41.4

Inches. Of snow. That's the official Alexandria total (between the two storms--but they really were back-to-back), as reported in the local paper which finally showed up today. Wow. Even I didn't think it was that high. 

The National Guard came, I didn't see them until the other day though because they were mainly down by City Hall doing their thing. I think they're gone now. The President declared Virginia a disaster area, and I suspect that Maryland's not too far behind. We had work today, though, finally. The government was on a 2-hour delay, mainly to allow for transportation issues. It was weird being back, and very difficult to concentrate. Everyone was in good spirits and it was nice to be back roaming the buzzing halls again.

Still, it's an adjustment. I suspect it will take a little while for things to feel normal again. Good news, though: I'm up for a pretty great (permanent) job very closely related to the one I have--different building, similar sort of setup (I'd still be a Capitol Hill librarian--just for a different library). I'm trying really hard to not get my hopes up, but my boss called the person doing the hiring (who she knows and has worked with) and sang my praises and highly encouraged her to consider me. So....that's good, right? It would be so perfect if it worked out (which is kind of why I'm pretty sure it won't). Fingers crossed!

Comments

[welshcyclist]

The permanent job sounds great, hope you get it, I for one am rooting for you. 41.4 inches of snow, that is amazing, we just had a flurry here, for 20 minutes, which didn't settle, I'm ever so glad to report. However, as my dad always said, whenever the eastern USA got a bad storm, a few weeks later it would hit us, nowhere as bad though, just enough to cause major disruption here. That's about 1.5 inches of snow, by the way.

[dukiebiddle]

The National Guard was mobilized up here before the first snowflake dropped. There was widespread looting during the '79 and '83 storms and some in the '96 storm as well, so the city wanted to get on top of that before it happened again. I live in Midtown, so during the storms themselves, all I saw in the streets were the occasional military Hum-vees, which really added to the bizarro-factor. Good luck getting that job. :)

[Catherine]

Thanks for the well wishes on the job, folks. I can only do my best and we shall see.

The snow-drama continues, we're mainly in cleanup phase now. The gutters on the building that my apartment is in are now mostly on the ground, except for one downspout which is hanging off of the building at a 45 degree angle.

And yes, dukie--very odd to see Hum-vees rolling through town--even for here, where the military presence is more or less constant. Between living so close to the Pentagon, and along the major roads/Metro routes that go there, and living within spitting distance to the highest concentration of bars outside of Georgetown, I encounter the military either in official capacities, as my friendly neighbors or in their drunken sailor roles. It's all quite amusing.