What are you doing today?

[MaloK]

@MaloK That brings back NOT fond memories of past snowfalls and snowy winters.

This is a few years ago, in front of the house. I'm 6"3:

Was that in March 2008 ?

 

[GaryE]

I think so. That was the worst snow year in that house.

 

[jaylach]

I think so. That was the worst snow year in that house.

I think the worst winter I ever went through was when I was a high school junior in Ohio. For the entire months of January and February, with a bit thrown in on both ends, the high temperatures never reached zero degrees F. It was so bad that my high school changed their 'dress code'. Before this girls were required to wear skirts or dresses. Due to the number of girls arriving at school with minor frost bite on their legs the dress code was abolished in this aspect.

 

[GaryE]

We lost power last night, for the first time in winter here. It lasted 7 hours, at temperatures well below zero (-14) with a ferocious wind. I went out to the fishroom at 2:30 AM when the lights came on (gotta restart the ancient AquaClears) to check.

Not bad.

The design held, as it had only lost 2 degrees celsius in that time. The tanks were still at their pre blackout temps. Plus only one aquaclear hadn't restarted on its own. So now as the coffee brews and the sun is rising, it's all good out there.

Insulated rooms are good things.

 

[gwand]

You are a good boy scout. Always be prepared.

 

[Oldspartan]

Was that in March 2008 ?

Boy I remember that storm. We had just returned from Yuma where we had spent 6 or 7 weeks. We came back specifically for a 25th anniversary party of a local ski club. Mind you we did not ski, but we were lodge lizards at many of the club's trips, (good high school friends always invited us).

We were at Stowe Vermont where we all rented a bank of condo units and the blizzard warnings started very early in the week. On Friday night many of us made a decision to stay anyway cause it looked like fun. Saturday morning the snow began but I decided there was a need for more liquor because the lodge announced they would be closed. Drove to Richmond, (I think), bought bottles of refreshment and daydreamed about the great poker game to be had that night.

By the time I got to the mountain the road, windy and steep, had about 4 inches of snow. I was behind a Jeep Cherokee when around the corner came a Jeep Wrangler going to fast. The Wrangler lost it, drove the Cherokee into a bank and hit my 1975 fully restored International Scout on the driver side. That spun me into the Cherokee that was bouncing off the rocks. It slammed me in the passenger side. The Scout looked like an X.

Had to use a tire iron to bens metal so the wheels would move then limped to the Condo. Ton of pain in my left rib cage. Had enough liquid refreshment to dull the pain and play poker into the night.

Sunday AM got up. The snow drifts were above the condo door and windows. Stowe people had us free by 1 PM and offered a free night. Some stayed but I was in agony and drove our broken Scout home. At home ... three plus feet of snow. Had to walk in to the house. Spent Monday clearing snow then Tuesday at the ER where they discovered cracked ribs. Pain for weeks.

Have I mentioned ... I dislike winter.

 

[gwand]

I vividly recall the chilling experience of that storm. Our heating oil company neglected to make a delivery, and within the first hour of the storm, we ran out of oil. The heavy snowfall trapped us in our house from Friday until Tuesday, leaving us without heat and causing the temperature to plummet to 45°F. Our home sits atop a hill, accessed by a long driveway that rarely gets plowed. To make matters worse, our cul-de-sac wasn't plowed either, preventing me from getting my own driveway cleared for a heating oil truck. We huddled in our bedroom, relying on a space heater to raise the temperature to a meager 50°F. Unsurprisingly, we switched heating oil companies after that ordeal.

 

[Oldspartan]

It was a storm to rival any.

 

[gwand]

 

[Essjay]

It was so bad that my high school changed their 'dress code'. Before this girls were required to wear skirts or dresses.

In the UK the winter of 1963-64 was very cold. I was 10 that winter and our school allowed girls to arrive at school wearing trousers under their skirts, but the trousers had to be taken off once we were in school. This was a very old building with a toilet block separate from the main building so we still had frozen legs when visiting there.

 

[anewbie]

We are under a flash flood warning. I live on a hill so all the water rolls down past me

 

[gwand]

In the UK the winter of 1963-64 was very cold. I was 10 that winter and our school allowed girls to arrive at school wearing trousers under their skirts, but the trousers had to be taken off once we were in school. This was a very old building with a toilet block separate from the main building so we still had frozen legs when visiting there.

You should see how the kids dress in US schools today. Ridiculous. I’m all for going back to dresses, ties, sport coats and slacks. And no cell phones in the classroom.

 

[GaryE]

Ah, battles with dress codes. As a teacher I hated that.

Wearing a dress with a tie, a sportscoat and slacks would be uncomfortable. I think ties are dead, like fedoras, and sports coats are hard to find these days. The last time I went to a funeral, men who weren't undertakers weren't even wearing ties.

I'd love to see the return of the sportscoat, because the number of pockets was very useful. But in a school, it would really slow down drug searches. The private religious schools with their uniforms had trouble with that.

I remember the feeling of freedom when I was 13, and our school allowed blue jeans and hair that touched our collars. We were a very stylish bunch that September.

 

[Essjay]

In the UK, schools tend to be Primary for 5 to 11 and Secondary for 11 to 16. There are a few places which have Middle overlapping the other two. After 16 there are colleges which do not have a uniform.

Almost all Secondary schools have uniforms, some of which require logos on clothing so are very expensive. Parents complain, why can't they buy plain white shirts from a supermarket but no, they must have a logo. My daughter in law spent hundreds last summer on new uniform for Delta Academy for her daughter from her first marriage.
Many Primary schools also have uniforms, though when my children were in Primary it was just white shirt, grey trousers and a pullover of whatever colour.

 

[gwand]

In inner city Baltimore, charter, religious, private or public schools with dress codes have less violence, less dropouts and more graduates going on to college.