Missing valuable work days!

[Cow Bell Solo]

Well lucky for us, we had to be one of the few schools in MN that didn't cancel or have some kind of delay, but hey, as we know I'ts White Bear. We also have a good relationship with the principle at our school where we work and he has let us into the school before when no one else is there.

[AndyB]

Today will be the 3rd meeting we've canceled this week. (1 on monday due to snow, thursday, and friday due to the cold). We aren't permitted to meet if school is canceled.

[ayeckley]

Teams in the south of Israel have had it difficult as well, having to meet in bomb shelters. Read this article:

There ought to be some sort of award for that...

[Sunshine]

Well..............

Thanks for the reassurances.

Some of you have put everything in perspective when you start talking about tornadoes and fires. Sorry for your pain. My small problems are nothing compared to others.

And actually, we are now able to turn lemons into lemonade...........

School was canceled again today, but they are allowing us to come in at 12:01 because it is supposed to warm up enough. We will actually be able to get 8 hours of work in. Now, I hope all the kids can make it safely. We are lucky.

[GaryVoshol]

Originally Posted by Jon236

So you use your driveway as a playing field?

Nope, can't, you might fracture a frozen pool noodle.

[waialua359]

trouble in paradise?
We had to close our school for high winds, lots of rain, and huge surfs of up to 35ft. Maybe tomorrow also.
We wanted to work, but our admin sent all of us home.

[synth3tk]

It's a part of the challenge that we face. For most, school district policies state that you cannot meet or even remove the robot from the building. For others, it's simply a matter of taking the robot and necessary tools elsewhere.

I just found out 10 minutes ago that nearly every school (among other government and religious places) in Northeast Ohio will be closed due to cold weather. We also had over 10" of snow last Saturday, and I had to walk four blocks in the street with the snow blowing sideways to catch the public bus, and then had to wait outside the school for half an hour.

It's just one of those things where you have no control, so you've gotta work with what you have. If that means less time, then unfortunately, you've gotta make adjustments somewhere.

[usbcd36]

We've gotten around this in the past by moving the robot and base of operations to either my house or to one of our sponsors.

It's pretty cold right now, both where the school is (2°F) and where I am (4°F). The roads are pretty good, though, since the last major snowfall was a few days ago.

[Travis Hoffman]

We love snow days. Instead of starting work at 2:30; the students start at noon instead.

[gorrilla]

Originally Posted by waialua359

trouble in paradise?
We had to close our school for high winds, lots of rain, and huge surfs of up to 35ft. Maybe tomorrow also.
We wanted to work, but our admin sent all of us home.

i'd rather have rain then snow any day \


35ft!!!! i wish, all we get in florida is around 8 at the most in sebastian

[Doug G]

I think it was just 2003 that had the ship date postponed 2 days. I remember getting that e-mail early in the day (Sunday?) and then putting off telling the students until later in the day, simply because they were working so deligently and I didn't want them to slow down. I felt really guilty about it.

The weather issues as well as numerous other situations and such are always affecting some teams more than others. It is not fair but nonetheless, I feel it provides students with more real world experience at problem solving. Companies too deal with many issues outside of their control (even weather), but still have to stay on a timeline. Students that must go through these problems will have gained valuable lessons in project and time management.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

I think that actually happened 2 years in a row. 2002 & 2003 if I'm not mistaken?
It's rare, & we kind of were looking forward to it happening again the nest year, but alas, it was not to be.
Oh wells.

'03 and '04. '03 was weather; '04 was due to delays in getting KOP stuff out. I remember trying to figure out how to do something at some ridiculously early time the revised ship date--if it had been on the normal day, I would have been in bed hours before.

330 used to have a little issue with film crews in the facility where we had our build site during the last couple weeks of build. We'd move out for a day or two, then move back in. We finally moved for a while into another facility.

[MamaSpoldi]

Due to a fire at our high school on December 30th, we were unable to work in our regular work space until January 12th! Thanks to a local business man (who also happens to be a team parent and mentor) we were able to meet for the kick-off on the 3rd (just to give them a plug... it was Precise Circuit in Shelton, CT ). No one (except cleaning staff, not even teachers) was able to go into the school building for more than a week after the kick-off. Fortunately we were able to make arrangements to get our control system cleaned and out of the building on the 3rd... and we were even more lucky that it had not been damaged by the fire, smoke, or water. This sponsor also opened up his business for us to work in both of the last 2 weekends... although it was not like being in our usual space it was still a big help for us to have somewhere to meet and begin work on our design and strategy. We are still a little behind... but we are working to make a strong comeback.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by MamaSpoldi

Due to a fire at our high school on December 30th, we were unable to work in our regular work space until January 12th! Thanks to a local business man (who also happens to be a team parent and mentor) we were able to meet for the kick-off on the 3rd (just to give them a plug... it was Precise Circuit in Shelton, CT ). No one (except cleaning staff, not even teachers) was able to go into the school building for more than a week after the kick-off. Fortunately we were able to make arrangements to get our control system cleaned and out of the building on the 3rd... and we were even more lucky that it had not been damaged by the fire, smoke, or water. This sponsor also opened up his business for us to work in both of the last 2 weekends... although it was not like being in our usual space it was still a big help for us to have somewhere to meet and begin work on our design and strategy. We are still a little behind... but we are working to make a strong comeback.

Wow, that's a pretty intense situation. It is very good that you were able to retrieve the control system and that it was undamaged. Kudos to Precise Circuit for recognizing that the team needed help and provided that help/support. I'm sorry to hear about the fire and hope the other areas impacted are able to recover as well.

Jane

[The Megan 2207]

There were only a couple schools in my area open today because of the ridiculous cold. A lot of people complained because most of the school districts right next to us were closed and ours was still in session, but the robotics team was happy!