Fran and Janet

[Nancy]

easy child had yet another snow day today! She called it a rain day today since it didn't snow. Monday and Tuesday they had no school all day. Wednesday and Thursday they had a two hour delay even though the streets were clear.

Now I understand that you don't have plows or salt down there but is the weather really that bad? It's predicted to snow next week so that will mean more snow days.

She will have no spring break and probably have to go an additional week at the end to get her graduation requirements in. If she had stayed in Ohio she wouldn't have missed any days.

On a brighter note, today while everyone had the day off supposedly because of bad weather, she drove to Greensboro and found a Target and Kohl's and was happy.

Nancy

 

[everywoman]

Nancy, the weather has been colder and wetter than usual and most districts err on the side of caution. Often, not all days have to be made up---the gov will call a state disaster---and the days can be forgiven---but sometimes...well, in 2000 when easy child graduated, graduation was delayed by 10 days because of hurricanes and an ice storm. We are not equipped here to handle any ice at all---no scrapers, no salt spreaders---and lots and lots of bridges over water...

 

[Fran]

Nancy, the melting snow last weekend, melted and refroze every day. It was treacherous on the secondary roads. I guess about 5 yrs ago, they had a bad freeze where people/kids were stuck in their vehicle/school buses for hours and hours. Now they error on the side of caution I guess.
I have a 4 WD which helped to get up the driveway but someone with a regular car got seriously stuck in the driveway on Monday. This is 2 days after the snow. We threw sand, hot water and shoveled to help her get her car up. Delivery trucks will not come down the drive. The mailman has chains and was the only vehicle on our street on Saturday.
Today it's raining so much that it's washing the snow away. It's been coming down in buckets since before I woke up this morning. If the temp drops it would not be pretty.

Cool about finding some stores. I found a Nordstrom's that isn't too bad of a drive. I even found a Maggiano's. I doubt I'll every find shopping as convenient as Plano.
Poor easy child. I'm sure having her spring break taken is not fun.

 

[TerryJ2]

Okay, I know you didn't ask me but ...
difficult child missed two days of school this week. If they didn't open on Wed I was ready to drop him off in an empty parking lot!
It snowed again this afternoon just as school let out. Cold. WET. Slushy. Icky.
Can't make a snowman. Don't know whether to wear a raincoat or parka.
Ick.
I love snow. Pretty snow. This is not pretty.
Luckily, our tutor picked up difficult child today and they sat at the kitchen table for 2 hrs. Yahoo!!!!

Even easy child's school, in the mountains, was closed today. They got a lot of snow. She was happy to stay in her dorm and work on her art projects.

Sometimes, I wish I lived in MN again, just so people would get up and GO like normal people. Grr.

 

[Nancy]

I guess that easy child is use to driving in messy weather so for her the driving was fine all week. Every day she was out and about driving all over and had no problem. Like a worried Mom I cautioned her about driving yesterday if the weather was too bad for school. She said "Mom it's RAINING!" She said she drove through a lot of the neighborhoods that the kids come from and the streets were clear. Only one day was icy and it was in the early morning hours, the rest of the day was just slush.

Do businesses close down there too? Are workers still expected to make it into work/downtown or do they get snow days?

Nancy

 

[Fran]

I know last Saturday most businesses were closed.
I didn't appreciate black ice until we lived in Dallas. It sneaks up on you. You think it is just wet pavement and then you spin out.
Anyhow, it would seem we should be able to get around, yet, compared to Minnesota and Wisconsin they probably think Pittsburgh and Cleveland should be able to get around better.
It's all relative I guess.
As I move around the country, I try to appreciate that I may not understand what the regional issues may be. I just try to listen to the experts suggestions until I know better.

 

[Nancy]

Around here the parents get very upset when the schools close for weather. The schools understand this so they push it as far as they can the other way. Many of the kids live in single family homes or homes where both parents work and when school closes they have to either call off work or find someone to care for their kids.

Maybe we should go back to the olden days where we all had neighborhood schools and walked to school. Then we wouldn't have to worry about buses or getting stuck or black ice. husband and I drove downtown to work in the blizzard of 1977. We had to get out of the car several times and push it up a hill. husband was in law school and they didn't close and of course businesses never closed. Plows didn't plow the streets and buses still ran to get the people to work. I kinda miss those days. I see the kids' attitudes now about work and they dont have the same work ethic. I wonder if we have created that.

Nancy

 

[Fran]

Nancy, I know what you mean. I was a nurse. There is no such thing as a snow day. I had quite a few white knuckle rides as I went in to work at 11PM.
Leaving a stuck car, and walking to work then shoveling it out after you completed the day.
I wonder myself about our kids working through obstacles. Does everything have to be easy in order for them to complete their work?

Now that easy child is out there, I know he is a worker bee. He loves going to work so who knows. I don't see him shoveling snow or painting his own house like my dad did but husband doesn't do it either even though he works tons of hours.

I never counted on or expected my parents to help in any way. I didn't want to raise the boys to feel they couldn't ask for help. It's easy to see how it could become a problem for kids not to be self sufficient.

I guess every generation has to think the younger generation is less work driven than themselves. I worry the same thing but it's their problem now that they are older.

 

[DammitJanet]

Ok...I didnt have the chance to jump on here till now...lol.

Years ago it was much snowier in the mid Atlantic... much like it is getting hit this year. We had snow days but I dont remember my Dad taking off many days from work. Of course, I dont remember him ever taking off days from work! He even worked on Christmas Eve!

Now that I have lived in both NC and SC for the past 26 and a half years, we have not had many bad snow conditions but when it happens they do take it more seriously than most people might think necessary. Schools close early just for the prediction. Businesses do close. But we do have back roads that get bad. We dont have the plows and salt needed that other areas do. Just this year I heard that we got that brine mix that can be put down ahead of a storm! It was put down on our interstate.

However, we are experts at handling a hurricane over here on the East Coast. While we may not do snow and ice well, stand back and watch us work when a hurricane comes through. We do wonders!

 

[Nancy]

Lol Janet about the hurricane expertise. I guess every region has their own climate expertise. And I'll bet you do know how to clean up fast from one.

Nancy