Thursday, September 16, 2004

not Hartford, Hereford, or Hampshire

and thus, hurricanes happen much more than "hardly ever." Now, to be precise, I live in a place where we don't necessarily get the gale-force winds, but we do get the rain, rain, rain, and some of the wind.
In light of the excessive amount of rain brought by hurricanes, which are prevalent here, I am seeking answers to the following questions.
1. WHY build a freeway--designed to be a higher-speed driving surface than regular city streets--with cement instead of asphalt? Cement has a smoother surface and is mostly non-porous, compared to asphalt's rough surface and at least minimal porousness. This means that standing water is a regular occurrence on I-285, even if it's only been sprinkling--I'll leave to your imagination what that means when hurricane-downpours are underway for days on end. Who thought this was a safe and good idea?
2. Why cancel school today in anticipation of something expected to fully arrive later this afternoon? This is a similar question to the one about snow. In anticipation of a few flakes, they cancel school. At least in that case you can say "they're not used to it--they aren't prepared for snow and ice." In this case, however, they're used to it. It happens every year--hurricanes, thunderstorms, rain rain rain...even the occasional tornado. Wouldn't it be better to have kids and staff in a school building--even if the power went out for a bit--than to have them running around home while parents still have to go to work...in a place where a falling tree could do significantlly more damage to the building of, say, a HOUSE, than it could to a SCHOOL built of cinder blocks?
3. Why are there hurricanes anyway?

Other news: here in not Hartford, Hereford, nor Hampshire, but in Decatur, I am getting ready for ordination exams. They are now less than 24 hours away. Theoretically I am reading right now. Clearly the theory and practice are not necessarily related at this time. but soon.

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