Colorado Winter Storm Update: start of day 2

Woke up to the delightful news that the snow had pretty much stopped and not much more had fallen since I shoveled for the last time last night. The airport is open and running and, aside from some highways running eastward, roads are open and relatively clear. My flight hasn't been cancelled (yet) and my shuttle service hasn't indicated that it won't be running. Of course, I don't leave my house for another ten hours or so, but I can only remain optimistic.

The bad news is that the storm didn't move east as hoped, so it's very possible that we may have a redux of the snow that hit yesterday. This "round 2 of the round 2" could potentially dump snow on the Front Range until Sunday morning. I'm calling upon all good karma that I've (hopefully) earned to nix this scenario. As of now, I am still on target to leave Denver at 12:35 AM.

Below is a very crude picture of the sight outside last night, taken from the camera on my phone:

Colorado Winter Storm Update: 11:30 PM (MST)

Reports from the Pepsi Center in downtown Denver suggest that the snow may be tapering off. I've done a second round of shoveling and there was at least 4 more inches on the ground at that time. It seems like the snow here in Longmont may be falling a little slower, although it's still steady as it was a couple of hours ago. Denver International is running 6 runways and its homepage suggests that there aren't many problems at the airport. I think that the airlines have taken more of the heat during this storm by cancelling (preemptively in some cases) flights in lieu of an all-out airport closure, which caused a shit storm last week.

Now I'm pretty exhausted (two snowshoveling sessions will do that) and hoping that when I wake up tomorrow morning there will be good news about the weather and my flight. We'll see.

Colorado Winter Storm Update: 9:10 PM (MST)

Just got back inside from shoveling...there was at least 3 inches on the ground when I went outside to shovel. By the time I had cleared the driveway, which took about 20 minutes, there was another inch on the ground. The rate of snowfall in Boulder County is 3 inches per hour. Not a good sign.

The Nuggets are playing; I guess I should look at the game as a good sign--Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche games were cancelled during the last storm.

The snow doesn't seem to be letting up soon and I don't see many cars out on the roads. I just talked to Josh (who tells me that New York is just lovely right now...) and hearing his voice makes me want to be home even more.

The latest from DIA:

"Denver International Airport is open.

Some airlines have canceled flights for tonight and Friday morning. We are advising travelers to check with their airlines or travel agents for status on specific flights. If you need to rebook a flight, do not come to the airport. Please rebook via an airline’s reservation telephone number, its Web site or through a travel agent.

Peña Boulevard is open. Drivers coming to the airport should exercise caution and plan extra time ."

Colorado Winter Storm Update: 7:10 PM (MST)

Snow keeps falling, falling, falling...

Here in Longmont we have about 2 - 2.5 inches on the ground. Denver's ABC 7 reports that as much as 9 inches have fallen in Golden and 5.5 inches in downtown Denver. If the storm moves east at a slow pace, the storm system will kick back into Colorado, which will dump up to two more feet of snow on Colorado's front range by Sunday morning. I'm hoping it moves quickly.

Also, local weather reports say that the storm is actually a "thunder snow storm." I've never heard of such a thing, but apparently the falling snow is being accomanied by thunderstorms. What's next, locusts?

My plans for the night: eating a dinner of mom's turkey meatballs and pasta with garlic bread (best ever!), watching Allen Iverson and the Denver Nuggets play the Seattle Sonics (ain't I butch?) and finishing off the night watching The Devil Wears Prada. Cabin fever should kick in by noon tomorrow...

Colorado Winter Storm Update: 5:00 PM (MST)

It's now almost 5 PM and getting dark. The rain has turned to snow, which is steadily falling and the flakes are about one centimeter in diameter. The snow wasn't sticking for the first hour but now a thin layer of white has covered parts of the ground that had previously been cleared of the previous layer of snow.

Flights still continue to be cancelled, but apparently Denver International has a "new plan" for maintaining and clearing operational runways. Of course, this only really matters if flights are also operational. My flight has still not been cancelled.

KUSA News 4 says: all available snowplows have been deployed, that Gov. Owens has issued a state of emergency and that the storm could last until as late as Sunday morning. Highways are still open, but roadways are pretty terrible. Already about 1.5 inches has fallen on the Denver Metro area.

The shuttle service that I have reserved to take me to the airport (assuming everything runs as scheduled) is still planning on running to the airport. Without this service it's likely that I won't be able to catch my flight even if it's not cancelled.

"We're taking about historical levels of snow," was a line just quoted on KUSA News 4.

So nice to be home...

Blogging storm #2

I managed to get to Colorado in time for the holidays, even with the snow storm that hammered Denver last week. I was actually one of the lucky ones that didn't have to spend too much time in an airport (probably about 8 hours total) and didn't have to deal with the headache of a cancelled flight.

I'm supposed to go back to New York tomorrow (Friday) night and another massive winter storm is forecasted to slam Denver, this time most likely significantly delaying/cancelling my flight. I have a dog to return home to, a New Years Eve party to prepare for and I really miss the new guy I'm dating. In short, I'm highly annoyed that my luck would have Denver experiencing two major winter storms in the same week (never happened before) during the only time I've been back in a year. I want to go home to New York. To aleviate my restless mind, I'm going to blog on the progress of Big F*cking Storm #2...from my mother's home in Longmont, CO.

As of 2:55 PM (MST) snow has not yet started falling. A cold, consistent drizzle has made all of the ice on the roads even more slippery. Some are hopeful that the rain may actually help with removing the snow that is already on the ground from the last storm, but that is more and more unlikely as the tempertature continues to drop.

