Driving into work it was whisking off the window but now its big enough that it may just stick. I’m not really nostalgic or excited about the first snowfall of the season, but I feel like I should be. Mostly it just confuses the parking situation at home. You see, due to “recent trend in warmer weather” the city of Somerville has extended street sweeping all the way to the end of the year. How’s that for the most annoying effect of global warming yet to date. This creates a catch 22 of sorts. You see, if we get 4+ in of snow and it is declared a snow emergency then you can only park on the odd numbered side of the street or risk being towed. Now, on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of a month from 8am-noon you can’t park on the odd side of my street for street sweeping, which risks a ticket. So if you go to bed Tuesday night and its not a snow emergency you should be on the even side, but if it is, the odd side, and if the state of snow nonemergency-ness changes while you are sleeping you’ll need to move the car in your sleep. The solution is to park on the odd side and get out of there and off to work by 8am; unless its snowing too much, then just take the T. But! You would think that we live in a world wear it can snow or not snow on a 1st and 3rd Wednesday morning and not have to be awake before 8am; clearly that is impossible.
In other news, its snowing and I’m still getting ~40mpg from my car. This is much improved over the ~34mpg I got last winter, but I used the heater last winter and haven’t used it much at all so far this winter. I’m sure that will change once the highs dip into the lower 30’s and its in the teens when driving, and that may very well drop me down to ~34 again. My goal is to see if I have improved at driving efficiently enough not drop that low. Rising spring temperatures gave me this impression, but the car definitely is more efficient at warmer temperatures. The current heater-less test proves that, in early October I was still getting ~45mpg, and only the weather has changed (to the best of my abilities to control the other variables).