I've been relatively silent on the storm for the past 36 hours or so, though I now have a bit of an update for you folks, I suppose.
Winter Storm Nika -- whose winter storm warning ended an hour ago -- dropped close to a foot, if not a full foot of snow here on me in Newton. And, as of right now (1:22 AM) it is still snowing. Hard.
I didn't sleep well last night; I tried, though. I went to bed relatively early (around 2 or so) and slept off and on for about four hours. I woke up -- from a nightmare, no less -- with particularly bad heartburn and an inability to return to sleep. It didn't matter, after all, since I didn't have to worry about going in to teach yesterday. Even if the university hadn't closed, I wouldn't have been able to get out after mid-morning or so (but I'll get to that).
When I got up with my heartburn, it was about 6AM, roughly. In the overnight hours, when the snow was supposed to start, it hadn't done much; there was little more than a dusting to a half-inch on the ground and streets here at my house. It had apparently been snowing off and on, lightly, through most of the night. The neighbor across the street from me always leaves for work at 5AM, and when he does, he takes his car that he parks on the street. The spot where his car sat was bare, and over the course of two more hours or so, it slowly covered up. The snow was taking its time, spitting in five-to-ten minute squalls which became easier to see, of course, once it gradually got a bit lighter outside. But it wasn't doing a whole lot at all. More "snow showers" than anything else. I began to wonder, around 7AM or so, if the university and all of the schools/businesses/colleges/everything else had closed down for the day prematurely.
By 8AM -- the time I'd normally leave the house to teach on Tuesday mornings -- it was light enough to see everything, and it was coming down steadily, yes, but not heavily. Nice, fluffy flakes, but they were pretty, but not dangerous. I could've gotten out with no issue and gone to class if they hadn't closed down the university -- I've braved worse snows to go to Walmart before. There was maybe an inch on the ground and roads at this point, judging from tire tracks from people coming and going in the neighborhood for work -- not the three inches the weather people were saying we were supposed to get by that time. I could still see grass, house roofs, etc. What I'm saying is that it wasn't major at that point.
By two hours later it had become a white nightmare. Around 9, the snow became moderately heavy. By 10, it became whiteout conditions. By 11 and 12, the news channels were reporting that the area was getting 1.5 inches per hour. Based on what I saw here, that was pretty accurate. While I could've gone to teach my morning class were the university open, I would've had real trouble getting home.
By this time, I had talked to Daisy for a while after she'd gotten off work, and there was probably 4-5 inches on the ground here, easily. Mind you, though, I was really tired and wasn't feeling well -- my heartburn was still kicking up reflux, I hadn't slept well at all, and my allergies, because of the snow and the low-pressure system that had swept in, were going nuts. Daisy told me about her night at work before we both got offline so we could eat and go to bed (as she hadn't been to bed yet, and I wanted to go back to sleep).
Around this time, my friends and colleagues began taking over/under bets on snowfall totals and when/if the university would close down for a second day. I found this somewhat amusing, but didn't really pay much attention to it myself. Based on the snow that was falling -- and very steadily getting worse and much heavier -- I knew that even if the university stayed open on Wednesday (today) that I'd more than likely cancel my night class anyhow due to the fact that, y'know, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get out of my driveway regardless. I could shovel all I wanted to, but even with that, it was quite possible that I'd not get much farther than a few streets over through my unplowed residential neighborhood without getting stuck. So, with that in mind and knowing that I wouldn't have to leave the house until at least another 30 or so hours anyway at the earliest, I went downstairs, turned on the electric blanket, and went back to sleep for about seven hours.
A number of things happened when I was asleep, most of which I wouldn't find out about until after I got back up.
The first was that about an hour or two into my nap, I heard my neighbor on the farm next door plow out most of the street and all of our driveways with his tractor. It briefly woke me until I realized that's what the noise was, and then I immediately fell back asleep.
The second was that when I did wake up, it was night -- like, 9PM -- and when I looked out the bedroom window, I could see that it was still snowing...and there was a lot more on the ground than there was before I went to bed. I went to bed around 2. At that time there were maybe six or seven inches on the ground, which is how I knew that there would be little chance of me getting out for my 210 night class anyhow. Now, in the dark of night, it was still coming down pretty good and there looked to be at least ten inches, if not more.
