Snow day!

[angus]

It seems that all three of us got the day off.  How about you?  Did your school or workplace remain closed?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Our roads were cleared Saturday by noon. 

[This account no longer in use.]

The snowstorm missed Massachusetts for once.

[Crumpets]

No. It's a balmy 46 and sunny in Seattle today.

[Asian Nazi]

No. It's a balmy 46 and sunny in Seattle today.

I think it's been four years since I last had a real snow day.

[Classic Conservative]

The snowstorm missed Massachusetts for once.

[Hatman 🍁]

"Snow days" are rare here, as the whole city doesn't shut down when there is a couple inches of snow

Seriously though, 2 feet of snow would cause some delays, but not a state of emergency here.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

School is closed, thank goodness, as I don't know how I'd even get there. Tomorrow may be just as bad for me.

[angus]

Tomorrow may be just as bad for me.

My wife has just learned that she is also off tomorrow.  Maybe you'll get lucky tomorrow as well.

My son and I walked to the nearest shopping center this morning.  Parking lots have some excellent little sledding mountains piled up around the edge.  We cruised down several of them, mostly head first.

I took a drive today for the first time since Friday.  Hard to see around corners at intersections because of the pile-up, but otherwise the streets are clear enough to drive on.  I didn't drive into the city of Lancaster, but from what I could see in the northern suburbs parking lots have been cleared at the business centers.  Probably only 2/3 of the normal number of spots are available because of the big piles of snow.  Slushy and messy, though.  Wear boots if you get out.

[DINGO Joe]

Don't really get snow days in New Orleans, though if there is a forecast of even a snowflake people panic.  We do, however, occasionally get evacuated for hurricanes, sometimes for a month or two.  Snow days sound like more fun.

[angus]

We put 100 ml of snow in a graduated cylinder and took it inside and let it melt.  The water occupies a volume now of 25 ml.  That's rather on the low end.  Granted, the collection was made more than 24 hours after the snow stopped falling, and after some sun had been shining on the drifts, but we tried to scrape off the top crunchy layer and drill down with a spade to get a single deep column.  Going with this, we can see that 24 inches of snow gives us as much liquid as 6 inches of rain.  That's a great deal of precipitation.  All this came on the heels of an erstwhile very mild winter.  December 23, 24, 25, and 26 of 2015 yielded record-high temperature.  Christmas day was 70 degrees Fahrenheit.  This is the global climate change your mother warned you about.

[Illiniwek]

Chicago sure handles snow a lot better than the east coast...

[President of the great nation of 🏳️‍⚧️]

Well, living in The South, I kind of had to miss the day. Today was already a teacher workday, but they cancelled school today, too.

[angus]

Just learned that tomorrow the boy has a two-hour delay.  I wouldn't mind sleeping till 9 instead of 7, so no complaints.  I'm glad they're going.  Snow days are fun in January and February, but come June they start to get ugly.  One year, I think it was the year before last, they had school till June 15.  They had to make up for something like 8 snow days.  One benefit was that we got all these Fathers Day goodies.  Normally the little children make all sorts of Mothers Day things, because that's in May, but that's the only time I can remember him coming home with Fathers Day ornaments.  There was a white chocolate skeleton, a black construction-paper top hat, and a nifty little wood and metal robot, along with hand-made cards and poems. 

[angus]

Don't know if we'll get a snow day Tuesday or Wednesday, but we're expecting some snow, starting late tonight:

[Simfan34]

Wow. WV getting a second pounding,

[angus]

Overnight we only had 3/4 of an inch or so.  My son's bus arrived at its usual time and I'm at work.  It's heavy, wet snow and falling at a good clip.  If this keeps up all day, I will not be surprised if the public schools have a delayed start tomorrow, or even a cancellation.  I normally like snow days myself, but a Tuesday or Wednesday cancellation really causes havoc for me this semester, so I hope we don't.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

No, and neither did my cousins who are still in regular school.

[DINGO Joe]

Nope, but it is Mardi Gras, so no work (or school for those who might attend such) for three days.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Nope, but it is Mardi Gras, so no work (or school for those who might attend such) for three days.

Yeah, my daughter is off today only though.....at least they close on Fat  Tuesday.

[angus]

Just learned that we close at 2:30 today, so afternoon lab is cancelled.  Actually I'm glad because I also learned that my son is getting off school at 1:10PM, so I'll be able to pick him up.

