Tochi's Hut

After months of an extended summer and reading about other's winter plagues, Toronto finally got her first dose of winter today. All in all, we only received at a very modest 5-10 cm of snow, but the combination of freezing rain and rapidly dropping temperatures made conditions rather treacherous.

By the time I got up this morning, the radio had reported over 250 accidents already. A quick email check showed most of my lab-mates were too afraid to make the drive, and had taken the initiative to reschedule meetings and appointments. The signs couldn't be clearer - it's a work from home day for Tochi.

As the day wore on, more and more accidents were being reported. The first cold weather alert of the new year was issued, with temperatures expected to drop to -13C tonight, feeling like -22C with windchill. While this sounds horribly cold, given the warm 2 to 10C temperatures we've been enjoying lately, the seasonal temperature at this time of year should be -10C.

The most spectaular news of the day is definitely the closure of Hwy 400 between Finch and Hwy 7. A tanker carrying liquid O2 flipped over and started leaking its load. I find it hard to believe that the thing didn't blow up. Though in a way, I'm kind of glad it didn't, since a crater in the highway would have been very costly (taxpayer $$) to repair.

The 2nd most spectaular news is that Tochi-mobile's garagemate couldn't get up the driveway today. The driveway has a modest incline of at most 20 degrees, but given the multiple layers of ice, the tires just couldn't get any traction. Pumping the gas pedal didn't do much, and eventually I got this burning smell, which scared the shit out of me. I didn't know if it was the engine or the tires. Either way, their lifetime just got shorten by months from this experience. This is the first time in Tochi's recollection that he had so much trouble backing a car into the garage.

Onto more happier news, the winemakers in the Niagara-on-the-Lake region must be jumping with joy. Their 3 days of cold weather are finally here. Unfortunately, I've heard the yield won't be very good or plentiful this year. Many grapes have either rotted and were vulched by birds, bears, wolves and reindeers.