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[Jabberwonky]

It just hit me today - apropos of nothing at all, and of absolutely no significance - Prince Charles is his own second cousin once removed.

No - wait - he's his own THIRD cousin.

So, legally--he CAN go @#$% himself?

Millions in Ireland and Scotland are delighted!

Beat me to it...

[lake_wrangler]

Meanwhile, our snow has not finished melting...

Lazy snow.

Snow?... What is this "Snow" stuff you're talking about?


we had MAYBE 2 days worth of snow here in Federal Way (between Seattle and Tacoma, WA...

And we still have snow...
Though it is slowly melting away... it doesn't help, that the temperatures have been oscillating between 50°F one day, and 28°F the next...


So what's snow, you ask? Let me tell ya:


Snow is just a bunch of little water droplets that took advantage of the cold temperatures to change their appearance to make themselves look more fearsome. But it's all a trick, I tell ya! A trick!

Taken just a few at a time, they will simply melt in your hands. But get enough of them together, and they can really mess things up for you...


In fact, snow tends to be quite well organized. So much so, that they even have their own banking system... It's so popular and widespread, that you will in fact find a snow bank at the edge of all major parking lots in the city...
(Yes, that's the trailer to an 18-wheeler, which should give you an idea of the size of the snow bank...)






Although I wouldn't trust my savings to any snow bank... I'd be afraid of seeing my savings melt away like... well... like, snow in the sun...


When we get enough snow, people will go to great lengths to get rid of it, or at least to contain it, manage it, and cart it away if possible...















I was thinking about this, and I think that the snow is actually playing dirty politics... And it's giving it more staying power... When the snow starts melting, the dirt stays at the top and forms a crust, which then makes it harder for the rest of the snow below it to melt...









But that's OK. It will melt, eventually...



But fret not! All is not bleak! Snow is also capable of creating some lovely scenes:







And every year, there are more and more people who choose to make sport of the snow, who laugh in the face of it, and who won't let it stop them from going on their merry lives, determined as they are to not give the snow the satisfaction of thinking it might have slowed them down.




Here's one of my better frozen beard photos. I particularly like this one, because it's not just a mass of frozen stuff, but you can see each hair individually frosted over...



Some will even go as far as organizing rides as a statement to the fact that winter bicycling is easy, and within reach of anyone who cares to try.










See anyone familiar, at the left?



"Some people" will even go as far as going on day treks just for the fun of it...






On that day, I got the chance to ride on the snow's not so distant cousin, ice. Specifically, an ice bridge. The place where, in the summer, runs a ferry, serves as a bridge, once the river freezes over. It was fun to rid on, particularly with my studded tires.



All in all, I can't complain, nor am I. I enjoy the winter. I always have. When I lived in Toronto, I actually missed the snow. They don't really know what snow is, there... their snow removal method consists of shoving it to the side of the streets, and letting it melt, which it does in just a few days. One year, they had just a little too much snow to melt away like that, and they had to call in the Canadian army to help them out! (I, as a Québécois, was laughing my butt off! )

Winter biking allows me a regular form of exercise throughout the week, and it's actually rather fun...
It also helps prepare me for my bicycle touring trips during the summer.

Meanwhile, I hear that Spring is actually coming, some time soon... Sure, we've had three or four days of snowfall, during the last two weeks, but it looks like the thermometer should stay above freezing, for the foreseeable future.

Time to get ready for my summer bike trips!

[GlytchMeister]

A lot of residents or natives of northern US states laugh at the feeble resistance southern states offer against their little snow falls.

I used to live in Tennessee. I am a native of the Chicago area. One day in TN, something like an inch of snow was forecasted, and the whole state basically shut down.
No snow fell, but everything was closed anyway.
My family and I still joke about that. We also like to make fun of how southern states can't seem to deal with ice storms, and how they have to put up signs telling people that bridges ice before roadways, where that's common knowledge up here.
Another time, Dad was up in Alaska in the dead of winter, and met a trucker from Alabama. Said trucker got out of his truck, jumped and yelped, and scrambled back into his truck. Dad, laughing, knocked on the trucker's window and asked what was wrong.
Trucker cracked his window and shouted "PEOPLE LIVE HERE?"
"Well, yeah!" Dad replied.
"ON PURPOSE?"
(Rimshot)

[lake_wrangler]

We also know about bridges freezing first, but we still have signs to remind people of the fact.
Maybe so any southern visitors might know?
Nah... I find that drivers, generally speaking, tend to forget a lot of stuff. Reminders such as this are par for the course...

[GlytchMeister]

If that's the case, I guess Illinois just doesn't put up the signs so some politician (coughmobbosscough) can afford a better Ferrari.

I'm so going to get sniped by a Sicilian soon.
(Drops a box of rifle ammo into the alliteration amphora)

[TazManiac]

Page FIFTY!

[AnotherFairportfan]

Wow - Comcast is only the second-most-hated company in the US, according to The Fiscal Times.

=================

CORRECTION: Comcast is third-most hated.

[GlytchMeister]

Apparently Comcast is revamping it's customer service. Bear in mind, however, that some dude had to move out of a house he just bought because Comcast straight-up lied to him. And this happened after comcast supposedly started to improve themselves.

