Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Goodbye Indian Summer, Hello Sucky Season

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It was nice while it lasted, but Indian summer is no more. It was killed last weekend by an icy blast that blew in from the Pacific, bringing cold, rain and -- last night -- snow.

Not enough snow to make things very pretty -- or, fortunately, to break tree limbs, like last year's Oct. 4 snowstorm did -- but enough to make driving treacherous for Bendites who have not yet gotten their studded tires on, and to create a pain in the ass for those who had to scrape an inch-thick layer of snow and ice off their windshields this morning.

Normally, as Blackdog has previously noted, Indian summer hangs on until Halloween, and then winter comes in like a howling banshee. We got cheated out of a week of nice weather this year. Anyway, at least we HAD an Indian summer, unlike last year.

But the Sucky Season is now in full swing. It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be wet, it's gonna be gray, it's gonna be dreary, and it's gonna be eight months long.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

AND we're gonna hear you bitch about it for the entire eight months.

H. Bruce Miller said...

Yep, most likely. But hopefully by this time in 2012 Bend won't have Blackdog to kick around anymore.

Anonymous said...

I understand they're having quite a storm passing thru the MW and it's a doozey! So it could be worse.

In preparation for 'my' Eight Months 'O Suck ( I bought a treadmill ) It's the only way I know of to actually get any exercise during the time outside of Semi-Summer. Maybe I can get a bigscreen w/ pleasant summer scenes on a DVD to fend of suicidal urges?

No, this wasn't a 'bad' I.S and certainly better than nothing. But I can't see how any objective OR can say it was anything but a day late and a dollar short? Dreadful 'spring', fleeting summer and... a few nice weeks in Fall. Not.Cutting.It!

H. Bruce Miller said...

"In preparation for 'my' Eight Months 'O Suck ( I bought a treadmill ) It's the only way I know of to actually get any exercise during the time outside of Semi-Summer."

I use a treadmill too -- but, GOD, is it BORING!

In Victorian times the treadmill was used as a punishment for convicts. I can understand why.

Watching DVDs of the old "Rumpole of the Bailey" and "Wooster and Jeeves" PBS series while I tread the mill helps, a little.

Anonymous said...

"helps, a little"

LOL, yeah read my mind. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE walking, could walk a day. But more as an indulgence of the senses, things to see, scents to smell etc.

Still, as an OR, I'm pretty devoted to my TM ( after all, I've burned up three of them ) This is our first new one and I made sure it was as simple as possible, fewest bells and whistles. Those crap out in NO time.

As much as I hate to admit, I'll probably break my word and go to a tanning booth this year. I've grown to hate looking like a corpse and getting a 'tan' just in time to surrender it to The Drear. IMHO.

H. Bruce Miller said...

"I LOVE walking, could walk a day. But more as an indulgence of the senses, things to see, scents to smell etc."

Same here.

Anonymous said...

One of the hard & fast rules you have to lay down if your tread is within line of sight to a TV is; No News Programs! No Bloomberg, CNBC etc.

We're supposed to be relieving... stress ( not raising our blood pressure ) But I'd have to say it's one way to relieve the stress and boredom that comes hand in glove with being couped up for eight months? Mind you that's an estimate, so let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Anonymous said...

Hey is that image copyrighted or can anyone use it?

http://www.sz-wholesale.com/p/Ice-Scraper/Car-ice-scraper-69543.html

H. Bruce Miller said...

I doubt it's copyrighted; it seems to be a product advertisement.

Anonymous said...

We're... about to get -dumped on- for 2/3rds of a YEAR and we've time to debate 'that'? It's free advertising, they should BE so lucky?!?

Given this is Bend we're talking about, maybe it should be the heavy-duty number w/ an Eskimo fur-lined mitt attached to it? Never know when that could come in handy!

So now that we've established Summer ( Indian or otherwise ) ain't comin' around for awhile.., What say we get down to the brass tacks of dealing w/ real life issues like SAD ( Seasonal Affective Disorder ) Yeah, it's real, and how to cope with depression, sunlight deprivation and a host of other weather-related issues?

Question 1: Do you plan on, drinking the 'same' amt. of alcohol you consumed last Drear, more, LOTS more, less.., or giving it up altogether for fear of doing something truly irrational?

Question 2: Do you plan on having the 'same' amt. of sex you had last Drear, 'more' ( better? ) to include unattainable fantasies.., less sex or... 'what' is sex?

Question 3: Exercise, same deal only this time be honest!

Anonymous said...

Un-QUESTION-ably the nicest Halloween we've had in a long, looong time! Very pleasant in the Salem-area and I very much regretted taking a fall jacket.

This week, doesn't look 'bad' either! Went to the costume party at a local bar and it looked like a scene out of "Dusk til' Dawn". Saturday evening was nice too.

Still, hard...ly enough to tide one over? To be fair, looking nationally, I didn't see a lot of great summer weather. Question, does anyone see a time in the near future where ( assuming these trends continue? ) where even places like Tonopah, NV etc. become less arid, torrid and more agreeable? Just curious.

H. Bruce Miller said...

Halloween in Bend wasn't too bad either, especially compared to our usual Halloween weather -- 40 degrees and pouring rain. It was mostly cloudy and a bit chilly.