dianeseattle
Member
I'm snowed in and depressed. Got a call from the hospital last night, sharing test results from my Friday visit. Turns out I have e Coli in my bladder.
That's not as scary as it sounds, but they called in a scrip to my pharmacy to pick up today and it's not safe to drive to get there. It's so quiet here in seattle because no one is driving. Now, I understand people marveling at the fact that there have been more than 200 car crashes in the last 40 hours or so, because of the snow. And I understand people's awe at knowing schools are closed and people are working from home and no one is even walking, though we do see the occasional skier in the elevations.
But Seattle is a city of hills, seven hills, to be exact, just like Rome. And historically, racking up an annual snowfall of ZERO inches is the norm. And a lot of people who live here nowadays came from California or the East Coast, and for sure, the Californians don't have a clue how to drive in snow. They think with their all-wheel-drive cars and radial tires, they can take on these hills. But it's the elevation gain on each hill that has tires spinning and cars sliding back down. If I walk from my front door to the top of the first hill, I gain about 100 feet in elevation. And it's all uphill from there, to the highest point in Seattle, called (duh) High Point, where the elevation is about 522 feet.
We start at sea level, since we're on the Puget Sound, and downtown is a nightmare for people who cant drive a stick or generally don't drive all that well. So I stay off the streets when it snows. Even 2" of snow and this town grinds to a halt.
One of the accidents was a 30-car slip&pile-up on the 520 Bridge, Seattle's Floating Bridge that links the town to the Eastside, magic land, home of Microsoft & Nintendo and all that other stuff that brings people to live here. Downtown, Amazon s all over the place and there is endless construction going on everywhere.
So I can't go get my Rx because it's too risky. I was born here but lived in a snowy area for many years and learned to drive in the snow, though it took until summer for me to finish Driver's Ed and get my license. I'm not worried about me and my very good tires & AWD mini-SUV. It's the people who are going too fast around me and especially downhill who are going to smash into me. The photo here is last year, two different wrecks on my hill, 30 minutes apart, sliding off the street into a pit alongside my apartment building. The wall they landed against is my next-door neighbor.
I wrote mostly because I learned that e-Coli is one of the most common bacteria that causes UTIs. I believe I most likely flared up with it here because of all the Romaine lettuce I've been buying lately and making all those pretty pictures of that I posted here.
I usually buy mixed greens but lately have been wanting the hard bite of Romaine to contrast with the various ways I've been making chicken and using cucumbers.
Anyway, I'm in no danger of anything happening, since e-Coli lives in our bodies, so I'll wait for better weather & dryer streets before heading out. Luckily, I've got plenty of food... including Romaine lettuce.
That's not as scary as it sounds, but they called in a scrip to my pharmacy to pick up today and it's not safe to drive to get there. It's so quiet here in seattle because no one is driving. Now, I understand people marveling at the fact that there have been more than 200 car crashes in the last 40 hours or so, because of the snow. And I understand people's awe at knowing schools are closed and people are working from home and no one is even walking, though we do see the occasional skier in the elevations.
But Seattle is a city of hills, seven hills, to be exact, just like Rome. And historically, racking up an annual snowfall of ZERO inches is the norm. And a lot of people who live here nowadays came from California or the East Coast, and for sure, the Californians don't have a clue how to drive in snow. They think with their all-wheel-drive cars and radial tires, they can take on these hills. But it's the elevation gain on each hill that has tires spinning and cars sliding back down. If I walk from my front door to the top of the first hill, I gain about 100 feet in elevation. And it's all uphill from there, to the highest point in Seattle, called (duh) High Point, where the elevation is about 522 feet.
We start at sea level, since we're on the Puget Sound, and downtown is a nightmare for people who cant drive a stick or generally don't drive all that well. So I stay off the streets when it snows. Even 2" of snow and this town grinds to a halt.
One of the accidents was a 30-car slip&pile-up on the 520 Bridge, Seattle's Floating Bridge that links the town to the Eastside, magic land, home of Microsoft & Nintendo and all that other stuff that brings people to live here. Downtown, Amazon s all over the place and there is endless construction going on everywhere.
So I can't go get my Rx because it's too risky. I was born here but lived in a snowy area for many years and learned to drive in the snow, though it took until summer for me to finish Driver's Ed and get my license. I'm not worried about me and my very good tires & AWD mini-SUV. It's the people who are going too fast around me and especially downhill who are going to smash into me. The photo here is last year, two different wrecks on my hill, 30 minutes apart, sliding off the street into a pit alongside my apartment building. The wall they landed against is my next-door neighbor.
I wrote mostly because I learned that e-Coli is one of the most common bacteria that causes UTIs. I believe I most likely flared up with it here because of all the Romaine lettuce I've been buying lately and making all those pretty pictures of that I posted here.
I usually buy mixed greens but lately have been wanting the hard bite of Romaine to contrast with the various ways I've been making chicken and using cucumbers.
Anyway, I'm in no danger of anything happening, since e-Coli lives in our bodies, so I'll wait for better weather & dryer streets before heading out. Luckily, I've got plenty of food... including Romaine lettuce.