Snow in Seattle

This last week Seattle's nasty wintry weather was national news, and at one point the L.A. Times called us in Seattle something like 'snow wimps'. The snow wasn't too bad even though we got more than expected, but the freezing rain really screwed things up. The Tacoma Narrows bridge had to be shut down because big dangerous chunks of ice falling from the suspension cables on to the road way. Trees covered first by snow then coated in heavy ice from the freezing rain caused a few roofs to collapse and trees to snap; in some cases snapping trees and branches took out power lines. Power has been out for tens of thousands of households for days, and according to the local T.V. news the power companies are still working to restore power to customers. Where I live we were fairly fortunate only getting a small amount of freezing rain and only about 6 inches of total snow fall, also we never lost power. Our biggest heating problem has been that during the storm our heater working harder than normal started making a loud rumbling noise most likely from a bearing going out in the fan. During winter storms the city of Seattle only plows and treats 'arterial streets' or main commuter routes leaving the side streets covered in whatever state nature left it. Driving isn't that big of a deal with chains or four-wheel drive and I say that living on a small hill. I watched some knuckleheads and inexperienced drivers slide around on my street. I really miss having a 4x4. I mostly stayed off the roads for the worst of the three days during the storms, but mostly because I didn't want to become a victim of the knuckleheads or inexperienced drivers; state wide there were thousands of weather related auto accidents during these storms. When I did drive before and after the storms in my two wheel drive car I didn't even chain up, but to be honest the roads were at worst snowy but mostly slushy. As far as Seattle being 'weather wimps' I think not, but there are those who won't go out of their houses if there is any kind of sticking snow on the ground which is of course a drastic over-reaction. I can't imagine how the greater Los Angeles area would react to this same kind of weather as I have personally seen how badly traffic gets in SoCal when some residents become frightened by water mysteriously falling from the sky or otherwise known as rain.