OT: Ann Arbor Weather Support/Help
The weather is bad here, for those of you that aren't local. Including MLK Day last week, my kids have been to 3 days of school of the last potential 7. Tomorrow will make it 3 of 8, as the district has already called off school for tomorrow. Apparently it is going to be colder than at any point since wooly mammoth (or is it mammi?) roamed the state.
Between these kids at home constantly and the grey and cold, I am losing my mind.
I am seriously considering putting my name in the transfer portal for any school south of Tennessee...
January 29th, 2019 at 2:52 PM ^
I'm not sure if the air temperature will be a record (the 2014 winter had some days below -10) but the wind chill is going to be horrific.
The flip side is that Michigan summers are awesome, way better than the living steam baths (South) and blast furnaces (Southwest) that much of the country has to put up with.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:23 PM ^
I absolutely agree, I miss Michigan summer a great deal when I am sweating for just standing outside in the Tennessee Summer. But then I remember I can wear shorts unironically in March and I get over it pretty quickly.
Honestly when I lived in Michigan, it wasn't real winter that got to me, but still winter in April and May that got old.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:49 PM ^
The hardest part about living in Michigan was not the winter. Hey, it's winter. You expect it to be cold, and the snow is kind of pretty.
The hardest part is Spring. By then, you've had it with winter, you're ready for Spring . . . and it Just. Won't. Come.
I always thought March and early April were the worst, not January and February.
January 29th, 2019 at 9:06 PM ^
This x100. March & April in Michigan suck.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:37 PM ^
The dry heat doesn't bother me nearly as much as the humidity. 95, no humidity, and a slight breeze is significantly better than 80 and 100% humidity any time.
When I'm retired, I'm going summer in arizona and winter in Michigan.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:43 PM ^
I used to joke about house sitting opposite a snow bird to avoid housing costs.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:43 PM ^
115 degrees all summer and 10 degrees all winter.
That is a bold strategy, Cotton.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:49 PM ^
What can I say? I like winter and hate humidity. Find me a dry climate that is 77 degrees for my summers.
January 29th, 2019 at 4:00 PM ^
Seattle, although I wouldn't necessarily call it a dry climate, but when it's 77 in the summer it is awesome and almost no humidity.
January 29th, 2019 at 4:13 PM ^
Frazier is one of my favorite shows.
January 29th, 2019 at 5:49 PM ^
You just described a shopping mall.
January 29th, 2019 at 6:12 PM ^
I left the frozen north and came to Savannah because I hate the cold and snow. But after you mow your lawn a couple of times when it's 98 degrees and 90% humidity while you're in long pants and a long sleeve shirt to keep the gnats from tearing you apart, it does make one think about one's decisions.
January 29th, 2019 at 6:39 PM ^
The real blazing part of our summer here in South Carolina is only about 6 weeks long (August and a week on either side -- it's brutal). The rest of the year is wonderful. Our long sweet falls and our early, blooming springs are the bomb. I lived in the north for a lot of my life, but I'm staying in the south.
January 29th, 2019 at 2:53 PM ^
Michigan is 10-15 degrees warmer than the worst of the polar vortex regions, due to the "shadow" of Lake Michigan moderating the temps. Nonetheless, if Balas has the willies about the cold, them's the breaks. The irony, of course, is that hundreds of parents like you will respond logically by... going out into the cold to visit malls and museums and such, and I can't really blame you.
It got down to -20 in A2 when I was in high school; the schools were cancelled. There was a fire at the power station that served my house, which meant that we had no electricity for most of the day, and consequently no heat. That was fun.
I'm mostly working from home today. I'll be braving the (even worse) temps most of the day tomorrow, though.
EDIT: if you're really bored, you can teach your kids how to spend hours of each day engaging in heated internet political debates.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:06 PM ^
The Lakes are a blessing and a curse for Michigan.
As you said, It keeps things warmer during the big arctic blasts.
It also keeps things much grayer.
I remember the December 1989 cold wave. Traveling from Detroit to Denver by car for the Holidays. Spent the night in North Platte, Nebraska at a hotel. 39 below zero. Which meant another night in North Platte, because our car battery cracked from the cold.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:53 PM ^
The only thing I remember about 12/89 is leaving for the Navy. No recollection of a cold wave.
January 29th, 2019 at 4:32 PM ^
I was 9 years old and have a memory of a blizzard on Christmas night, losing electricity and heat in my house. Then riding to my grandparents, and my grandpa telling me Billy Martin died in a car accident. I guess I assumed he died in the blizzard.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:13 PM ^
If the lakes freeze over, there is less climate help. No lake effect snow and nothing to stop the wind. Don't know what the prognosis is this year.
January 29th, 2019 at 2:54 PM ^
This isn't frivolous or petty stuff--the potential temps across the Midwest are enough to incite frostbite in a matter of minutes. Keep your kids inside, no matter how crazy it may make you.
January 29th, 2019 at 2:57 PM ^
Superintendents have to consider the well-being of all students. All it takes is one school bus that gets caught in traffic during its route and you've got a dozen kids standing outside without proper clothing fully exposed to the wind and cold.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:01 PM ^
One of the problems we have in Detroit is that the kids have to walk to the stop. Most don't sit in a warm car until the bus show up.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:02 PM ^
I'm going sledding whether you like it or not!
