Attack of the Artic Crystalline Flakes

I can't remember the last time I had death gripped my steering wheel. At lunch time I looked outside to see the snow falling at an increasing rate and thought it better to leave sooner than later. On the commute back home (~23 miles) I had many close encounters with the fourth kind: overly confident 4-wheel drive enthusiasts. At seat level in my car I have a VERY good view of their tire flaps. To make matters worse my wipers started to build up ice chunks underneath the blades, in effect smearing the windshield rather than clearing debris, leaving a small viewable window on the passenger side. At this point I thought to myself what on Earth are you [Dallin] doing? Get off the bloomin' road before you activate your medical plan! I was thrilled to finally inch my way up the home stretch and crash on the pillow and not the pedestrian walking her dog across the street. Needless to say I offered a most sincere prayer. The hour drive proved to be a real character builder; much like diarrhea.

Upstate NY is known for their white-out conditions and "lake effect" snow drifts responsible for entire weeks of unscheduled vacation. Binghamton is the 15th snowiest city in the country just south of the 4th being Syracuse. This is a picture I found from Oswego, NY - the undistputed snow capital (non-mountainous region) of the northeast: