French toast in the dark?

By Jamie Rieger
It was interesting watching the news coverage over the weekend of the monster snowstorm as it was barreling in on the U.S eastern states and how the various stations were spinning the story.
For at least two days ahead of time, warnings were going out to the public about preparing for the imminent storm that was expected to drop record amounts of snowfall.
That’s great. Get the public informed about preparing for the possibility of being shut in for a few days and for power outages. That’s valuable information for all of us. Tell people to stock up on the essentials and foods that won’t spoil and can be prepared without the use of the stove if the power is out for any length of time. One commentator said, “Head out and get your bread, milk, and eggs for the storm gets here.”
Bread, yes. Milk, maybe. But, what is a person to do with eggs if you have no power? Instead, she may have suggested bottled water, batteries, candles, canned foods, a hand-operated can opener, matches, and other items that could actually be helpful.
As the storm lumbered in, more advice about staying off the roads were shared and doing things like ensuring the tailpipe of your vehicle is cleared of snow if you have your car running. Great advice, but some folks did not heed this advice as the multiple vehicle collisions and deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning from a clogged tailpipe suggest.
The news stations kept reporting a storm of epic proportions and it certainly had the makings of one, especially coupled with the full-moon and high tide which could have caused a lot more damage in New Jersey than it did.
In the past, some of these imminent record storms have resulted in nothing more than a heavy snowfall event and meteorologists were left with egg on their faces. (So, that’s what the eggs are for!)
Yes, the blizzard was a bad one, but it could have been worse and was expected to be worse, but in the storms aftermath, crews were out clearing the streets and making the roads passable for travelers. And reporters were saying how they missed breaking the snowfall record by one-tenth of an inch. They almost sounded disappointed as they said it, too.
Rather, they should be grateful there was not widespread power outages. And given the number of people traveling who got stranded on the highways or were in collisions because of inexperience with driving on snow and ice, they should be grateful there were not more fatalities.
And, they should be grateful that families across the eastern seaboard were enjoying french toast for breakfast on Sunday morning.

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