I've been reading travel news all day.

I'm looking at my GPS right now.  I-20 is showing red lines clear to Dallas, well into Louisiana.  59 is closed in 5 places going south.  Red lines on every highway, major or secondary.  I read an update from a driver on I-20 that had been stuck for 9 hours. The red lines means stopped or extremely slow moving traffic, btw.    

I've read numerous stories from many states about trucks simply getting stuck. The ice is bad enough they get on it and can't move.  Traffic completely stopped. I found a story about what this person was talking about - the same thing. Hilly stretches of road trucks are getting stuck on.  

There is zero point of any truck driver  - or anyone at all really - going out on the roads right now. You aren't going to make it anywhere.  I mean, it's gotten 100% worse out there since I was out there yesterday, amazingly bad.  I knew it was going to get worse but I didn't know how much worse.  This is why I was desperately trying to make it home yesterday, why sit in a truck when I can sit in my room at home and get stuff done?  I've been putting my room back together all day long.  The big stuff is in, the computer set back up.

I wasn't going to put the computer back together until I got the new computer desk - but that is impossible right now and I'm going to be sitting here for at least another day, probably 2.  Texas simply isn't prepared for such an event and probably never will be. Why should they?  Spend all the money on equipment you may never need to use again? I get it, but I don't get why they aren't just hiring out for graders to get out there and clear the roads.  That is a bit ridiculous.  

Anyway, between reading the news and reading various posts by truckers stuck everywhere in the trucking Facebook groups, I'm just glad I'm home.  If I weren't, I'd be sitting this out in a hotel somewhere.  Another thing that is happening is that truck stops pipes are getting frozen up and truckers are complaining about having a place to go number 2.  I'll go find a tree, I'll find some place to do it - figure it out, this is the most basic of human business.  I didn't know the truck stops were getting frozen up like that tho.  And lots of truck stops are actually closing down.  

It started snowing again this afternoon, the roads are worse than they were before, that mixed with the sleet that was coming down for hours?  No.  I mean, we went out to Walmart today - in James 4x4 and that was it.  Then Taylor wanted to go to the store - if I'm stuck here for days, I want snacks - so they went to Walmart.  If there wasn't a 4x4 here, we wouldn't be going anywhere. Wouldn't be the end of the world but still.

And now, the town has issued a boil water alert.  Plus begging everyone to temporarily stop using washing machines and dishwashers.  Why? Because we're all dripping water out of the faucets to keep the lines from bursting.  Some towns were reporting that their wells were so low they had to actually shut the pumps off.  That is a tragedy - water freezes up in the lines, the pipes break and then when the water starts running again? You have a flooded house and a huge repair bill.  Look, I can supply my own electricity with a generator, but there isn't a well here to supply our own water.  

This is really a tragedy - this weather - that just doesn't happen here.  I absolutely refused to take out a load for tomorrow, but after all the talk was over with, the loading plant announced the pumps were broken and they can't load anyone anyway.  I dunno if cold has anything to do with it, the weather that is - that stuff is already cold. But perhaps it's the outdoor stuff that operates the pumps. I dunno, but the dispatcher laughed when I said something about if we are being forced to go out, she said this company will never force anyone to drive in weather like this - but, she has to ask, per the company rules.

I wasn't so sure.  James offered to take me into work - for $5 per  mile if the company would pay it.  I almost offered it to the dispatcher before thinking about it and realizing this company would actually pay him to drive me to work in these conditions.  

It's not really going to start "warming up" until Saturday. The high tomorrow is 33 degrees. That's the high.  That's not enough to do anything with all the snow and ice on the roads and the low is going to be 17.  Friday looks only slightly better with a high of 35, but the low at 14.  I don't predict any real change in road conditions until Saturday, when the high will be 44 and at least the stuff will begin to melt.  I doubt I would take a Friday load is all I'm saying and possibly not even Saturday.