Most other schools in the area moved an already existing PA from May to the day of the eclipse so bus drivers don't have to drive the kids home in the dark/kids aren't staring up at the sun without glasses. DS & DD go to a local private school and instead of moving an already existing day off, they just decided to shut down the school for an extra day off. We were just off for 2 weeks for March break (all the other schools are only 1 week). Then were off for Good Friday/Easter Monday and now this. Parents in the classroom whatsapp group are not happy about this additional day off lol.
I know this is a pain for parents, but imagine trying to keep hundreds of kids from looking up at it. Having kids home when you're in or near totality is really the only option, for the sake of the teachers. God forbid something happen to a kid and parents lose their minds. It's not worth the risk...
Oh I totally get that, I just think they should have moved an already existing day off (we have one the following week) like all the other school boards have done to this day. It definitely makes sense that the kids are off, I just don’t think they did it the best way.
@ The kids came home from school with a pair of eclipse glasses each, I didn't know the school would be giving them out - woohoo! Now we will all have a pair, we were going to share the 2 I got from the library.
You guys now have me a lot more excited, I didn't realize the next one won't be for another 20 years! I told my mom that and she was like, oh so this is my last one. Such a Debbie downer
Oh my kids school was able to get glasses and will be incorporating it into their learning. Another reason why I freaking love my kid's principal. He's seriously the best and always seems to make great decisions.
Post by maudefindlay on Apr 5, 2024 14:08:49 GMT -5
And DD is home now with books and chromebook in case of learning day Tuesday. They are off Monday, but now considering elearning for Tuesday due to influx of people still expected to be here Tuesday. They also got glasses.
I’m in CA so only 45% so not doing anything special. I work for a college and I hope the science folks come out with glasses so we can look.
Quite likely.
During the transit of Venus the astronomy department set up in a very busy area in the city (probably in many locations) and handed out glasses and set up a bunch of telescopes. It was very cool.
We are flying out to Ohio tomorrow to hang out with friends in totality! It is a decent drive from the airport to their house- Sunday drive travel should be ok, right?
I am a bit anxious in the unknown of traffic and such. But we are all very excited and the weather looks like it may cooperate.
We are in 94% totality. Would have LOVED to drive to totality but not in the cards for us. It's too hard with our dog and her health limitations. We can't take her with us and it's a PITA to get my dad to come down and watch her. I did get us eclipse glasses and I'm really hoping I can step outside just after 2 PM to see the peak eclipse here.
My boss asked me to sit in on an (virtual) interview from 1-2 on Monday so I'm just hoping it does not run over. I'll be disappointed if I miss the peak.
We will experience totality and the whole city is freaking out. They are recommending people treat it like an inclement weather day....Except schools are in session....
Big guys will go to school since they have a whole fun day planned but I'm keeping DS3 home.
Post by fancynewbeesly on Apr 5, 2024 16:21:53 GMT -5
I want to say we are in the 88%--schools by us are open, full day. All kids are getting solar eclipse glasses for dismissal-which happens right around the time of the eclipse. I reminded my kindergarten not to look up at the eclipse unless wearing glasses on the way home from the bus stop.
We are in totality. Hoping the clouds don’t ruin everything. Schools are in but DS is old enough that he gets to go on a field trip to watch it. DD in 1st would have to watch a livestream so we’re pulling her from school early so she can experience it in real life. I took a half day off.
We're at 93% and will just watch from here. So many people I know are headed up to Burlington, VT and it seems like the traffic is going to be bananas. I just don't care enough to get caught up in that lol.
We live in totality but we suck and are down in FL where it’s like 56% haha. I needed a break from the gray, man.
I haven't given this any thought, but now I'm feeling like I might have some FOMO. I don't have glasses or anything so I guess I'm not looking. I should see if the library still has any. I didn't realize it was going to be as high here as other local posters are indicating - I knew I wasn't going to travel for it so I just kind of wrote it off as something I wasn't going to do!
