The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
-Psalm 19:1

Do you know that God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash?
-Job 37:15



Monday, January 28, 2008

Dewvoid strikes again...

Well, Alabama Mike asked the question "Does the Dewvoid apply to Winter Advisories?" Of course it does! No snow for the Dew! I did have an icy windshield upon departure though... does that count? Friday night, though, you know, the snowy forecast day, offered a yucky rainy, slightly sleet-y precipitation event. It was dreary and cold, and it was dark, so snow wouldn't have been photographable anyway... but nothing happened. Some of the folks at the retreat heard about flurries in surrounding areas, but not in my neck of the woods. Oh well, that's the way the Dewvoid goes. Regardless of the weather though, I had a wonderful time at my scrapbooking retreat. It was great to get together with all my peachy friends and scrapbook... have a massage... be pampered... I had a terrific time!

Now, onto this morning... let me just set the stage for this one. I wake up to freezing temps outside. My thermometer reading an extremely cold 28 degrees, and the ground was covered in a thick frost, painting a wonderful looking winter wonderland setting, but it was doggone cold! Even the ant hills were covered in frost. Well, as you know, yesterday, Mini-Dew and I went to see "Annie", which is currently touring and made a stop nearby. Well, for a souvenir, she got a t-shirt, that she was able to get autographed by much of the cast, which meant she wanted to wear that to school today. Since the weather was forecast to warm up considerably, I didn't worry too much about it, and USUALLY, she doesn't sit out at her bus stop too long, so I wasn't worried too much about the cold. Of course, this morning had to be the exception... We walked outside the same time that we always do to await the arrival of her bus, which normally comes moments after the middle/high school bus... well, that bus came and went, and there was no sign of her school bus. I waited and waited and waited... 15 minutes passed, still no bus, so I called the bus barn (that's what we call it down here), to find out what happened to the bus, and why it was so far off schedule. Apparently, the substitute bus driver backed into a tree. What?! So, they had to get a new bus out there, but it would be there soon, and the school was aware that the children would be delayed. Apparently, I was too tired or something to react properly to that comment because I loaded my child on the bus that finally arrived about 25 minutes late. Well, the more I thought about the situation, the more it concerned me, so I called the bus barn back and asked some questions... According to the receptionist, before picking up any kids, while the driver was turning around since he had missed his road in the dark because he was having trouble seeing, he hit the tree backing up. Since he hit the tree, they had to bring him a new bus... so the bus was 25 minutes late. Apparently, their policy is that they don't drug test the drivers unless there are kids on board!!! WHAT?! If it happens before the kids are on board, it's ok?! Let's load them up anyway?! Are they kidding me?! Needless to say, I am talking to the board of education now, lodging a formal complaint. Good grief! On top of all that, my child was out there in a short sleeve shirt under her winter coat (a south Georgia winter coat, which is not the same as a real "winter coat") for an extra 25 minutes, in the freezing cold, to then board the bus with a driver who drove into a TREE earlier that morning... Do I get mother of the year award or what?!

On the plus side, I received an autographed photograph of Jim Cantore, my favorite on-air meteorologist/storm tracker for TWC. What? He’s cool. Special thanks to my friend Teresa for all her hard work to make that happen. I really appreciate it, and it was nice, for a change to open a FedEx package that didn’t just contain more work for me to do.

Peggy brought my attention to the 4-5 day outlook published by the SPC... well, she said the 7 day on Friday, but I am just now checking email. Thanks, Peg! Looks like some action coming up to the west... on Thursday (of course, I can't do anything on Thursdays). If it does last well into Friday, I might be able to talk bf into a chase. smile.

I'd better get cracking.

Toodles,
~Dewdrop

11 comments:

  1. umm I was on a bus filled with children that hit a tree and we all turned out fine. I dont think that you should lodge a formal complaint accidents happen that's why they are called accidents. unless you have reason to suspect he may have been on drugs. Besides that can you imagine driving a bus? I know when I first got the mini van it sucked to back up with I can't imagine trying to back up a bus. Just my opinion

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  2. Well, if he isn't using drugs, he has nothing to worry about.

    My complaint is the policy. They would have run a drug test if children were on board, but since it was before the first stop he can be high as a kite.

    I am used to a policy that doesn't even involve kids that if an employee driving is involved in any accident, a drug test is performed, just to rule that out.

    I agree accidents happen, and I hate it for him and can't imagine driving a bus around, so I don't, but if he's clean (and I sure hope he is since he is carting mine and other children around), he really shouldn't be bothered by a drug test. I just want the policy changed. I wasn't lodging a complaint against the driver, just the policy. I probably didn't make that very clear.

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  3. Hi Dew...Nice autograph there...

    I like Cantore...he is one of best, if not the best they still have.

    Check this out...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6Nrcsu2Rk8&feature=related

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  4. Thanks! I was pleased to receive that today. Cantore is very good at what he does... and my, how interesting that he did a story about the phased array radar technology. Irony.

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  5. freeze those ants!

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  6. Crazy morning!! Glad Annie was good. We call it the bus barn too, lol. Sorry about the driver... not sure what I would do about it.

    It was great to get to know you better this weekend, hope to see you again soon!

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  7. You have drank the WC kool aid...Tsk tsk. You gonna bring the picture on our next chase?? LOL ;-P

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  8. Annie was incredible. The talent was just out of this world, such powerful voices some of those little child actors. I just can't imagine the lifestyle. They came to South Georgia out of Tampa, did their performance here, changed, signed autographs and loaded onto a bus to head to Tallahassee for a performance on Monday there. It's no wonder the child playing Annie is sick. As for the bus driver situation, I voiced my concern. I will leave it at that for now. I enjoyed our time together, Nicole, and I look forward to doing it again. You are a ton of fun!!!

    Rick, I will have to protect it from weather damage though. We can't have anything happen to it. ;O)

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  9. Katie and I got matching Annie shirts when we went, but they didn't do any atuographs at our location that I noticed. Maybe we left too soon. It was very late like 11:00 when we got out of there.

    As for the bus incident, my bus driver frequently slid into 6 foot ditches on wet slippery clay roads and backed over curbs and trees and all kinds of stuff and no one ever gave it a second thought. I wonder if that really was ONLY coffee the bus driver was drinking every morning. Just kidding--he was also a deacon of my church and his wife was my Sunday School teacher and we still exchange Christmas cards every year. I don't think the school systems are big on drug testing unless a child is injured because it is expensive and they don't pay enough as it is, so people would probably quit if they had to go through that extra bit of annoyance when no one was harmed. It would make them late for their second and third jobs they have to have to feed their children because of the lousy school pay (speaking from a school employee's point of view). I can also understand your point of view though--it's only natural for parents to be concerned for policies relating to their child's safety.

    Hey, one of the first dates I had with Scott I parked at his friend's house and when it was time to go I backed into a tree in BROAD day light--it was small tree and I didn't see it because it was perfectly in my blindspot. How embarrassing...oh well he married me anyhow!

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  10. They announced beforehand that they would be doing autographs afterward, but they immediately loaded on the buses afterward. I cannot imagine that lifestyle.

    I have mixed feelings about the bus thing. I haven't ever driven into a tree (knock on wood - no pun intended, but that is pretty funny), so it's hard to have the perspective that it's ok, but I appreciate everyone's input and insight.

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Dew comment, please...