When I got upstairs to the living room to get a better look at it, my average guesses were confirmed -- there was at least ten inches on the ground, easily. I could see the tracks and path where the tractor had plowed out the driveways, including mine, but barely, since about five more inches had fallen since he'd plowed. Trees were weighted down with heavy, thick snow, and judging from the height of my mailboxes, which come up to my chest when I'm standing on the street, there looked to be about a foot of snow, roughly. This is, of course, an estimate -- I haven't gone out in the night to measure it, and I could be off by an inch or two, give or take, but a foot total is pretty close. Preeeeeetty close. More than that, it was still snowing, and was still coming down pretty hardcore when I started this post several hours later (though I haven't checked in the meantime).
The second thing that I found out was that, yes, the university had closed down again for a second day, roughly at around the time they closed before (4:55 PM). This really didn't surprise me in the least...not after looking outside, anyway. This meant that I didn't have to leave the house at all until Thursday morning at the earliest -- I have my 102 class on Thursday morning -- so I emailed my 210 students the lesson plans and readings, and told them to just bring in their papers next week when we met and we'd pick up where we left off. The 210 class suffers the least from university closures because most of the assignments are either right out of the book or right off my handouts, and the ones at the beginning of the semester are short and mostly easy.
This still leaves the problem of getting out to go teach on Thursday morning, however. I am pretty sure the university isn't going to close down three days in a row -- the storm wasn't that big. None of this stuff, however, is going to melt. At all. The temperatures aren't going to reach above freezing for the next week almost, and we're currently under a wind chill advisory that says it'll feel like -15 to -20 outside for most of the day today. Unless all of the roads I travel on get treated really well today, it's going to be rough to get to campus on Thursday morning regardless. Again, it'll be hard to get out of my neighborhood, even, let alone to the interstate and to the west campus on the back roads I have to take to get there. The problem involved here is that I can't avoid it -- if the university is open, I must teach my class on Thursday morning. On Tuesday, they're having their "library day" where they go to the main campus instead of the west campus and look up articles for their first papers, and I have to be able to go over what that will entail, as well as what the papers themselves will entail. I've already had to cram the week's lessons into Thursday's class, so without that class we'd fall way behind -- possibly as far behind as my 011 class was falling before I messed around with the lesson plan in there. I do have some leeway with the 102 students, but not enough to just up and miss an entire week's worth of classes before their first paper is due, regardless of weather and/or road conditions.
It is now 2:25 AM, and while it still appears to be snowing lightly, it has mostly stopped.
This brings up an interesting issue with my payroll stuff as well. As you know, I hadn't heard anything on Monday. With the university now being closed yesterday and today, that pushes things even further back than before. Mind you, the payroll office still had all of my information for a full week before these closures this week, so I'm sort of wondering what I should do, or can do, if anything. Because of this setback, and because I've been waiting for so long with no word, no news, and (most importantly) no money, Daisy is going to wire transfer me some cash on Friday, again, once she gets paid, so that I can write out the checks for my electric and water bills and get them in the mail over the weekend. Not much else can be done -- the bills are still due when the bills are due. With the university closed, it's not like I can call or email anyone with questions or updates on what's going on, either. This snowstorm has snarled everything, and has turned a shitty situation into a shittier one. Again, I hate to have to ask for help from anyone, much less Daisy, but this entire situation is out of my control until everyone comes back to campus and shit gets rectified.
"Worst-case scenario," I told her, "is that if I have to, and can get it soon enough, I can get the paper check and cash it at Walmart, paying the $4 check cashing fee or whatever. I can pay at least my water bill, if not the electric bill as well, at Dillon's in person with that money if it's too close to the due dates for them to get that check in my bank account and mail the payments. If I can pay one or the other with that money, I can pay the other already from my bank account. I just don't have enough in there right now to cover both at once. But the problem, the thing that's out of my control, is getting that paycheck in the first place. I can't do anything until that's in my hands."
