Tropical Storm Gay

the title speaks for itself, guys. it really, really does.

i've never once in my life been known as a 'go-getter' or anything, but i think i've reached that point in my life now where if my occupational headquarters (i.e. school) calls and says 'hey guy, why don't you take the day off today?' my initial response is no longer a 'booya' or, perhaps, a 'cowabunga,' but, instead, a much lamer 'really? are you sure?'

yes, readers, i've gotten that lame.

on tuesday, as ol' fay began pounding southern florida with rain and wind, the higher-ups at the district level decided that our entire county would take the day off of school. at that point in time, i guess, tuesday was to be the day that we central floridians would be getting hit the hardest by fay. and so, on tuesday, my second day with students this year, i didn't have to go to work.

now, i'm a big fan of sitting on my ass and not doing anything (believe it or not), and that's pretty much what happened: i sat around the homestead and did some lesson planning, changed a few urine-soaked diapers, and spent some quality time with the wii. alas, the day off of work didn't feel justified, and was therefore not thoroughly enjoyed, because there was no Goddamn storm. the weather outside was nothing more than the occasional terrifying fury of sprinkles and slight breeze. nothing near to what had been initially predicted. it was just crappy enough outside to prevent us from doing anything entertaining. to make matters worse, i knew i'd be making this day-long prison sentence up by sacrificing one of my thanksgiving vacation days later on in the year.

not so cool.

i'm also a big fan of the 'better safe than sorry' rationale, folks, but come on: nobody realized at some point in time that this storm was nowhere near us on tuesday? seriously? don't they have satellites and other such space tools out there that give people (i.e. meteorologists, other scientists) the appropriate information needed to make such calls as 'on tuesday, we're all pretty much f***ed.'?

apparently they don't.

the next day, on wednesday, we did get hit. my school was without power for two hours in the morning, and i had to consequently keep a room full of bored teenagers content in a dark, sweaty classroom without air conditioning or fans. i couldn't teach and we couldn't go outside because of the wind and rain. horrible, horrible business.

the following day, on thursday, i had to drive through absolute hell to get to work.... that is, if hell was a place where instead of having one's flesh burnt off in fiery pits, one was instead just constantly drenched with rain. on several occasions during my commute, i was nearly killed by morons who don't know how to drive in more than a drizzle. this is somehow not surprising in florida - i'm a firm believer in the theory that all of the world's worst drivers have been relocated here.

...and, might i add, on neither of these two days - neither wednesday nor thursday - was the call made to cancel school. "well crap, fellas - we already took tuesday off, didn't we? the kids need to go to school... and, more importantly, we don't wanna look bad here."

thanks a lot, guys.

- brian