[Catawampus]

A lot of residents or natives of northern US states laugh at the feeble resistance southern states offer against their little snow falls.

It's less a matter of comparing snowfall amounts, and more a matter of comparing systems in place to deal with snowfall. One place may get only half the snow, but if that same place doesn't have the same resources in snowplows and action plans and whatever, then that smaller amount of snow is going to cause a larger problem.

Sort of like how people in the northern parts of Europe and North America get all into a panic when the temperatures get to levels that people further south don't even think worth mentioning.

[GlytchMeister]

A lot of residents or natives of northern US states laugh at the feeble resistance southern states offer against their little snow falls.

It's less a matter of comparing snowfall amounts, and more a matter of comparing systems in place to deal with snowfall. One place may get only half the snow, but if that same place doesn't have the same resources in snowplows and action plans and whatever, then that smaller amount of snow is going to cause a larger problem.

Sort of like how people in the northern parts of Europe and North America get all into a panic when the temperatures get to levels that people further south don't even think worth mentioning.

That... That was a fairly solid shutdown. I hadn't thought of it that way. Huh. I suppose Pheonix does get 110+°F temperatures pretty often compared to even central and southern Illinois. I wouldn't know what to think if it was that hot out. I start complaining when it hits 85°F when it's humid. At 100°F, I just don't go outside unless it's to get into a pool.

[AnotherFairportfan]

Also, the one time that someone lost control in a Georgia snow and tapped my car (and then slid backward off the road and down an embankment), he was from Illinois or Indiana, and he said he used to laugh at the news footage of people down here slipping and sliding - what the new readers don't tell you (may not even know) is that in the majority of cases where we have snow accumulations here in Georgia there's an eighth of an inch or so of ice under it, because the earliest snowfall melts and refreezes before the surface is cold enough for actual snow accumulation.

And a sheet of ice under snow is worse than just ice or just snow. Especially if you don't know about it.

[GlytchMeister]

Yup. I can understand that. Here, the ground tends to be nice and cold by the time snow accumulates enough to cause problems.

I remember getting off the bus in middle school and trying to get home with half an inch of clear ice on the ground. Keep in mind that my house was on a hill, and my bus stop was on another hill.
I slid down the road on my rear, crawled across the couldesac (or however you spell it), and tried to make my way up my driveway. I eventually had to find a stick and beat quarter-sized holes in the ice so my shoes could get grip.

The next day, I convinced my mom to invest in yaktrax. And they are awesome. I can navigate ice with impunity now. So cool.

[Typeminer]

And a sheet of ice under snow is worse than just ice or just snow. Especially if you don't know about it.

Quite true. When it is well below freezing and the road surface is cold, you can get some traction in the snow. But glare ice and thin icy coatings at temperatures just below freezing give you no traction at all, unless you have chains or studded tires, and practice doesn't help a lot. Much more treacherous than driving in snow.

[lake_wrangler]

In early January, we had several days of thaw and refreeze cycles, which made for sheets of ice below the next few snowfalls. It was a mess, even for here. The smaller roads kept much of their broken (by plows) sheets of ice for a long time... I was quite glad to be able to afford buying studded bicycle tires, this year. It made a HUGE difference!


Incidentally, most of our snow is now melted, except for a few recalcitrant snow banks. This week also marks the first time where the overnight low is above freezing (around 2°C - 35°F), and our daytime high will be consistently above 10° C (50°F). Today, it was actually 22°C (71.6°F)!

[scantrontb]

Apparently Comcast is revamping it's customer service. Bear in mind, however, that some dude had to move out of a house he just bought because Comcast straight-up lied to him. And this happened after comcast supposedly started to improve themselves.

huh?? why in the heck would somebody have to MOVE, just because he couldn't get Cable TV or internet? i mean, sure he probably has a case for a lawsuit, but being FORCED to MOVE?? what are the circumstances behind that story?, could you provide a link to an article, maybe?

[Atomic]

Man Forced to Sell His New House Because Comcast Lied to Him

He found his dream house, and moved in based on Comcast telling him internet service would be available. He needs it for his job.

[GlytchMeister]

Apparently Comcast is revamping it's customer service. Bear in mind, however, that some dude had to move out of a house he just bought because Comcast straight-up lied to him. And this happened after comcast supposedly started to improve themselves.

huh?? why in the heck would somebody have to MOVE, just because he couldn't get Cable TV or internet? i mean, sure he probably has a case for a lawsuit, but being FORCED to MOVE?? what are the circumstances behind that story?, could you provide a link to an article, maybe?

I'll do you one better.
Here's several articles.

[shadowinthelight]

Dammit, Atomic. I was in the middle of typing up a guess of exactly that.

[GlytchMeister]

Dammit, Atomic. I was in the middle of typing up a guess of exactly that.

I got ninja'd. I didn't even get the warning that new posts had been made and the chance to review before submitting.

[Jabberwonky]

It's less a matter of comparing snowfall amounts, and more a matter of comparing systems in place to deal with snowfall.

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