Good things about the bad weather this winter...

woodstock

woodstock

Final Approach
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I haven't spent money like a drunken sailor. I use my CC for everything and pay it off when the bill comes. It's well over 1500 bucks lighter than usual.

Kitties love that I am indoors with them most days for long periods of time.

I finished my "France with my Dad" blog piece.

Since most people are also working from home, the workload has been a lot lighter this week.

Digging out Sunday was kind of fun b/c it was like a little party with the neighbors outside too. Literally weeks if not a month can go by before I see them and I saw the ones on either side of me on Sunday - the guys took turns helping me dig out, too. I made them cookies.

Friday I'm heading to Hilton Head for the wkd, and all this snow will make it seem that much sweeter to go away for a few days.
 
Sounds like a great weekend. Wednesday I'm going skiing. Lost Valley has Friends Day on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Bring a friend, buy one all-day lift ticket, and the friend skis FREE. Good deal! (and not many kids there on weekdays)

HR
 
Sounds like a very good weekend! I will be heading to L.A. Saturday to spend some time out there. Should be nice and fun; if it doesn't rain any more.

~Holton
 
Hey, that's where I'm going! L.A. for skiing(except my L.A. is Lewiston-Auburn).

:eek:) HR

By the way, Congratulations on the Super Bowl. I was just screaming when #22 gave it the coup de grace, especially remembering what happened
to our Patriots in the last 34 seconds of their demise.
 
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Always looking on the bright side!

Snow storms do make for a nice break every now and then... provided they don't take out your power in the process.

We were supposed to get a bunch of snow overnight, so I parked my truck at the top of the driveway to make sure I could get to work. Come out this morning and there's a whopping 2" of snow. What?! I feel jipped. At least the snow came off easily enough with the wipers that I didn't need to pull out the scraper. :)

Oh, and the snow better be gone by the weekend - that's when I have real things to get done!
 
Getting a bit tiresome battling the drifts around the homestead but the cross-country skiing has been great. Did my first race last weekend and it was a blast! It was on a very hilly and curvy course and I have to say I had as much fun as I've ever had alpine skiing. The more snow we get the longer my ski season will be!
 
My wife and I were just discussing the future of America, and how -- over the course of the next 200 years -- only stupid people will be left North of the snow line, and all the smart people will have migrated to places where humans can exist without exotic life-support systems, like gas-powered furnaces, etc.

Then I read your post, and realized...

...that you're nuts! :D

Just kidding, of course. Winter has its own charm, and a big snowstorm is always strangely fun. However, after 51 winters, most of them spent in Wisconsin (where your "Snowmageddon" wouldn't have rated more than a yawn) I am MORE than ready to be done with them.
 
Actually, I despise winter - absolutely despise it - but, my job is here and my friends too. At some point I will be spending winters in my house in SC, and frankly that date is going to be sooner rather than later (i.e. I'm not going to wait to retire to do so). I'm not sure I'm on board yet with moving to the south permanently (too many advantages to living near DC) but I'd surely welcome no more winters.

I'm just trying to look on the bright side of life...
 
Well, we finally got a good snow. Wish I had skis for the 170! Instead, we're going to U.P. this weekend for some snoeshoeing. We usuelly cross-country ski, but my Wife broke her foot last October and isn't quite ready to ski yet. We enjoy our Winter!
 
Someone in New England that was giving me some lip earlier in the week about DC being wimps was leaving the office at 1 today. Seems that they are going to get about 8 inches. With nothing already on the ground.

Who's the wimp now? :D
 
All the people I know personally who moved to warmer climates became vapid. I don't want to be like that, so I'll tough it out in the cold. I purchase warm clothing.

I can't stand the thought of living where it doesn't get cold enough to kill off the bugs.
 
And apparently the folks in Texas don't have anything to speak about today, either.
 
steingar said:
All the people I know personally who moved to warmer climates became vapid. I don't want to be like that, so I'll tough it out in the cold. I purchase warm clothing.

I can't stand the thought of living where it doesn't get cold enough to kill off the bugs.
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Is it because time moves more slowly? No hassles, no pressures...
 
I never thought I would say this, but....

I miss snow.

It's just cold here. Keep in mind cold is relative. In south Florida cold is 50 degrees which is where we are hovering right now. If I'm cold and have to put on 2-3 layers I want some snow to have fun with.

I can't remember the last time I used my 4WD. Guess I need to find a dirt road.
 
I have lived in sunny southern Kalifornia and just did not like it without the change of seasons. Sitting in an outside hottub on Christmas eve did it for me. I'm a cold country boy and I love the change of seasons. There is just something special about watching spring, wildlife returning year after year to nest in the same place, spring planting, spring baby animals, etc. Without the dead of winter there could not be the renewal of spring, and ........ good flying weather.

