Brrr! It's cold!

This was the winning photo from the Milwaukee Moments Photo Contest hosted by The Milwaukee Press Club. Very cool shot! Photographer: Terry O'Neill

Unbelievable is the only word to describe what happened yesterday. We went from 43 degrees to 4 degrees in a matter of a couple of hours. In less than 24 hours almost all of the snow melted - I was amazed when I went outside on Tuesday morning to find the driveway, patio and backyard almost completely clear of snow. Then at about 1pm the sky turned gray and it began to rain. The rain turned to tapioca (large pearl) size hail around 4pm and then the wind started up. Yesterday was Milwaukee's 162nd birthday and The Milwaukee Press Club hosted a birthday party at The Pfister Hotel from 5:30pm - 8pm. I almost didn't go due to the weather, but then thought "c'mon this is Wisconsin, we can handle a little wintery weather" and sure enough it wasn't that bad. I was expecting something ridiculous and it was just fine. Sometimes the media drives people crazy - they talked about 1-3" of snow and white-out conditions and there was nothing of the sort. The hail made things a bit slippery, but the salt trucks had been out and did a good job of nipping that. The party was fun and well attended. It was nice to run into some old friends and continue networking for the new biz.





Now today is different - it's downright cold! Even little Bailey was hesitant about going outside. I forced her because there are just some things that have to be done. She wasn't happy, but at least she was quick! I attended a luncheon at The Newsroom Pub hosted by The Milwaukee Press Club. The speaker was Carlos Santiago, chancellor at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He has acquired $125 million in private money for the school and has great plans for a new engineering campus and research facility perhaps here in Wauwatosa at the Milwaukee County Grounds near the Medical complex. I was very impressed with his candor and wit. He's a real asset to Milwaukee and understands the need for the community and businesses to partner with the school to encourage entreprenuerism and innovation. 22,000 students that attend UWM are Wisconsin kids and we desperately need these people to stay and flourish in Milwaukee after they graduate. We're a bit behind Madison and far behind Minneapolis in the whole "brain drain" syndrome. I am happy I attended the luncheon and learned quite a bit - gotta keep the positive vibe in the Mil!