historical storm

whoops! i missed a day. and what a day!!! it turns out that waiting for boxing day to buy winter boots was cutting it really close, because on thursday quebec experienced the biggest snowstorm in a really long time.

here's the funny thing: not having a television or radio and never having been in any kind of snowstorm before, i had no idea that i should just stay in bed like everyone else.

i got up, dressed, warmed up mentally to some good house music, and braved the white fury to get to the office. on my way, i realized that i'd forgotten my belt - of all things! i crunched through the already over-ankle-height snow (with a hand shielding my eyes) around the metro station to the clothing store to buy one, but they weren't open. i sighed, and walked back around, navigating around and through snow piles to the doors. on the way, a local walked past: "crazy weather, hey?".
"aye."
there were no footprints leading up to the doors, and the doors were locked. they're never locked. i turned around and struggled back to the metro.

i went home, the short stretch from the metro even more difficult than before, there were unbelievable quantities of snow blowing into my face and i had to run to keep as little contact as possible so that my trouser legs wouldn't get soaked.

---the apartment was very, very cold. the door that the caretaker has been promising to fix for the last two months was letting in way more cold air than usual (or is that letting out more hot air? it certainly feels like the former, whatever the reality), and in desperation i stuffed tissues into the available gaps (that still leaves a whole side exposing a little bit). then the toilet chamber's chain broke, which was really just the straw to break the camel's back. i found the caretaker downstairs having tea, and he promised to sort it all out "tomorrow". i can hear macbeth saying "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" :(

---i went online just in time to listen in to a completely wasteful hour-long conference call. having been laughed at for my story about the locked door, i made my way back to the office.

"we wouldn't have come back!" i was told. in fact, everyone with a car had just paid for underground parking so as not to get snowed in. i caught some of the news on the telly, and what was going on made me feel pretty heroic for a foreigner.

"what a perfect gift for pg all this snow is," i thought to myself.

soon afterward we heard that laval's public transport had been shut down, and my aunt called me up to say that today was a pyjama day and that i should have been doing the same myself. i wrapped my laptop in plastic bags and a box and took her advice.

i saw snowboarders on the metro. i thought, "hmm, not a bad idea!"
i don't know how they got to where they were going, but if they did, it really was amazing weather for it.

by the time i got home the pavements were rendered completely unusable and there were abandoned cars all over the place. the snow was thigh-height and the short walk back from the metro was really tough.

i kept myself busy until late, going shopping when the storm died down. i had my traditional dinner, watched the one piece episode where they finally enter the grand line, and began relabelling old blog posts.

my thumb started cracking again before i went to bed. all this dryness is frustrating.