I love cutting firewood in the dead of winter, running a chain saw, splitter, tractor, etc. Pack a lunch and make a day of it, all by myself.

Tracking game in the snow, identifying tracks, and tracking animals from the air is really fun also!

Putting up bird feeders and seeing what birds stick around all winter.

Hate winter? Despise it? Life is too short for that. Get out there and enjoy it! Of course, the proper gear is pretty important, but most important of all is attitude.
 
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I'm getting pretty sick of winter too. It's OK for Christmas, but after that, it can go away. Jan and Feb are the worst months! :mad3:


But the air is ssooooooooo smmooooooooothhhhh in the winter!
 
HeatherCFI said:
But the air is ssooooooooo smmooooooooothhhhh in the winter!
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Bumpier than a solid tired bike on a cobblestone alley from surface to 9,500 today!

Took the t-Dak up for a test flight after working on the electric trim (darn avionics shop crossed two wires when changing a connector and followed that with being unable to find their error). The good news is the autopilot works, the bad news is the automatic trim is reversed. Manual sez to swap wires on the servo motor.:frown3: Tried swapping the wires into the servo but lost the clutch.:frown3::frown3: Guess it has to be done the way the Manual sez.:frown3::frown3::frown3:

Guess I'll stand on my head in a freezing hangar tomorrow to swap wires on the servo motor. The supervising A&P-IA just chuckles 'cause he doesn't have to do it.
 
Geico

The best part about winter is when Spring is in the air, and, I agree it's probably all that much sweeter because of what you just went through - anticipation, etc.

I still hate winter. Perhaps it has to do with "needing to get to work" in all that crap - and being at work all day and dark when you finally leave...

What is nice these days is that it's actually light at 6 PM!
 
When the shoveling is done...
 

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woodstock said:
Geico

The best part about winter is when Spring is in the air, and, I agree it's probably all that much sweeter because of what you just went through - anticipation, etc.

I still hate winter. Perhaps it has to do with "needing to get to work" in all that crap - and being at work all day and dark when you finally leave...

What is nice these days is that it's actually light at 6 PM!
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The light thing can really affect people. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a real issue, that is why I force myself to get out during the day and hike, cut wood, run equipment, just get out there and soak up the sun when I can. Even tanning beds help, but the added skin cancer risk for me was not a good idea. I spent too much time in the sun as a kid.

https://health.google.com/health/ref/Seasonal+affective+disorder
 
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I bought my wife a desktop full spectrum lamp and INSIST she has it on every day while she's at her desk. Makes a big difference for us BOTH!
 
Well I can say that the weird weather in the Atlanta area over the past couple of months has really affected my flying as well. Between work, it getting dark early, the rain-rain-rain-rain, now snow, and other obligations I have had on the weekends I have not flown since December 24th.

It SUCKS big-time, well except for the money thing. I have not spend much on the plane from an operational perspective offer the past two months!

One thing though....ya'll can keep the snow/winter weather crap, give me warm weather and I am happy!
 
We are headed to Mexico in a couple of weeks. It will probably warm up here by then. We go to Mexico at least once a year, and sometimes two or three times a year. If my wife would ever retire, we could spend the winter down there. My plan would be to leave just after Christmas, and not come back until April. I don't know when that will happen though. Right now, that is just a dream.
 
I hate Midwest weather and the winters are the worst. This year has not been too bad for snow. I have enjoyed watching major snow storms pass to the south on their way to the Mid-Atlantic. They are getting this year what we had last year. It is the temps that give the fits though. I can handle the 30's and above no problem. But when it gets into the 20's and lower it is just no fun to be outside. When those temps get to the zeros, forget about it, I will not go outside.

While the cats love my staying at home it gets a little old.

I have been home a lot this winter too. In years past I would spend a week or two come December in Hawaii followed by a week in Florida. January was a week in California and one in south Asia, February a week in California again and then early March was two weeks in Florida. I was gone half of the time from the Midwest and my winter life was moderately livable. Not this year though. One week in Florida and two in California is all I have had. I will be in Florida come early March. Brrrrr I hate living here.
 
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I cut 2 pickup loads of firewood this weekend in an area that rarely sees people. Saw all kinds of woodland critters & tracks. I saw geese, raccoon, deer, coyotes, turkeys, eagles, hawks, bluebirds, blue jays, snow birds, pheasants, wood peckers.

While cutting into a log I saw how black ants hibernate in the winter. They hollow out the center of a tree and pack themselves in there like sardines. When I bring those "ant logs" in the house they come to life slowly. Pretty cool, IMHO.

I miss judged the snow in that it has become very hard, and I almost got stuck in the 4x4 pickup! I had to dig myself out and go get the tractor. It's fun running machinery and equipment.

