This year hasn’t made the record books yet, but I have seen more snow than I have in the previous 3 years as a student at Virgina Tech. So far this season, we’ve had over 3 feet of snow fall and they are expecting more the next few days. It’s pretty at first and can be lots of fun for sledding and make snowmen, but there are so many down sides to all this snow.

I stayed after finals this fall, so I was here for the big storm in December. The snow fell so quickly. Luckily I was parked in a garage nearby and didn’t have to dig out my Toyota Camry. I also only had to drive 2 miles home so I wasn’t stuck dealing with the big messes on 81 and 460. The plows were out when I left work around 7, but the snow was coming down so fast, there was only so much VDOT could do.

The next day I was scheduled to work, but after watching a girl try for an hour to move her car on our unplowed road, I decided to call in. They didn’t plow my street for another day but luckily, it was before I had to go into work and I was able to dig out my car. The snow hadn’t iced over yet and since everyone had left town for break, I had some clear parking spots when I came home later.

This time around, the parking lots are packed and with the continuous storms, there’s no where for the snow piles to go. Plows have pushed snow into big mounds on street corners and other horrible places. I cut off a police officer yesterday when I turned off a side road just because I could not see him over the 7 feet of snow on the corner of main street. The same goes in my apartment complex. I have almost been hit several times by people who aren’t taking their time around blind corners.

My next issue is with my apartment complex. I slipped on some ice Thursday morning and ended up flat on my back next to my car. Luckily, I only smashed my leg into my open car door but if I knocked myself out, it may have been a while before anyone noticed. This weekend, my car ended up with 3 feet of snow on either side of it from people clearing off their cars. There was also almost an inch of ice under my tires from nothing being cleared out. I sat for an hour and half with a hammer, ice scraper, and de-icer (which, by the way, the nozzle can freeze up) and beat at the ice until I had cleared it enough to get my tires to grip.

So far, VDOT seems to try pretty hard to stay on top of the main roads. It’s the smaller back roads and privately owned areas that have been the cause of my pain and annoyance. I really need to buy a shovel, but they have to be in stock again!