School's Out (for slush)!
In recognition of lengthy postings so far I'm going to try to keep it a bit shorter today.
Hit snooze too many times this morning but woke up to stunning sunrise over a crispy snow covered garden. Ground temperatures dropped suddenly last night and the roads were a sheet of ice. The radio news was filled with reports of vehicles in ditches, minor collisions, general mayhem and a steadily growing list of school closures. OK the road / driving conditions *were* pretty tricky but why are we so unprepared for cold, icy and snowy weather in the UK.
I remember talking to decadentdavedecadentdave about Winnipeg winters and the several feet of snow and temperatures hitting minus 40 and him saying how life went on just as normal but with more clothes. Here we have a well forecast cold snap with one night of hard freeze and 3 to 4 inches of snow on top and the schools close, the road accident rate soars and chaos ensues.
The school closures are probably the most frustrating bit as the snow had mostly thawed off by mid morning but with half of the teachers living 30 miles away and unable / unwilling to travel in the early morning chaos, Jared's school was shut for the day. Fortunately for us Annie now works from home but with a school population of about 70 there must be at least half of the kids where both parents work full or at least part time - so maybe 3 dozen families (and employers) having the days schedule turned on it's head in the community of a small primary school.
On a wider county scale - who knows how many families and businesses disrupted. Financial result to the local area £?
Whatever happened to employing teachers from the local area?
Hit snooze too many times this morning but woke up to stunning sunrise over a crispy snow covered garden. Ground temperatures dropped suddenly last night and the roads were a sheet of ice. The radio news was filled with reports of vehicles in ditches, minor collisions, general mayhem and a steadily growing list of school closures. OK the road / driving conditions *were* pretty tricky but why are we so unprepared for cold, icy and snowy weather in the UK.
I remember talking to decadentdavedecadentdave about Winnipeg winters and the several feet of snow and temperatures hitting minus 40 and him saying how life went on just as normal but with more clothes. Here we have a well forecast cold snap with one night of hard freeze and 3 to 4 inches of snow on top and the schools close, the road accident rate soars and chaos ensues.
The school closures are probably the most frustrating bit as the snow had mostly thawed off by mid morning but with half of the teachers living 30 miles away and unable / unwilling to travel in the early morning chaos, Jared's school was shut for the day. Fortunately for us Annie now works from home but with a school population of about 70 there must be at least half of the kids where both parents work full or at least part time - so maybe 3 dozen families (and employers) having the days schedule turned on it's head in the community of a small primary school.
On a wider county scale - who knows how many families and businesses disrupted. Financial result to the local area £?
Whatever happened to employing teachers from the local area?