[TheForge] OT - Snow in NJ

Wed Dec 29 17:17:16 EST 2010

The nationwide reality is that voters are not willing to pay taxes,  to 
fund services,
that they demand.
Part of that is resentment at the inefficiency of established bureaucracies.
And part of that is unwillingness to tax ourselves to have equipment and 
personnel
on duty to take care of less frequent emergencys .
Other industrialized nations have much higher tax rates and get better 
services than us...mostly.
Besides, NJ is all the way on the other side of the continent,
And their attitude is even worse than ours...grin.
Hey Bruce;, we'll cover your snowstorms if you'll cover our wildfires, 
slides and earthquakes!

On 12/29/2010 1:33 PM, Bruce Freeman wrote:
> Sure I do.  It was central NJ that was principally affected by this
> storm.  The governor could have mobilized all state resources to clear
> snow in areas most needed.  You can drive from one end of NJ to the
> other in three hours, given clear roads, so even in a snowstorm
> trucks, snowplows, and road graders could have been moved into the
> most heavily hit areas.
>
> My township left me and my aged neighbors stranded from Sunday night
> till Tuesday night because they were using their three snowplows to
> assist in greater emergencies.  (Everybody is okay.  I've just spoken
> to the neighbors on either side, and dug out one of them.)  There were
> cars stranded for hours on the local freeway, and two of these
> vehicles were ambulances, and the township had to send in equipment --
> onto a state highway, mind you -- to rescue them.
>
> During most of this time, the State did not respond at all to requests
> for assistance, and the township had to clear the arteries, most of
> which ()Routes 18, 33, 35, 66&  71) are state highways and the
> responsibility of the state to clear.  About 24 hours after the fact,
> the NJ State Police helicopters did a sweep of Route 18 -- which was
> unplowed for major portions of its length -- that they found everybody
> so that they could send in help.  We're talking about being trapped
> overnight in a car in 3' drifts.
>
> The governor could have called out the National Guard to help.  They
> have vehicles that could have handled the roads, and aircraft that
> could have surveyed where the help was most needed -- stranded cars on
> highways, for example.  Possibly our Acting Governor could have done
> this as well, but since he was probably not expecting to BE in that
> role (since we just created a Lieutenant Governor post last year to
> prevent this very necessity) he may not have even had access to the
> offices and personnel needed to put such decisions into effect.
>
> This was neglect every bit as heinous as W's treatment of N.O.
> Fortunately, there were a LOT fewer deaths.
>
> Most people are taking this all very well, but we're pissed we pay the
> highest state taxes in the nation, then get shit on by the state when
> a crunch comes.  And word has it that the Lt. Gov. was visiting with
> her cancer-stricken father, so the fault really and truly devolves
> upon Christie and Christie alone, who took his family to Disney World!
>   Christie is awfully damned loud-mouthed about what's wrong with
> everybody else, but it was due to him or his appointees that NJ lost
> $400M in ed. funds due to flat-out stupidity, and that NJ will have to
> repay $200M+ in transportation funds to the Feds due to his canceling
> a railway tunnel project (though our Democratic Senator may have got
> that amount reduced -- if Christie isn't too stupid to blow THAT
> deal).  Now he runs off ahead of a forecast blizzard.  Nice going,
> gov.
>
> So, instead of getting to go out and play in the snow, like I usually
> do, I got to dig out a neighbor as well as myself.  I don't know
> whether it's related (as it may have just been due to Xmas
> overindulgence), but my bile duct took this opportunity to go into
> spasm -- moderately painful, but not crippling.  I had to finish the
> shoveling despite that so I'd have the means of getting to the doctor
> if it got worse.  (Fortunately, the antispasmodic seems to be keeping
> it under control and maybe even curing it.)
>
> Friends fared about the same in other townships,so it's not just
> Neptune that is in this state.  Marshall, in Howell Twp, was still
> working to clear his own land, and the neighbor's driveway.  Elaine,
> in Ocean Twp., managed to get an SUV free so she could go XC skiing
> locally.  She lives in a private development, so the snow clearing
> there was done by contractor, not by the township.  My car was free by
> then, but I don't want to overstress myself till the bile duct calms
