Christmas has come and gone. Presents have been unwrapped and the leftovers from the ham or turkey, cookies, and pies are being consumed. New Year’s Day is next week and the commercials for losing weight, smoking cessation, and gym memberships play during all the shows on TV. At this time, many people’s thoughts turn to New Year’s resolutions and how to live life better.
When I was a kid, Christmas seemed to take forever to arrive. I would make lists of what I wanted and even mailed a few off to Santa with the help of my mom, and then wait excitedly to see if he got the message. Sometimes he did and sometimes I just couldn’t figure out what he was thinking!
One of my clients emailed me on Saturday. She’d recently shopped at a Dallas area Target store to pick up some items for Christmas and had just read the news about the credit card breach at Target stores across the country. She was concerned and wanted to know what to do.
North Texas was hit by an ice storm about two weeks ago. Rain fell and froze then built up on trees and powers lines until weight won out and lines began to snap. The storm led to power loss for over 270,000 people with no numbers reported on the impact to small businesses.
Driving in the Dallas / Fort Worth area is always entertaining when we have an ice storm. Those of us who grew up in Texas or the southern parts of the country are just not very good at driving on ice, although I don’t know anyone who is. Aside from the normal slipping and sliding on LBJ or North Central Expressway, we learned that “cobblestone” ice can be just as challenging as sheet ice. There were also some interesting things that occurred with falling or flying ice that led to a number of car insurance claims.
North Texas spent last weekend digging out from the previous week’s ice storm. The sun finally came out and we got above freezing allowing the ice to melt. By the middle of the week, power was restored to most people, schools were in session, people were working, and the roads were clear.
