Hello from the highway.

[W1ATR]

Just sitting here parked on I84 in Waterbury for the last hour. I figured I would try posting from my crackberry for the first time on WAP.

[W1RKW]

Jared,
Sorry to hear your stuck in that parking lot. Hope you get out quick.

You're 59 here.

[Carl WA1KPD]

Took me two hours to go from East Granby to Killingworth.
Been commuting since 72. One of the worst drives ever because of the ice that is forming underneath.
Be safe
Carl
/KPD

[W1ATR]

Jeez. I love when that first ugly storm hits each year and all of a sudden, people completely forget how to drive.

It's 5:15 and I just got in from literally 3 miles away.

[AF9J]

Well, join the club. We got a FOOT of snow.  Some of it was thundersnow (a.k.a. thunder snowstorm). I actually made the 27 mile commute to work during the height of the storm.  It took me an hour to get to work (normally it's about 25 minutes).  3 lanes on the freeway, became sort of 1 1/2 lanes, that you could barely see half the time. Visibility - sometimes less than 100 yards.  As it was they ended up closing the place I work at, at 8:30 AM.  I stayed until 1 PM, (when the weather had settled down, and the main roads were plowed), to avoid a repeat of my drive into work.  To add insult to injury, we're supposed to get another 3-6 inches of snow tomorrow night (we're on track for having the snowiest December on record).  Then, it's supposed to go subzero by Monday morning, with a high of 8 degrees.  Some global warming huh?   

73,
Ellen - AF9J

P.S. - I hope you can make it home OK Jared.

[kb3ouk]

Haven't had much snow, but what we did get ended up with a coat of ice on top.
Shelby KB3OUK

[WA1GFZ]

Jared,
You are not kidding. I was on 91 shortly after you and got stuck going 20 for a while. I love people who brake before they climb a hill. We got at least 10 inches and the plows are doing the street so I guess it is done. As I write this the plow put a big pile at the end of the driveway. The 1975 Sears will get a work out in the morning.
Oh well, last year this week I got stuck on LI from the big one.

[Ed/KB1HYS]

There comes a point in time when risking ones life on the road is not worth it. Too often we get conditioned into thinking we can or have to Beat mother nature. Often enough she beats us, sometimes to death.
We've had serios snow here since I got home from work Friday.  Tried driving on Sat and decided that staying home was a much better option.

If the roads look bad tomorrow, I got some sick/vacation time left for the year... 

[W1ATR]

I agree Ed, and although I can't stand getting into a traffic nuisance like I was in the other day, I still don't think I would give this job up for anything. I've had the stationary jobs in the past. Was an apprentice toolsetter before this, and after a while, being in the same place day after day would drive me insane with cabin fever. On the road, I'm in a different place all the time, see new things and meet some great people, and some bad people too, lol. I've always been a tool head, but didn't care for the saturated automotive field, so this job is a perfect fit. I drive my toolbox around, fix things, and get paid fairly well for doing it.

Besides, women dig good lookin hvac guys, they know we're economy proof. (the yl just walked by and read that, haha.)

Of course, that's the cherry sunny fun side. The dark gloomy side is long unpredictable hours, managing customers, managing the money, keeping the trucks in check, and the huge expense of actually doing business before profit is made. Right now, between my disgusting insurance, maintaining license (update training with school every other year.) fuel (<big one there, 10K/yr), and parts costs, lease on the shop, and my favorite bill, income taxes, it runs about 60Kilobucks a year excluding payroll, just to operate in this state. I don't even incure huge vehicle costs because I drive older trucks that are cheap to maintain, and easy to fix.

Physically, it can be demanding. I'm not in the best shape. The knees always need to be taken care of with good knee pads, I'm a fat 6' tall, 275lbs, and that doesn't help except when I have to hug a 600lb boiler down a flight of stairs.

It's not a bad job if I don't let it be. I still look forward to going to work every day. When that feeling ends, then it'll be time for a change. 15yrs in this trade so far. (started when I was 22)

73