It has years since I have gone that long with out an internet fix in years, and while I thought that I would end up like an addict yearning for crack, I did just fine. I spent a lovely day with my family on Christmas Eve and then cooked a traditional Christmas meal at home on Christmas day. Boxing day was spent relaxing at home with a book or two and then yesterday it was back to the office and business as usual.
Happily, the deluge stopped, the sky cleared and the sun has once again brightened Southern California.
And after seeing so many pretty pictures of New York and New England blanketed in snow, I'm glad that I am not there to share in the experience. I remember snow storms when I was growing up in Brookline Massachusetts, but I don't remember them leading to an utter breakdown in transportation systems and people being stranded at airports for days.
But that was Boston, so what's up with New York?
Send in the Plows! Outrage as Transit a Mess, NYers Still Stuck
New Yorkers are grumbling about the city's and MTA's preparedness
Two days after slamming the tri-state, millions of people affected by a post-Christmas blizzard continue to dig out from a storm that shut down area airports, crippled commuter train and subway service and stranded thousands traveling during the holiday weekend.
The sixth largest snowstorm in the history of New York City dumped two feet of snow and left many, especially those living in the outer boroughs and small suburban side streets, feeling trapped or ignored as city resources went to dig out Manhattan.
"I'm furious at Mayor Bloomberg, he's a rich man, so he doesn't care about the little people," said New Enrico's Car Service livery driver Julio Carpio, speaking in Spanish. "I have to work, why aren't people out there plowing? Why does the mayor always go on TV the night before to say, 'We're all set with a fleet of salt trucks,'? and then you never see a single truck. They always abandon Queens."
You would think that New York could handle 20 inches of snow without issues, but apparently not. God knows that any hick town in Colorado or Idaho could handle 20 inches.
Some New Yorkers in the outer boroughs are complaining that the city took too long to plow their neighborhoods, ignoring them in favor of wealthier Manhattan areas. City officials said that some side streets might not be cleared until well into Tuesday.
State Senator Carl Kruger blasted the city's response, saying part of Mill Basin and Manhattan Beach were not plowed even once by Monday evening.
"It is unconcsconsiable," Kruger told NBC New York. "It has to be addressed. There has to be some reason given....When the Fire Department asks to declare a state of emergency and the OEM denies that request, then there is something wrong."
So the upper East Side gets plowed but the people in the boroughs have to put up with snow...
While I love to see the photos winter wonderlands from the snow covered fields in Wales to the ice laden trees in Germany, I am very happy that I live in Los Angeles and not in New York.