And tonight I tracked down eclipse glasses thanks to this board and my coworkers who are in the path lol
Upstate NY, with ~97%. I really wanted to drive to the totality but is just not worth the hassle, so I'll enjoy it from my driveway. No big plans (no playlists or themed foods) but I did block the entire time on my calendar so no one could plan a meeting and screw this up for me.
I think we are at about 98%. Our plan was to drive to Toledo, Ohio to see it (about an hour south of us) My husband didn't take off work because "it's just an afternoon right?". I tried explaining that no, this is not zip down to Toledo and right back. Has he been under a rock? He has not sat with me to plan it out, or discuss where we're going to go. When I bring it up he says we'll figure it out later.
So I'm kind of hoping we cancel the whole thing and just stay home. I'm a little bit tired of his whole "la la la, I don't plan anything I just show up without knowing anything and then act surprised by the chaos" way of life, after a quick trip to Universal Studios last month, he is on my damn nerves. DS has no school Monday so we could just watch it from the yard.
I am also planning on driving to Ohio but haven't come up with a plan. What were your ideas if you don't mind sharing?
We're at 93% and will just watch from here. So many people I know are headed up to Burlington, VT and it seems like the traffic is going to be bananas. I just don't care enough to get caught up in that lol.
We live in totality but we suck and are down in FL where it’s like 56% haha. I needed a break from the gray, man.
Oh I don’t blame you, it’s been brutal lately. Enjoy!!
Post by basilosaurus on Apr 6, 2024 6:49:12 GMT -5
For the kids:
Featuring the science behind a total solar eclipse, the National Science Foundation is hosting a live stream of the celestial phenomenon geared at school-age children. Beginning at 1:55 p.m. Eastern time, the stream will feature educational programming from solar scientists; information about high-tech solar instruments, such as the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii, the world’s largest and most powerful solar telescope; and live views of totality from Dallas.
We're at about 87% and I was listening to the radio news driving home yesterday, they were talking about how to get video of it on your phone. The advice was to tape the glasses to the camera lens. That made me laugh. I then wondered--hmm, I didn't buy any glasses, but you know what? That is exactly the kind of thing H would do, and I'd bet my next paycheck that he has them. Sure enough, we started talking about the eclipse when I got home from work and yep, he has the glasses (like 7 pairs, why 7, H?). That really made me laugh, because I was right.
We live in the path of totality (Buffalo) so we'll be staying local. I'm not planning to drive anywhere because I'm sure traffic will be a nightmare. H took the day off and I'm planning to work a half day. Most/all schools around here are closed. We're about 2 miles from one of the Olmstead Parks, so we might ride our bikes and pack a picnic. But they are blocking off the fields/grass and asking people not to go on them due to all the rain we've had since the ground is soft. I think it will be a shit show.
I am borrowing my dad's 300mm lens and ordered a solar filter, so I'm hoping to get some pics. I have a DSLR that I rarely use, so I'm no expert... just read a few tutorials and chatted with a friend who is really into photography.
The weather here is actually supposed to be decent. Few clouds and almost 60. After the week of rain and waking up to snow today, I'm pleasantly surprised.
My dad is coming to my house (from NT to Williamsville) and we’ll probably walk down the street to the park. We may have a nice view right out my front door though so we’ll see. DDs will be with XH so I didn’t plan anything more. He’s got a good size backyard so they shouldn’t have to walk anywhere. I’m excited and really hope the decent weather holds.
People are serious about this lol. I’ve seen people in an eclipse FB group I’m in talk about bringing a bucket lined with trash bags and a pan of kitty litter because the traffic is at a standstill.
We're at 93% and will just watch from here. So many people I know are headed up to Burlington, VT and it seems like the traffic is going to be bananas. I just don't care enough to get caught up in that lol.
