SouthboundYank

What's with the sudden, emo, accusatory redirect on "mental health of kids??" A close relative works in an FCPS school, and I can assure you that administrators, teachers and staff are obsessed with student's mental health in a post-pandemic environment, following a year of remote learning...often to the detriment of actual, IN-PERSON learning right now. FFS, @Yeoman has a legit point and asks legit questions. My own sons finally escaped FCPS last decade, but were were they still trapped in this ineffectual system I'd be asking the very same questions as a parent...hell, as a tax payer who continues to support FCPS's proven habits to spend like a drunken sailor (for over 30 years now), I'm STILL asking those same questions. Perfect example -- FCPS invested multi-millions in a new, supposedly world-class learning management system throughout 2019 and early 2020...only to have it fail miserably when remote learning was ramped up in March 2020. Instead of focusing solely on getting THAT egregious, over-budget snafu fixed -- which never really was, and instead the fallback during the balance of 2020 was to an existing system of web/cloud-based systems held together with Kleenex & spit -- the FCPS superintendent and school board threw more good money after bad by hiring a panel of attorneys to conduct a study as to why the original LMS didn't work as designed. I'll let that sink in -- they hired a LAW FIRM to diagnose piss-poor technological and program management decisions. This is typical FCPS -- inept leadership, and a once world-class school district continues to slowly circle the drain. To be clear, in my experience there are accomplished, caring and awesome educators scattered across FCPS...but they are being dragged down and held back by inept senior leaders and a tone-deaf school board that can't prioritize, nor make efficient, data-driven decisions. As a federal government employee for 20+ years, I've been accustomed to successfully teleworking for most of those years. While we occasionally got full days off for bad snow back in the early 2000s, but I've been expected to remote-work on "inclement weather" days since at least the mid-2010s. The federal government wants us to be a flexible and adaptable workforce...I'm not only fine with that, I embrace that. This is the way it SHOULD work -- and the sooner the TikTok generation learns this work ethic, the better. Again, Yeoman's questions are spot-on -- parents AND taxpayers have a right to expect that students in Fairfax County receive an education -- even on snow days now -- in an environment where remote learning should still be (mostly) a muscle memory. While the freezing rain threat didn't materialize in FfxCo this morning, I'll grant that many of our secondary roads are still in bad shape or impassable. Okay. So let's fire up the FCPS remote-learning machine...instead of giving students ANOTHER added day of holiday break. /RANT OFF P.S. -- Calling it here and now that FCPS will drag out school closings for this entire week...although they'll probably have to be somewhat creative in their justifications for tomorrow, currently forecast to be partly sunny with temps in the low-mid 40s.

Can't speak to Xfinity -- have you been without service for 24 hours now? If so, that's painful. Admittedly and arguably, a first world problem, but still...painful! I put in a support ticket with Verizon FiOS 24 hours ago, to have them come out and restring the FiOS cable from the nearest utility pole to our house BACK UP IN THE AIR. It's been laying in my front yard and in the cul de sac on which we live for that entire time, and with numerous cars running over it today, it's only a matter of time before the cable is pulled from A. our house, B. the utility pole, or C. BOTH. One kind neighbor put out orange cones to mark the wire in the cul de sac, but the snow plowers can't even come in and clear the court until all of the downed wires are fixed. Ours are flat-out down...but two other neighbors have FiOS wires hanging literally 4-6 feet off the cul de sac. I'm sure Verizon is slammed right now, but....geez.

Baltimore/Washington (weather.gov) EDIT: Meant to also post this link to LWX's winter weather graphics...which can be alternately informative and/or titillating: WinterWeather

FF was an outright obsession and time-suck for me in my mid-20s (i.e., PRE-marriage). It was a love/hate thing that I could barely pull myself away from at times...and yeah, I thought I could beat most of the odds with all of my worldly drafting, starting/benching and trading, but I couldn't bring myself to admit how luck IS involved. I got re-involved with FF again several years ago with my now-adult sons -- "What could it hurt," I thought, "I'm more mature and can HANDLE it now!" -- and got sucked RIGHT back into the obsessing and trash-talking. Had to quit (again) after just two years, because I can't invest that amount of time and emotion into it anymore...plus, I can't trust myself to behave.

BINGO. There would've been an accident(s) AND slowdowns/stoppages yesterday in both directions on I-95 yesterday, even if it had been clear, full sun and seasonal temps...and not just due to the residual holiday-related traffic. I despise relying on the Richmond-DC stretch of 95 for ANY travel....but when we must (especially for longer trips), we try to time it to timeframes with presumably lesser volume, like predawn or very late evening. Even that trick doesn't work as well anymore. The level of 95 suckage is increasingly and consistently high, 24/7/365.

