alright can anyone beat this............

[seedjar]

Well it's only a 20-year low around here. I've been enjoying it, more or less. Today I'm the only one at work (hooray, I'm in charge!) and campus will be closing early, so I don't even have to stay past dark.
Finch, your story is horrifying. I'm really glad to hear you're alright. If I were in your position, I would file a formal complaint against your school - that's beyond dangerous, and totally unacceptable for an institution that offers housing. There should be failsafes in place to prevent that type of thing from happening. Where were the campus police while all that was happening?
I managed to get my D. binata and capensis divisions out of my yard a day before the snow started - they'll be staying in my friend's garage with a few shoplights for the Winter. Hopefully, the snow will pile up enough to keep my temperate plants sheltered. I didn't manage to rake, so I'll have a nice mess of crumbly leaves to clean up once everything thaws. And, my firewood pile got soaked in the last batch of rains. A humongous rat has also decided to shelter itself in my kitchen cabinets... So far I'm down three $15 bags of chinchilla chow and about a half a dozen pieces of fruit.
Winter seems like a lot more work than it was when I was a kid.
~Joe

 

[Its_a_friday]

10 years ago it would usually go down to -7 F, but in recent years it rarely dips below 20F

 

[Finch]

Finch, your story is horrifying. I'm really glad to hear you're alright. If I were in your position, I would file a formal complaint against your school - that's beyond dangerous, and totally unacceptable for an institution that offers housing. There should be failsafes in place to prevent that type of thing from happening. Where were the campus police while all that was happening?

The police? Inside, there was absolutely no-one anywhere. I have taken it up with the person in charge of housing, for sure. I almost feel as if it was partially my fault, not bringing the keys. I should always have them just in case. But still, yeah, I might do that yet.

I also decided not to tell my parents how bad it really was for me. They have enough on their plates already, and this is one case where they are better off not knowing. They would absolutely freak out about it.

 

[seedjar]

I would go over your housing office on this one. This is something that needs to go to the campus safety board or whatever - possibly even the deans. This kind of accident is the result of bad policy and poor oversight; it's the housing director's job specifically to make sure this stuff never happens. Yes, you should've had your keys, but that doesn't excuse their negligence. You may have noticed that college students are, on a whole, idiots - forgetting keys should be a given for campus residents. Especially in a place like South Dakota, where that can be a deadly mistake, authorities should be planning for it to happen.
It's probably kind of you to not spring this type of thing on your parents until they have time to deal with it. But, if you don't get anywhere with your complaints, do get them involved. You're smart and you did your best to stay safe. (Besides putting yourself in the situation to begin with.) But what if you had been drunk, or sick, or upset after a fight with your roommates? Someone with less presence of mind could have easily died in your situation, and that's a serious problem.
~Joe