I’m having so much FOMO about missing totality. If we didn’t have little kids we might have tried to go, but it didn’t seem worth the effort and craziness with them plus I don’t want to pull them from school. But now all the media coverage of how amazing totality will be is making me sad. Oh well, my sister is driving to Canada to see it so I will live vicariously through her. We have glasses and will watch it from home as well.
I think we are at about 98%. Our plan was to drive to Toledo, Ohio to see it (about an hour south of us) My husband didn't take off work because "it's just an afternoon right?". I tried explaining that no, this is not zip down to Toledo and right back. Has he been under a rock? He has not sat with me to plan it out, or discuss where we're going to go. When I bring it up he says we'll figure it out later.
So I'm kind of hoping we cancel the whole thing and just stay home. I'm a little bit tired of his whole "la la la, I don't plan anything I just show up without knowing anything and then act surprised by the chaos" way of life, after a quick trip to Universal Studios last month, he is on my damn nerves. DS has no school Monday so we could just watch it from the yard.
I am also planning on driving to Ohio but haven't come up with a plan. What were your ideas if you don't mind sharing?
I’m planning on going to the Toledo area, too. Most likely we will be going to a relative’s house, but if that falls through I think we will find somewhere along Route 2 to watch from. It’s not a highly thought out plan, but there are a few metro parks/nature refuges between Toledo and Port Clinton that we could stop at, or even just find a random parking lot closer to Toledo if we don’t want to go too far. My thinking is that most people not familiar with the area would be more likely to use 90 to go east, so hopefully 2 won’t be too congested.
Post by dancingnancy on Apr 6, 2024 9:52:58 GMT -5
In central NH where we will get 97%. Now that I’m seeing the forecast and DD is getting out of school early, I am planning for us to join friends down at the beach (we live on Lake Winnipesaukee) to watch. Just got our glasses!
We’re at 99% and are less than a hour’s drive from totality. We had planned to stay put because we thought 99% would still be cool. But then I saw photos of the difference between 99% and 100% and now I kinda wish we were driving to see totality. But DH didn’t take off work and I have to be somewhere shortly after the eclipse, and we can’t change either of those on this short of notice. Boo.
Post by maudefindlay on Apr 6, 2024 10:43:04 GMT -5
This family flew in to my state to celebrate a 65th birthday for a man named Lee, it's Leeclipse! Besides this awesome billboard they have shirts, golf balls, and glasses with this on it. They have a whole weekend of fun planned culminating with the eclipse. Love this!
Apparently it was Lee's daughter's birthday for the eclipse in 2017, so when they found out this one was on his birthday Leeclipse was born!
I think we are at about 98%. Our plan was to drive to Toledo, Ohio to see it (about an hour south of us) My husband didn't take off work because "it's just an afternoon right?". I tried explaining that no, this is not zip down to Toledo and right back. Has he been under a rock? He has not sat with me to plan it out, or discuss where we're going to go. When I bring it up he says we'll figure it out later.
So I'm kind of hoping we cancel the whole thing and just stay home. I'm a little bit tired of his whole "la la la, I don't plan anything I just show up without knowing anything and then act surprised by the chaos" way of life, after a quick trip to Universal Studios last month, he is on my damn nerves. DS has no school Monday so we could just watch it from the yard.
I am also planning on driving to Ohio but haven't come up with a plan. What were your ideas if you don't mind sharing?
I got him to agree to stay home, thank God. The cloud cover just added to it, I didn't want to deal with all the hassle and then possibly not see it!
I was thinking about finding a park along the west stretch of 475 in Toledo to make the return trip a little easier. When we lived there I took DS to Wildwood Park all the time, but I was looking at Side Cut Park in Maumee, and then there are some other ones along 475 in between those two that I'm not familiar with. I was thinking Wildwood is still in a sort of dense area so it might be hard to find parking there.
I figured if we stuck to that area there's enough back roads to get to at least Saline if 23 is backed up. I didn't want to be in the downtown area because I feel like it's going to take forever to get out.