Winter Cometh

[talon]

I know plenty of people are already experiencing winter in all her fury, but here, it's just now creeping in and checking the place out.

Because I still don't have adequate use of my right hand and arm, bad road conditions worry me this year. In previous years, I've hated having to drive on slick, icy, slushy, snowy roads, but I had both a car that could handle that and full use of my body. My job is considered "essential", which means that even if the state closes all roads and shuts the city or the state down due to hazardous road conditions, I am still required to get to work and do my job.

Now, the car I'm driving can't handle slick roads well, let alone slush and snow. This would be workable if I had use of both arms (I could even manage without the hand). The combination of wimpy car and malfunctioning arm means I might not be able to make it in to work.

The past few days, in preparation for the inevitable slick road conditions we will have, I've been paying extreme attention to the slopes of the roads I traverse. Since I have half a dozen different ways that are relatively direct to get to work (all of which are approximately 10 - 12 miles), I've been taking different routes.

One is automatically eliminated simply because it has too many aerial bridges and is under construction. I rarely drive that route even in outstandingly good weather.

All the rest? Have at least 11 slopes that exceed 40º, and 5 or more slopes that are between 10º and 40º. The car I'm driving doesn't handle slopes over 30º.

Those are the direct routes.

If I take indirect routes and don't mind driving far out of my way at times, there is exactly one route that has slopes of approximately 30º or less between my house and work. It's 170 miles long.