Snowsplosion!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

It snows in Seattle every now and then. Usually not much, but when the entire region is on a 90 degree incline, a little goes a long way… toward sliding your vehicle into a freezing body of water. Some of you might remember the mixture of caution, fear, and hilarity that lead to my own snow-stranding last year. That totally had no influence on the fact that I now live amid the apartments typically referred to here as Paizo East, a whopping three blocks from the office. So, when the Great Flurry of ’12 hit, I sledded down the hill to collect the blizzard of “Out of the Office” e-mails. Lets see what we’ve got:


Not even the Paizo golem is immune to the snowmageddon!
Illustration by Liz Courts, Snowed In Specialist

Jerome Virnich, Editorial Intern
Wes. Unfortunately I'm under the weather, both literally and figuratively. Still planning on being there on Friday. Hope you're well!

Mike Brock, Campaign Coordinator & Survivalist
Hi all. After sliding backwards down the 150 yard hill in my apartment complex, I gave up trying to drive to work. I hear Seattle has a great bus system so went to their website. My results from here to work:

Trip Planner
Error Planning Trip
(#20007--Trip not possible)
Modify Trip

So, looks like I'm working from home today.

Judy Bauer, Disaster Opportunist
Mutinying for Snow Days! In a shocking twist, I'll be editing from home again today. Currently rolling on the AP adventure.

Jason Bulmahn, Senior Snowman Wrassler
Yetis stole my car. I am pretty sure they are doing donuts in the intersection. Sean, Judy, and I are going to be staying home today. I've got work banked up still and will be taking breaks to yell at those damn yetis. Stay warm everyone.

Erik Mona, Snowscarred
Folks. After last year's 520-ocalypse, I'm playing it safe with the snow this year. I've got a pile of work to do here at home today, so I'll be editing and working on emails all day today (and possibly tomorrow, given the way people on the radio are freaking out). If you need me, please call.

Lisa Stevens, Lives on a Mountain
You Redmond folks don't know what snow is! And this with the snowpocalypse major snow not even fallen yet! You may not see us until spring! :)

[Picture of Hoth omitted]

From the incomplete nature of this list I can only assume that many others are wandering about disoriented or huddled cozily in their tauntauns. Some though—like James Sutter who owns a parachute and had a toboggan delivered to the office last week—we might never see again.

Stay frosty everyone.

F. Wesley Schneider
Managing Editor

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Ravenbow wrote:

I spent the last twenty years on the west coast before moving back to Minnesota. I will not begrudge anyone in latteland(Seattle) from staying home in this but... people in Duluth deal with those conditions up to four and half months every year, and that is a big hill and Lady Superior is pretty unforgiving.

We have been lucky in the Twin Cities so far in that we have got Jack for snow. I do not envy you all one bit.

At least we have the infrastructure in place to deal with snow removal.

Edit- Looking at Sean's pics reminded me of something I have missed since leaving Crater Lake... Snow Chains!! ytf MN doesn't allow them is beyond me

The snow chains thing is probably tongue in cheek, but putting snow chains on vehicles tears up roads the same way that putting ice treads on tears up hardwood. It's not bad if you have a lot of snow and are rolling on snow or dirt, but it chops up concrete and asphalt bad.

===Aelryinth

Contributor

The weather reports are predicting above-freezing temperatures day and night and rain for a week, so the slushy, sloppy hills were braved to make it to the bus and to Paizo HQ.

Contributor

6 people marked this as a favorite.

Just wanted to check in and let everyone know that, despite Wes's understandable doubts, my toboggan and I did in fact survive sledpocalypse. High points included sledding through a stranger's hedge at 30 miles an hour while blowing a plastic trumpet (the "Horn of Warning"). Frankly, if your sledding excursion doesn't end with someone yelling "I'm in a tree! I'm IN a TREE!", you may want to reevaluate your lifestyle.

Fortunately, all our playing in the snow only resulted in one trip to the emergency room. (Don't worry, the docs say she'll be just fine in a few days.)

Now back to editing totally awesome new Pathfinder Tales novels...

Sovereign Court

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Mark Moreland wrote:
Surprisingly, Jason's not the one with an infamous cache of booze at the office. Who those employees are, I'll leave to speculation.

My guess is Liz... oh, and Cosmo, of course.

Dark Archive

So will there be a Rise of the Runelords miniatures preview today?


Now, I'm currently living in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where we're enjoying a balmy 3 degrees Fahrenheit -- the first time we've had a temperature above zero for several days.

BUT, I'm going to take the opposite tack from the other ND posters earlier in the thread. You Seattle types do in fact have genuine winter, with honest to goodness snow on steep hills, and if your public officials have not seen fit to invest in enough snow plows, well, that's not your fault. Snow plow drivers are not elected.

