Snow Day or Sick Day? You Choose

Sigh -- Should've Seen This Coming

Why oh why would I post that I seemed to be getting better? (DW) Oh don't get me wrong, I am feeling better. And I have soldiered on all week making all my classes Monday-Thursday. But Friday?

First it was the snow. Two days ago the story was that the winter storm warnings would last until 7am Friday. Then last night it was til noon Friday. Again -- not so much with the snow, perhaps 8-10". But the weather was coming with the temps right around freezing, so icy, slushy conditions? I figured I'd give people a heads up, so I posted this on my class web pages:


This morning? Kalamazoo, which along with Battle Creek was getting the snow last night, was pulled from the winter storm. But now everybody else was going to 5pm, not noon.

Mrs. Dr. Phil originally going to drive to Lansing today, but they punted that to a conference call from 10-noon, so she was going to work from home today. As I sat and ate my cereal, I really didn't feel like having to tackle sliding roads both ways. As the traffic reports kept building, I contemplated the poor sleep I'd had and the dull stuffed concrete headache.

And I decided at 7:20am that I didn't have to go in today.


I spent an hour updating web pages, sending an email to the department chair, etc. And then, after I returned to my cereal and discovering that Oat Squares can get soggy from an hour's immersion in boysenberry yogurt, I fed the cat, shot him full of insulin and took another round of Sudafed PE and Robitussin DM for myself, then settled back into the recliner under a pile of blankets.

Proof I Was Sick

Around 11:30 or so, I roused myself because I realized that whenever I've cancelled before, I've copied the secretaries and followed up with a phone call. Good thing I called. The chair wasn't in. Hopefully the students were told class was cancelled -- the noon group might even have gotten their handouts.

And then, of course, there's proof of the heroic hyped nonsense of the weather crews. Okay, roads were bad this morning. And it was nearly whiteout conditions when I cracked open an eye around 10am. But here in Allendale, we really didn't get more, even unto 5pm. Hell, at 4pm the sun came out.


The massive snowfall of February 24th by 4:41pm EST. (Click on photo for larger.)

So the pseudo-snow day really was the final straw that motivated a very rare Dr. Phil sick day -- and one that was apparently really needed.

Dr. Phil

YES

Or NO

By gum we got ourselves a bonafied local election issue. The irony is that everyone thinks the election on Tuesday is "just" the Michigan Republican Presidential Primary. So the YES For Allendale and the NO forces are taking to the mailboxes and phones to get the word out.

At issue is a zoning argument. An "outside" developer wants to put up a high rise apartment building into the GVSU off-campus housing mix. Now I could do research, but given the flood of mailings, etc, why look up facts? It involves a five or three-story high complex. In an area not zoned for high density housing. A transitional zone. It'll tower over Allendale. It won't be more sprawl. It averages occupancy density with a nearby neighborhood. Or a field. It will create jobs. It will pump money into the community. It will hurt existing local apartment complexes. It will create cheaper housing. It will hurt an already less than 100% apartment and dorm occupancy rate. The zoning issue was voted on several times by the township authorities. The fix is in. It endangers good Allendale family band Christian values.

Clear about this?

Mrs. Dr. Phil has commented that the valid arguments for each side don't match the agenda items being promulgated. My comment is that we're just not the target audiences for either campaign -- we tend to read the actual ballot issue instead.

But it has been a while since there's been a big local issue on the ballot. Even when it might be forgotten in the midst of a bigger national primary. Can't figure out which way Allendale will go on this -- we'll see.

Dr. Phil