which atx hemisphere are you in?

this last week, weather wise, was odd…

…on monday, on my way in, i called one the owners of atomic to see if we were opening at noon, one, or regular time (11am, which had already passed) and was told we weren’t actually opening at all and would be closed for a third day in a row. this really shocked me, as while it was bitter cold out here in lockhart, it was far from icy and treacherous. i even started to turn around when it occurred to me that it would only get clearer as the day progressed, and maybe it wasn’t as bad as it was being made out to be, so i reversed course again and went in.

all the country roads i was worried about? clear as a bell. bridges had ice sludge along the edges, but were otherwise clear. got into south austin to the same thing, with flyovers and shady exit ramps still being a little dicey, but not that bad. i got on i-35 and headed north to our shops up there, and…

that was northwest austin, which i actually got in the shop safely. but when i went to pflugerville…

that one i didn’t even try. to me, that had a “this is where they find you” vibe as everything was super iced, hella slippery, and all the other businesses around us were closed so if i ate it, i was alone. i got back on the interstate, headed south, and by the split (IYKTYK) i was going seventy-five again all the way to the south shop to drop stuff and back home.

so, the next day, i figured all would be well because we’d had a good chunk of the day before above freezing…but monday night got cold as fuck again, so while south was all clear and shit, my boss at the other job almost slid down a hill when she went for smokes and, in stark lifestyle contrast, i almost slid on ice getting out of my car at gold’s gym in bee caves. when i got the van and grabbed a bite on the router yesterday, shit was all…

and a couple of the shops were almost too icy to carry things into. on the way back to drop the van tuesday night there were still piled up snow a foot deep on either side of the highway less than a mile from the shop in the top pic. but once i headed south? set the cruise control for 75 and off we go!