Now it's an ice storm!

Cripe, its one thing after another here.  This is what I woke up to this morning, a half inch of ice coating everything.   The docks looked slippery, but the ramp looked formidable.

The big problem, besides not being able to get up the ramp to go to work, is how to get the dogs off the boat to do their business.  They normally use the area to the right of the gate at the head of the dock.  I sprinked some of the "pet safe" deicer on the steps while I pondered the problem.  When Pam got up, I decided to let her figure it out.  She's got much more dog experience than I do.   Pam decided to shovel the ice off the snow on our dock and have them go there, and we'd take them off one at a time so they wouldn't play and wrestle and fall in.     Later, Pam got off the boat with Ruby. 

Ruby started up the dock to the  ramp.  Pam told her to stop and use the dock where she shoveled off the ice.  

Ruby looked confused, as in "Is this a trick?  You told me NEVER to go potty on the dock."

Finally, she got the idea.   Pam put her back on the boat, and Chevy was next.

Chevy had no problem going on the dock.   Being a guy, the whole world is his bathroom.

As I sit here on the boat now at 10:45 AM, I'm watching small chunks of ice pass by, pushed by a slight breeze.  The boat is gently rocking from small waves coming into the marina area from Long Island Sound.  It's 34 degrees and I can hear little bits of ice melting and falling on the roof.  Ducks and honking geese are paddling by and are enjoyable to watch, especially the handsome male Hooded Merganzers.

The animals are all asleep except Chevy, who left with Pam.  She went out to check the roads and if they're OK to go to the post office to pick up a couple of Netflix movies along with a quick stop to the grocery store.  The vet's office she works in is closed.  I may go into work depending on road conditions.   If I wind up staying home too, it will be a movie day.

If this was back in upstate New York, I'd have no qualms about getting out to work, but here in the Stamford area, the road crews aren't as adept at getting them cleared.   When plowing, they often miss the curb by six feet and four lane streets become two, and two lane streets become one.   I-95 is moving well according to the web cams, but the entrance and exit ramps are usually plowed and sanded late.  Combine bad roads with bad drivers who aren't used to driving on snow and ice and you have accidents.  Everywhere.

Today is Groundhog Day and Phil did not see his shadow.  That's good news.   Very good news.