I therefore reserve my mockery for real wimps, like the two Texans whom I overheard having the following conversation in an Austin supermarket a few years ago:

Texan 1: "I heard it's not going to get above forty this weekend!"

Texan 2: "Well, I'm just not going to leave my house."

:-Þ

Paizo Employee Director of Sales

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Callous Jack wrote:
Mark Moreland wrote:
Surprisingly, Jason's not the one with an infamous cache of booze at the office. Who those employees are, I'll leave to speculation.
My guess is Liz... oh, and Cosmo, of course.

>.-

<.-

Sovereign Court

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Cosmo wrote:
Callous Jack wrote:
Mark Moreland wrote:
Surprisingly, Jason's not the one with an infamous cache of booze at the office. Who those employees are, I'll leave to speculation.
My guess is Liz... oh, and Cosmo, of course.

>.>

<.<

Hey, those emoticons have two eyes!


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Being a superior robo-being, I made it into the office all week, and wrecked hav... I mean, stomped my to-do list into oblivion!

Paizo Employee Director of Sales

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Callous Jack wrote:
Cosmo wrote:
Callous Jack wrote:
Mark Moreland wrote:
Surprisingly, Jason's not the one with an infamous cache of booze at the office. Who those employees are, I'll leave to speculation.
My guess is Liz... oh, and Cosmo, of course.

>.>

<.<

Hey, those emoticons have two eyes!

No they don't!

>.-
<.-


Kazarath wrote:
I live in Canada, and before you expect me to go on and on about how you yanks don't know what snow is, I have to say, we have gotten very little snow this year (granted I live in southern Ontario). I miss the days when I'd walk out of the house and the snow would be up to knees. Those were the days........

I lived in Toronto for over a year and I live in Seattle now (and have lived in the Puget Sound region most of my life). There really isn't a comparison in the winter driving between the two regions. As several have mentioned in this thread, the hills are killer. It is not only the steepness but the limited visibility and the constant curves around the landscape. Also, we have loads of bridges here which almost always ice over during this weather because of the cold air going under them. It is a tricky combination.

It would probably actually help some if we got a deep freeze. Over the last couple of days, the weather has been flirting with the freezing mark, which means some of the snow regularly turns to smooth ice during the course of a day. I've had friends from Alaska say the snow here is bad because it is so wet; up north it has such a dry texture that passing cars just blow it off the roads.

And the comments about the Puget Sound region being perpetually unprepared for this are right on. We live in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, so this is pretty uncommon for us. Even our friends in Portland, Oregon, a few hours drive south of here, tend to get hit harder than we do.

And it doesn't necessarily matter if you are personally prepared for it. I have a Jeep Liberty, but it can't get me anywhere if the roads are blocked by abandoned rear-wheel drive cars or jack-knifed buses and semi-trucks. Fortunately, as you saw by the Paizo staff responses, this area is heavily connected electronically and a lot of people can work from home as long as they have electrical service.


it appears that Bulmahn's yetis have come east to Wisconsin. thankfully, i'm well-stocked on Not Yeti brand yeti repellent. not sure how it stacks up against the more popular Yeti-Off or Yeti-B-Gon brands, but it is less expensive... AND cherry-scented!

of course, i suppose with yeti repellent, you likely get what you pay for.


Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Well... central Washington is in the process of getting hit again. How are things looking on Paizo's side of the Cascades?

Lantern Lodge

sykoholic wrote:
Well... central Washington is in the process of getting hit again. How are things looking on Paizo's side of the Cascades?

Gary is coining a new term for what the conditions are outside tonight: glushy


markofbane wrote:

And the comments about the Puget Sound region being perpetually unprepared for this are right on. We live in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, so this is pretty uncommon for us. Even our friends in Portland, Oregon, a few hours drive south of here, tend to get hit harder than we do.

And it doesn't necessarily matter if you are personally prepared for it. I have a Jeep Liberty, but it can't get me anywhere if the roads are blocked by abandoned rear-wheel drive cars or jack-knifed buses and semi-trucks. Fortunately, as you saw by the Paizo staff responses, this area is heavily connected electronically and a lot of people can work from home as long as they have electrical service.

And it's not like we're all that prepared here in the Portland area, either. When we had it really bad a couple years ago, our elected officials basically said, "Well if we spent more on preparations then you'd be mad at us for wasting money the other 49 years of the 50." And every year, a certain number of people have to learn the hard way that if none if your wheels have traction, then it doesn't matter how many have drive.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Fredrik wrote:
...if none of your wheels have traction, then it doesn't matter how many have drive.

So true. 4WD will not keep you from going into the ditch. All it will do is get you back out of the ditch once you've gone in.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Okay.... fine.... make a liar out of me.

4WD?


