Early Morning Phone Calls

The pencil, penny, spoon and jammies thing worked!

We got about 15" overnight. I live right at the district line and the district just to my north made the decision to close early. Our district and the rest of the districts in southern Oswego County went to a two hour delay. I had to take 1/2 a sick day so I could go to the dentist. Then at the end of the delay we and many of the other districts closed. So I'm not sure if I used 1/2 a sick day or not. With 25 banked I won't miss it, even if I have to use it.

So how does the decision to delay get made? The transportation supervisors, head drivers and superintendents all set their alarm clocks for very early. Everybody checks the radar and forecasts. The transportation supervisor drives the roads and talks to the town highway departments. The transportation supervisors call each other and the superintendents call each other to see what the nearby districts are doing. The supervisor and superintendent talk back and forth. The head driver calls drivers around the district to get a complete picture of what's happening all over; it can be clear at the garage but terrible here. (Ours is very kind and did not call me until after 5:00, she probably got there about 4:00!) Today the decision was made to delay to give the highway crews time to do their jobs and to give employees time to dig out. It never did clear up and the crews just could not keep up so in the end, after many more phone calls and reports on road conditions, the superintendent made the decision to close.

Nobody likes a delay, except maybe the kids. For the drivers it messes up our down time, like my appointment, others have another job they go to. The teachers schedules will be messed up all day, each class being shortened. For working parents it is a nightmare, trying to make last minute babysitting arrangements or having to go into work late.

So why not just close to begin with? This is Snowville after-all and there are at least 3 1/2 more months of bad weather and only 5 snowdays to work with. One gone already.

The trip to the dentist went well but 5 hours later I'm still numb. The road conditions were bad part of the way but there were very few cars on the road. John spent over an hour clearing the driveway and got the roof raking done while I was gone :)

Thanks Sissy, for worrying about me!