back again

Hey, sorry everyone, please excuse my prolonged absence from blogger, I just have been so busy lately!

Today was pretty exciting, at least work-wise. For those of you who don't know, I work at Civic League Day Nursery as a teacher aide, mostly in the kindergarten-aged room. I came into work, after being called to ask if I could come in an hour earlier than I was scheduled, and seeing as how I love money, I did. Mary-Ann, my boss, who also happens to be a good friend from way back, greeted me as usual as I came into the office to hang up my coat. Then she proceeded to tell me about the "outbreak." Apparently there was a child in the room I work in who had LICE. And not only did he have it, he'd had it for the past 2 days! His mother had brought him to daycare with lice, knowing, as far as I know, about Civic League's "No Nits" policy. He had had the lice all day Monday, and was at daycare until lunch today, leaving PLENTY of time for it to spread to other children, or the staff!!

So I came in, and all the kids' stuff had been put into plastic bags, and I mean everything! Their coats, hats, gloves, snow pants, boots, backpacks, everything in their cubbies, blankets and pillows from nap time. And the entire room was sanitized. Needless to say, as Mary-Ann was telling me this, my scalp began to itch suspiciously... I highly doubt I have it, but just hearing that a kid had it gave me the weebie jeebies.

Then after that fiasco, we decide to go outside, as usual for playground time, despite the howling and ferocious winds. Well it just so happens that right next door to Civic League Day Nursery NW, is the school bus depot, or headquarters, or whatever you want to call it. The bus depot has a very large and tall antenna near its main building, on the side that Civic League is also on. The towering antenna is just a short grassy lawn and a small parking lane away from Civic League's playground.

It was quickly brought to my attention by one of the kids after we got outside, that, "the antenna is broke!" Puzzled, I glanced up at the antenna to see that indeed, one entire "section" of spokes or whatever you call them had snapped out of place, and was now laying precariously, though still attached to the main structure, on top of another set of spokes, and it was rattling and pitching in the high winds. I wasn't too worried, and went about keeping an eye on the kids so they wouldn't get into trouble. Slowly, the other classrooms trickled out, while the teachers did their best to keep the doors from flying off the hinges. It was eventually pointed out to all the teachers and the kids for that matter that the antenna was very obviously, "broke."

We had all for the most part forgotten about it whilst trying to keep from being blown over in the wind and watching the kids. Suddenly, I heard from behind me a great "CRASH!" I spun around to see the large piece of the antenna hit the ground, the crash had come from it hitting the edge of the roof on its way down to earth, luckily, it had not hit any of the parked cars nearby, but landed harmlessly in the grass. By this time, also, Mary-Ann had called the school bus company to inform them of their damaged antenna, and no one had yet come out to inspect it.

After the large piece had fallen, and the amazement slowly began to die down, we noticed that the second piece, now freed of it's heavy counterpart, was pitching even more in the wind then it had been previously. I tried to position myself on the playground so I could keep an eye on it while still being able to watch the kids. I would glance at the antenna, then watch the kids for a while, and break up fights, etc, then glance back at it. It was on one of these times that I glanced back, when I saw the section of spokes left over suddenly drop, I started to say, "There it goes!" but didn't finish, since it was suddenly caught by a small black wire, leaving the substantially large piece hanging there by, literally, a thread. Now free of its anchor to the main structure, the piece began to pitch and roll heavily flying all over the place.

By this time, the bus drivers were returning and walking through the parking lot, the other teachers and I were worried the piece may break off and hit one of them, or hit a car. Well it was probably about half an hour later, when I happened to glance at it again just in time to see the wire snap and the piece began sailing towards the earth, the wind caught it and blew it quite a bit further than the last one, and I again cried, "THERE IT GOES!!" Just at that time, a bus driver was walking by, and she either heard me, or the snap of the wire, and started running away from it, (luckily, she was plenty far away, as it turns out!), other teachers whipped around to watch the fall. This piece also crashed into the roof, but on the corner of the building, flipping the piece in further away. It landed in the grass as well, but then fell foward into two parked cars, I cringed hearing the metal spokes scrape across the hoods of the two cars.

Mary-Ann again called the bus depot, to tell them that their antenna was now in ruins on the ground. This time, they came out to inspect it, and survey the damage of the two cars. From what I overheard from across the parking lot, was both cars suffered only "a few scratches." And luckily no one was hurt. It was pretty exciting.