Tales from Tuesday

1. Not excited by inauguration hoopla. Not impressed by stagecraft and showmanship. Waiting for action.


2. Local public schools closed because of the snow. University is open. Local newspaper's web site was filled with vitriol in the comments section of the school closings page because the superintendant did not announce yesterday (Monday) that the schools would be closed today (Tuesday). I took this photo this morning, but the status of the snow had been roughly like this since yesterday afternoon. Those of you from NY's Capital District (especially those of you who grew up there when I did) may understand when I responded to this absurd closing of the schools with the derisive comment, "Ichabod Crane School is closed." (For those who are perplexed, google ichabod crane snow day and pick through the results for comments by disgruntled capital region schoolchildren or check this link and look near the bottom.)


3. Student emailed me at quarter to 8 this morning that she couldn't make it to calculus class at 8:10am because there was ice in her driveway. Ichabod Crane School is closed. Have you heard of salt? Did you know that they make a tool called a "snow shovel" that has a sharp edge for breaking up the inches of ice that form on driveways in a real snow storm?


4. Officially signed the contract and accepted my summer job. I'll be back at MIT again this summer! And now with my promotion, they'll start paying me in April and keep paying me until September. I need to deal with all the adminstrative stuff relating to contract work now, as I'm now making enough real money to justify doing the paperwork right. And I now have enough responsibility that it's worth buying professional liability insurance.


5. If I don't stop writing now and hit publish soon, I'm going to be late for computer science class!