I see

That it our efforts to purchase a vehicle are going to be delayed once again.

Walking to work led me to the conclusion that Public Works does not care about pedestrians.

No, I did not fall. I do not want to be like my friend who cracked her laptop monitor in pieces, but it's discouraging to have to walk so slowly, picking through crunchy ice, invisible glaze, snowpack and clear pavement.

Saturday, husband and I celebrated his birthday. We were going to play on the Metro, but the freezing rain lured us to use the 196,345-mile Camry. It's oil leakage has induced Greenpeace protestors to come to our house recently with their pickets and puns. I'm not kidding. We gave it a quart at noon, drove 18 blocks to Anthony's for unhealthy indulgence, then to Historic Northeast where the Mosaic Brain guys were hosting a holiday art sale, then up Chouteau Trafficway, across the bridge and to Target. After the fourth and fifth window-scraping, we gave it two more quarts and then headed home in the dark. The windshield, however, was lightened with smeared salt the ever-ineffectual wiper blades missed. There was not enough precipitation, really, to keep the windows clear, and the spray function has not worked for a decade perhaps.

By the time we were back down on Independence Avenue, the oil light was flickering to a meek shine every time we stopped for a light or traffic or to smear snow on the stupid window.

By six o'clock tonight, we're supposed to be feeling paranoid about our power lines and travel.

Saturday was also when my friend's furnace went out; it was about 17ºF in Lawrence, Kan., and it was 82ºF in Houston, Texas, where my brother's air conditioner froze up twice and failed.

"An ice storm warning means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Significant amounts of ice accumulations will make travel dangerous or impossible. Travel is strongly discouraged. Commerce will likely be severely impacted. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency. Ice accumulations and winds will likely lead to snapped power lines and falling tree branches that add to the danger."