As I’m sure you’ve heard, if not felt, a good portion of the US has been experiencing below normal temperatures.

I’m not really sure what normal temperatures are any more.  This summer, the Atlanta area experienced higher than normal temperatures – this winter, lower than normal.  So, I’m wondering if the definition of “normal” is going to change.  But, I digress.  Again.

Here in the South, 2″ of snow will close everything down.  And, it’s a good thing, too.  Many Southerners don’t know the first thing about driving in snow or ice.

Last Friday we got 2″ of snow.  Under normal conditions, everything would have closed down Friday, and then opened up when the snow melted on Saturday.  However, a bit of snow can turn into a disaster when you have an extended period of below — way below — freezing temperatures.  I didn’t venture out until Monday.  Why?  Well, silly things were happening on the roads!

On one exit ramp TWENTY SEVEN cars ran into each other sliding in snow and ice.  Drivers admitted that they were going about 40 MPH.  Any Yankee will tell you that you probably shouldn’t be going that fast on an off ramp anyway, and certainly not in icy conditions.

Other drivers who were interviewed after sliding into other cars or smashing head on into trees said pretty much the same thing: “I slammed on my brakes and the car just locked up”.   Well, yes.  That’s what happens when you slam on your brakes on an icy road.

As a Yankee myself, I don’t ever remember being taught how to drive in snow and ice.  I don’t remember that as a chapter in the driver’s education class I took.  I guess it must be knowledge that is just handed down from generation to generation.

Unfortunately, the word never seems to have drifted down very far south.  So, for anyone who is still wondering what to do, here’s the deal:

• NEVER slam on your brakes on a slippery road – pump your brakes when necessary.
• Use very small movements of the wheel to adjust your course if you’re about to run into something. 
• Otherwise, just enjoy the glide. . .  I mean ride.

If you do run into something, odds are you won’t be injured.  But, please!  Remember that the reason you’re in that mess to begin with is because the roads are slippery!  Do NOT leap out of your car to check the damage and start doing an impression of a newborn giraffe.  Ending up on your (how does one spell tookus?) isn’t going to fix anything.

For the moment, the disaster is over.  Temps tomorrow are predicted in the high 40’s, which should get rid of any last vestige of snow.  However, I’ve heard predictions of another artic blast or two happening before the winter is out.

So, please, everyone, do some studying up on winter driving before the next one hits.   Practice pumping your brakes, using a low gear (yes, even automatic transmissions have low gears, you probably just never think about them being useful for anything), and changing lanes using a series of small adjustments with the steering wheel (only on an empty road, of course).

Let’s all bone up on our winter driving skills and maybe we’ll be able to avoid disaster during the next 2″  “snow storm”!

Please Note:  Our office will be closed from Thursday, December 31 through Sunday, January 3.

It seems like just a bit ago, a famous futuristic novel was predicting dire situations in 1984, then we all wanted to party like it was 1999, then we were holding our collective breath to see if the 2000 disaster was going to strike!  And, I guess the rest of the first 9 (or 10 depending on how you count) years of the new millenium have just flashed by.

I’m sure we’ve all had triumphs and disasters, and there have been great real estate markets and really bad ones.  But, we’re all still here, and I’m wishing the best for all of us in 2010.

Remember our military at the holidays!  As you may know, there are many ways  to show support for our military folks who give so much all year around.  Here are a few – there’s still time to send an email of support!

• Send a postcard to someone in the military.  Visit Let’s Say Thanks.  Xerox Corporation has set up this website where you can select a postcard from among designs created by children all across the country, and personalize it with your own greeting.  The postcards are then printed by Xerox and mailed in care packages sent to military personnel serving overseas by a military support organization, Give2TheTroops.
• Send an e-mail.  Visit America Supports You. 

And, please join me in a prayer for peace.  And better access to affordable healthcare. 

I don’t know about you – maybe it’s my advanced age.  But, I do say some of the strangest things.  Undoubtedly phrases handed down through the years that have just gotten stuck in my brain somewhere, and come popping out at the most inopportune times.

Have you ever wondered about how these expressions got started?  How about “Oh, for the love of Mike!”.  I actually said that the other day, so I looked it up on the Internet and learned that the phrase is actually 600-800 years old.  It’s a mild curse often used by soldiers as a substitute for “Oh, for the love of God!”, which some thought was blasphemous.  Mike is short for St. Michael, the patron saint of soldiers and warriors.

I also discovered that people worked hard to find a way to use Jesus Christ in a mild oath without actually taking His name in vain.  Supposedly, Jeepers Creepers is one alternative.  And, the name Jiminy Crickett was also cited as an alternative.  Do you think Walt Disney was making a play on words when he named the famous wooden boy??

Here’s another one:  “The best thing since sliced bread”.  I wonder what they said before someone invented sliced bread?

Here’s a silly Canadian saying:  “So happy she had a grin as wide as the St. Lawrence”.  Hmmm.   And, a Canadian way of describing someone who is overly talkative: “That dude’s got more tongue than a Mountie’s boot.”  That gives me a really awful visual image.

And, good old Shakespeare gave us this one: “It’s Greek to me”.  I wonder why the Greeks?  Why not Japanese or some other language?

