AW's Front-Line Experience

Amy Warren IMed this evening to touch base. Amy shares her Polar Bear Ice Out experience in this (slightly) edited IM transcripd:

AW (8:39:26 PM): Hi Dr Kleine....I was just wondering how we are going to do the e-simulation stuff since none of us are in Ada

robkleine3 (8:39:43 PM): good question ... i've contacted the vender to see about moving the simulation time-table back a week

AW (8:40:24 PM): we were all sent home and told that if we didnt go home that we were going to have to move into Founders Hall....and with no power there was no way for us to get a hold of our group members

robkleine3 (8:40:37 PM): understand
robkleine3 (8:41:20 PM): contribute to this: http://pbio.blogspot.com/2005/01/ice-storm-closes-onu-share-your-story.html

AW (8:41:23 PM): ok...i was thinking that something like that may be able to be arranged but i didnt know for sure and wanted to make sure that we werent expected to have it done because obviously since our group couldnt all meet until today it was crazy. i saw that....it would take a long time to tell all the madness that happened

robkleine3 (8:41:56 PM): multiple installments are possible ;-)

AW (8:41:58 PM): you wouldnt believe what the campus and town look like

robkleine3 (8:42:20 PM): give me a clue .. when I left @ 4 things were not bad

AW (8:42:23 PM): i wish i would have had my camera when i was driving out of town because i know its something i'll never see again like that

AW (8:42:43 PM): classes got cancelled and we were sent home from work at 4 because they knew it was coming

AW (8:43:07 PM): they sent home all secretaries and adminstration and faculty
AW (8:43:31 PM): it got to be pretty icy and the freezing rain continued through the night
AW (8:43:54 PM): when i went to leave work at 4 they were talking on the radio about two dorms not having gas and tree limbs were already falling
AW (8:44:28 PM): we stayed in the rest of the night and we live in the campus apartments....the lights flickered all evening but we didnt lose power
AW (8:44:43 PM): at about 2 am the smoke detector went off and then the power went out
AW (8:45:02 PM): we woke up at 7 with a call from a friend that said we didnt have classes and still no power
AW (8:45:19 PM): we got up to see what campus looked like and it was completely black out there....it was really weird
AW (8:46:17 PM): we opened the door again at 10 to find notes on our doors that said "No Classes Today Stay Inside Stay Warm Mac is serving food to ALL students"
AW (8:46:38 PM): we went to eat at mac and there were trees down everywhere from the weight of the ice
AW (8:46:57 PM): the tundra is just covered in debree...trees were literally split in half
AW (8:47:41 PM): there were people everywhere in mac getting food....people that were seniors and live off campus even....dr baker made his usual appearance in old clothes and tried to look at miserable as we were lol
robkleine3 (8:47:54 PM): lol
AW (8:48:04 PM): they told us that classes were cancelled for friday as well
AW (8:48:31 PM): i talked to some pplant people that i know from work and they said that they dont know if things will be done by monday
AW (8:49:16 PM): one of our friends that is from ada contacted the power company and they said that the estimation is 9 days for full restoration of power with a hopeful guess of 4 but nobody really knows
AW (8:49:45 PM): then we were told when we got back to our apartments that if we didnt leave and go home that we had to pack a small bag and stay in Founders Hall

robkleine3 (8:49:55 PM): meininger called this morning to make sure i know about the cancellation ... at that time he expressed doubt about restarting monday ... 9 days possibly? wow!

AW (8:50:11 PM): yeah....we are all wondering whats going to happen

robkleine3 (8:50:16 PM): pajama party in Founders?

AW (8:50:20 PM): especially with things like mock interview day
AW (8:50:34 PM): i hope i never have to stay in the dorms again! i was glad to drive 3 hrs instead of stay there
robkleine3 (8:50:39 PM): yeah, mock interview day must be on the bubble
robkleine3 (8:50:52 PM): hey, it's a memory you'll cherish in years to come

AW (8:51:13 PM): i had some friends in both Findlay and Kenton that said i could stay with them but i have a feeling that this could be a second break for us

robkleine3 (8:51:31 PM): it IS a second break

AW (8:51:55 PM): my mom wanted me to come home and work for her company at least tomorrow and maybe next week and help her prepare paperwork for the state for part of the accredidation stuff they have to do so it worked out

robkleine3 (8:52:20 PM): that's good ... too bad we can't plan next week.

AW (8:52:24 PM): the only really bad thing for some of us is that we have a 2 day exam in two different classes now whenever we get back

robkleine3 (8:52:37 PM): 2-day exam?

AW (8:53:00 PM): i was supposed to have one in finance today and tomorrow and then one in international business monday and tuesday
AW (8:53:12 PM): there are a handful of us in this situation now
AW (8:53:40 PM): we know that whenever we get back we could possibly have both two day exams on the same days

robkleine3 (8:54:18 PM): it will sort out when school resumes ... plead for a "review day" ... not that i'd suggest such a thing

AW (8:55:05 PM): i doubt XXX will give us a review day....hes not very easy to persuad to change anything...im sure hes having a hard time with all of this unexpected class LOL
AW (8:55:34 PM): hes a good professor he just doesnt seem to like change

robkleine3 (8:56:12 PM): some of us are like that

AW (8:56:25 PM): as much as we all wanted to have a fun free day off we didnt expect anything quite like having this many days off

robkleine3 (8:56:40 PM): too much goodness?

AW (8:57:06 PM): when theres no heat, water or power yeah...i think that could be too much goodness

robkleine3 (8:57:27 PM): a reverse tsunami?

AW (8:58:39 PM): something like that....im pretty sure mac looked a lot like a disaster relief area....i've never seen so many people flock to that building at one time...i think there might have even been people from ada there that werent part of the university

robkleine3 (8:59:27 PM): susan and i were speculating that they'd herd you into the field house ... bottled water and port-a-potties

AW (8:59:57 PM): LOL thats probably what Founders Hall looks like about now

AW (9:01:35 PM): my roomate and i were mostly disappointed this morning that we couldnt see Ohio Northern University scrolling across the bottom of the screen

robkleine3 (9:01:45 PM): ?

AW (9:01:58 PM): because we were closed
AW (9:02:04 PM): we had no power so no tv
AW (9:02:41 PM): that was a delayed typing....lots of boxes open

robkleine3 (9:02:52 PM): ah ... a bit slow. my buddy list provided a first clue that something catastrophic happened in ada ...
robkleine3 (9:03:29 PM): for the first time it was completely empty of onu students

AW (9:05:32 PM): my roomate didnt hear the smoke detectors go off right before the power went out....but i definitely did and i knew then that we werent having classes today

robkleine3 (9:06:54 PM): a subtle sign
robkleine3 (9:07:03 PM): mind if i edit this and post it?

AW (9:08:30 PM): i guess you can lol i didnt know the Ada Ice Storm would be this big to people lol

robkleine3 (9:08:54 PM): i thought it could make for a fun oral history

AW (9:09:40 PM): 20 years from now someone will Google search the Ada Ice Storm and find this story

robkleine3 (9:09:58 PM): let's hope ... you never know ... at minimum, the details are most vivid right now

AW (9:10:25 PM): oh i definitely wont be forgetting this

robkleine3 (9:11:23 PM): do have some fun these next few days. you deserve it!!!

AW (9:12:12 PM): i have A LOT of studying to do....thats really what these days will be for me....more study time which will have to do

robkleine3 (9:13:11 PM): do try to squeeze in some sledding ;-)
AW (9:13:20 PM): LOL
robkleine3 (9:14:04 PM): enjoy your evening!
AW (9:14:09 PM): you too!