> down a bit, so I begged off going skiing.  As of 2:30 PM today, the
> Neptune P.O. was still not dug out, so was closed to the public.
>
> On Wed, Dec 29, 2010 at 3:35 PM,<craig.schaefer at frontier.com>  wrote:
>>
>> Nice, but any thoughts on what you would have had the governor and or lt. governor DO if available?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Bruce Freeman"<freemab222 at gmail.com>
>> To: "Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA"<theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>> Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2010 9:55:18 AM
>> Subject: Re: [TheForge] OT - Snow in NJ
>>
>> I just sent this to Gov. Christie&  the Asbury Park Press:
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Dear, Governor Christie:
>> Well, I hope you and your Lieutenant Governor enjoyed your respective
>> vacations.  I had been under the impression that we created the
>> Lieutenant Governor job so she could substitute for you when you were
>> out of state.  But, of course, we wouldn’t have wanted to mess up  her
>> travel plans, would we?  Anyway, we have lots of legislators who can
>> substitute as Acting Governor, just like in the old days.
>> You may have heard rumors that it snowed here while you were gone.  We
>> got a lovely three feet of snow here in Neptune.  It blanketed the
>> roads and the cars -- even the cars on the roads.  It looked very
>> pretty.  It's a shame they had to clear it and reveal the streets, and
>> all the potholes and stuck vehicles.
>> But my next-door neighbors, on either side, are both in their 90's and
>> at least one of them was stuck in his home since Christmas (and may be
>> still), so it's better that the township DPW was able to clear my
>> street at 10 PM last night.  (Those city workers!  Always trying to
>> earn that overtime pay!  Why, I think they were working straight
>> through from Sunday evening -- and charging it all to my taxes!  Ain't
>> it awful!)
>> Of course, the Township says that neither the State nor the National
>> Guard responded to their requests for help.  And that they had to
>> clear state highway 33 so shipments of critical medical supplies could
>> get through to the hospital.  And that there were dozens of cars
>> snowbound on Rte. 18, including two ambulances.  And that the three
>> snowplows they did have had to escort the EMT's on calls because
>> otherwise the ambulances would get stuck.  You know -- all that usual
>> Democrats whining!  Why, if they'd had brains like you, they'd have
>> been on vacation too!
>> Anyway, just thought you might want to hear a word from home.  Wish
>> you were here!
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Dec 29, 2010 at 5:10 AM, Larry Brown<lp.brown at verizon.net>  wrote:
>>> I'm in Staten Island and officially got 29" in Great Kills where I am. I
>>> got 24" in front and 36" to who cares how deep in the back yard. My wifes
>>> car was under a 7' drift in the driveway and my GMC pickup work truck
>>> looked like some kind of monster (Should have taken a pict, maybe the wife
>>> did..) and the snow is packed underneath as it is jacked up with the y-pipe
>>> off the exhaust off. A whole lot of shoveling going on including my dads
>>> house and her parents. No snow plows, the city screwed this one up bad. I
>>> now have 6" of packed snow in front from when the trucks finally showed
>>> yesterday afternoon driving with the plows UP about a foot off the ground
>>> and getting stuck everywhere.
>>> Larry Brown
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> At 05:00 PM 12/27/2010 +0000, you wrote:
>>>> 1.5hrs of cardio/lifting of snow. Just got done. I have a huge driveway
>>>> and the snow blower needs a new carb!! As far as a total, I would have to
>>>> say in Burlington NJ we got between 12-16".
>>>>
>>>> ________________________________________
>>>> From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net [theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
>>>> on behalf of Bruce Freeman [freemab222 at gmail.com]
>>>> Sent: Sunday, December 26, 2010 10:51 PM
>>>> To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
>>>> Subject: [TheForge] OT - Snow in NJ
>>>>
>>>> Well we didn't have a white Christmas, but the day after Christmas is
>>>> white enough!  It started snowing at maybe 10 AM, and hasn't stopped.
>>>> I think we've got about 18" now, though it's hard to tell because the
>>>> wind is making it drift.
>>>>
>>>> How's by the rest of youse guys?
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Bruce
>>>> NJ
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Bruce
>> NJ
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