Winter is here

Last night the temperature dropped well into the teens, and it hardly felt any warmer this morning when I got up and went to work.  So it’s safe to say that winter is no longer just coming, it’s here, and we got our new hot water heater just in time.  Hot water is essential for winter survival – just ask the Starks of Winterfell.

Every winter is a new adventure here in Cambridge.  Not for us, really, because we have seen New England winters, but for so many of the students around here that hail from sunnier climes.  Many of them tend to not know what to make of serious winter weather, especially when they are driving.

Driving in Greater Boston is an adventure anyway, but in winter it gets to be a bit more so.  The roads are usually plowed in a timely fashion, so it’s usually only in the midst of a storm (when it is still coming down) that we have to worry about how it will affect driving conditions.  The rest of the time, it just affects things like parking.   And oh, what fun THAT can be.  As if parking in Greater Boston isn’t difficult and competitive enough in perfect weather, in winter time expect there to be arguments and even brawls in some places.  And if you are new to the area, the best thing you can do if you see a chair or something similar in a cleared parking spot is to move on and find another, lest you find yourself (or your car) a bit worse for wear by the end of the day.

And let’s face it, some people have trouble driving and parking anywhere.  Case in point: this BMW SUV driver from Calgary, Canada.  Oh my dear Lord, this was just so painful to watch.

Sadly, I have seen many similarly troubled drivers around Cambridge and Boston. Despite their often spectacular failures, they are not yet an endangered species.  Kelly and I have even recorded some for posterity.  Honestly, if you can’t handle driving and parking your land barge in Greater Boston, especially in winter, then for your own sanity (and that of all the other drivers around you), leave the pavement Titanic in the ‘burbs and get yourself a little Smart Car or something.  Seriously.  It’s better on gas and it’s a lot easier to park, believe me.  Or even better, get yourself a T pass.

-Geoff