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Holy crap, people.
It's freaking cold. I'm not just complaining...I mean it's life-threateningly-cold out there. There was no school today pretty much anywhere around here because of the extreme temperatures. We have probably a foot of snow blowing around at my house (which isn't anything compared to just south of here where the snowfall totals for the past three days are something like 67 inches...no lie!). It's so cold that water mains are breaking underground...our water-pressure sucks right now because there was a big break just up the street, and there are a few towns that have entirely no water at all.
We aren't getting snow here anymore (that was mostly Saturday and Sunday), but it is really scary-cold. I'm really glad the schools were closed because with wind chills of 25 to 35 below zero, it was too cold for Kiba to be outside for very long, let alone Charlotte. The furnace seems to be running almost non-stop (good thing I just had it serviced on Friday). The wind has been howling around the house for days now. I've just been listening to my lovely Okami music and working on things for the event in Kalamazoo this weekend, and staying the heck inside.
Speaking of Kalamazoo, has anyone seen this? The Kalamazoo Promise. Basically, if you attend a public school in Kalamazoo from kindergarten through 12th grade, your entire college tuition will be paid for at the state or community college of your choice. It works on a sliding scale but even just attending grades 8 through 12 will get 65% of your college tuition paid for. I think that's an awesome idea and it's really working for Kalamazoo...construction & new-house sales have skyrocketed, property values are up, employment & business is booming. It's what I've always thought: education is the cornerstone of any good community. Kalamazoo was a depressed area a few years ago and had nothing to offer...but they came up with this really forward-thinking plan and now the entire region is benefitting. Their major & biggest commodity is your kids' futures, and really, what could be more valuable? Who wants to live in a place where your children can't get a decent education? That's Buffalo's major downfall; it's why everyone is vacating the city and moving out here to the burbs.
Anyway, it'd be so cool if this program could catch on across the country. I think it's about the ONLY chance our country has, if it wants to remain a world power. We're all so woefully undereducated and it's really starting to show. :-/ Just look at our inarticulate president, for crying out loud. It's pretty obvious that intelligence is out of style. *jaded*
In the meantime I'm just sitting here...freezing. And wouldn't you know, it's the bitterest cold-snap we've had here in years and where is my warm snuggly husband? Up in Toronto. *sigh* He'll be home Tuesday night, barring any further catastrophic unforseen weather events. *missing the Greg*
It's freaking cold. I'm not just complaining...I mean it's life-threateningly-cold out there. There was no school today pretty much anywhere around here because of the extreme temperatures. We have probably a foot of snow blowing around at my house (which isn't anything compared to just south of here where the snowfall totals for the past three days are something like 67 inches...no lie!). It's so cold that water mains are breaking underground...our water-pressure sucks right now because there was a big break just up the street, and there are a few towns that have entirely no water at all.
We aren't getting snow here anymore (that was mostly Saturday and Sunday), but it is really scary-cold. I'm really glad the schools were closed because with wind chills of 25 to 35 below zero, it was too cold for Kiba to be outside for very long, let alone Charlotte. The furnace seems to be running almost non-stop (good thing I just had it serviced on Friday). The wind has been howling around the house for days now. I've just been listening to my lovely Okami music and working on things for the event in Kalamazoo this weekend, and staying the heck inside.
Speaking of Kalamazoo, has anyone seen this? The Kalamazoo Promise. Basically, if you attend a public school in Kalamazoo from kindergarten through 12th grade, your entire college tuition will be paid for at the state or community college of your choice. It works on a sliding scale but even just attending grades 8 through 12 will get 65% of your college tuition paid for. I think that's an awesome idea and it's really working for Kalamazoo...construction & new-house sales have skyrocketed, property values are up, employment & business is booming. It's what I've always thought: education is the cornerstone of any good community. Kalamazoo was a depressed area a few years ago and had nothing to offer...but they came up with this really forward-thinking plan and now the entire region is benefitting. Their major & biggest commodity is your kids' futures, and really, what could be more valuable? Who wants to live in a place where your children can't get a decent education? That's Buffalo's major downfall; it's why everyone is vacating the city and moving out here to the burbs.
Anyway, it'd be so cool if this program could catch on across the country. I think it's about the ONLY chance our country has, if it wants to remain a world power. We're all so woefully undereducated and it's really starting to show. :-/ Just look at our inarticulate president, for crying out loud. It's pretty obvious that intelligence is out of style. *jaded*
In the meantime I'm just sitting here...freezing. And wouldn't you know, it's the bitterest cold-snap we've had here in years and where is my warm snuggly husband? Up in Toronto. *sigh* He'll be home Tuesday night, barring any further catastrophic unforseen weather events. *missing the Greg*
