Latest / RealTalkwithMikeD / Episode 66 - Who is Ready for Snow?

Transcript

Episode 66 - Who is Ready for Snow? · RealTalkwithMikeD

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Real Talk with Mike D. Alright, welcome back
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: to Real Talk with Mike D. I am the one,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: the only, and the original Mike D. Thank you for
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: being here, thank you for listening, and as always, I
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: do appreciate you. Happy Sunday. Ladies and gentlemen, it is
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: absolutely freezing outside. It is 5.30 in the morning, and
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: I am awake, and I am here with you. But
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: this cold weather has me thinking of one thing this morning. Snow.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: And I want to know, those of you who are
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: listening right now, who is ready for snow? Come on,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: I want to know it. Are you ready for snow?
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: Are you one of those people who gets excited when
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: the weather forecast says we're getting 6 to 12 inches, or...
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Are you the person who looks outside, sees one snowflake,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: and immediately starts planning to move to Florida? I cannot
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: move to Florida. I am terrified of alligators. I would
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: not survive. But let me tell you something. When it
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: comes to snow, people have some very strong opinions. Some
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: people love it. They love the beautiful white landscape, the
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: peaceful feeling. The fresh air, the smell of coffee on
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: a cold morning, and the chance to sit inside with
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: a blanket and do absolutely nothing. And then there are
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: the rest of us who look at the same beautiful
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: landscape and think, great, now I've got to shovel it.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: And that is where the trouble begins. So today, we're
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: talking about snow. The excitement, the memories, the headaches, the
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: cold mornings, the snowstorms, and that magical feeling when you
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: wake up, look out the window, and realize the whole
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: world has turned white overnight. But we're also talking about
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: something else. Those simple things in life that make us happy.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Because sometimes it's not about taking an expensive vacation or
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: buying something fancy. Sometimes it's about sitting in your house,
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: drinking a cup of hot cocoa, watching the snowfall, and
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: doing absolutely nothing. Unless, of course, you have to go
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: to work. Then it's a completely different story. But you
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: know what? There is something special about the first snowfall
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: of the season. You can feel it coming. The mornings
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: get colder, the days get shorter. You start wearing heavier
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: clothes and suddenly everybody is becoming a meteorologist. You hear
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: people saying, I think we're going to get snow this year. Really?
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: What gave you that idea? The fact that it's December
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: or you're standing outside wearing three jackets and everybody starts
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: watching the weather forecast like it's the freaking Super Bowl.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: You're checking your phone in the morning, the afternoon, and
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: before you go to bed. You even wake up at
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: 2 o'clock in the morning, grab your phone, and check
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: the forecast again because apparently the weather forecast could have
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: changed dramatically in the last 40 minutes. And when the
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: forecast finally says snow is coming, everybody has a reaction.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: The snow lovers get excited. The parents start thinking about
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: school cancellations. And the kids? The kids start thinking about sledding.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: and the people who hate winter start looking at homes
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: in Arizona. That would be me. However, I do think
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: the first snowfall can be beautiful. There's just something about
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: watching those first flakes come down. Everything gets quieter, the
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: trees start turning white, the rooftops disappear beneath a blanket
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: of snow, and for a little while, everything looks peaceful.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Even your neighbor's house looks better covered in snow, and
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: that's saying something. But the real question is, how much
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: snow are we talking about? Because one or two inches,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: that's cute. Three or four inches, all right, now we're
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: getting somewhere. Six inches, okay, this could be interesting. And
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: 12 inches, now everybody's got an opinion. And the grocery store,
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: the grocery store is packed. And somebody's buying enough bread
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: and milk to survive until the year 2047. And can
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: someone please explain to me the bread and milk phenomenon?
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Every time there's a snowstorm, people run to the grocery
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: store like civilization is about to end. You walk through
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: the doors and it's complete chaos. The bread aisle looks
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: like a crime scene. The milk is disappearing faster than
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: free money. And the shopping carts are loaded with enough
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: food to feed a professional football team. And I'm standing
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: here thinking, really? Really? The forecast says 8 inches of snow.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: It didn't say we're entering into the next ice age.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: But I get it. People want to be prepared. Nobody
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: wants to get stuck without food. And honestly, there's nothing
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: wrong with having supplies ready. But it's always bread and milk.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: What are we making? Enough French toast to feed the
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: entire neighborhood? Is there some unwritten law that says if
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: snow is coming, you must purchase bread? milk, eggs, and
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: enough snacks to survive three weeks without sunlight? Oh, and
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: we can't forget toilet paper. Apparently snowstorms and toilet paper
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: are somehow connected. I just don't understand the science behind it.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: But I know one thing. If a major storm is coming,
