Time once more for

• Answer the phone to hear all the meeting cancellations pour in. 
• Stare at the wall of white visible out of the windows.
• Call the MIL to tell her I’d be over tomorrow when the worst is past to clean her sidewalk.
• Try to explain to Molly the dog that pacing the house growling won’t make the wind outside stop howling.
• Be thankful that the total snowfall isn’t measured in feet rather than inches.
  

For the curious, here is the warning from the NWS that came out late in the afternoon for this area:

Issued by The National Weather Service
Denver/Boulder, CO
6:07 pm MDT, Thu., Oct. 29, 2009

… BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM MDT FRIDAY…

A BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM MDT FRIDAY.

PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG NORTH WINDS GUSTING TO AROUND 45 MPH WILL PRODUCE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 12 INCHES ARE EXPECTED. THE COMBINATION OF HEAVY SNOWFALL AND STRONG WINDS WILL MAKE TRAVEL DIFFICULT IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE. SEVERE DRIFTING WILL CAUSE ROAD CLOSURES IN THE AREA.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE OCCURRING OR IMMINENT. SUSTAINED WIND AND/OR FREQUENT WIND GUSTS OF 35 MPH OR HIGHER WILL COMBINE WITH CONSIDERABLE FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW TO PRODUCE WIDESPREAD VISIBILITIES BELOW ONE QUARTER OF A MILE. TRAVEL WILL BE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND IS DISCOURAGED IN THESE WHITEOUT CONDITIONS. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL… HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET STRANDED… STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE AND WAIT FOR HELP TO ARRIVE.

It’s time once more for

• Dermatologist
• Appointment
• Rash
• Hole
• Run

Today was my normal cleaning and checkup at the dentist. As the hygienist was cleaning my teeth, she said she wasn’t sure if Doc would get a chance to look at my teeth before he had to be off to his appointment. (Leaving me wondering what appointment? I usually have a pretty good idea of who is meeting with whom about what, but I had no clue.) Doc hurried in and told her to hold off on the polishing so he can do my exam before he has to go.


Doc is an old acquaintance, so he explains that he is rushed since he has an appointment with the dermatologist. He adds that since he likes his patients to be on time, he wants to be on time for his appointment. Fair enough. So after giving the OK on my teeth, we visit for a few moments and then he looks at his watch and says “Gotta run, I’ve got an appointment with the dermatologist about the rash and hole in the skin on my ankle. Gotta run.”


I’m still wondering if that wasn’t TMI? I’m also wondering if he remembered to take his mask and gloves off before he walked into the dermatologists office?

It’s time once more for

Last night I attended a candidate forum for the city council races. I probably should not have done so since I heard at least one candidate tell a lie, another expose their ignorance of science and facts, and yet another state projected actions in direct violation of the city charter. It was hard to sit still and not stand up and play the anti-stupid card. Thus I bring you:

• Candidates may expose their lack of knowledge in painful ways.

• There is a strong temptation to stand up and ask the candidates to stop telling lies.

• There is a desire to insist they actually attend a council meeting and/or read the public engineering reports before making really stupid statements.

• The idiot in the audience unable to comprehend any answer in any form. He/she will still waste the time of the entire audience by asking the exact same question 40 times before being escorted from the room by their nurse.

• Realizing that some candidates you thought might be capable lack even a basic understanding of the form of government spelled out by the city charter.

It’s time once more for

This evening I was the guest lecturer at a class on public speaking – in prison. It was part of a college curriculum for selected inmates under a program developed and funded by a now deceased local benefactor who believed strongly in the power of education to change the course of the convicts future life. I started with a 45 minute explanation of the current water situation with a Q&A session as an example of a typical speech. Then I talked about how I had gone from being absolutely scared of public speaking in my teens to the current state of being able to talk to any group any time without qualm. All in all a lively class with bright and inquisitive students. And like any class room experience, the teacher often learns a lot as well. Thus I bring you

• The rabbits are going wild. I must have seen 20 rabbits running across the exercise yard on the way to the education annex. In the snow and rain and freezing temperatures no less.

• Never forget to tell the invisible guard you are clear of the door he has remotely unlocked for you. He might threaten to leave you there permanently.

• Students are really avid for these classes. When the cell block gets the call for the education program, the student-inmates literally run to make sure they miss no part of the class.

• Walking back across the exercise yard after dark during the last exercise period makes one feel very alone – even though a stream of higher security inmates and their guards are scattered around the area.

• The questions and concerns of the inmates differ little from the community as a whole, especially on the water issue.

It’s time once more for

This evening was the Colorado Municipal League (CML) District 1 meeting, hosted by the city up the road. I am the current president, so I was obligated to brave the wind and attend. Since I am also term limited out of office as mayor in November, it also means I will no longer be a CML member and so needed to find my replacement as president and hold the election *NOW*. I couldn’t get even with the mayor of the city up the road who railroaded me into this office (as described here) because he is also term limited out this year. Sam Mamet, the executive director of the CML attended and gave Jack (the mayor of the town up the road) and I a very heartfelt and lauditory send-off. That was really nice of Sam. He even stopped crowing about the Rockies clinching a berth in the play-offs today. But that didn’t stop Sam from waving his Rocky rally towel all night. In honor of the send-off and my final CML meeting, tonight I give you:

• Gosh, it’s been *that* long!
  
• Boy, I wish I  my term was already over. Our elections are in April and I can’t wait!
  
• Did you find any candidates to run for your office?
• Are you going to miss it?
• Were you serious that 3 of the 7 on your council are term limited off this November and a 4th is running to retain her seat? And if the election goes the way you think, it will happen again in 2 years? How do you get any stability? Why haven’t the voters removed the term limits?