Oh, yes, it is.  Otoh, I don't know how the attendance would be marked in
that instance.  IOW - it may technically be an "illegal" absence - as would
be marked if on a family vacation while school's in session, for example.
Otoh... so what?  If the forecast is a virtual for-sure deal & it'll be too
lousy/dangerous to be out on the roads, it makes more sense to keep the
child at home, IMO.

There was one day in the mid-90's when we had school, even though there was
a winter storm warning posted  for the rest of the day, & the roads were
*horrendous*.  It was snowing at the rate of a few inches/hour, & even with
no wind, it was a white-out  - you couldn't tell where the side of the road
was, one could barely read those huge green signs before exits - even when
_right_ next to them, etc.  It was a guessing game, as to just keeping on
the road. I kept asking myself why on earth I was risking an accident just
to go into work for one day...  It's normally a 15 minute or less drive to
school.  I don't remember how long it took me to get to work that morning,
but it took me an hour+ to get home that afternoon - *after* digging the car
out of the parking lot.  When I got home that afternoon, the snow in my
driveway was considerably above my knees - about 26" deep.

Cathy

The purpose of the pitched polycarbonate roof is that the shelter entrance
can be faced away from the wind in any direction while allowing the sun to
warm the shelter.  A wind barrier can also be placed a foot in front of the
entrance.

                                   |====|

something like this    \_________/

You know those thick plastic strips that hang in open doorways of warehouses
to keep the heat in while trucks are loaded and unloaded?  I'm wondering
about attaching small ones to shelters -- one strip every few days so the
cats used to going through them a little at a time.  Cat flaps are generally
a no-no for feral shelters, but I think attaching the strips one at time
every few days might work.

I also bought a case of "Space Blankets" (thin mylar) that reflect 80% of
body heat and cover the space blankets with straw.

They're on the way

If you

I'll check it out.

I had swtiched to Regatta 2's (Goodyear) last winter when my old tires were
shot, & liked them a lot. The dealer had recommended them for both water &
snow traction, & another customer next to me at the counter said he had them
& liked them.  Bought a new car (Toyota - only my 4th one in a row!) this
past spring, & found that the tires it came with didn't corner as well as
the Regattas, & were also definitely worse in snow.  So, with only 5K miles
on them, ditched them & got a set of Regatta 2's again.  Mighty boring way
to spend $, but am glad I did.

I wonder why the high-end cars come w/ rear-wheel drive??  (Heh - there's a
pun in there!)

Cathy

Yep; brrrrr.... and it is cold out!  But this snow is so light (in
weight/water content), unless the winds themselves manage to do it, I doubt
if power lines will come down.

For people w/ a well, it's also a problem, re: water.  No electricity = no
water pump = no water.

Cathy

"Jean B." <jbxyz@rcn.com> wrote :

It is really good to have fireplaces and gas stoves for that
reason. When the ice storms came here a few years ago in
the dead of winter and shut down electricity for several days
we let the faucets dribble and hung out in the rooms that have
fireplaces. The gas stove allowed us to cook, while most of
our neighbors had electric. Just being able to make COFFEE
was so nice.

Here in the White mountains of New Hampshire we only got two inches of
snow.  We need more snow for the snowmobile trails,  The ski areas can
make snow so they don't have a problem.  We haven't had more than 3
inches at a time since December 20th.  This means the plowing expense is
low but the poor people that make a living by plowing aren't doing well
at all.

                 ---MIKE---

The automatic generators are a lot more expensive than the manual ones.
I don't want my generator to come on whenever there is a power failure
anyway.  I have a battery/inverter  backup system for lights and ceiling
fans etc. plus a gas heater for emergencies.  I do need the generator to
run a septic pump which normally goes for 24 seconds three or four times
a day but it uses too much current for the battery/inverter setup.  Of
course, if there was an extended power outage I would need the generator
for the furnace and water pump.  I also have a gas stove.

                 ---MIKE---

There've been two times that power was out for a significant length
of time for me. I never want to go through that again. I don't know
how people lived before electricity. lol I got the generator for
that reason, and also because I have severe power problems at my
house that the power company refuses to acknowledge. Power surges
and dips that scare me, though they aren't as bad this winter as
they were last summer. I've had an electrician in and had my own
home wiring checked and the problem isn't inside. The power company
told both me and my neighbor who has the same problem, that the
only way they will address the problem is if (when!) the power goes
completely out. My home is all electric, no gas at all in this
block of homes. The last power co. tech that was out here guessed
that one of the deck posts was laid on top of a power cable and
they want to tear down the deck. Fine, but not on a guess. My
brother built the deck when he owned this house and he *did* put a
footing close to where the power comes into the house, but he never
had a problem in the 8 years he lived here after building the deck.  
Of course it's possible that a line was nicked, and time and water
have finally taken its toll, but that wouldn't cause my neighbors
to have the same problem. I had Miss Utility mark the lines and it
doesn't "daisy chain" from my house to theirs.