h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Yep, today *was* beastly to get around in. I slipped on the ice on my front steps. After I got in my car, it was okay.

You might wonder why I continue to live in Massachusetts when I dislike winter so. I'm just plain too stubborn to move. Too stubborn for my own good. I find ways of coping, and some of them are pretty good. Then, when early Spring comes, I feel so much more wonderful than I would if I lived where it was always warm and pleasant.

I threatend to "doctor" the sign we have up.

I want to see pictures

Shea, did you change the sign to read
"Let it snow doctors"?

Yeah, that's exactly what I did.

Tuesday, December 16th 2003, 15.50

Another cold front came though last night - it's been kinda chilly out there in the stiff breeze that's been blowing all day, even though the sun is out. Currently 56ºF (13ºC), but the wind chill must be knocking a good 10º off that. It must be cold - Dewey's shown little interest in venturing out today.

It's forecast to get down to freezing tonight here in town, which means it'll drop well below that in rural areas - I've heard figures mentioned of mid to low 20s F (-3 to -6C), but it still manages to climb up to the 60s during the day unless that wind is blowing!

cold??!

16-12-03, 17.10 34ºF/1ºC
i can't tell you what the wind chill is, but i know it's fricking cold because i just spent an hour and a half outside in it.

i'm off to make myself some hot chocolate.

Well, it feels cold to me, but my blood has been thinned by four years of balmy Texas winters

Warm and damp in Perthshire Wednesday morning. Rained most of yesterday too and 5C.

NOT the sort of weather I want for Christmas. Only a week to go and not a hint of snow.

*Dreams: with 2 weeks off work I expect to be snowed in, so that I can run around the garden making snowmen and throwing snowballs at the neighbours, then go inside and cuddle up in front of the fire with a hot toddy and a crumpet.*

Fat chance...


F/b

Don't forget to make snow s Austin had a day like that yesterday but without the snow - one of those days where you have to wrap up tight if you go out, and you're damn happy to get back indoors for a nice cup of We really have to get some wood for the fireplace Gawd knows where we're gonna keep it though. You can buy a tiny handful of logs at the supermarket for around $2.50, but they wouldn't even keep the fire going for an evening. If you want to get wood at a decent price you need to buy a cord (Lady Scott knows all about those ), or a half or quarter thereof.

It's 36ºF right now (07.30) which is probably the night's minimum. Clear sky. Forecast to make the mid 60s by this afternoon.

Yes, I know far too much about cords of wood.

Do you have anyplace you could store wood at all? A patio, maybe? If you can find someone to bring you a pick-up load, that's only about 1/2 or 2/3 of a cord, which shouldn't be too difficult to store - if you happen to have a patio or back porch, or some kind of outdoor area where you can store it.

...And it's rainy and foggy here. () They're calling for it to switch over to snow showers this afternoon, with less than an inch of accumulation, though.

Well, the other day, we had several inches of white, fluffy stuff. Last night it was spitting rain, and today, the sidewalks are icy and it is so mild that the snow is well on its way to gone.

Perhaps this should go into the "Why do...." thread... But.... "Why do" car manufacturers make windshield wipers that have only three speeds....

Intermittent: too slow to keep up with a light drizzle or too fast to keep up with a light drizzle and end up making a horrible squawking sound on the windshield.

Slow: Never fast enough to take care of a heavy rain and too fast for a light rain which is too heavy to deal with using the intermittent.

Fast: So fast that you can't see out the window for the blurr of wipers..... and YET, not fast enough to deal with a deluge.

Why, in the name of all that is holy, do they not make wipers that you can adjust to a speed which matches your needs????????

At least the Toyota Corolla has a washer fluid tank which holds a whole container of fluid. Here, we go thru a lot of antifreeze because the salt and sand kicked up by cars in front of you coats the windscreen and dries instantly to a crusty film unless you keep washing down the screen. If you have the wipers going too fast, it only makes things worse. Too slow and you can't see out for the yet-to-be-dried film.....

We do have a patio (I calls it a balcony), but the apartment complex people are very strict about what you're allowed to have on it - plants, bicycles, and patio furniture are pretty much the only items. It's a policy I'm in agreement with having seen some of the junk that piles up on the balconies of other apt complexes. It would be nice if they could relax the rules during the winter to allow firewood, but they're probably too scared of a fire risk and any ensuing lawsuits There's an enclosed storage space at the end of the balcony, but it's full of boxes of stuff we haven;t found anywhere to store in the apartment (like my LPs), and our eBay shipping supplies - boxes, bubble wrap, packing peanuts, so no room for firewood there either.

The only place I could think of would be on the hearth itself, but we wouldn't be able to fit much there - it's five or six feet long and comes out about 18" from the wall, but the fireplace itself is about three feet wide, so there's only a foot or so on each side where wood could be stacked. Remind me again how big a cord is?

"Ensuing lawsuits"

That's a great phrase, Gosho.

Oh gorblimey, I made a pun

My most heartfelt condolences on you inadventent pun, Gosho. (*giggle*)

A Cord is a stack 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet... Obviously far too much for you to stack by your fireplace.

What do other people in the complex who have fireplaces do? Is there any chance there would be a couple others who would be willing to split 1/2 cord with you? It doesn't sound like you have room to store much wood at all. They make metal firewood holders that could accomodate as much as 1/2 cord, but you'd still need someplace inside to store this stuff. Or maybe you just need to clean out the storage room on the "balcony" for the winter, and use that.

I thought you said something, somewhere, about Mrs Gosho's father or someone having wood... Back when we had a fireplace (we lived in the basement apartment of someone's house), we used to bring carloads of wood back from Lord Scott's Mom's place to use in our fireplace. Of course, I think we had a big station wagon at the time, but it wasn't like we filled the back end *completely* with wood. I'd think if you just filled the trunk of your car with wood it would be enough to give you a few cozy fires, if you can get the wood to burn slowly enough.

This may help you Gosho....

http://www.jwiwood.com/faq/cord.html

Perhaps if you sneal about quietly in the dead of night and help yourself to bits of fencing in your beighbourhood, it would eliminate the need for storing wood at all.....

Bloody 'ell.... sneak about....

in your beighbourhood??????

I should just stop now.