Salt or Sand

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only known site (that I know of) on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. Basically, this site is all about the random things floating in my head that I find interesting.

In the past several weeks, it's been freezing cold in Rock Chalk Jayhawk land. And I'm not talking about the KU men's basketball team in the second half. Hell did freeze over when K-State finally won in Manhattan. Apparently, the weather in Hell spilled over into Lawrence for some reason. All of that snow and ice and sleet is not making for a nice day.
And I'm not a fan of driving in the winter weather. I don't like scraping ice off the windshield and sitting inside a cold car, waiting for the heater to get going. Nope, I hate driving in the winter. I don't like losing traction. I like clean roads, free of ice and snow and slush. That's just me.
Which brings me closer to the point of this post.
Lately, on the news, there have been stories about how communities are running out of salt. Especially in places where winter weather can cause havoc. Places like the Northeast, the Mountain West, the Midwest.
Which makes me wonder. How can you run out of salt?
Of course, most communities preordered their salt and there's a shortage. But really, if you know that winter brings snow to your area, shouldn't you buy lots of salt earlier. You know, stock up on the salt. Like when it was cheaper or when the winter was warmer? Don't they plan ahead?
Yes, salt causes problems. It eats up the concrete and asphalt faster. It causes damage to metal surfaces and makes rust a problem. It hurts when you get hit by the salt spewing out of the salt spreader and it chaps skin like nothing else. But it gets the damn ice and snow off the road.
So use more sand...which the city of Lawrence has done with a vengeance. I've never seen so much sand spread out on the roadways of Lawrence before.
It's everywhere. Spreading like a horrible plague. Sidewalks are turning tan and beige. Streets are gritty, covered in sand. The snow is brown. Everything is brown. I think I've collected enough sand on the front yard to fill a sandbox. It's gotten into my shoes and socks and jeans. I have a fine layer of sand on the garage floor and quite possibly, into the carpets. I'd hate to think what all that sand would do on wood floors. Even worse, the sand makes driving worse. At least the salt "disappears" when the snow is melted. The sand, it's still there, covering everything in grit.
Is there anything good about the sand? Not really. I'm hard pressed to find something even remotely good about the sand.
Now that I've thought about it for a few minutes, I must admit that the sand does make for an excellent filler for all the potholes. Maybe the City of Lawrence can collect all the sand on the streets and dump them into the potholes. They'll be putting the sand to good use.


That's all for now.