Read the reports earlier but couldn't believe how bad it was until took a look for myself....VA 511 cameras currently showing dozens of miles of full-stop traffic on SB I-95 between Richmond and D.C. Looks like a tractor trailer parking lot. It does appear like they're finally funneling folks off of 95 in the Lorton area. Good Lord.

Only @Jebman, living in TX for (I think?) more than two years now, could be THIS happy about snow in NoVA, his former stomping grounds. When I took an afternoon "Jebwalk" with my wife and dog this afternoon, and used that exact term to describe our walk, she looked at me sideways.....but dozens of folks in this sub fully appreciate the weight of that word.

The Ravens' performance notwithstanding....you caught a GREAT snowy, nighttime pic here, and thx for sharing.

LOVE this last pic....I caught a couple similar shots, too, with the back edge of the system finally moving out. Was SO gorgeous, with the sun shining on the grey clouds to the east, and that crystal blue sky to the west!

Thank you for sharing these pics! Love snow covered holiday lights!! Just added a couple more similar pics to the album I posted earlier...

Wow, what an event -- final snow total here was just over 10". And I think that's a tad-higher bust than what the WSW called for. After the last several years, I'll gratefully take that and shut my mouth for the rest of this winter. This was one of the most gorgeous snows we've had in these parts in many years, however, a lot of flowering trees in the neighborhood (and not just a few utility wires) took a HELL of a beating due to weight of snow. A lot of neighbors gonna have to do some "creative" pruning come springtime...but in the near term, Verizon has already agreed to visit tomorrow to re-string a number of FiOS cables, so there's that. Here's a link to a photo album of the day's snow progress. And if nothing else, remember this -- always try to have at least as much fun as a dog manages to have in the snow. https://photos.app.goo.gl/E8yWNXJkFu5NTwqAA

Dude. That's a LOT of snot.

9.5", and still SN. Impressive, and easily the wettest/pastiest snow we've had here in many years. Magnolias, dogwoods and myrtles taking a huge hit everywhere you look...that's a little sad. That wire now resting across my front yard is my tenuous Verizon FiOS connection to you and the rest of the world...and is somehow still working.

Just over 4" as of 20 min ago, continued SN+ and winds picking up. Oh, and Santa caved.

Oh, man -- I, too, hear my neighbor's very mature/tall pine trees creaking and snapping a lot already, as the wind picks up. This stuff is like wallpaper paste...gonna definitely brings some weaker branches down and be a bitch to shovel.

I thought fondly of everyone here ROFL'ing, when Mrs. V said to me during yesterday afternoon's doggo walk (in shorts, no less), "How can we be under a winter storm warning for tomorrow when it's almost 67 out right now?? It's not going to snow!" Nearing the 4" mark, BTW -- and going out to shore up my sagging butterfly bushes, if it's not already too late for 'em.

Can confirm. Can only see one half block down the street...can't remember the last time we had those conditions here. Probably ~1.5" when I took this over an hour ago, but I'm sure we're well into the 2"-3" range now. Yeah, worried about this -- have two 5-6' butterfly bushes in front of house that I just realized should've been trimmed more. Just went out to shake them off, as they were already prostrate and touching the ground.

Great choice -- we live just a few miles downwind from Aslin's Alexandria shop, and are making a run there tomorrow afternoon to replace some of our stash. Hell, I'm sure we'll camp out in the taproom for a draft or two while we're there.

Actually, it's been mostly sunny here the first half of the day. So far, 1.5 days into the work week, I'm just not seeing the cloud-filled wash-out forecast that I read about this past weekend. Not complaining. Definitely warmer, though -- currently 83 here.

Dating myself, but...I loved Farrah on the original Charlie's Angels (also that red swimsuit poster). Not ashamed to admit that I also had Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" poster taped to the inside of my HS locker door.

LOL. I've been away many weeks, just started checking back in today...and was not surprised to read this at all.

Indeed. I'm thinking of mowing the back lawn before potential storms move in later. But if I do that, then the mere act of mowing will likely ruin the chance for the development of those potential storms later (for those that might be anticipating them). Stuck in a decision loop.

I understand why (and about whom) you wrote this, however in general, your first point covers it perfectly. Twitter is a cesspool.

Statements like these? Glad that we had sons and didn't have to worry about crop tops and ripped jeans. Currently 64, light breeze, and opening up the upstairs windows to blow the musty out of this house, which has been closed up and AC'ed for too long!

Good luck to you....had a former boss who lived in Aldie area, and it's a beautiful area of NW VA. If we were staying in the state long-term, it would be on my short list.