I'm in southern Ohio and I'm sharing in your 19F pain right now. My husband was wondering why I spent last week weatherstripping our windows and putting up some of that Frost King film on the others. We're both glad I saw the forecast in advance.
We usually just get one or two cold snaps in January or February. This weather is unusual within the last 10-15 years.
I guess 40cm could have been the city-wide or regional average, but in the neighborhood where I lived it was closer to a meter. I remember the digging that I needed to do to get out of our basement apartment.
And speaking generally, with no suburban style mall parking lots or wide roadway shoulders, there was nowhere to put it.
And just my conspiracy theory here, but I suspect that TO's shady storm water and sewage system may have also played a role. In the early 20th and late 19th centuries, the answers to sewage management was to bury streams flowing into Lake Ontario. The answer to the problem: "this river is an open sewer" was "cover it over." That's part of the reason why there are foul, poo-like odors that linger in certain areas (I'm thinking of Christie Pits and Little Italy, but there are others).
The five "random" cities are the ones located in the former state of Ohio. Three of them approximate the NE, SW, and NW borders. Columbus marks the middle.
Back when I had dreams and aspirations, I had a working title for a book called "Universal Solvent, My Ass." It would have been fun.
And Des Plaines, La Salle Street... I always keep telling my husband, "no, that's not what it's called" and he keeps getting rationally mad.
If we're feeling the Indiana, there's always Terre Haute.
Same. That's why there's a pass.
Super cute.
Super-Cuter-ie? (sorry - I'll show myself out)
People who live there call it the latter.
Unless you're Sufjan Stevens. I'll give him a pass on that
It's a Vulcan on a.... oh, never mind.
Right? I recently read a book by an author who appeared to be confused to the point of paranoia by how many of the 1960s rock musicians from California (Topanga Canyon scene) were from wealthy or politically connected families.
Although it started out pretty entertaining, I didn't make it all the way to the end of the book. I mean - has he never met that type of kid? There's no conspiracy beyond wealth and connections. Banal to the point of boredom.
Shout out to cottage, cream, and paneer.
I'd be lying if I could pick a favorite cheese, though. I guess a nostalgic favorite would be nokkelost, but it's impossible to find.
I heard a version of this sentiment in 2016. I was sitting near a well-dressed elderly couple at the regional airport. The woman was on her phone, explaining her support for Trump. I'll paraphrase.
"He knows so many rich people! He'll appoint them to the government, and they won't steal from it because they've already got so much money they won't want to."
I disagree with that statement for so many reasons, but that's what she expressed. This opinion was boggling enough at the time that it stuck with me almost ten years later.