Friday, December 12, 2008
My whereabouts
Last night, the TH Daughter and I drove from Princeton up to Exeter, New Hampshire, where she will, in theory, interview at a school of great repute later this morning. As everybody who lives in the Northeast can surely imagine, the drive was miserable. It rained, a lot, for the entire six and a half hours. By the time we arrived at the "Inn by the Bandstand" -- a cute little bed and breakfast in the center of town -- everything other than the salt-covered roads had a brilliant coating of ice.
Now it is a little before six in the morning. I awoke thinking that the room was awfully cold, but then I thought that perhaps that was a New England bed-and-breakfast thing and that there was a very nice comforter on the bed so we had planned for this. Then I realized that the lights on the tiny little Christmas tree by my fireplace were dark, and I thought "huh, I wonder if they are on a timer." Then it occurred to me that the power is out. Moreover, I judge from the temperature of the room and the condition of my computer's battery that the power has been out for several hours.
We shall quickly learn how prepared the proprietors of the "Inn by the Bandstand" are.
We shall also learn whether Phillips Exeter Academy interviews applicants after an ice storm.
Blogging will, no doubt, be light today. From here we drive to Andover, MA -- you either get the picture or you don't -- and thereafter back to Princeton, conditions permitting.
Wish us luck.
MORE: The TH Daughter's interview at Exeter is proceeding by candlelight! Nothing stops a New England boarding school.
STILL MORE: We have arrived at Andover, and are delighted that there is power. There was ice here, too, but at a fraction of the intensity in New Hampshire. One of the people in the Exeter admissions office told us that there were 200,000 people without power in southern New Hampshire. I feel for the line crews, who are undoubtedly already exhausted.
13 Comments:
By 
Jim in Virginia, at
Fri Dec 12, 06:18:00 AM:
You're a good dad, TH. Drive carefully and best of luck to both you and the TH daughter.
By 
, at
Fri Dec 12, 09:52:00 AM:
Being a smart-aleky southerner from SC, I'd just like to say it's been in the 60s and mid-50s here.
By next week we may be in the 20s or 30s and have 6" of snow on the ground.
Drive carefully.
By , at
Fri Dec 12, 09:59:00 AM:
Lawrenceville is closer!
Just saying.
By Christopher Chambers, at
Fri Dec 12, 10:04:00 AM:
So, like the President-elect and Michelle, you don't think a public school is good enough eh? LOL
Anyway I may be up in Princeton this weekend. Before I run by campus I'll drop Dianne in Palmer Sq. so she can shop and maybe on the way back we can locate your street. I'll drop by with one of the trillion bootleg Obama Inaugural posters that are being hawked here in the capital. Bootlegs are $25, the real ones are $50. I think it would make a wonderful addition to your daughter's dorm room wall...
By , at
Fri Dec 12, 10:26:00 AM:
75 degrees here in Phoenix today! I would not even remember how to drive on icy roads anymore.
Godspeed TH.
By Andrew Hofer, at
Fri Dec 12, 10:44:00 AM:
My Alma Mater.
We didn't even have a snow day in the blizzard of 1978, when you had to tunnel between some of the dorms.
Good luck.
By Viking Kaj, at
Fri Dec 12, 12:01:00 PM:
Does this mean you are not going to make it back for Santacon in NYC tomorrow?
www.santacon.com
By Dawnfire82, at
Fri Dec 12, 02:18:00 PM:
Damn that global warming!
CC: Public schooling isn't good enough.
By Sissy Willis, at
Fri Dec 12, 03:10:00 PM:
My hometown, Exeter, NH. In my day, it was boys only, and said boys were the center of us dreamy-eyed girls' lives.
Wondering whether the weather difference between Exeter and Andover will influence the TH daughter's decision when the two acceptance letters arrive?
Will she choose Andover for its easier clime or Exeter for the challenge of it all?
By Boethius, at
Fri Dec 12, 04:30:00 PM:
I am NH, born and bred. You have to be pretty hardy to live here. Let's hope this "worst storm in 30 years" will chase the democrats away so we can return to being a republican state. :)
By JPMcT, at
Fri Dec 12, 06:09:00 PM:
We pretty much never had a snow day in The Hudson Valley near West Point, where I grew up. When I moved to Richmond, VA...snow was rare, but when it came it was worse than a hurricane. My first ice storm here in 1972 caused over SIX THOUSAND car accidents, including the sand trucks which ran off the road.
Most Christmas holidays I spend raking leaves in my shirtsleeves.
You gotta love the South.
Godspeed with your daughter.
By , at
Sat Dec 13, 08:11:00 AM:
In the 70's, Andover generated its own electricity at night. There was a telltale blink when they switched from the public utility.
By Tomi, at
Thu Jan 01, 11:17:00 PM:
Hahaha! I came across this blog (rather late). I currently go to Phillips Exeter Academy. I hope our people were quite nice to her...
The interview for me was scary.
Sorry for the random intrusion!
Have a lovely New Year!
