The North East USA is expecting a winter storm to hit starting tonight (as in Monday night, for you Bearfeeders by mail or just too lazy to read it when its posted) and go through most the day tomorrow & Wednesday Morning.  It’s a big storm.  In fact, they named it Winter Storm Juno … or Blizzard Colbey if you live in Connecticut, which matters for some reason.  Up and down the east coast, plows are gassing up, grocery stores are emptying, and salt piles are making national & local news videos.  In a joke that probably only those of you who know what I am talking about will get — this storm is so big, it’s become the first thing to take New Englanders minds off their deflated balls (come to think of it, it’s probably more funny if you don’t know what I am talking about).

Alright, time to stop kidding around.  This is in fact a really bad storm.  It has the potential to be one of the worst winter storms in recorded history for this part of the world.  I know a prediction is only as good as the paper you write it on, but there are few that questioning the power this will bring or the facts that are leading to the story.

I am writing this from Hartford, CT – which expects to see the same impact as Boston, if just a couple hours sooner.  As I write this, at 4PM Eastern, the prediction is that the storm will begin in just a few hours and start hitting it’s peak around midnight.  On the low side, they expect 12 inches of snow – but are predicting around 2 feet along the coast, up to 4 feet around & in Boston.  This storm is also classified as a Nor’Easter, a winter storm which pack high winds from the southwest (and heading to the Northeast .. or Nor’East … get it?).  They expect winds to gust as high as 50-60 mph, leaving visibility to near zero.

Massachusetts has issued a ‘state of emergency’ banning all vehicle traffic starting at midnight tonight.  Connecticut the same, with all vehicle travel banned at 9PM.  This is so bad it’s not 9PM until ‘blah’ … it’s 9PM until we damn well tell you otherwise.

As I mentioned, I am not home.  I was scheduled to be at a plant near Hartford all week working on what was the most critical event I’ve faced since starting my new job down here – but the weather cancelled it.  While I could have risked the weather to make a run home (and by timing of things, I would have made it), I chose the safe route and hunkered down.  The pup is with me, I try to travel with him whenever possible, so he’s safe too.  We are in a hotel with a kitchen in the room, and the hotel has a pantry that I can access — plus they have hotel waffles in the morning.  I have a half-case of dog food with me & a couple chew toys – not to mention my bare leg, which he is going to town right now licking to his heart’s content – so as long we can get outside for doggie business Auggie should be happy.  I’ve also got my personal computer, so as long as I have a battery and WiFi,I have NetFlix.  Oh, I will still have work to do even if most of my plans for the week are off my plate, but that can get done at a hotel just as good as a plant.  So by all rights, we are hunkered down, settled in, and bundled up for the next few days.  I expect by Wednesday things will clear and I can make plans to hit the road home.   Snow or not, we need to get home by the big game on Sunday.  Deflated balls or not.