CAT Tracks for February 13, 2012

CAT Tracks for February 13, 2012

There are CATs who will awaken this morning, stumble to the window, and look to the skies...

...wishin', hopin', prayin'.

How do I know?

Because I received an e-mail from the KFVS TV "Storm Team" last night:

StormTeam Forecast
Tonight: Increasing clouds and dry with temps in the lower 20s. Winds: Calm, then becoming SSW around 5.
Monday: **Winter weather advisories and watches posted for parts of the Heartland from Monday afternoon through the overnight** Wintry mix expected to move into western areas through the afternoon hours and spread east through the evening. Many areas will see a mixture of snow/sleet/rain through the event. Looking like far northern areas could see a couple inches of snow, but most of the Heartland will start with sleet and snow and then see a change over to freezing rain and rain....so total snow amounts will be less.
Highs: 33-39. Winds: S 5-15.
This is a system that could change very quickly so make sure to stay updated through the day tomorrow.

Yeah, I know...the forecast said "Monday afternoon".
But, having been an active CAT...
...Sunday night, dreaded Monday morning.
Bears repeating...
...wishin', hopin', prayin'.

Eternal CAT Debates:

Snow Days:

Barbara et al..."NO! Nasty weather, can't get out and do anything, a wasted day. Even worse...takes a day away from summer vacation, a day that could be spent fishing and golfing. No snow...PLEASE!"

Ron et al..."Hell, Yeah! A day in the paw is better than two in the bush. A day without school is a day with sunshine. Quality versus quantity...homework papers graded, lesson plans done, nothing to do but RELAX. Ain't nobody gonna notice one less day in the summer. SNOW, dammit...PLEASE!"

End-of-the-School-Year Countdown Chain:

Anonymous...exclaiming upon walking into the teachers' lounge before school (sometimes even reaching for a link to shouts of outrage!)..."I'm up, I'm here, another day is done. Time to shorten that chain!"

Ron et al..."HEY! It's not even 8 O'Clock...we have not yet begun to teach." If the offending party should want to argue, this dinoCAT would inform her/him of that day back in the 1970s when we came to school, got dismissed at around 9 a.m. and had to do the whole day over. If necessary, my final retort (from that great baseball teacher Yogi Berra) was a bottom line: "It ain't over until it's over!"

We never came to blows, but the debate was spirited and ongoing.
Evidence of stubbornness and resolve on both sides: On occasion, one of the "end-of-days" CATs would notice that a "dawning-of-a-new-day" CAT had sneaked into the lounge and removed a link of the chain long before dismissal. Us keepers of the sanctity of the chain would quietly retrieve the missing link and tape/staple it back in place.

Since it's waaaaaaay too early for chain, chain, chains...
...back to the snow!

The making of "CAT Journal: Friday the 13th"...
You know how athletes, singers and such do warm up exercises while awaiting their moment in the sun?
Well, it just so happens that our CAT camera crew captured many candid moments in addition to the out-takes that were featured in our Saturday the 14th "Making of" documentary.
Being a pack CAT by nature, I find it difficult to discard anything. That's how, while rummaging a couple of years ago, I found a canceled check that I wrote to the IEA back in the 1970s...my first union dues.

Anyway...
...unused film footage.
As you know, we have had one of the mildest winters on record...no hint of "snow days", no chance to use the "warm-up" footage captured by our camera crew. It has gathered dust over the past month and I feared it would end up filed away and forgotten.
So...
...with the arrival of a rare cold front and the issuance of a "winter advisory", I am going to exercise my CAT Tracks editor's discretion and roll the video tape.
The unforgettable climatic scene in "Friday the 13th", when the old hearing-impaired CAT had had all he could stand from he would shall remain nameless?
Well...
There are performers of the extemporaneous school who disdain rehearsal, relying on raw emotion to carry the day.
Others, well, practice, practice, practice...until they get it right.
Let me introduce a member of the latter school of acting. With apologies to Barbara et al, the CAT below wins my heart on this pre-Valentine's Day: