The New Teacher On The Block was really pissed off that Fenty kept the schools open yesterday. Apparently, the mayor didn't factor in the slippery streets and that kids will use any excuse to play hooky (see the drop-out rate):

"I mean, I was slipping and sliding on 395 this morning, for goodness sakes. Once I got to the neighborhood street next to my school, I slid all the way up the road. NONE of my students showed up today. 1 of Ms. P's kids came, and we dually hosted 5 kids in her classrom, because almost all the teachers were out as well (read: both pre-k teachers, the kindergarten teacher, both 1st grade teachers, both 2nd grade teachers, both 3rd grade teachers, 1 4th grade teacher, and 1 fifth grade teacher)."

Dee Does the District, another teacher/blogger, agrees that opening the schools yesterday was a stupid move.

Southwest...The Little Quadrant That Could wants everyone to know that the Cherry Blossom Festival is one month away. And, well, Southwest is a big part of it: "Southwest was designated the 'Cherry Blossom Capital of Washington, DC.' About 90% of the cherry blossoms in DC are located in Southwest, including the Tidal Basin and East Potomac Park, according to Lida Churchville, who has been working on the SW Call Box project for the past two years." The festival has a website with plenty of details.

Just.in.DC posts a snow pic from Shaw. It almost makes you forget about the Convention Center. Borderstan has a sweet picture as well.

Bloomingdale (for now) writes up a pesky problem with 911 dispatchers.

In case you missed it: The D.C. Council introduced a bill to expand the powers of the Office of Police Complaints.

*photo by Prince of Petworth.

"Because March is fucked up," he said. "You ever notice how when you meet a woman born in March, she's all fucked up? March is a mess."

I don't know about that guy's theory, nor do I know what the next 29 days of March '09 will bring, but this particular day in March was indeed a mess. Although the amount of snow on the ground didn't seem all that scary when I assessed it from my window this morning, it took me more than two hours to get to work today, thanks to all of the snow on the ground. Ridiculous.

This snow has got some balls

I did see and hear some interesting things along the way. While walking around the Pentagon, headed for the train, I noticed that the army guys were all wearing their winter fatigues. Who knew they broke those out for just a few inches of snow. I thought they reserved that gear for missions in Siberia or something. And, while I was on Connecticut Avenue, I heard a little boy tell his Mom that he hoped they'd have fun in the snow today because she was "cranky already."

Still, two hours from Alexandria-to-Adams Morgan is excessive. Here's the breakdown of my Del Ray-to-Adams Morgan commute:

*15 minutes to walk from my house to the bus stop, since the sidewalks weren't shoveled

*20 minutes of waiting at the bus stop

*15 minute ride from Arlandria to the Pentagon

*10 minutes of walking around the Pentagon trying for figure out where in the hell they hide the Metro (OK, this bit is my fault)

*15 minutes of waiting for the Yellow line train

*10 more minutes of waiting for the Blue line train after I realized there were delays on the Yellow line, and I needed a Blue train (Fine, fine--this part is probably my fault, too)

*12 minute ride from Pentagon to Metro Center

*5 minute wait for the Red Line to Shady Grove

*5 minute ride from Metro Center to Woodley Park

*15 minute walk from Woodley Park to office door, again on sidewalks badly in need of shoveling.

How was your commute this morning? Can you top 122 minutes?

This morning at about 9:00 a.m.., Mount Pleasant Street NW hadn't been plowed. And Irving Street was only partially cleared. Within an hour, they were looking a lot better?

How are your streets looking? Which streets need a plow?

• a paintbrush
• a spatula

Also saw two guys on Columbia Road NW who'd put cardboard boxes over the windshield of an SUV and were shoveling snow on top of the cardboard. Not sure what was happening there.

But the big story of the weekend: Haynesworth? Is this guy worth $100 million? Will he finally be that one free-agent acquisition who actually makes a difference? At the very least, he'll psych up the fans. No matter what fan board you may have visited over the past month or so, NFL fanatics in all franchise cities wanted this guy. He was the answer to everyone's defensive problems. The standard line from Joe Fan: If we can get Haynesworth, plus a couple of second-tier free agents to fill in at [SOME KEY POSITION] and [SOME KEY POSITION], we'll be the team to beat. Not sure whether anyone's saying that about the Skins, though.

Hey, WaPo Ombudsman Andy Alexander made his debut on real issues in the paper on Sunday, writing a fine piece on the dustup over George Will's crazy meanderings on global warming. See, Will, in a recent column, cited some study that showed that the global ice sheet was about the same magnitude that it was in 1978. Global warming activists went crazy on the guy, saying he misportrayed the data. Alexander issued a mild rebuke to Will and his many editors:

Readers would have been better served if Post editors, and the new ombudsman, had more quickly addressed the claims of falsehoods.

A little tame, but the ombo's still getting his sea legs.

General ManagerJim Bowden exits stage left from Nats organization over recruiting issues. Word is that the franchise is going to spare no expense in finding and hiring a replacement. (Joke.)

The InTowner has the scoop on Dupont East's liquor moratorium and the future of bar-neighbor relations. Check it out, provided you don't mind 4,545K pdfs.

*D.C. Police are still on the lookout for Corey Harrison, the slippery fellow who went AWOL on his child support and then, once in custody, escaped from the United Medical Center in the 1300 block of Southern Ave. SE:

He escaped from a men’s room by climbing through the ceiling of the restroom and then making his way to another room. When he escaped, he was wearing a white T-shirt, boxer shorts and a handcuff on one wrist.

*Prince of Petworth teams with IntangibleArts to wield a video camera in imitation of PBS. (See above.) Nice shades, yer highness!

*The D.C. Council, perhaps as a nod to our demonstrated lack of gumption in the face of actual weather, wants you to clean ice & snow off your car but won't fine you if you don't. (Via D.C. Wire)

*Still got your button from the Capital Fringe Festival? Julianne announces your February perks.

*Juliet Lapidos answers all of your dirty little Michael Phelps/ganja-related questions.

*ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: George Washington was elected (1789) and reelected (1792) as our first Prez. And you can be damn sure that those pamphleteers liveblogged the shit out of his first 100 days.

In the video after the jump, NBC's Pat Collins heads to the one street in D.C. where "flinty Chicago toughness" flows like frozen water.

Video courtesy of NBC Washington.

Every time it snows here I get ready--make sure I have ice melt, find the snow shovels in the basement, check air pressure in car tires. I also brace myself for a boatload of superior twaddle from people who are originally from colder climes. You know who they are. Hell, I'm friends with some of them. No matter how cold it is, they insist it isn't cold. And God forbid it should snow. You call this snow? they'll ask without waiting for you to answer (and the answer is: yes).

Now even Jesus the new president is in on it. Hey Admiral Byrd and Co., here's why school is canceled. My street isn't clear. It's not a main street, but there are many streets like it. I'm excellent at driving in snow and couldn't get my front-wheel drive car up the hill and out of the nabe yesterday. This area doesn't have enough snow-removal equipment to clear the streets quickly enough. Where cars can't go, buses can't either. Please snicker and hold your now-that-was-a-real-snow-day nostalgia parties out of earshot of the rest of us.

*FULL DISCLOSURE: My parents live in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.