Space Echoes

[tgraham]

Remember barbecueing in shorts at new years last year? Thats what its supposed to be like down here.

I'm tired of being in layers all the time.

On the good side, I'll probably be in Chicagoland for 3 days in April for a tech conference.

[Scott]

February and still cold as crap...

You said this simply in the interest of being a total jerk, right?

Currently in Woodstock the temperature is 4.

Don't even ask about the windchill.

The cold makes me grumpy.

~s

You should have stayed here on the east coast.  The winter doesn't last quite as long and I could buy you lunch once in a while. 

[Michael]

The cold makes me grumpy.

~s

I like winter, but it's too cold for my taste right now.  Those Chicago winds ... ouch! 

[tgraham]

I like winter just fine, as long as I can travel to it, ski in it, then watch it from the comfort of the jacuzzi with a hot toddy, spiced cider or whatever.
The first time I have to drive to work in it or wade through it it loses its charm.

[Scott]

I hate winter about as much as G hates Christmas.

The cold sucks. My skin dries out. Drivers in Maryland panic as the first flake enters the FORECAST much less the sky.  If the "snow event" takes place, the local news monkeys start a half hour early (that's 4:30 am folks) so they can show us live remotes at different places around the region.

Talking Head: Hi!  I'm Guy Smiley with Action Four News!  It's SNOWING!!!!!  Jack Cheese is LIVE at the Rockville Metro, let's check in with him.  Jack?

Jack Cheese: Hi Guy!  Yes indeed it is snowing. The snow is actually falling from the sky, where it then proceeds to land on the ground.  As this seems to be happening for an extended period of time, the snow is slowly collecting into something of a measurable pile kind of configuration.  It really is amazing. (camera pans over to show 4 or 5 cm of snow on the side walk.)  Back to you Guy!

Guy: Wow, that looks cold out there and DANGEROUS TOO!!!  I bet everyone will want to get to the grocery store NOW and stock up on milk, bread and lots and lots of toilet paper!  We're going to go now to Happy McCheery who's talking with folks doing just that down at the Food Mart.

Happy: That's right Guy, in the past hour or so Food Mart officials tell us that the entire dairy section has been cleaned out.  Canned goods are also in short supply and I hope everyone has plenty of toilet paper on hand.



and it goes on and on and on and on, all the while a crawl at the bottom of the screen displays the status of every school system in the area.  Of course those can't just say "Frederick County Schools Closed", that would be too easy.  No they all say crypic things like: "Frederick County Schools Closed, employees on code Alpha Squadron Blue.....

I could go on, but I need to get my 2nd cup of coffee.

[tgraham]

Down here in hurrucane land, its all Dan Rather's fault. He lashed himself and his cameraman to palm trees on the beach as Hurricane Carla came ashore right on top of them. Ever since then if the wind gets above 30 mph the reporters are out in it, most of them leaning into the wind to keep from being blown over.
Every so often we get payback: Reporter leaning over at 45 degree angle into the "wind", a lady walks past in the background wearing a big floppy hat which isnt moving.

[Sebastian Knight]

When I lived in DC, the tendency for everybody to run to the store to buy milk, bread and eggs was so pronounced (I mean, there would be NO milk in any of the stores) that we referred to such events as "French Toast Emergencies", since it was hard to imagine what else you would do with nothing but milk, bread, and eggs.  Now down here in Atlanta, the stores sell out of Coke and Doritos first, which tells you something about our priorities.  A day where you have to stay in because of the weather is a cause to hang around watching TV with your friends and eating chips.

So far, this year, we have only had cold and rainy for our "winter weather".  We had a little sleet at 2am thursday morning, but nothing but blah and wet by 5:30-6:00 when school closings have to be considered.

Back in Boston in the 80s, the single thing most associated with severe snowstorms was Channel 4 reporter Shelby Scott, who was ALWAYS out in the storm while the snow flew horizontally past her face and cars skidded into embankments behind her.  At one point, the mayor actually declared a Shelby Scott day in her honor, and the Boston Globe still (I think) uses Shelbys as the official unit of total snowfall in a winter.

[The Doc]

We have just had the warmest January since records began (following the warmest December ditto)

[scorched earth]

A friend sent me a message this morning saying it was the coldest January here in 28 years. Of course that just means it's great hiking weather, like on Wednesday, when we had our last winter storm. It snowed in the mountains, but down here there was just a bit of passing rain and then, as my friend messaged me,  "it was nice not even thinking once of being hot on our hike at white tanks". Too bad that when he asked me if I felt like doing a hike midday tomorrow I had to beg off saying it sounded like it was going to be warm out in the sun that time of day (latest Weather Channel forecast:  76 tomorrow, 81 Monday, 82 Tuesday).

The TV stations go crazy here when it rains. When it snowed in some parts of the Valley a few weeks ago, well as I said at the time "anyone from out of town must think this is insane". I took some pics of the reporters talking about the snow, and it turned out to be a pretty weird set of photos:

[Absinthe]

Sarah, don't crawl inside a dead tauntaun.  It smells in there!   

[tgraham]

yeah just make yourself some mac and cheese, and then post the recipe here...

Note to self: when using the hollow-tube-curly-cue macaronis, remember to roll one aorund after blowing it off to get the boiling water out of the inside before tasting, if not keep lots of ice handy.

[Geno]

When I lived in DC, the tendency for everybody to run to the store to buy milk, bread and eggs was so pronounced (I mean, there would be NO milk in any of the stores) that we referred to such events as "French Toast Emergencies", since it was hard to imagine what else you would do with nothing but milk, bread, and eggs.

Same here and in NE PA. I'm not sure whether to be surprised at French toast being such a good last-chance-before-starving food, or surprised at so many people being worried about starving in one day since (last I heard) it normally takes at least three.

10? here. Hey, we finally cracked into double digits.

[owen]

I took my girls to the beach (now just five minutes from my house woohoo!) yesterday.

It was lovely.

O!

[scorched earth]

Kram: "Those woods have been protected and are still pristine. I hiked around with a constant smile on my face."

Yeah I know that feeling. (Wish I had a chance to hike in a National Forest in the eastern half of the country.)

Mark you probably didn't see my other message here in regard to the image tags, so I edited your diary post to add them to your latest pic and it worked for me. You can edit out my edited by comment. Perhaps you thought the tags weren't working because the images were loading a little slower than you  are used to.

[Kram]

Mark you probably didn't see my other message here in regard to the image tags, so I edited your diary post to add them to your latest pic and it worked for me. You can edit out my edited by comment. Perhaps you thought the tags weren't working because the images were loading a little slower than you  are used to.

Thanks Scorchy! More to come soon.