Hello All,
Noticed that after Friday afternoon posting were few and far between. Have ofices all over the place emptied early?
Could there have been a holiday?
WOW
I wasn't going to post this morning (Christmas morning to me as of the date on this post), I really,
really wasn't. But I couldn't let this one go by without comment, Wow.
Does your paper publish on Christmas Day?
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Those of us employed by Holy Mother Church work on many holidays. I celebrated mass for the Fourth Sunday of Advent this morning and will celebrate again this evening for the Eve of Christmas and again tomorrow for Christmas Day. To those who have "the day off" I wish a relaxed and peaceful holiday.
CapitalKiwi : Does your paper publish on Christmas Day?
No! We are reduced to watching CSpan or listening to radio to find out is anything hapened overnight.
Do your folk publish on Dec 25?
I took a short car ride this morning -- and streets were deserted . You could tell the house where children live -- lights were on! ONE store open the 7-11 where I picked up the "necessary" I'd forgotten : cream for the coffee! Suprisingly even at 8 a.m. it was pretty busy.
Are we at the computer because we have no kiddies at home?
wow
Wow states/asks: No! We are reduced to watching CSpan or listening to radio to find out is anything hapened overnight.
Do your folk publish on Dec 25?
I took a short car ride this morning -- and streets were deserted . You could tell the house where children live -- lights were on! ONE store open the 7-11 where I picked up the "necessary" I'd forgotten : cream for the coffee! Suprisingly even at 8 a.m. it was pretty busy.
Are we at the computer because we have no kiddies at home?
No, our papers figure there's no news in a fat man in an unlicensed sleigh being pulled by reindeer. It's happened before.
I'm taking the opportunity of a holiday to put a web site together. I'll be letting you all in on the url in due course ...
Good heavens--the Courier-Journal has published every
holiday in my lifetime, and probably before. There may have been one day, I can't recall for sure, that they didn't publish, due to some natural disaster or other.
Bother the news and the papers!
We have had two glorious days full of sunshine with hardly any wind. The Lakeladn Fells and the Pennines are topped with snow. Why waste all that by reading papers? The only news is disasters and unpleasant happenings, so I will put my head in the sand-bucket for a couple of days - time to catch up tomorrow.
Can't resist a peep at AWAD, though
Hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas day - and that Father Steve didn't find his work too onerous!
Happy St Stephen's day (as in "good King Wensilaus") or boxing day, as you will.
The weather in NY has been fine too, Friday, (Dec 22) we had just enough snow to make things pretty, with out making a mess-- and its been cold enough since then, that the trees and grass have keep their dusting of white, while the streets and walks are all clear and dry. It's been sunny, windy and crisp*.. temperature below freezing.. from about -1 c. during the day to about -5c. at night (30 f to 15 f)
But forgo my daily dose of the NY Times? its bad enough the delivery is late.. since the NY Times standard is before 7 am weekdays, but as late as 10 AM on sunday's and holidays... I am forced to have my first and only cup of coffee with a fresh crossword puzzle to do!
* I guess some might think these cold a bit more than crisp-- but i love weather like this. this was my wedding aniversary-- and my wedding day had the same weather-- except the snow was newer, having fallen late on christmas.. just enough to make everything dusted white, not enough to mess up shoes..
I'm with you on this one Of Troy. We are knee deep in snow here in Montréal and I love it. I love shoveling and cleaning off the cars and scraping the ice off the windshield. I love the bite of the wind on your face as you walk outside, and wearing heavy turtleneck sweaters, big floofy coats, scarves and hats and mittens. Ahhh, life is wonderful
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In reply to:
I'm with you on this one Of Troy. We are knee deep in snow here in Montréal and I love it.
I hate the cold! I spent Christmas Day on a beach in temperatures between 35º and 40º Celsius, and loved that!
belMarduk
I love the bite of the wind on your face as you walk outside, and wearing heavy turtleneck sweaters, big floofy coats, scarves and hats and mittens
I loved winter when I was young. Nowadays it looks great through the picture window but it loses its charms when I have to go out into it! Age does have some downsides!
wow
>just enough snow to make things pretty, with out making a mess-- and its been cold enough since then, that the trees and grass have keep their dusting of white, while the streets and walks are all clear and dry. It's been sunny, windy and crisp*.. temperature below freezing.. from about -1 c. during the day to about -5c. at night (30 f to 15 f)
Thanks for the weather report (and bilingual too)! I'm just packing our bags (I prefer posting to packing!) for my trip to NY then DC, I saw some presidential meeting in DC with snow in the background a few days ago, so unless I hear otherwise I'll pack my thermals!
I'm around until tonight, then in the air, subject to snow, ice on runways etc etc. All the best for hogmanay! Drink a wee dram for me! Don't forget to get a tall dark handsome stranger to bring in the coal and the whisky! I'll be looking for one in New York - do they have coal???
Well out here in Australia I'm down on Latitude 19 south on the Coral Sea and, take my word for it,
it's HOT and humid. Pity the poor fellow dressed in red with the Children sitting on his knee :-)
It was about 90 in the shade with the humidity about the same this year. Makes one smile to hear
"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" being played.
