Thursday, January 04, 2018

10th Day of Christmas


11 comments:

  1. listener--so the plowperson plows your driveway too? That didn't occur to me.

    Alan

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    1. If one had enough winter this[Click] would be a nice addition to the garage, no?

      —Alan

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    2. LOL, Alan! The things we take for granted! I should have explained that better for those who live in warm climes.

      No, no, the guys who plow the roads do not plow my driveway (think dump truck with plow on front, only more fortified). Those guys work for the town or state and work really hard.

      The guy who plows my driveway has a large pickup truck (and I wish it were a small pickup truck), to even fit down my driveway. He has a day job and comes by to plow, off hours. Actually, he is contracted by the guy we made the deal with, who owns the local auto repair shop.

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  2. Reading about the snow storm and coming cold snap, it occurs to me that I will be in Boston a week from tonight. I hope the cold has lifted by then. My hotel roommate and I decided to take $20/day in restaurant coupons in return for staying at a hotel 2 blocks from the one the convention is in. If daytime temps are in the upper 40s, as they were last year, we can get by without having to find some place to leave a jacket. But if things next weekend are like this weekend ....

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    1. Alan, it'll likely be mid-30's and messy on Saturday (snow to rain).

      https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/us/ma/boston?cm_ven=localwx_10day

      Up here, though, it might hit 20F.

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    2. I should add that when there is snow on the ground, the air feels colder than the air temp.

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  3. listener—your account of barbecuing hamburgers at +20F reminded me of this:

    Reminiscences of an abandoned Siberian coal mining town.[Click] Kadykchan was a town full of young people, where the distance and the extreme climate brought people together.
    “I always loved those winter evenings when the temperature rose to -30C [-22F], and it felt warm enough for everyone to come out for a walk on our main pedestrian street – we called it Broadway.”

    Cold weather there was about like Fairbanks—sixty below zero F, so the article says…

    —Alan

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    1. Nanook of the North stories!

      I hear you, puddle! Stillness makes ALL the difference!!

      We have 6+" and the wind is supposed to pick up overnight.
      High on Friday expected to be 1F. On Saturday the high will be -8F.

      Boston got more snow. A foot, I think. It won't all melt before you get there.

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  4. The NH House has given preliminary approval to allowing parents to use public funds for private or home schooling. It amounts to about $3000 per child per year.
    While it would have been AMAZING to have such fundage while we were home schooling, I would have opposed the move for two vital reasons. It would mean the state could tell me how to use it, and it could take enough money from public schools that they are unsustainable. And, d'y'know what? I want an educated populace!

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  5. Also today, the Vermont House passed legislation that would legalise recreational marijuana in Vermont. It is expected to pass in the Senate and Governor Scott has already said he will sign it.
    While I'm not particularly in favour of recreational marijuana (other than the right), I think it's excellent timing, and very commendable of Vermont, given the Attorney General's actions on this same day.

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    1. One does wonder what the AG is smoking...

      Alan

      P.S.: I do not think that THC concentrates should be legal--those are in fact dangerous, and can cause serious driving problems. Plain old MJ? Barely detectable effects on driving, well within the range of several over the counter medicines. No increase in crash risk detectable in statistics or in behind the wheel experiments. I expected that when the day came that we could measure THC in blood we would be able to establish a per se MJ DUI level, as with alcohol. Nope. I've been following the literature on THC and driving for nearly fifty years, and it is consistent--hardly any detectable effects at all, and those not rising to the level of DUI. Lane excursions only when combined with alcohol. (For most people MJ plus alcohol is intoxicating.)

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