My flight for tomorrow night (the Frontier red-eye from Denver International to LaGuardia) is not yet cancelled. Fronteir has, strangely enough, started cancelling many of its flights for today and tomorrow. Seems to be more of a preemptive move than one of true necessity, as DIA's runways are still operating at full capacity. Go figure...the customer service reps. seemed to know little about the situation.

Tonight's red-eye to LGA has been cancelled, which doesn't leave me with a very hopeful feeling.

Going home

I left for Grand Central at 6:30 PM on Friday evening. I had very carefully planned the most simple/cost efficient way of getting to LaGuardia, which consisted of taking a taxi to Grand Central ($10) and a direct bus ticked ($12). I got to the airport at 7:30, plenty of time to spare for my 9:30 flight to Denver.

I check in at the Frontier airlines counter and the less-than-friendly attendant informs me that the flight has been delayed 45 minutes. Not a big deal because 1) at least I'm on a flight that is actually going to GET to Denver and 2) 45 minutes isn't a long time compared to the days that some poor Denver-bound travelers would be waiting. But it was a big deal because it meant that I would miss the last shuttle out of the airport and would have to spend the night at Denver International Airport.

Oh, and the attendant took my passport and forgot to give it back to me. I spent a very panicked 20 mins looking through all of my things to find it before realizing that it was probably never given back to me. Sure enough, when I went back to the counter it was sitting there--sitting there--because he'd realized he had it and instead of keeping it safe until I came to retreive, he figured that he'd just leave it out on the counter. Ass.

So I went to the terminal to find something to eat and settle in to wait for my flight. I decide on Au Bon Pain chicken noodle soup and a croissant. I find a seat and read while eating dinner. The flight came in from Denver and unloaded at ten past ten. By 10:30, we were boarded and ready to take off. I had an aisle seat (thank god) and sat next to a chatty flight attendant who had been stuck in New York for the past three days. He was very excited to talk about all the fun things he did over his unexpected stay. He was obviously gay, but I was not in the mood to entertain. He got the hint when I pulled out my iPod. I fell asleep before we even took off.

We arrived in Denver at about 1:00 AM. It took a half hour to get our checked bags. Even though the Denver airport has twenty baggage carousels, only one or two were working. It didn't really annoy me because I had nothing but time until the first shuttle left at 6:20 AM. After I got my bag I took a walk around the terminal. There were thousands of people stranded there in a refugee camp-like set up. Maybe that's a little insensitive because conditions were actually quite nice for what the situation was: cots were offered to people who were staying indefinitely, some food kiosks were open and people actually seemed to be in better spirits that those who were at LaGuardia. Maybe it was just a product of a feeling of defeat.

I found an open seat in an area that had apparently been used to entertain kids during the day. There was a TV that had been playing a DVD of some animated movie. No one had bothered to come turn the TV off, so the screen looped the title menu, which consisted of awful banter between some of the characters. The dialogue lasted about two minutes before it repeated. This this was background noise for me for 30 mins, when I could no longer take it and I again went to my iPod for refuge. I fell asleep on-and-off from about 2:30 till 5:30, when I decided it was time to get ready to find out about the shuttle.

Before standing outside in the 25 degree weather, I decided to get in line at Seattle's Best for some much needed coffee. It took 25 minutes for a line of seven people order and get their drinks. The workers moved with absolutely no urgency or care about the people who were moving in front of them. I was so exhausted and even amused at the whole situation that I was inexplainably polite when it was finally my turn to order a small coffee.

I got the shuttle to Longmont at 6:20. Finally I was going to get home.

What it looks like where I'm going

(courtesy of the Boulder Daily Camera)

Ahhh...home sweet home.

Growing and Learning

Sooooo much has happened since I last wrote. First, in full disclosure, I am a little bit tipsy from my company's holiday party. That said, let me launch into my update:

I guess the most significant item is that in early November I broke up with my boyfriend, who I had moved in with at the beginning of the summer. It was an amicable breakup, but still weird to make that break with someone who had played a big part in my life for the previous eight months. All is much better because of it, but I do admit to being a little sad that things didn't work out. He's a great guy, but we should have realized earlier that we were much better friends than we would ever be boyfriends.

Next most significant item is that I am officially (that sounds toolish) dating Josh, who I wrote about in a much earlier entry. I feel like a schoolgirl with the amount of giddiness that the whole thing has blanketed me with. I mean, I honestly shouldn't like him as much as I do but everything comes so natural - from the physical stuff to the conversation. He's a little older, which I think is ultimately what I need. He's also successful and incredibly charismatic, which really turns me on in ways that I never thought were so important. My closest friends also adore him, which counts for major points. I'm still being practical about things, though, and am trying not to get too attached too quickly.

Professionally, one of the most exciting things to happen recently is me being officially charged with launching and maintaining our organization's blog. It's a tough undertaking, but I am really excited about the possibilities for this blog to make a serious contribution to advancing LGBT issues in the world. I'm sure I'll have more to say about it in the new year when I start the real work.

One of the best things that I've been able to do during this busy and dynamic time is cultivate and grow my friendships. There is nothing better than deepening good gay friendships. It's not easy; the whole "When Harry Met Sally" question certainly applies to gay men: can two gay men just be friend? I believe they can. I have met some incredible friends who are now like brothers and who I now look to for advice and support when things get rough. I can only hope that others also have a similar support structure. The gay world can get loneley - it's important that we have people - positive influences - who we can lean on when necessary.

I am going home on Friday for the first time in a year. I can't wait. I'll be seeing some old friends from high school, some who I haven't even talked to since graduation - since before I came out. But really it will be about being with my mom, taking some time to myself to recharge and reload before taking on 2007. I'm excited for what this year brings: the new people and new challenges and the hope that gay people be at least one step closer to being seen as equal to everyone else