Just look around, you'll see some pretty cool stuff if you have your eyes open. Where we are is not the primary place we have to be.
 
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Geico266 said:
The light thing can really affect people. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a real issue, that is why I force myself to get out during the day and hike, cut wood, run equipment, just get out there and soak up the sun when I can. Even tanning beds help, but the added skin cancer risk for me was not a good idea. I spent too much time in the sun as a kid.

https://health.google.com/health/ref/Seasonal+affective+disorder
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I don't have that luxury, in fact, many days the only light I see would be those days I didn't bring my lunch - I step out for 10 mins to get lunch and bring back to my desk.

Obviously there are windows but that's not the same as being outside during the day time.
 
woodstock said:
I don't have that luxury, in fact, many days the only light I see would be those days I didn't bring my lunch - I step out for 10 mins to get lunch and bring back to my desk.

Obviously there are windows but that's not the same as being outside during the day time.
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Sounds like when I worked for Martin Marietta in the early 1980s. In the winter I'd drive in to work in the dark, work all day in a windowless building and drive home in the dark. Saw the sun on weekends. Yuck.
 
Ghery said:
Sounds like when I worked for Martin Marietta in the early 1980s. In the winter I'd drive in to work in the dark, work all day in a windowless building and drive home in the dark. Saw the sun on weekends. Yuck.
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We have huge, floor to ceiling windows - it's a bright, new building - but it's not the same as being outside. In the old building I had a corner office - here I don't. Boohoo. I'll still take the new building and location though, any day.
 
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Geico266 said:
I cut 2 pickup loads of firewood this weekend in an area that rarely sees people. Saw all kinds of woodland critters & tracks. I saw geese, raccoon, deer, coyotes, turkeys, eagles, hawks, bluebirds, blue jays, snow birds, pheasants, wood peckers.

While cutting into a log I saw how black ants hibernate in the winter. They hollow out the center of a tree and pack themselves in there like sardines. When I bring those "any logs" in the house they come to life slowly. Pretty cool, IMHO.

I miss judged the snow in that it has become very hard, and I almost got stuck in the 4x4 pickup! I had to dig myself oiut and go get the tractor. It's fun running machinery and equipment.

Just look around, you'll see some pretty cool stuff if you have your eyes open. Where we are is not the primary place we have to be.
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Well said... some of my favorite days are ones when the snow has decided that I'm staying put, and I get to enjoy the beauty around me... and then get my 4x4 truck out of the driveway. :)
 
We don't have the lamp thingy for SAD but we do have an airplane and spent the last week island hopping in the Bahamas. Weather was cool but we still got some sun on our faces. Even a PA28-140 can get you out of the winter for a bit.
 
woodstock said:
I don't have that luxury, in fact, many days the only light I see would be those days I didn't bring my lunch - I step out for 10 mins to get lunch and bring back to my desk.

Obviously there are windows but that's not the same as being outside during the day time.
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Ask the boss or HR if you can put up a bird feeder next to the window and see what hearty "aviators" come in to refuel. I'm sure there are other "birders" that would love it also, and you'll get credit for it! It's all how you look at things, and it's the little things in life that keep us all going. The local birds would think it is cool also. :lol:
 
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Geico266 said:
Ask the boss if you can put up a bird feeder next to the window and see what hearty "aviators" come in to refuel. I'm sure there are other "birders" that would love it also, and you'll get credit for it! It's all how you look at things, and it's the little things in life that keep us all going. The local birds would think it is cool also. :lol:
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You assume she has windows in her office. From where I sit right now in my office, the only windows are the ones on my computer, and I do have a window that looks into another cubicle.

It would certainly improve my morale if I had windows somewhere that I could put a bird feeder on... or just to get some sunlight.
 
Since October I've been working in a secure facility -- no windows, armed guards, locked doors, Iris scans, etc.

Lunchtime walks -- no matter what the weather -- help, but is not enough. :mad:
 
dmccormack said:
Since October I've been working in a secure facility -- no windows, armed guards, locked doors, Iris scans, etc.

Lunchtime walks -- no matter what the weather -- help, but is not enough. :mad:
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I worked in that kind of environment in the early 1980s. Left in 1983 and never looked back. Come to the light side...:D
 
Ted DuPuis said:
You assume she has windows in her office. From where I sit right now in my office, the only windows are the ones on my computer, and I do have a window that looks into another cubicle.

It would certainly improve my morale if I had windows somewhere that I could put a bird feeder on... or just to get some sunlight.
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I got it! A bird feeder web cam! :lol:

http://www.ivyjoy.com/webcam/
 
The problem is....my bed is located where it is. Wake up in the AM, Voila! 8F! Ice! Deep Heavy Snow!

Electric start snowblower.
WTF am I doing here? What was I thinking?
 
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