Darryl,Australia.
Its been ages and ages since i have seen a coal truck--My childrens elementary school still used coal when they started school, but very, very few building still do-- EPA-clean air regulations, all that. Con Edison, our local utility does have some coal fired utility plants in the city, but with fancy scrubbers on the stacks.
Manhattan is strange-- Con Edison sell steam as well as electricity and gas-- and there are steam pipes all about manhattan. If you have ever seen a movie scene in NY, with steamy clouds-- well its real, there are some steam vents in the streets. More, than that though, the streets and sidewalks of manhattan tend to have snow melt very rapidly--since there is so much underground, subways, steam pipes, sewers, chases for electrical and telephone service...there is not as much under ground as there is above, but there is more underground than many cities have above..all of which means, the ground is warmer.
But do pack your thermals-- the news of the day is a big storm system that is expected on saturday (dec 29th) with 6 inches of snow if we are lucky, and an ice storm if we are unlucky.
Winter wonder lovers
There was a day (up to about my 14th year) when I liked cold weather and snow, but no more. Now my ideal is a light snowfall (no more than 2 inches) which is pretty and makes everything look like a Christmas card, and then warm up so it melts after a day and no more for the rest of the winter. Of course, that doesn't happen around here. So now, after the end of November, I start singing Ezra Pound's immortal winter anthem, "Winter is icumen in, lhude sing goddam."
Jo, definitely bring your thermals, mittens and a scarf and remember - you are never too old to make snow angels.
When the central campus of Washington State University was laid out in Pullman, Washington, USA, the architects had a brilliant idea. As the winters are severe, they designed a network of steam pipes which run in tunnels underneath all of the sidewalks on campus. The tunnels are large and used to house all manner of "civil defense" provisions, for use in the event of nuclear attack. Why anyone would want to drop an A-bomb on the wheat fields of Pullman is unclear. To this day, when the temperature drops to sub-zero ranges and the snow drifts are so high as to require some buiding entrances to be "dug out" before classes can begin, the sidewalks remain bare and wet, because of the steam heat.
I think the thoroughfares in Reyjavik, Iceland have a similar setup. Don't they channel water from thermal springs beneath their streets to avoid a buildup of snow and ice?
Hi! You may just beat the storm into NYC. A pal o'mine lives in an old NYCity building with working fireplaces that burn coal ... so indeed it is available in the Big Apple.... where? .... check the Yellow Pages.
Have a great time and stay warm
wow
Wright State University in Dayton actually has tunnels connecting all of the buildings so no one needs to go outside in the middle of winter. They can just go from the dorms to their classes via the tunnels.
they might well Doug-- its just NY (Con Edison) has the highest kilowatt hour rate for utilities in the US-- those of us who live in the hinderlands of the city are often left buried in the snow-- paying through the nose for utilities that melt the street snow in city core--
NY steam tunnels are not accessable, and are a hazzard-- most of the pipes are at least somewhat insulated with asbestos-- there was a big steam pipe explosion about 10 years ago, and hundred of people in grammercy park area were dislocated-- for almost a year! while CE did a clean up--
seem many vistiter or potential visitors are afraid of crime-- crime is not an issue-- i am out all hours, coming home from theater or this week holiday parties,taking public transportation, or out and about walking, and i am never afraid of crime-. what i worry about is--will the subway be running? or will there be a watermain break or an emergency or a minor derailment--(no one hurt, but service delays of hours) or a fire an industrial area that is close enough to the tracks (elevated trains) that service is off? or will i end up with a flat from a pot hole?
There are not everyday occurances, but i have never once been mugged or robbed, but i have used up all my fingers and most of my toes for the number of times i have been stuck 3 or more hours because of --fire on tracks, derailment, floods-- these are the real dangers! I have never been "involved" just inconvienced!
My daughter thinks people are insane to live in CA-- and risk earthquakes, or OK and risk tornadoes..FL and risk hurricanes, but she fail to every think about all the things that go wrong here!
Jazz, three cheers for Wright State. That is absolutely brilliant. No need to slog aroung boots and coats to all your classes.
Our downtown core has one of the most extensive underground cities in the world - all joined by the Metro (underground train) system. There are some people that never need set a foot out of doors in the winter - grocery stores, department stores, indoor rinks, movie theaters, health clinics, pharmacies, sports stadiums et al are all interconnected by Metro.
Helen says My daughter thinks people are insane to live in CA-- and risk earthquakes, or OK and risk tornadoes..FL and risk hurricanes, but she fail to every think about all the things that go wrong here!
I live in a suburb of Hutt City which is on what are known as "the Western Hills". The hills rise almost sheer from the valley floor. The western edge of the valley is the main western Pacific rim fault line. Our house fronts on to a steep valley which represents another major fault. The building that my firm is located in straddles the main fault in Wellington City.
We've learned to sleep through small earthquakes.
I sometimes think that Californians are the sane ones ...
My Dear, I'm not sure what time zone you're in, but it should be just about the turn of midnight for you. We said we'd be with you, so Happy New Year, and I hope you can get off work soon, and really celebrate!