January 29th, 2019 at 2:55 PM ^
Me going to school, back in 'the day'
January 29th, 2019 at 2:59 PM ^
Both directions, right?
January 29th, 2019 at 3:00 PM ^
damn straight!
January 29th, 2019 at 4:05 PM ^
Barefoot, after rising at dawn to milk the chickens and slop the cows. Or something like that.
January 29th, 2019 at 4:14 PM ^
I've never milked a chicken.
January 29th, 2019 at 6:08 PM ^
Have you milked a soy or an almond?
January 30th, 2019 at 7:35 AM ^
Absolutely not. Respect Holsteins. #uddersmatter
January 29th, 2019 at 2:58 PM ^
not serious: doesn't the clown uni come with long johns?
serious: enjoy it! the days when your kids are home are fleeting and precious. i have them doing chores around the house (roof rake, shoveling, barn stuff, cleaning) and they are doing school work. i have some things i have to be at work for (taking a break here....) but otherwise am looking forward to be home in front of the fire with the family reading books together. if we get really, really crazy, we might rent a net flix kids thing to play on the lap top. our version of beilein's subs.
maybe make some cookies with them, or dinner, or go shopping, or teach them leverage techniques for various D-line alignments, but whatever you do, get after it!
hopefully something in that is useful to you.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:12 PM ^
Nothing but love XM, but humor me a little bit....
Does your family actually sit in front of a fire and read books aloud to each other? This is a thing that happens with a degree of regularity?
January 29th, 2019 at 3:25 PM ^
I assume it's everyone reading their own books.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:30 PM ^
both. it is not uncommon at certain times/days to come home to various amounts of children reading and/or doing school work. in the absence of various sporting activities i expect to see that. it is also a regular occurrence that i will read to them which will happen in the afternoons/evenings. for instance, this summer we had a bunch of fun reading all the various narnia books. right now i'm reading them a book that is a bunch of short stories about crimes/mysteries. we read adventure books from the various time periods, too, those are well liked. we read some dickens over the Christmas holiday. it varies.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:40 PM ^
When my daughter was 7 or 8 (old enough to read but not up to middle school level) I read the first four or five Harry Potter novels to her in the evenings before bedtime. It's such a sweet memory. I think I did fine as a father when she was young, but if I could go back I would do more of that kind of thing.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:45 PM ^
Maybe I'm just caught in the middle right now. I have a 12 year old who will punch me if I try to read to him and a 3 year old who cannot sit still long enough for me to open the book.
January 29th, 2019 at 4:02 PM ^
those are solvable issues, but it takes time and consistency.
January 29th, 2019 at 4:42 PM ^
I have neither of those things. Ah well!! How do you balance all of that as a lawyer/FBI Agent/FDA consultant/farmer?
January 29th, 2019 at 6:17 PM ^
you actually do, its just a matter of will, priorities and discipline.
don't tell a guy who has been blessed with as many kids as we have, farm, business, yada yada, that you don't have time. that will fall on deaf ears. if its important enough you will do it, simple as that.
January 29th, 2019 at 6:41 PM ^
I don’t need a lecture my man. I was kidding around. Light hearted!
January 29th, 2019 at 8:01 PM ^
I'm with you John, I was just trying to nudge you in that direction, regardless. Hope you enjoy your snow days with your kids, maybe take them sledding.
January 29th, 2019 at 8:39 PM ^
That was “snippy” of me. My bad. The weather has a way of just making long days a little longer. I would sled but the “freeze to death” factor comes into play. Bowling may be the move. Have a good night XM.
January 29th, 2019 at 2:58 PM ^
I have one kid in private school and two in public school, so today the public school kids were home while the private school was open. Both schools have already cancelled classes tomorrow. They could've made the call on Thursday also and eliminated the suspense.
I'm curious how employers (especially mine) will handle tomorrow.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:16 PM ^
There has been chatter around my office also, but I have to say I really don't understand why.
I can see kids with snow/cold days (except when it is like the day after a big snow storm and "the back roads are bad" to which I say "have the parents who live on the back roads bring their kids to school)."
But with work, I don't really understand closing for cold weather. Cancelling to save your employees a brutal commute in ice and snow is commendable, but for cold? The office is inside, right?
January 29th, 2019 at 3:27 PM ^
Not all offices or businesses are the same though. I work in an office, but it's for a construction-based company. We will be closed tomorrow and Thursday because the heavy machinery will not work properly in that cold of weather. And since all of our production is closed, then there's no reason for anyone else to come in unless they want to and/or have something urgent to do.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:30 PM ^
Good point. I stand corrected.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:00 PM ^
If you're interested in braving the elements you should try hit up the local trampoline park. Took my kid to the one in my area for the first time and it was a blast! She also was completely exhausted afterwards so it was early to bed! Money well spent!
January 29th, 2019 at 3:03 PM ^
Is there such a thing as too cold to fly? Im flying out to someplace warm tomorrow morning. Hopefully theres no such thing as too cold to fly.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:05 PM ^
icing on wings is a big, big problem. if there's only cold though, and no precip, you're probably okay. i guess we'll know if you post on thursday. good luck.
January 29th, 2019 at 3:06 PM ^
Hopefully you don't have to fly out of Chicago. If you do, you may be out of luck.