A few thoughts: The snowbound edition

South+WinterWeather=BAD

I get it and I totally understand the fact that Southerners and those of us who transplanted here many moons ago do not do well in bad winter weather. In fact I sympathize with the South because we get trounced as unprepared and unsophisticated because we have a difficult time dealing with and cleaning up bad snow weather. Citizens and visitors alike have to understand that we are just not prepared to handle what is basically a once a decade thing. If we were, we would have a bunch of equipment that sits around and gets outdated before it gets hardly any use. I am probably in the minority but I feel the state and the counties did about a good a job as they could have considering the circumstances. DeKalb reportedly has less than ten salt and sand spreaders and only two snow removal devices. Other counties in the metro are in the same boat. This is one time where I am not going to rail so hard on the county or the state for not being prepared. After all, if the county purchased more snow equipment we all would be howling how much the county squanders our tax dollars. Though I was surprised that by Thursday, there was still ice on some parts of the freeways, I was not complaining like so many around me. I guess I have come to resign myself to the fact that when we have atrocious winter weather this is the response we can expect. And we are not out of the woods yet.

I Love MARTA, but…

Why oh why did MARTA have limited bus service on Wednesday and today. Most people found a way to make it to work. I think that shortened routs or redirected routes would be preferable to nothing at all. The decision makers at MARTA must realize that the bus is a vital link for many folks to get not only to jobs, but to medical appointments, grocery stores and just to be able to get around. Monday and Tuesdays decision to cut bus service was reasonable, but Wednesday Could have been limited to major thoroughfares and retail districts. Most major roads on Wednesday were completely passable by then. I really have to wonder how much of this was MARTA employees not coming in to work because the road were “too bad” and how much was a concern for safety. Of all the people driving on the roads I put more faith in the ability of bus drivers and truck drivers than I do ordinary citizens. I also want to take MARTA to task for its rail schedule. The service was erratic even on Wednesday when MARTA should have been able to get a full complement of train operators. 20-25 minute waits on a train, a transfer and then another 10- 15 minute wait is horrible. This has not been a shining moment for MARTA, and add to that the two murders and the cut in service last year, MARTA is eroding what little public support it has remaining among those of us who have been solid supporters of MARTA over the years.

C’mon DeKalb Schools, make a decision already

DeKalb is always the last system to announce it will be closed because of bad weather. What are they contemplating? Are you afraid to be the first to close? I remember years ago when the school system closed based on a forecast of possible light snow/rain. They were the only system in the metro to close, and people questioned why they pulled the trigger to close schools before the weather event happened. It did not snow, it was a light cold rain. Check the conditions and if they do not meet your criteria for safety close the schools. A bad decision is a bad decision, you made it, you move on. I would not be at all surprised if that bad decision is still in the back of some people heads. By the way, I drove past two schools on my way to work, and both had parking lots with nothing but ice and the roads leading to them were nothing but ice. That decision could have been made early this morning.

Finally…

I don’t know about you, but I actually enjoyed the couple of days off this week. My wife and I had to use every bit of imagination to keep our 3 year old entertained. In this fast paced world of career and social media and just an overall sense of being busy, it was a time for all three of us to enjoy some time together. Although I think we do a pretty good job otherwise, it was refreshing that we had two days with just us three. Games, sledding, playing in the snow, movies and video games and even some flash cards made the two days go by quite well, and at the end of each day our three year old was ready to go to bed. Daycare has never been successful at doing that.