Saturday, January 17, 2009

You wouldn't think...

That 18 F would be warm.  I got up this morning and let the dog outside- it felt almost tropical.  I checked and it was 18!  Wow! It just shows how acclimated we have become to cold temps.  Of course, that is 42 degrees warmer than it was yesterday.  I try to imagine going from 40 to 80 in a day and that kind of blows my mind.  But the warmer temps are quite welcome.  Maybe now we can actually dig out the van.  We've been using the car all week and the van hasn't made it out of the drive and is under many inches of snow.  I believe it's supposed to get to near freezing today.  That would be over 50 degrees warmer than yesterday morning.  We need to dig out the van because we heard from Bud's Custom Meats that we can pick up our beef on Monday.  While we could probably fit it all in the back of the car, the van will be much easier to load and unload.  I'm glad we will get it Monday. I was really hoping we could pick it up this weekend.  I have Monday off as a holiday and I'm looking forward to having the day to inventory and organize the freezer.
With all the cold temps and school cancellations, I feel sorry for our district superintendent.  While most people are quite supportive of his decision to call off school when it was dangerously cold, there are a few vocal individuals who are complaining.  One guy actually said something to the effect of bureaucrats in suits denying our children an education, talking about deadbeat parents not dressing their children appropriately, etc.  Of course, he finally mentioned that he drives his daughter to school at City High every day.  My daughter WALKS over a mile to City every day and the boys walk 6.5 blocks.  I, for one, applaud the decision to not have kids walking or waiting for the bus in temps that cold.  If even one child was saved from being injured due to waiting in these temps it was worth it.  Not every parentis able to drive their child, or afford coats warm enough for these kind of temps (if any are any warm enough when it's 24 degrees below zero!)  It's not like they won't have to make up the days.  Oh well, I guess some people aren't happy no matter what call is made.  I'm just glad that the complainers are in the minority. 

5 comments:

  1. I'm with you on the school cancellation thing! You just can't have a little grade schooler waiting 20 minutes at a bus stop in that weather. They aren't always wise enough to bundle themselves up, and those little Walmart coats that folks buy them, because they're growing too fast pay for expensive coats, just don't do the trick. Better safe than sorry.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Some people are just completely unable to realize that others exist in this world besides themselves. I am grateful my officials called off school too.

    I was thinking the same about the increase in temps. Can you imagine such a quick jump in the summertime?!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well, since it was -24 at the least, then frostbite would set in under five minutes right? It's a 20 minute walk for me, if I'm going slow on a morning (and the colder it is, the slower I am). And with mid-term stress, a few days off because of weather was welcome to many of the people I know.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's all relative, isn't it? Wow. 42* jump is really something, and when you put it as "40 to 80" it becomes even more mindboggling. Hope your digging out goes well. It is hard when it seems that you just get a breather and then the cold/snow starts all over again.
    Grrr on the vocal opponents in the school situation. I think that the worst thing from the superintendent's view is that no matter what he/she does, it is against one group's view. Keep the schools open, some parents complain about irresponsibility and subjecting the children to danger to be in school. Close, and you get the denying education opportunities camp. No win. It seems that your superintendent has a good head on the shoulders and can resist the pressure, and close the schools. You are right, if even one child was saved, it is worth it. I can't imagine what it would be if a child was walking to get to school because it had stayed open and been hurt.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I heard that there was a big controversy about this and I would point out a couple of things
    We live 1.9 miles from the school and therefor don't qualify for riding the school bus. There are many children in our neighborhood in the same circumstances. Many of those kids have parents who have to be at work long before school starts and they walk to and from school every day.

    1) No amount of bundling would protect a child who has to walk almost 2 miles to get to school.

    2)What you are really denying parents is their free daycare. We have a friend who grumped about the decision loudly because HE doesn't have enough sense to have a backup plan for his 5 year old on the days there is no school. The kids will make up the days at the end of the year. No one is denying them an education. What it is doing is inconveniencing parents who don't have enough sense to think ahead.

    ReplyDelete

Glad you stopped in. I would love to hear from you.