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: I am not going anywhere near a supermarket unless absolutely necessary.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: I'll sit at home with whatever's in my refrigerator. Peanut
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: butter sandwich? Fine. A bowl of cereal? Even better. Crackers
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: and cheese? I can deal with it. Because I'm not
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: getting into a shopping cart demolition derby just to buy
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: a loaf of bread. No, thank you. Now, let's talk
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: about snow days. Remember when you were a kid and
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: woke up hoping school would be canceled? You'd get out
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: of bed. run to the window and look outside, and
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: you'd be like, snow! And there's just not a little
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: bit of snow. The kind of snow that covered everything.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: And let's be real. Your first thought wasn't about road conditions,
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: snow removal, or whether the electric company was prepared. Nope.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: Your first thought was, please let school be closed. You
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: turn on the television and watch the school closings scroll
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: across the screen. And you'd wait, and wait, and you'd
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: wait some more. You would see the name of every
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: school district in the state, except yours. And you're sitting
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: there thinking, come on, how are we not closed? The
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: driveway looks like Mount Everest. And then, finally, your school
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: would appear on the screen, closed. And suddenly it was
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: the greatest day of your entire life. You didn't care
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: about anything else. You weren't thinking about homework. You weren't
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: thinking about responsibilities. You were thinking about sleds, snowball fights,
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: hot chocolate, and how long you could stay outside before
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: your fingers went numb. Ladies and gentlemen, those were the days.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: Everything seemed simpler. You'd bundle up in winter clothes. put
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: on your boots, pull a hat over your head, and
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: head outside. You built snowmen. You'd make snow angels. You'd
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: have snowball fights with your friends. You'd make snow forts.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: You'd go sledding. And sooner or later, somebody would throw
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: a snowball that wasn't exactly soft and fluffy. Suddenly, that
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: friendly snowball fight turned into an international incident. Somebody's crying,
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: somebody's angry, somebody's mother is yelling from the porch, and
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: somehow you're still laughing about it 20 minutes later. That
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: is the magic of childhood. You didn't need a $ 1, 000
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: vacation or the latest electronic gadget. All you needed was
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: a hill, a sled, a decent snowfall, and you've got
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: entertainment for hours. And of course, there's one thing I
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: don't remember appreciating as a kid. Shoveling. Because back then,
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: somebody else was usually responsible for that part. Funny how
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: that works, right? When you're young, snow is an adventure.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: When you're an adult, snow is a project. And the
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: project comes with a shovel. No. Let's bring this conversation
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: back into reality, because snow is beautiful when you're sitting
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: inside looking at it. Snow is a completely different animal
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: when you have responsibilities, especially when you have to get
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: up early and go to work. The alarm goes off,
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: it's dark outside, it's freezing. You drag yourself out of bed,
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: look through the window, and discover that Mother Nature has
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: dumped a foot of snow on your driveway. Now, you've
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: got a decision to make. Do you get dressed and
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: start shoveling? Or do you wait for the plow? Do
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: you try to convince yourself that if you ignore the
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: snow long enough, it'll somehow disappear? I've tried that. strategy. Unfortunately,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: snow does not respond to positive thinking. And if you've
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: got to drive somewhere, the whole situation gets even better.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: You have to clear the windshield. You have to clear
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: the windows. You've got to clear off your car. And
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: somehow you're doing all of this while the wind is
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: blowing snow directly into your face. You're freezing your backside off.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: Your gloves are getting wet. You're questioning every decision. You're thinking,
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: I could be inside right now. I could be drinking coffee.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: I could be watching television. But nope, here I am,
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: fighting a frozen substance that fell out of the sky.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: And then finally you get your car cleared. You climb inside,
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: start the engine, and discover that the heater is blowing
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: air that feels like somebody opened the freezing door. Wonderful.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: Just wonderful. And you haven't even left the driveway yet.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: But here's the thing. People still have to go to work.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: People have appointments now. People have families to take care of.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: Life doesn't always stop because the weather gets bad. That's
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: why we need to prepare, give ourselves extra time, and
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: remember that getting there safely is more important than getting
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: there quickly. The roads are dangerous. If officials advise to
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: stay off the road, stay off the road. Take that seriously.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: No appointment is worth putting yourself or somebody else at risk.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: The snow will eventually melt. However, a bad decision behind
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: the wheel can have much more serious consequences. So let's
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: keep our heads on straight. We can enjoy the snow
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: without trying to become professional race car drivers on ice-covered highways.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen, that is going to do it for
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: today's episode. I greatly appreciate you being here. I greatly
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: appreciate you listening. Stay warm, enjoy the day, and I
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: will see you all on the next episode. And please
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: be the reason someone smiles today.