Re: How many days have you lost to snow or other inclement weather?
 

Here is a picture of the aftermath of that storm (I think all Northern VA schools have been closed since the Thursday afternoon this thread got started). :mad: We just aren't equipped to deal with this much of the white stuff.

It's now Monday, and the forecast for tomorrow is 7-16 inches more. :ahh:
7"-16" more
I suspect some area teams are being forced to switch to their Plan B designs; and I suspect some are learning to plan for snow disruptions when planning how to use their build season.

Blake

Re: How many days have you lost to snow or other inclement weather?
 

Historic snowfalls= historically shoddy robots

Re: How many days have you lost to snow or other inclement weather?
 

We didn't have school all last week. With the storm coming in, this week may be busted as well. Plan "B" has already been thrown out the window. I just hope we have something to drive when ship date comes around.

I broken down today and drove the 20 miles to school to work on the robot. The roads were a mess (Thank goodness for Jeeps!). I didn't feel very inspirational doing it though.

Re: How many days have you lost to snow or other inclement weather?
 

There are a lot of us out there that feel the same way. We, too, are locked out, and with the next storm starting tomorrow and Wednesday, I don't expect that we will meet until maybe next Monday (The Superintendent is adamant that we are 'closed' and NO ONE can get into the school!). We have already missed something like 8 or 9 days, and will probably miss 7 more. We usually get 5 inches of snow a year, this year it will be closer to 5 feet.

But having said that - here is a slim glimmer of hope that I have seen. Emails are going around, kids are trying to do something, even if it is just looking at the code, fine tuning CAD drawings, drawing a new team logo, etc... at least they, to some degree, "own" this. The way things are going, we are going to also have a tough time to ship something that actually runs the way we imagined - but I think we will ship something, and we will have something there to compete with. I know it can seem a bit cliche, but it really is the journey, not the destination that matters. If, at the end, we have a robot that drives in a straight line, and occationally scores, then for this season, it will be a victory.

For the teachers like you, who year after year, work with these kids and try to inspire them to do their best, you are making a difference. Sometimes it is hard to see when you are in the midst of a mess like this, but one day you will see how your efforts to reach them, reached them. They may not show it right away, but the seed at least has been planted, and one day, through things that you all and all the teachers out there have taught them, it will bear fruit, and they will finally "get it!"

Hang in there!

Best regards,

Steve

Re: How many days have you lost to snow or other inclement weather?
 

Between the weather closings (3 so far including tonight, and probably will lose tomorrow also) and the 4 days we can't work because the students have finals for a week, we've lost about a weeks worth of time. :(

Re: How many days have you lost to snow or other inclement weather?
 

we counted them up today and were up to 10 days so far

Re: How many days have you lost to snow or other inclement weather?
 

Where's the "zero" option, as we're from New England, where normal Winter weather doesn't cause the entire universe to come to a halt. :p :p

Re: How many days have you lost to snow or other inclement weather?
 

although new england might come to a halt for a day or two with the storm that comes in tomarrow:ahh:

Re: How many days have you lost to snow or other inclement weather?
 

What's more interesting to me than the eastern seaboard's weather issue (and our lack thereof) is FIRST's complete lack of any sort of mention of it. Usually, when a large area encompassing literally hundreds of FRC teams is affected by abnormal weather like this, they at least make a statement, either "we WILL extend build", or "we WONT". This time, they've said nothing. It's bizarre.

Re: How many days have you lost to snow or other inclement weather?
 

I'm with Vikesrock here. Up here in Minnesota, we're so well equipped with snow emergency equipment that it's really hard to get a snow day here.

Re: How many days have you lost to snow or other inclement weather?
 

I've heard that they are having a conference call about the situation tomorrow, but I'm not quite sure how accurate that data is. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an extension.

This year, Team 1727 REX has had the worst snow problems possible. We've lost 6 days to snow as of right now and there is supposed to be more snow coming this afternoon. There is also the lesser problem of having lost a day to asbestos abatement. Several of us have met outside of school to plan and revise designs, but what we really need to complete is physical work on the robot.

Re: How many days have you lost to snow or other inclement weather?
 

So, I know that I said that I can't wait until we get snow, I just spent 2 hours trying to reroute my parents flight because all the airlines are cancelling flights due to snow! :rolleyes:

Thank you southwest!

My cousin in Philadelphia said that after tomorrow he will have 4 feet of snow on the ground! It must be really bad down there.

Re: How many days have you lost to snow or other inclement weather?
 

FIRST is contemplating action on this: I've heard from contacts in multiple teams that (official) polls have been going around about number of days missed and discussion are happening among regional staff.

619 has missed 6 days due to snow. And we aren't even school-based. The mentors cannot get to the lab. But we've been able to make up most of the hours by extending meetings on days that we can get to the lab but school is still closed. I feel bad for teams that are school-based: the schools here have been closed for two weeks now.

Re: How many days have you lost to snow or other inclement weather?
 

Today was the first actual "snow day" for us. However, what keeps happening is that they go all day, dismiss on time, but cancel "all sports games and practices, and all other afterschool activities", meaning we are not allowed to be in the building after the dismissal bell. :(

On a sligltly related note: I would not consider the Geo Tracker with the plow blade that I saw tonight to be "snow emergency equipment"..... :eek:

Re: How many days have you lost to snow or other inclement weather?
 

Supposedly FIRST has set up a conference call for tomorrow about the weather situation. We could know more about this tomorrow.

We met today for the 3rd time in 11 days, things are getting hectic, a few of our subgroups are still prototyping. Thankfully, drivetrain isn't one of them. :cool: