Blizzard Over Broadway
Matt Seinberg

Only three months after New York City suffered through Superstorm Sandy, Blizzard Nemo pummels it. Who named a blizzard after a fish? It was far from friendly, and many people and towns are still digging out from the mounds of snow.

The Friday it hit, 8 February 2013, started out a very rainy day. I had some errands to run. There was no way rain was going to stop me. Otherwise, my errand would have to wait another week.

I had an 8:45 am podiatrist appointment for a toen up. Then I had to pick up the new floor tiles for the kitchen remodel. These errands could not wait another week.

When I returned home, I lugged in, one at time, twelve boxes of tiles. Believe me when I tell you they were very heavy. There was no way I was going to strain my back by taking in more than one at a time. They are now sitting in a very nice pile in my dining room.

Also on Friday, I got a text from one of the managers at work, saying that most likely we would have a late opening on Saturday, depending on the weather. At that time, I didn’t know that they didn’t open on Friday.

On Saturday morning, I slept late, anticipating a text telling me we’d close. I got that around 9 am and even sent the manager a couple of pictures showing how deep the snow was in my front and back yards. We had seen a snow plow, yet, so even if we were open, I wasn’t going anywhere.

After the snow started to really slow down, I gave the kids their shoveling assignments, and went to the garage to get the snow blower ready. Michelle had to shovel out the front of the gate across the driveway so I could get the blower out. Melissa did the front stoop and the walkway.

I must say that Nassau County did a very good job of plowing. First, they came with the huge trucks to clear the streets; later in the day, a smaller truck came by to finish the job. By this time, one car across the street had shoveled out and the plow was able to widen the street. It also cleared my side a little more. That meant the bottom of the driveway was plowed-in, again. I sent Michelle out to clear it. Sometimes it’s r nice to have teenage children.

Some towns in Suffolk County weren’t so lucky. As of today, many streets in the Town of Brookhaven not been plowed. The residents are stuck at home, unable to get to work or school.

Although a snow blower is a great machine to work with, it’s very heavy. The snow was also very heavy, so it was slow blowing ahead. Usually I clean the house next door, and then go down the other way and do the sidewalks. I just couldn’t do it this time. I was so tired from pushing that machine around I had no strength left. I did manage to clean out the bottom of both driveways.

Then Marcy and I cleaned off our cars just so we wouldn’t have to deal with them on Sunday when I would go to work, and she’s off.

My pet peeve, as stated previously, is idiots and morons that park on the streets during a freakin’ blizzard when they have huge driveways to park on. If two or three cars are on the driveway, it’s that much less you have to shovel or blow. If the cars aren’t on the street, the plows can do a much better job of clearing the streets.

The idiot across the street left two cars on the street and a woman, also from across the street, left her minivan there as well. Both were plowed-in, nicely; it took them quite a while to get them shoveled out. I call that penance.

The Broadway part is that my friend, Mike, had tickets to see Barry Manilow on Broadway. With the blizzard, there was no way he was going to make it into the city with his date. If you can believe it, the Manilow show went ahead, as planned. Our guess was the people already in New York City would go see it and screw everyone else who was snowed it.

Mike phoned Ticketmaster. He wouldn’t give up. They kept insisting that because the show was on, he was not entitled to an exchange or refund. He kept insisting that because of the blizzard, there was no way he could get into NYC for the show. Impasse you say, I think so.

No way, we are both sales people. We know how to say no and turn a “No” into a “Yes.” Although Mike didn’t want a refund, he did want tickets for another date, and the customer service rep finally gave in. So far, he has gotten the refund on the original tickets and one new ticket issued, twice.

Huh? That’s what I said. Why did Ticketmaster send the same seat twice? Mike didn’t know and was going to find out today. I’m sure it was just an email error. Oh yeah, they didn’t charge him, yet, for the new tickets. Maybe that same computer glitch will give him two free tickets.