Can Winter Be Over Please?

[Dzimm]

Last night our plant was shutdown early (7:30PMish) due to the weather.  My drive was twice as long down I35 and I80.  Went 25-30mph the whole way home because of freezing rain/snow/wind.  Lost count at around 30 vehicles wrecked then.  Today the stretch of I35 I travel on had so many wrecked cars, it's impossible to count and it ended up getting shut down for snow drifts over 8 feet deep going across the interstate.  Rediculous!  It's Iowa and this stuff happens but come on, this year has sucked so far!  

 

This video is the same stretch of road I drove home on.

https://m.facebook.com/kcci8/posts/10155922922110079

 

[Pete M]

and it's still just February.   honestly it sounds like it's a great time for a lot of you guys to use those vacation days and head to florida for a while.    eventually it'll all pass. 

[gogmorgo]

The days are getting noticeably longer again. There's a good hour and some of daylight now after I'm home from work. It's only the odd patch, but there's bare pavement poking through the streets around town. The few months until it quits snowing will fly by. 

[johnj92131]

I know I am a total wimp!  But here in San Diego we have been freezing our butt's off.  For weeks, our low temps have been in mid 30's.  We have had rain falling from gray skies.  Don't get me wrong, we really need the rain.  We see lots of green growing in the foothills now.  But that really means lots of fuel for fires later.  Just part of the natural process here.  Come September and October, all that is green now will be fuel for fires.

 

My hat is off to you people who manage to withstand, even enjoy the snow and cold weather.  I guess you really don't have much choice.  But anyway, good for you guys!

 

Funny thing about this rant:  I was born in Scotland!  So should not be a wimp, right?  But I have lived in Southern California since December, 1952, for all but 4 years of my  71 years.

 

Comanche content:  Have had electrical gremlins  months, finally decided to put truck in shop this weekend.  Guess what?  Gremlins have gone into hiding - shop can not find issues!!

[Manche757]

6 hours ago, johnj92131 said:

Funny thing about this rant:  I was born in Scotland!   But I have lived in Southern California since December, 1952, for all but 4 years of my  71 years.

 I have a hunch you did not travel alone at age 4.  What brought your family from Scotland to San Diego?  

[JMO413]

I am one of those people that like snow. I would like to agree that winter can be over now! It has been colder and more snow this year than I can ever remember. 30 with some sun would be a nice day at this point.

[johnj92131]

5 hours ago, Manche757 said:

 I have a hunch you did not travel alone at age 4.  What brought your family from Scotland to San Diego?  

 

SS United States.  Still holds the record for fastest Atlantic crossing.  Here is a link to the ship's history:  http://www.ssusc.org/the-conservancy/facts/

 

We passed thru Ellis Island (as did millions of other imigrants) when the ship landed in New York.  From there we flew to Los Angeles.

 

About 5 years ago I was in New York for work and got to spend a day at the Ellis Island museum - Had a great time soaking up all the history there.

 

My dad and my grandfather were both coal miners in Scotland, my dad for 20 years, my grandrather for 50 years. Dad told me he did not want his son in the mines. (When I was a kid on vacation with my parents in Carson City, Nevada, I wanted to visit the famous Comstock silver mine.  My dad flat out refused to take me.  Saying he did not come to California to let me go down any mine.  To this day, I have never been in any kind of mine.  Caves, yes, sure, but no mines).   So a better life in Southern California was the goal.  My parents certainly found a good life here in Southern California. They lived in both Los Angeles and Orange County from 1952 till death in 2001, I moved to San Diego in 1981.  My sister spent about 25 years in Atlanta, working for Coke. When she retired, she could live any place she wanted to live - she returned to south Orange County.  

 

So while my family was all born in Scotland, Southern California is our home by choice.  And California has been very good to all of us.

 

 

 

[Manche757]

1 hour ago, johnj92131 said:

 

SS United States.  Still holds the record for fastest Atlantic crossing.  Here is a link to the ship's history:  http://www.ssusc.org/the-conservancy/facts/

 

The ship was towed to Norfolk VA, from nearby Newport  News Shipyard with an uncertain future. Finally, it was auctioned and towed to Turkey and the Ukraine for asbestos removal and was to be scrapped after that. Pier fees were in arrears. Before the forced auction to pay pier fees, it was opened for tours before it left Norfolk, VA. I went on the one of the tours that were held over a few days (or maybe one day; too long ago to recall).  Dehumidifiers had been running and kept the inside in decent shape.  It never was a luxury liner;  it was a passenger ship built too late for the times to come.  

[Pete M]

we FINALLY got a couple nice days in north georgia (been raining for what... 3 weeks now? I lost track) and now I'm driving north to MI just in time for some single digit baloney.  damn.   

[Manche757]

48 minutes ago, Pete M said:

 I'm driving north to MI just in time for some single digit baloney.  damn.   

 

Mardi Gras in Michigan

https://www.eventbrite.com/d/mi--detroit/mardi-gras/

[gogmorgo]

It was -20°F on my drive to work this morning. My drive home this afternoon was at +30. Don't get your hopes up though cause it's just mountain weather being dumb. Still some -25 lows in the forecast for the weekend, with highs below 10°F.

[johnj92131]

13 hours ago, Manche757 said:

The ship was towed to Norfolk VA, from nearby Newport  News Shipyard with an uncertain future. Finally, it was auctioned and towed to Turkey and the Ukraine for asbestos removal and was to be scrapped after that. Pier fees were in arrears. Before the forced auction to pay pier fees, it was opened for tours before it left Norfolk, VA. I went on the one of the tours that were held over a few days (or maybe one day; too long ago to recall).  Dehumidifiers had been running and kept the inside in decent shape.  It never was a luxury liner;  it was a passenger ship built too late for the times to come.  

 

Knew the pier fees were in arrears, did not know the ship was auctioned off and in Turkey.  Thank You for the update.  What prompted you to take the tour of the ship??

[Manche757]

4 hours ago, johnj92131 said:

 

Knew the pier fees were in arrears, did not know the ship was auctioned off and in Turkey.  Thank You for the update.  What prompted you to take the tour of the ship??

 

I believe per your link that the ship is in Philadelphia. After reading your post, I looked up the SS United States.  Several groups have tried to save it but funding has fallen short.  Beside being a huge ship and setting the cross Atlantic speed record that has not been broken, there were other interesting things about the ship.  Although the speed record still holds, previous written histories stated that it was only going about half throttle. I looked for that yesterday and did not find that, but I did find that it eventually came out that the actual speed was wiithheld.  Although privately owned, it was subsidized by the US government. Its construction in 1950-1952 came soon after WWII.  The US government interest was to be able to convert it quickly to a troop transport if the need arose. Korea was heating up.  I do not know what condition it is in today but based on yesterday's read, it is stripped but not scrapped, having been towed across the Atlantic and back.  Looking for a way to spend all that money you made as a hedge fund manager?

[FrankTheDog]

Pier 82 Philadelphia PA