April 8, 2024 Total Solar Eclipse

[Bruce]

I watched totality in 2017 from a little park near Salem, Oregon. Getting back to I-5 took 2 hours, getting through to Portland another 3 hours.

Still worth it.

[algorerhythms]

I watched the 2017 eclipse from a church parking lot in Chester, Illinois. It was threatening to storm, but the clouds cleared up right on time for totality. It started pouring buckets of rain as soon as totality was over, though.  Someone I knew went to the big event in Carbondale, and ended up getting stuck overnight on I-55 on the way back. My group took back roads until we got to I-39, and we got back to Madison that night.

For the 2024 eclipse, I'm undecided whether to stay close to where I'm living now (I'm just outside the totality region, but very close). Niagara Falls is probably going to be insane. I'm thinking maybe somewhere around Port Dover instead. But, since it's in April there is the risk of it just being cloudy, so maybe it would be better to travel farther.

[Rothman]

I watched the 2017 eclipse from a church parking lot in Chester, Illinois. It was threatening to storm, but the clouds cleared up right on time for totality. It started pouring buckets of rain as soon as totality was over, though.  Someone I knew went to the big event in Carbondale, and ended up getting stuck overnight on I-55 on the way back. My group took back roads until we got to I-39, and we got back to Madison that night.

For the 2024 eclipse, I'm undecided whether to stay close to where I'm living now (I'm just outside the totality region, but very close). Niagara Falls is probably going to be insane. I'm thinking maybe somewhere around Port Dover instead. But, since it's in April there is the risk of it just being cloudy, so maybe it would be better to travel farther.

Niagara Falls will be cloudy.

[oscar]

I watched the 2017 eclipse from a church parking lot in Chester, Illinois. It was threatening to storm, but the clouds cleared up right on time for totality. It started pouring buckets of rain as soon as totality was over, though.  Someone I knew went to the big event in Carbondale, and ended up getting stuck overnight on I-55 on the way back. My group took back roads until we got to I-39, and we got back to Madison that night.

For the 2024 eclipse, I'm undecided whether to stay close to where I'm living now (I'm just outside the totality region, but very close). Niagara Falls is probably going to be insane. I'm thinking maybe somewhere around Port Dover instead. But, since it's in April there is the risk of it just being cloudy, so maybe it would be better to travel farther.

If you live in or very close to the totality path, something to be said for staying close to home, letting the eclipse come to you, and hope for the best on weather.

[Greype523]

I saw the 2017 partial eclipse from a college parking lot in Tiffin, Ohio.

I'm hoping that the weather stays nice enough that I could see the totality from exact same spot in 2024!

[ilpt4u]

Considering I live very near Carbondale, was in the Totality path in 2017 and will be again in 2024

Neat how that works 

[NWI_Irish96]

My in-laws are in the path of totality so I imagine I'll go there. Not sure if I'll be able to get the kids out of school to take them with.

[triplemultiplex]

It's an educational field trip!  If their teachers are any good, they'd want your kids to go.

[CtrlAltDel]

My in-laws are in the path of totality so I imagine I'll go there. Not sure if I'll be able to get the kids out of school to take them with.

Just out of idle curiosity, what do you mean by "able"? Who's going to stop you if you just go?

[NWI_Irish96]

My in-laws are in the path of totality so I imagine I'll go there. Not sure if I'll be able to get the kids out of school to take them with.

Just out of idle curiosity, what do you mean by "able"? Who's going to stop you if you just go?

Unexcused absences count against a student's record.

[Jim]

Any school that counts something like that against a student needs to rethink their priorities.

[hotdogPi]

A few months ago, I emailed my state representative and state senator about several things I wanted passed, one of which would be to make eclipse day a legal day off. (Massachusetts is only a few hours drive from totality.) Neither one responded.

Side note: The 2023 annular eclipse is the same day as election day in Louisiana. People living there will have to choose whether to vote or to see the eclipse in Texas.

[ozarkman417]

My in-laws are in the path of totality so I imagine I'll go there. Not sure if I'll be able to get the kids out of school to take them with.

Just out of idle curiosity, what do you mean by "able"? Who's going to stop you if you just go?

Unexcused absences count against a student's record.

Living only two hours from totality, My parents took me out of school to see the 2017 Solar Eclipse (viewed at Westphalia, MO) as an unexcused absence. No lasting repercussions resulted from it. It could vary by district, but regardless, it's worth taking the kids out of school for.

For the next eclipse, I plan to view it atop a mountain (not sure which one yet) in Arkansas. I'll book a cabin or camp close to where I chose to view it.

[GaryV]

My in-laws are in the path of totality so I imagine I'll go there. Not sure if I'll be able to get the kids out of school to take them with.

Just out of idle curiosity, what do you mean by "able"? Who's going to stop you if you just go?

Unexcused absences count against a student's record.

The kids were sick, weren't they?

[Rothman]

My in-laws are in the path of totality so I imagine I'll go there. Not sure if I'll be able to get the kids out of school to take them with.

Just out of idle curiosity, what do you mean by "able"? Who's going to stop you if you just go?

Unexcused absences count against a student's record.

The kids were sick, weren't they?

My father took us kids up to Vermont to see a ring eclipse.  Pretty sure it still counted as excused.

With kids of my own, unexcused in their district only meant "without some sort of permission."

[CtrlAltDel]

My in-laws are in the path of totality so I imagine I'll go there. Not sure if I'll be able to get the kids out of school to take them with.

