Washington Snowpocalypse 2008 – Putting things in perspective

I’m sure many of you have seen the news about the winter storms that have been hitting the Pacific Northwest for the last week, including the various Microsoft Campuses in the Redmond area.   Our facilities team has been sending out notifications about road and sidewalk conditions, and what services we should expect to be unavailable should we decide to brave the weather and come into the office.

I grew up in Madison, Wisconsin which has some pretty fierce winters.  I’ve got to say, this is nothing.  Now, granted, Madison has a different attitude towards snow than Seattle does because Madison is prepared to deal with it.  Madison doesn’t have huge hills that buses shouldn’t go down, or long bridges, or – you know – nearly as many people.  Madison has more snow plows, and for the most part, Madisonians are better equipped to drive in the snow.

The other day, I heard the news tell people that the temperatures outside would cause frostbite after 30 minutes of exposure.  When I was young, I remember hearing warnings that the temperature outside would cause frostbite in 30 *seconds*.  (And I went to school up-hill both ways, and did my homework on the back of a shovel, and one day when the cow was sick, I…)

Anyway, I bring all of this up because Raymond Chen has posted a (fake) Facilities notice that was sent by our friends and colleagues in the Fargo, North Dakota campus that puts things in perspective.

Needless to say, however, I’m working remotely today.

Comments

• Anonymous
  December 23, 2008
  30 minutes? Last week I heard on the news you can get a frostbite in a matter of seconds :) Media is scaring people.