Late last night, an automatimated message informed us that Ian's school was opened. A previous automated message had canceled Jonah's school for two more days. Gee, it's great having kids in two different school districts. 

This morning, we got Ian fed and dressed. I had managed to scrounge a quart of milk last night in the third grocery store that I visited. I couldn't pack a lunch for Ian, because we didn't have fresh bread or cold cuts or cheese or anything beyond stale pretzels. I wrote his teacher a note that I would drop off a lunch later in the day for him. 

Then we waited for the bus. And waited. And waited. Finally, I dug up the phone number of the bus dispatcher. She said that the school district never let her know that the school was open. I yelled a bit at her. Then, we packed up the car with a backpack, a Halloween costume that was never worn, and a kid. We found a deli and got Ian a bagel for his lunchbox. We burned through a quarter tank of gas and 1 1/2 hours getting Ian to his school.

When we dropped him off at his school, I explained to his teacher the bus problem. With a peppy smile, she said, "well, it's okay. He's here now!" I told her that it was not okay and I expected to be notified about the bus situation for tomorrow by later today. 

This comes at the heels of major bureaucratic fumbling for his IEP meeting.

Steve, who is working at home these days, has a very low threshold for morons. In his world, that kind of unprofessionalism doesn't happen. He has a very particular notion of professionalism, and the school district has another. It has been my job to deal with the morons, so he hasn't had to deal with this crap before. He's losing his mind. 

And we're still dealing with the storm fallout. Most of my town does not have power yet. One week later, trees still lay in the middle of streets with some yellow tape draped over them. It's in the 30s and low 40s at night. If the power doesn't come on soon, there are going to be fatalities. 

The local town officials have not been on the ball on this one. There are heated public buildings that are not open to the public. They have not provided information to residents about the location of warming centers or the new voting locations. They have not be visible in the community. 

I'm trying to take a deep breath and just go about my business. I should let the morons be morons and just take care of my own. I find that hard to do.