Just out of idle curiosity, what do you mean by "able"? Who's going to stop you if you just go?

Unexcused absences count against a student's record.

To what effect, though?

[NWI_Irish96]

My in-laws are in the path of totality so I imagine I'll go there. Not sure if I'll be able to get the kids out of school to take them with.

Just out of idle curiosity, what do you mean by "able"? Who's going to stop you if you just go?

Unexcused absences count against a student's record.

To what effect, though?

Unexcused absences are factored into things like scholarships and valedectorian/salutatorian selection. Our district has some very wealthy families and several years ago, some of them routinely took their kids out of school for vacations. The rules, that otherwise appear harsh, curbed that activity.

There's no actual disciplinary action until kids accumulate double digit unexcused absences.

[1995hoo]

I was born in Fort Hood and I've never been back, so the notion of going to that area (perhaps Copperas Cove, where we lived when I was born) has crossed my mind. Not sure whether that's feasible. I've had the notion of parking on the street and watching the eclipse from the sidewalk outside the house where we lived back then (if I do that, I might carry a copy of my birth certificate in case the present homeowner wonders why some random people with Virginia plates are out front).

[Scott5114]

My in-laws are in the path of totality so I imagine I'll go there. Not sure if I'll be able to get the kids out of school to take them with.

Just out of idle curiosity, what do you mean by "able"? Who's going to stop you if you just go?

Unexcused absences count against a student's record.

To what effect, though?

Unexcused absences are factored into things like scholarships and valedectorian/salutatorian selection. Our district has some very wealthy families and several years ago, some of them routinely took their kids out of school for vacations. The rules, that otherwise appear harsh, curbed that activity.

There's no actual disciplinary action until kids accumulate double digit unexcused absences.

At my school every six unexcused absences deducted 10 points from your semester grade. Absences of any sort also affected exemptions from finals; you were allowed 2 if you had an A average and 1 if you had a B, otherwise you had to take the test.

Everyone who graduated from my school is still relentlessly stupid, though, so it's kind of questionable what the whole point of the exercise was.

[Rothman]

There were no exemptions from finals in my high school

[jeffandnicole]

My in-laws are in the path of totality so I imagine I'll go there. Not sure if I'll be able to get the kids out of school to take them with.

Just out of idle curiosity, what do you mean by "able"? Who's going to stop you if you just go?

Unexcused absences count against a student's record.

The kids were sick, weren't they?

Schools aren't stupid.  They want doctors notes.  Parents have a zillion reasons to take their kids out of school and the schools have heard the sick excuse enough to know when they're real or not. 

When it comes to claiming their kids are sick, parents often forget they used the excuse that their kids are sick.  School teachers and officials...the same ones the parents friended with on social media...see them posting on social media when they're at the actual thing they're doing.  Or, when things turn bad, they have a car crash or someone actually gets sick far away from home.  And when they return, their kids are probably talking about it in school, forgetting what "illness" they had.

[skluth]

I lucked out for the 2017 eclipse as I watched just under two minutes of totality from my backyard in South St Louis County. I'd drive down to Cape Girardeau if I still lived in Missouri, but I now live in California which means I'll need to drive to at least Texas to watch the 2024 eclipse.

[formulanone]

My in-laws are in the path of totality so I imagine I'll go there. Not sure if I'll be able to get the kids out of school to take them with.

Just out of idle curiosity, what do you mean by "able"? Who's going to stop you if you just go?

Unexcused absences count against a student's record.

The kids were sick, weren't they?

Schools aren't stupid.  They want doctors notes.  Parents have a zillion reasons to take their kids out of school and the schools have heard the sick excuse enough to know when they're real or not. 

When it comes to claiming their kids are sick, parents often forget they used the excuse that their kids are sick.  School teachers and officials...the same ones the parents friended with on social media...see them posting on social media when they're at the actual thing they're doing.  Or, when things turn bad, they have a car crash or someone actually gets sick far away from home.  And when they return, their kids are probably talking about it in school, forgetting what "illness" they had.

Unless they're missing exams, standardized tests, or there's a major pattern of excessive truancy, most schools do not care what the reason a child will be out of school so as long as an adult calls it in. They'll call back the parents' numbers if they really feel suspicious but they're not exactly sending the principal out to check up on them.

Also, if you're under 18, you didn't see any of this.

[Rothman]

My in-laws are in the path of totality so I imagine I'll go there. Not sure if I'll be able to get the kids out of school to take them with.

Just out of idle curiosity, what do you mean by "able"? Who's going to stop you if you just go?

Unexcused absences count against a student's record.

The kids were sick, weren't they?

Schools aren't stupid.  They want doctors notes.  Parents have a zillion reasons to take their kids out of school and the schools have heard the sick excuse enough to know when they're real or not. 

When it comes to claiming their kids are sick, parents often forget they used the excuse that their kids are sick.  School teachers and officials...the same ones the parents friended with on social media...see them posting on social media when they're at the actual thing they're doing.  Or, when things turn bad, they have a car crash or someone actually gets sick far away from home.  And when they return, their kids are probably talking about it in school, forgetting what "illness" they had.

Heh.  This seems like an extreme example of schools prioritizing attendance above all else.  My experience has been that schools don't want to spend the resources chasing leads on fake excuses.  They let the consequences of the absence -- whether positive or negative -- lie with the student.

[hbelkins]

Side note: The 2023 annular eclipse is the same day as election day in Louisiana. People living there will have to choose whether to vote or to see the eclipse in Texas.

Two words: absentee ballots.