More about Snow, Among Other Things

And here we go again ... another five days of Arctic air mass and minus twenty something temperatures. Ah well, it can't be more stressful than our drive home from Fort Erie (opposite Buffalo, New York, American friends) through Toronto to our home just south of Ottawa. Slush. Very srong crosswinds. Blowing snow. Sloppy salt spray. Tentative drivers creeping along. A massive blockage on the four lane throughway (401) that we tried to avoid by taking a secondary road where the slush, creepers and spray were aggravated by uncertainty as to when and where we ought to rejoin the freeway. I HATE winter driving, I really do. Even when my intrepid husband is doing it.
On top of it all, the so-called smart sensors in the car went nuts and kept howling at us when there was no reason to do so. Ice build-up, probably. And the owner of the car (me, alas) has no idea how to kill the system.
Enough about winter already. My BIL is in Cuba on holiday, lucky for him. That is why we were on the road, to check in on my mother-in-law in his absence. She'll be 97 if she makes her birthday.
We stay in a hotel when we visit, just to give ourselves a peaceful bolthole. But the hotel where we like to stay was full of hockey players, aged 7  to 14, since the hotel is next to the town arena where a hockey tournament was in progress. Peaceful it was not. While many of the team coaches and parents hasd made provision to amuse the kids when they were not playing, some did not. One set of parents set up a party room -across the hall from our room, alas- booted their kids out into the halls and ignored their behaviour, which was atrocious. After enduring screaming, thumps on our door, and assorted nastiness, around 11:00 pm I went out into the hall, did my best hall monitor act on the brats and stormed down to the desk where I, among other civilians, threatened to call the police. Then I happened upon a couple of tournament organizers who, when they told me THEIR kids were not the problem, were treated to my very best ice cold tantrum mode.
I am almost ashamed to admit that I enjoyed evey minute of doing this, especially freezing the kids with a gorgon stare.
Although it is not really their fault, poor things. I blame it on the  careless, selfish parents   who would rather party (and shout in the halls themselves, the louts) than care for their kids.
My BIL is forbidden to take any more vacations on hockey tournament weekends.
(Just kidding, BIL! I know we didn't have to make the trip.)