So, I guess it’s obvious that, for some reason, we humans tend to latch on to a phrase and stick with it for years.  Hundreds of them, in fact.

I wonder what phrases we will contribute to the world’s sayings.  Do you think 800 years from now surprised people will describe themselves as gobsmacked?  When people are in a confusing situation, will they say that something is hinky?  When they’re sure that something is wrong, will they call it jacked up?

Somehow our current slang just doesn’t have the ring of the older phrases.  But, I suppose I shouldn’t make fun of our language evolution.

My bad.

I recall a while back writing about the snow that fell on Atlanta.  Now, we have turned into WaterWorld, and it’s really no fun.  I’m beginning to wonder if we really are messing up the weather patterns!

Oddly enough, I can’t find anything online that indicates how much rain we’ve had over the past few weeks, but I know it’s a lot.  It’s reached the proportions of a real natural disaster.  And, people are still doing dumb things.

Lots of folks have gotten their cars stranded on flooded roads.  One explanation I heard was that it was dark and the water didn’t seem that deep.  But, see, if it’s dark, you can’t really tell how deep the water is, right?  So, it probably would have been better to take another route, wouldn’t it?

There are people without power because falling trees have taken out the power lines.  There are people without water because mains have broken.  And, when they do get the water back on, it must be boiled before using.  There’s even one neighborhood that is completely cut off due to the roads flooding.  No one in or out.  The only thing moving there are the water bottles that other neighbors are trying to shot put over the raging torrents of water.

The poor hummingbirds are pathetic looking little things these days.  Their hair is sticking out all over their heads.  If another bird comes to challenge their seat at the feeder, rather than the usual airborne dog fight, the seated bird will just flap his wings a few times and the other one usually defers.

Besides all this, those of us who aren’t dealing with some true disaster are just getting grumpier all the time.  We moved south to enjoy the sun.  We haven’t seen any in several weeks, at least it seems that way, and we’re all a bit depressed and lacking in Vitamin D.

A group of us were discussing the lousy weather the other day, and one woman made the ultimate fatal mistake.  She said, “Think how much snow we’ll get this winter if this level of precipitation keeps up!”

Of course, we had to shoot her.

I’m talking about the Health Care system.  And, I would think that since most of you reading this blog are also self-employed, you’d feel about the same way.

I don’t often use this blog as a soapbox, but I’m making an exception today. 

I have about had it with our exalted elected officials and the Health Care Reform issue. 

The cost for my health care coverage has risen 168% over the last five years.  And, to keep a lid on the costs rising even more than that ridiculous amount, I’ve raised the deductible each year, and it is currently at an almost idiotic level.

When the pundits say that they’ve taken a poll and that the majority of people in the U.S. are happy with their health care coverage, I have to wonder who they are asking.  I’ll wager they’re not asking people with individual policies or people who can’t afford insurance.  So, the first thing all our leaders need to understand is that the health care system is broken.  Really.  Notwithstanding any of those silly polls you take that can be interpreted however you want them to come out.

And, what’s all the panic about a government option?  The Congress uses it.  I’ve heard officials say that it will move us toward a single payer system.  Is that their heads talking or the special interest groups? 

As far as I’m concerned, the result of a government option would be some real competition in the industry.  And, I’ll wager prices would come down.  And, besides that, think about the fact that not everyone who is eligible for Medicare uses it.  Many people have other alternatives – some sign up for Medicare supplement policies.  So, if Medicare hasn’t resulted in a single payer system for seniors, why should we think that every American will decide to use the government option?  It’s just silly.

Sillier still is all the panic about the proposed plans.  Who came up with the theory that there was something floating around that would pull the plug on Grandma?  Scare tactics.  One senator on a news show cited 2 or 3 things that the legislation might contain (but probably didn’t), and if you took those things – and twisted them beyond recognition and then stirred them back together - you’d end up with someone pulling the plug on Grandma.  And, the senator said that his constituency was scared.  Good grief.  Talk about mob mentality.  What have these people seen in the fabric of this country that would lead them to believe we’d suddenly start killing off old people???

A few years ago, Blue Cross and the only hospital in the “Southern Crescent” of Atlanta where I was living, got into a big fight.  Blue Cross decided that they would remove the hospital from their provider lists.  The hospital said that was OK with them.  It was a lot like two little kids facing off in the school yard.

I wrote more than one missive to the heads of both organizations, with this message:  I don’t care who did what to whom.  I don’t care who is being unreasonable, or who won’t compromise.  The bottom line is that neither of you can meet your burden to serve the public by continuing this disagreement to the point where you eliminate your agreements to work together.  You’re both highly educated, capable people, and you can find a resolution to this – you just have to decide you want to.

So, I now say the same thing to our elected officials in Washington.  The health care system is broken.  I don’t care if the Republicans think the Democrats are being bratty, or the other way around.  You all have a duty to the people who elected you to use your brains and common sense to finally find a way to fix this problem.

I expect you to work together until you come up with something reasonable in a reasonable timeframe. 

Blue Cross and the hospital I cited earlier ”suddenly” found a compromise position, and lo and behold, there was no interruption of care in the Southern Crescent. 

I just pray our elected officials can pull themselves together and be as successful.