It's the amount of snow, not the snow itself (long)

Dear DS diary,
There is no way I can make this short, so if you intend to read the whole thing, make sure you've got a few minutes to do so first.
The last few days especially, I have been feeling especially worn out.  Because getting stress out of my system has always been difficult for me because of questionable self-control, it was only a matter of time before my fuse blew up last night.  The only good thing about that is it didn't happen in front of someone who I consider to be my friend.
It's here that I need to explain something.  It's not necessarily that I have a problem with snow per se.  See, I live in New England, where snow and cold is a fact of life during the wintertime.  My main beef with winter in this region is not snow but ice, because I don't know how to skate and tend to get looked at as though I have three heads when I mention I should get those special cleats you can strap onto boots to help you walk on ice when necessary.
The problem is, the last week and a half has tossed more snow on us at once than I can ever remember in my lifetime.  We have gotten a lot of it, and it has caused all kinds of headaches.
First, there was the blizzard that hit a week ago late Monday into Tuesday.  That one was a dog of a storm, dumping 2-3 feet everywhere in the state of Massachusetts, setting single-storm records in several communities and reaching the top 10 on Boston's single-storm list.  It was so bad that the pharmacy didn't open that day, and neither did anyone else.  The appointments I had were understandably blanket-cancelled.
The snow had barely melted much from this storm when another big snowmaker hit this past Monday.  While not as brutal as the blizzard, this storm still dumped a blanket 10-18 inches statewide, and the snowbank, at times, was as tall as I am, which would put it just below six feet tall.  Finding a place to put the snow was extremely difficult, and to make matters worse, the city plows did an awful job on my street.  I mean, it was absolutely awful.  The street was basically cut to half its size (one lane).  We couldn't get to work...couldn't get out of our driveway.  I had to blanket-cancel my appointments again.
With our current state of being shorthanded at work, this has caused a spike in my stress that I can't even begin to describe to you.  It's hard enough when there's basically no flexibility available in the place.  (My supervisor pointed this out, giving the owner flak about not hiring another technician, and got a response of "Deal with it" for his trouble.)  It's worse when you lose a day on consecutive weeks because you literally can't get anywhere, since I can't clone myself to make picking up the lost productivity possible.
Sleeping has been difficult because I would be worried about what to do with the next storm.  It seems we're getting more snow every 3-4 days.  I wish I could use a snowblower for my dad but I am not to be trusted with power equipment for the most part...and yet I feel bad for him because even though I help with a shovel, he's usually looking like the Abominable Snowman by the time he comes in.
And it's not a secret that I don't work well under pressure, so it didn't take long for the extra hours I had been working to be rescinded to an emergency-only basis, which honestly, I don't have a problem with.  The only really good thing that has happened on this front is that I've been told by everyone that I'm pretty dependable with a shovel, especially after I had to clear ice from a ramp leading to a nearby doctor's office on short notice last Friday (the owner was somewhere else at that time).
Today I got a little bit of a breather.  We got some snow, but only about an inch, so it only took about 15 minutes of work for my dad and myself to clear it away with scraper shovels.  But now there is a forecast of a prolonged snowstorm to hit Sunday through early Tuesday.  It's too soon to tell how much is expected to fall, but with such a prolonged snow event it's foolishness to think we wouldn't get at least an additional foot more, which might be enough to make the week a mess once again.
I'm really afraid it's going to get to the point where the anxiety and stress that I feel from the effects of all this -- where to put the snow, how to keep up at work which has been almost impossible recently -- is just going to build up and up again like it has before, until it reaches the point where it just explodes on someone like it did last night.  I really don't know what to do.  I hate being in the vicious cycle but extricating myself is so so hard...(sniff)...
...it makes me want to cry.  It really does. :(

Replies

Julie111
Julie111

Ah I feel for you. I know I am \"late\" in reading this but I want you to know that I do read your messages
I hope that your snow is gone and you are seeing spring it\'s supposed to be 60* at my house tomorrow....so I am praying that spring is finally here and I won\'t have to deal with anymore snow as well.
hugs my friend