[muon2]

Just learned that we close at 2:30 today, so afternoon lab is cancelled.  Actually I'm glad because I also learned that my son is getting off school at 1:10PM, so I'll be able to pick him up.

I always found introductory lab cancellations particularly difficult to recover from. There were always multiple sections throughout the week, and equipment has to be set up on Friday for the next week. If one day was cancelled, there would be three or four sections that could never make up the lab.

Advanced labs were easier to work around. I could adjust what exercises to do going forward and make sure the core exercises remained on the schedule.

[angus]

Just learned that we close at 2:30 today, so afternoon lab is cancelled.  Actually I'm glad because I also learned that my son is getting off school at 1:10PM, so I'll be able to pick him up.

I always found introductory lab cancellations particularly difficult to recover from. There were always multiple sections throughout the week, and equipment has to be set up on Friday for the next week. If one day was cancelled, there would be three or four sections that could never make up the lab.

Advanced labs were easier to work around. I could adjust what exercises to do going forward and make sure the core exercises remained on the schedule.

Yes, I love snow days, but when it cancels lab it can be a scheduling nightmare.  Freshman-level labs are the toughest.  This semester I'm teaching quantum mechanics, and it's populated with juniors and seniors, all of whom I know from previous classes.  They don't need much babysitting.  It does cause some scheduling difficulties.  The lecture splits into three labs:  tuesday morning, Tuesday afternoon, and Wednesday afternoon.  Their first lab report (analysis of experimental Raman and IR spectra as well as some Spartan calculations) is due today.  I emailed the Tuesday afternoon section and said that they can bring those in tomorrow at lecture.  It'll take four of weeks to get the three sections back on the same track, but I can do it because I have a rotating schedule and have scheduled a bye week for each pair (in anticipation of a possible snow day).  I'll remove the bye week for the Tuesday afternoon schedule and four weeks from today everything will be back to normal.  I'll explain all this in lecture tomorrow at 11, assuming that we meet. 

I arrived at my son's school at 12:55 and walked into the office and did an early dismissal form.  The receptionist asked, "you don't want to wait 15 more minutes?" and I looked at the long line of cars queuing up and said no.  "I don't blame you," she replied.  At 1:00 my son made his way to the office and I stood up and said, "let's hurry!  I have two umbrellas, one for you and one for me.  If we go now we can beat the rush."  Then he exclaimed, "Ah, wait, I forgot my hat!" and the old man sitting next to me waiting for his granddaughter asked with a grin, "Are you surprised?"  I said, "Okay, hurry and get the hat.  Run!"  He threw his backpack on the chair next to me and started to dash off down the hall when the receptionist shouted, "No, don't run.  We don't allow running in the halls."  At about 1:05 he returned to the front office, panting, "Um, actually, my hat is in my backpack."  The old man sitting next to me again asked with a grin, "Are you surprised?"  We dashed out to the car and drove out of the parking lot in the nick of time.  (He attends an intermediate school with about 500 fifth graders and about 500 sixth graders.  It's new and nice and has lots of good stuff like gifted, instrumental music, and all sorts of sport opportunities, but it is in exurbia and has one skinny two-lane drive to get in and out.  It's a long traffic jam every morning and afternoon, which inspires my desire to get there early and spirit him away.)

We're now filling out valentine's day cards--the party is tomorrow, apparently.  After that there will be homework, and then a bit more on the bridge of Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" which he's struggling with right now.  His piano teacher has decided it's time for more challenging material, and I must admit that he's progressed to a point where he plays far better than I.  All I can do is just tell him to do what his teacher told him.  If he can do all that without giving me any grief and in a timely fashion, then we'll go out with the snowboard, toboggan, and snowball makers.  Well, he'll go out with those things and come back wet.  I'll head out with an 18-inch wide shovel and come back with sore arms and an aching back.

[DINGO Joe]

Nope, but it is Mardi Gras, so no work (or school for those who might attend such) for three days.

Yeah, my daughter is off today only though.....at least they close on Fat  Tuesday.

Well, that comes with the territory.  Imagine it one of the tougher times of the year to work in the restaurant biz, though hopefully lucrative. 

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Nope, but it is Mardi Gras, so no work (or school for those who might attend such) for three days.

Yeah, my daughter is off today only though.....at least they close on Fat  Tuesday.

Well, that comes with the territory.  Imagine it one of the tougher times of the year to work in the restaurant biz, though hopefully lucrative. 

Yes, it's a crazy time, even for a high end place like she works......but I'm sure she's enjoying the nice day.