It started late last night innocent enough. A little bit of drizzle as I was going out to the bar (yeah, I had a late start to my night). Upon leaving the bar at bar time, though, the conditions outside had drastically changed. It rained for several hours freezing rain that made at least the sidewalks pure ice 100%.

The balance between fun, caution and completely lack of control wavered as my friend and I ventured home, each only falling just once on the grounds of the Capitol. It was nearly better to have brought my skates as I might have had better balance. Luckily, we didn't have any hills to go up, and the one on Hamilton we had to go down thankfully had ledges along their buildings so there was a 4 inch or so space with no ice.

That freezing rain soon turned to just rain, and now the city is finding itself, at least in the downtown area, bogged down with water. Walking a few blocks to the corner store on East Johnson and Paterson, I opted to walk in the street after a half block. A couple came up behind me and told me it was best to just get soaked and get it over with because it was much easier. They had been walking up Johnson for who knows how long, and from the picture at the head of this story, you can see that the sidewalks are under about 3 or so inches of water.

The roads were pretty clear except for a few puddles here and there. It was East Johnson I was walking up the middle of, so every minute or so, I'd have to dive behind a parked car to avoid getting sprayed with slushy water. I made it, got my milk, Life Waters (still 2 for $2) and paper and headed back home. The South side of Johnson was a bit better, but I still stuck to the road, nearly making it back with only rain and a few splashes on my pants. That was, of course, until a truck came barreling down the road, kicking up water 4 feet high and giving me a pretty good sopping.

Ah well, the worst is over for me for now. That is of course, until the rain turns to snow, whereby we'll be getting an estimated 8-14 inches. Yay, more snow (read, total sarcasm). If you have to go anywhere, I would do it immediately and only if you HAVE to. These conditions aren't getting any better.

Oh, and what kindness I just saw from my window! My attention was caught as I saw a minivan speed backwards up East Johnson. It was to ask a blind man if he needed a ride. He accepted. That brings some cheer to this dreary day. Take care everyone, stay inside and check out these photos to see the current conditions as of 11am.