Blizzard 2010

Courtesy http://cjferrara.blogspot.com

Well.... it snowed. For real this time. As I write this, I'm at work on a day that everyone else has a snow day. How did it come to this?

Well, last Friday, the rumors started. When I say "rumors," I mean news reports. They started reporting that a huge snow storm was heading for the east coast; worst of the decade; horrible snowy mess; Run for the hills, the flakes is comin'! Many people I knew started planning ahead. "Don't come in to work tomorrow, there's gonna be snow." I cleared the driveway to make plowing easier, and brought the shovels inside; nothing worse than a icy snow shovel handle.

Turns out, Pennsylvania got it, Washington got it, we on Long Island got nothing. To call what we got a dusting would be an insult to dustings everywhere. Turns out the snow storm went south of us, and missed us completely. Again.... You can't predict the weather, and never trust the news. (For more of my thoughts on this topic: http://cjferrara.blogspot.com/2009/03/i-hate-news-winter-weather-advisory.html) So, I started getting smug and thought of relaying the previous blog post and gloat about it for a bit.

Then we got another winter storm warning. This time on a Tuesday, which would mean the storm would take us out of school. The rumor reports read: "Possible 2 feet of snow," "Blizzards to start tonight, then continue all day Wednesday," "Run for the hills the flakes is comin'!" Most school districts closed school Tuesday evening in anticipation. My Facebook Status read: "Wouldn't it be hysterical if it doesn't snow?"

For the record, this time they were r-r-r... They were r-r-r... they were RIGHT! It did snow all day Wednesday, and well into Thursday Morning. Many people lost power; trees were felled onto the highway; icy conditions made commuting dangerous.

However, we got maybe a foot. What we got was what is commonly known on this planet as... snow. There was an hour or so in the middle of the day where wind picked up to powerful levels, but other than that, anyone going outside would have simply said, "It's cold," or "It's still snowing," not "Run for the hills the flakes is comin'!"

For safety's sake, many districts had a 2 hour delay this morning to clear the roads. It's 11:30 now, and most of the road snow has started to melt. Some districts were very nice to their students, whom they love, by granting them another full snow day. (Sigh...) Me? I work for Amityville. Every surrounding district: Copaigue, Massapequa, Farmingdale; are all closed today, but we not only had to go in, but we had to go in ON TIME. No Delay. The commute was hell, I had to dig myself out of my driveway for an hour this morning, which meant I woke up at 5am. And to cap it off... I'm averaging about 40% student attendance. Most of the parents gave their kids a snow day on their own.

So, here I am. Part of me is thankful for my Potsdam training, and is proud that I got up and made a go of it today. But most of me is mad for missing out on the snow day. The few students who DID attend school today aren't doing much, and are out of control because they are under the impression that the rules have gone out the window. My opinion is that we should adjust our schedules, lives, and work days not according to news reports, but rather on actual weather. So, when actual weather calls... what happened?

I hope my daughters had fun today in the snow. I wish I was with them.