At the earliest, and I mean earliest, I could pick up the check on Thursday afternoon after my class. But that would entail them having already made it and readying it for pickup, by Monday, without them sending any confirmation info to me or to the department. Rae told me that I can get them to cut me a check on the spot if necessary, as she had to do that once when she switched bank accounts. I don't know if they can do that, however, when the request has already been put into their system for a different "advance" check. Judging from the fact that I've heard nothing about any of the payroll stuff, I'm guessing it's not ready to go and it's not there waiting for me -- especially not now that the university has been shut down for two days in a row. This is the message the university has posted on the front page of their website, with obvious identifying information redacted by yours truly:
[University] closed for a second day
Because of continuing inclement weather, [University] campuses will be closed again Wednesday, Feb. 5. All classes and activities are canceled.
Blowing snow is hindering ground crews' ability to keep roads, parking lots and sidewalks clear, and cold temperatures will make travel and walking treacherous. Students, faculty and staff are urged to remain at home and limit travel if possible. Continue to check [website] for further updates.
That's generally more info than they tend to give out when the campus closes. It also makes me wonder if they're already planning to close down a third day on Thursday as well. While I don't necessarily think they'd need to, with how nasty it is out there I can't say it would totally surprise me if they did. However, there's a lot of winter left to go, and with that comes the possibility that we'll get even worse storms than this one between now and the end of this month. They'll probably save all the days they can in the case that worse storms roll through in the next several weeks. I'll again remind you that it snowed all the way up to finals week last spring -- the last day of classes last May it was like, 25 degrees and snowing.
Anyway. I'm getting off track.
"I'll just do the wire transfer on Friday," Daisy said, "and then you won't have to worry about those bills, you can pay them and mail them like you always do and if you get a paper check at some point soon, you can just send it to your mom to have her deposit it for you."
"Okay," I said, sighing. She knows how much it pains me to need help from anyone. "Thank you."
"Of course, baby."
The overall point of the discussion was that I have a few plans of action -- cashing the check and paying one, if not both, of those two bills in person at the grocery store being one of them, but all of those plans become moot unless I can actually get said paycheck soon. That is the one glaring problem in this whole scenario that I have absolutely no control of. And it's looking more and more like it'll be at least next Tuesday before I get that check in any form. That's almost another week, and it will mark two weeks from the day the department requested it -- so, an entire pay cycle, just up in proverbial smoke.
While I should be paid normally, direct-deposit right into my account on Valentine's Day (the next payday) because I watched the administrator enter my information into the system myself, that's still a week and a half away, and regardless of what I do with my first check, even if it's paper, that "second," normal one all has to go to rent and other bills in an attempt to help get myself back into the black. I'll see nothing of it; it'll be gone almost as soon as it clears my bank account.
On Thursday morning I will see if there's anyone I should contact about the situation, especially as I expect the university to reopen then. Obviously, there won't be anyone there to answer my questions before then. It'll also be the only chance I have to get ahold of anybody before next week to see just exactly what's going on. I have no other choice, really -- it seems to be one of those situations where if I don't keep continually prodding people and asking questions, nothing will get done. All of this just to get paid the money I'm owed, the money that I'm supposed to get paid for being an employee, faculty, even, at a state university. Yes, I fully realize how absurd this is, and realize I shouldn't have to be doing any of this proverbial teeth-pulling at all, but apparently I do.
"Cancel," Daisy told me when I told her that if the university is open on Thursday, I must make it to campus one way or another to teach my students. "Stay home. Enjoy your time."
"Can't," I said. "If they're open, I have to make it there."
With some classes, there's only so much I can do outside of the classroom. 102 is one of those classes where in-class discussion and lecture is key. So is 011. 210, on the other hand, really isn't. I could teach 210 almost entirely online and have it be nearly the same class I teach now in-person.
Anyway, it's late. The temperature has dropped into the single digits and the wind is blowing strongly, creating snowdrifts outside. I'm going to go back to bed, since I have fuck all to do for the next 36 hours or so other than sleep and find out whether the university will close down for a third day in a row.
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