friday: Sunny, high of 75°F
Saturday: Sunny, high of 78°F
Sunday: Sunny. One cloud might cross the sky around 3:07 p.m.

I exaggerate very little. Living in the Midwest most of my life, we have four, full seasons with plenty of everything: Sun, snow, rain, heat, wind, cold, ice, hail, tornadoes. etc. I found Seville's weather to be refreshing on the whole, but uncomfortable during the sweltering summer...

Here in Buffalo, the weather report is equally humorous in its repetitiveness. The little graphics on the weather forecast are not sunshine looking egg-yolks. Instead, they've been replaced by an all-encompassing graphic I like to refer to as "Wintry Mix." Wintry Mix (at least on the local tv stations) is often hard to distinguish from "Just Plain Snow." Meterologists use this ambiguity in their favor when predicting weather. Just like in Seville where it was sunny and hot, here in Buffalo they are confident in two things: It will snow. It will be cold. Any deviation from this standard is just a lucky break. And since the snow accumulation varies greatly depending on one's proximity to the Great lakes, the "Wintry Mix" icon always covers the bases.

So yes, it does snow here every day, even if it's just a few flakes. And yes, the forecast got it right, even if it's only sleeting, thundersnowing and raining at once. These are all variable components which can fall under the "Wintry Mix" icon. No need to check the weather or hire someone new for graphics, the "Wintry Mix" will be here until Aprilish.

The thing about e-mail

You know you've been on the computer too long when your e-mail inbox knows it's snowing before you do.

Google, which as of late seems to own or have a hand in nearly every trendy internet tool, has been my reliable e-mail host since Gmail's invitation-only days. Recently they rolled out a series of fun themes for customizing one's Gmail inbox in their intriguing Labs sections. Themes is now its own page within settings but the Labs area is still a never ending shelf of new toys* for the sandbox.

I chose "Tree" as my theme, with little knowledge as to its purpose until the other day when there was an accumulation of snow all over my inbox. With its normal sunshiny affect, I was confused why snow was taking over. Until I looked outside.

It was snowing.

Typical. I mean, it's Buffalo. But still. My inbox noticed before I did.

Another day there were water droplets (and fairly cutesy realistic, I might add) all over my mailbox.

Indeed, it was raining.

Kind of cool, kind of creepy. Who needs windows when we have technology? (no pun intended)


* --A recent gander in labs listed e-mail gadgets such as "Mail Goggles," which allows users to set preferences forcing them to answer a handful of basic math questions in order to enter their mail after a drunken excursion (in not so many words). I haven't enabled this tool myself, but I certainly can imagine its applicability.

The thing about the weather

My blog is called The Lake Effect Affect, so it's important that I finally note its origins for those not from the Buffalo area.

Lake Effect refers to snow or rain created when cold arctic winds meet warm air over lakes and dump a distinctive snow (or rain), on lee shores. That's lee shores. So there you have it.

Oh wait, you don't know what the heck 'lee shores' are? You've totally been slacking on your kayaking jargon. I'm from Kansas, you have no excuse. If you're really interested in lee shores, See wikipedia entry. It's not really important, the exact definition, except to say that Buffalo is situated on the LEE SHORES of Lake Erie, fashioning the stereotype that Buffalo is constantly inundated with snow.

Well. I haven't survived the winter yet, so I can't tell you if that's true or not. I can tell you, however, if this is any sign of what is to come:

Today we had our first snow flurries. October 21st.

So today, the Lake Effect Affect is cold---and just a little bit worr---err, excited about what's to come.


p.s. if you haven't watched the video in the last post, I promise it will make you laugh. I dare you to get up and dance with her.