Tordek Rumnaheim wrote:
And this is why Paizo should relocate to Texas, Houston specifically. Pay no attention to those hurricane evacuation signs. Those are just for show for the tourists. Really.

I second this proposal!


Loja Windcutter wrote:
Tordek Rumnaheim wrote:
And this is why Paizo should relocate to Texas, Houston specifically. Pay no attention to those hurricane evacuation signs. Those are just for show for the tourists. Really.
I second this proposal!

I counter this proposal. I say they should move to Nashville, TN. No hurricanes. Just the occasional downtown tornado, or flood. Other than that, it's a great place. Also a major entertainment center, and not talking just country music.


2 people marked this as a favorite.

Being a programmer in Iowa, I think I can safely say I understand how snow can bring thing down quickly. Having said this, I would rather be in your shoes, because its hard to believe someone at Paizo didn't stand up in their cube and yell "Snow day! Who wants to play my mod?!"

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

Hi guys, I was wondering if I'm meant to have my pdf, I had to enter new credit card details thanks to my previous card being stolen. A customer service person, sorry can't remember the name, said everything was fine but my order is still listed as pending (I'm guessing thanks to the incliment weather) but I'm wondering if I'm meant to have access to my pdfs yet. Thanks for reading the post guys :)

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
Loja Windcutter wrote:
Tordek Rumnaheim wrote:
And this is why Paizo should relocate to Texas, Houston specifically. Pay no attention to those hurricane evacuation signs. Those are just for show for the tourists. Really.
I second this proposal!

Pay no attention to August weather reports. We do have air outside... It's not ALL water.

The 30 out of 31 days that were 100 degrees F (38 C) or hotter last August is just a myth too.


Pardon my asking, but has the city cleaned things up enough so that the Paizo folks can get back in to the warehouse as yet?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Yup! We're back in the full swing of things.

Lantern Lodge

The rain has washed out 99.9% of the snow. What's left is just the piles from where it was shoveled into heaps to try to clear parking lots.

Our warehouse hopes to be back on track by end of day on Friday.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

Are the PDFs being held back or did my credit card curfuffle cause a mistake with them?


Jörmungandr wrote:
Are the PDFs being held back or did my credit card curfuffle cause a mistake with them?

You will get a quicker answer by emailing customer support, or posting in the Customer Support forum.


Jörmungandr wrote:
Are the PDFs being held back or did my credit card curfuffle cause a mistake with them?

PDFs are granted automatically for subscription orders once the order actually ships.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

Thanks for the reply, I actually managed to find a similar answer thanks to Urath suggesting the customer service threads. Would you believe I've been on this forum for what must be close to three years and never noticed the customer support section. I must be blind as a bat. Thanks again though for taking the time to reply :)


Kazarath wrote:
Well if your stuck in your apartments/houses and run out of food, be careful to avoid the curse of the Wendigo. Those spouses/children/family members are starting to look pretty savoury and flavourful..........

Not to sound snarky, but up here we believe that if you live anywhere it snows and you don't ahve 3-4 days of food and some fresh water...well, that's just Darwinism at work...

(Seriously though, I make sure the guys who do the service work for my company keep some granola bars and so on with them when they go out on the road.)


Mordo wrote:
Reptilian wrote:

/Obligatory Canadian comment: bah, that's nothing.

Then again, we're obligated to have winter tires after December 15 by our road code.

Even then it doesn't prevent bad driver from causing accident :D

Just last week I've seen an accident happened just in front of my eyes. At the intersection down the only hill we have in town, a car figured he could just turn left before the car coming in the opposite direction get by. I don't know why people believe that winter tires will get them the same grip on an icy road than on a dry roadway... In the end the car coming from the opposite direction couldn't stop hit the car turning left, which rammed into a car waiting to cross the intersection...

Also a few years ago, I lived in a town where there was a few steep hills, one next to the college where I studied that I had to drive uphill to get to the parking lot. Street light on top of the hill (you see where I'm getting to :D). So every morning was the same in winter, on a red light, cars will lined up down all the way down the hill, and as the lights turn green, there's always someone fearing that he will slide down when he'll release the brakes, just push the gas pedal to the florr, causing his wheel to spin, creating more ice under the wheels and this until his car bumps the car behind. Way too often I had to litteraly push a car up the hill with my car :( It's like nobody ever learned to use the handbrake to help you out in a hill

Yeah, from looking at all of the pictures and videos, it looks like the problem is less the snow and more the lack of common sense among the drivers...after all, other places in the country (NY, Pennsylvania, the Rockies) have snow + hills...

But I'm glad all of you are safe. If there were people driving like that here I'd be wary of trying to go out too...

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5, F5...


Ummmm....OK, what is f5?


F5 Refreshes Internet explorer.

I live in Hilly Central Massachusetts. I feel sympathy for any region that gets snow that does not have the required equipment for dealing with it.

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