Blah, blah, blah...ad nauseum

A little background for those non-local readers.

This past weekend, we had a snow/ice storm that essentially crippled our city. We had approximately an inch of ice under anywhere from 8-12 inches of snow, depending on where in the city you were. On Friday, nearly everything was closed...businesses, stores, even the courthouse and city building. The city's main school district, which I'm told never closes, was closed for three days...so far. Businesses are complaining because no one is shopping...because it's such a gamble to get out on the damn streets.

It's been FIVE DAYS and many of the streets are still nearly impassable. Four lanes down to two in many places and a thick layer of slush covered ice covers much of those lanes that are open, making driving a white-knuckle experience.

I'm watching tonight's City Council meeting on tv right now. Well, I'm watching the current episode of "Finger Pointing Theatre", anyway.

Not enough plows. Not the right "plan". Not enough salt. Equipment breakdowns. Lack of communication. Cars parked in the snow routes. "We were prepared...but not for a storm like this." And on and on and on. Excuse after excuse. Blah, blah, blah. Sports analogies, fer gawd's sake.

Uh. Excuse me? Are these people aware of just exactly where we are? THIS IS CENTRAL ILLINOIS! Yea, I know. We haven't had a bad storm like this since 1999. But the fact of the matter is, we very well could. BECAUSE IT'S CENTRAL ILLINOIS. It's not Florida. It ain't even Arkansas, where an inch of snow is a major storm.

And it's not like Peoria is some dinky little shit-spot on the road with a street department consisting of a 10-year old pickup truck with a blade. The greater Peoria area has a population of something like 300,000 and should have a decent street department. And we damn well should have the money to pay for it.

Remember where we are? We're one of the states who's motto is "If ya don't like the weather, stick around. It'll change in a minute." And it's not like we didn't have any warning, fer gawd's sake. We knew at least two damn days in advance that something was coming.

And we weren't ready. Not even close.

Ya want sports analogies, Mr. Mayor? I've gotcher sports analogy right here.

Peoria choked and blew it. Period.

Game over.