Whats your weather right now?

[Jim]

Um nears I can tell those guys were right about the calm WEATHER period ending.

Well, I was bein' a bit factious there.. as I wasn't aware that claim was bein' made 30 yrs ago.

And if global warming forstalls an ice age, is that somehow a bad thing? 'less reducing population to less than 10% of current levels (via starvation) is the goal, then an ice age is just the ticket.

Problem is... if the science is correct... all that would happen is a slowing of the increase in warming. We'll still get warmer. The only gain I can see is that would give us time for the Limbaugh's of the world to die off and perhaps people would quit thinking climate change is a Chinese hoax. In that respect yeah... maybe you're right, in that it would give us a breather long enough to do the hard work of reversing the current trends.

 

[gggGary]

Jim you are old enough to remember the solar revolution of the 70's and government's plans to change us to solar energy, how well did that work?
It will be different THIS time?
I might be just a bit leary of thinking that says more government control will lead to a better future for all.
government can make the path to better energy decisions more attractive but what're the odds they'll do that well?
Note a huge shift, people moving out of cities, due to virus and civil unrest how's that going to improve energy efficiency and slow conversion of open land to housing retail etc?
Having been a fan of the southwest and a bit of looking at history there I'm always drawn to how so many indian empires disintegrated somewhat simultaneously in the 1400's,? well before mankind's CO2 increases got a head of steam up.
mostly rain and cold for the last week. Might get some riding weather next week. Will be interesting to see how roadworthy the sawzall refugee is.

 

[Mailman]

I was curious about ice ages once and did a lot of research into them. When I looked up , when the last ice age was, I was surprised to see that we are currently in one! An ice age includes any time there is ice covering a part of the planet, even though the polar ice caps have receded, they’re not gone just yet. There have been billions of years the the planet was completely free of ice and also lengthy periods of time that our planet was one big ball of ice! Historically, the ice caps extend to the lower parallels approximately every 13,000 years, by that time line we are overdue for another ice age, but I believe the explosion of humanity since the last ice expansion has mucked up that timeline. Our presence has changed the dynamic and it now appears we are headed into a period of extended warming.
The companion of ice ages and global warming is mass extinction events, of which our planet has had several.
The definition of a mass extinction event is when a specific percentage of life on the planet had been killed off.
I’ve looked all this up before and I’m too lazy to do it again right now, but using those measurements there are many in the scientific community that believe we are in the midst of a mass extinction event right now.
Humanity is the problem. As a species we are a virus, we consume everything and kill everything we come in contact with. Eventually we will go the way of the dinosaurs, the earth will heal and the planet , with whatever new life forms that follow will be better off for it. Until then we are all just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
How’s that for a cheery little observation?

 

[Jim]

Jim you are old enough to remember the solar revolution of the 70's and government's plans to change us to solar energy, how well did that work?

Back then the tech wasn't evolved enough to make it happen. Nobody was gonna spend a gazillion bucks on solar when dinos' could heat our homes for for a fraction of that. That was the will of the people winning out, not poor government. 'Sides... we're a short sided lot. Within a year of the oil embargo being lifted it was right back to we love our dinosaur juice. It weren't government, it was us. Government acquiesced to the whims of the people. Good or bad? It's how it should be I reckon. Sure there's was gov prodding... conserve resources, shower with a friend... stricter mpg standards for Detroit to meet... that sort of stuff. But no real gov push in any meaningful way. At least, not a moon shot type of endeaver.

I might be just a bit leary of thinking that says more government control will lead to a better future for all.

Agreed.

government can make the path to better energy decisions more attractive but what're the odds they'll do that well?

If you'll think back to the previous administration(s)... I know, seems like a lifetime ago don't it.... ... what they did was offer incentives to go solar. Tax breaks... that sorta' stuff. What did that do? It spurred innovation. The cost of solar has come down 70% in the last 10 yrs. Ask yourself if that wold have happened if government hadn't created the incentive. In that respect, tech ain't no different from any other sector... it follows the money. Government control... or government prodding? My opinion is too much government control is a bumper sticker. We the people will determine.

Note a huge shift, people moving out of cities, due to virus and civil unrest how's that going to improve energy efficiency and slow conversion of open land to housing retail etc?

Taking into account self inflicted wounds is crystal ball stuff. Mines in the shop waitin' on parts.

Having been a fan of the southwest and a bit of looking at history there I'm always drawn to how so many indian empires disintegrated somewhat simultaneously in the 1400's,? well before mankind's CO2 increases got a head of steam up.

Guess that proves we can't blame everything on dinosaurs.

 

[member28833]

Edited by me. Sorry guys, the only frightening things left for 2020 in the Pacific Northwest might be actual Zombies or Aliens

 

[Raymond]

In the middle of a warm & wet spell. The rain started Friday night and didn't stop for more than 24 hours. About 4" of rain has fallen so far and there's more on the way. Many parts of the country facing renewed flooding. Our village stream has turned into a river again. The River Tweed once again in spate, a tide of cocoa brown surging along, way above the banks. So as in February, could not complete my usual morning walk. The river not quite as high as then, but not far off and this spell is forecast to continue for a few more days.

But today, the rain has held off and the sun has come out. Assumed the rain has washed the salt off the roads so went for a run on the wee Honda. Well, you've got to make the most of it?

 

[thuban]

I'm interested in what Mailman's weather is right now? I like Mailman's climate view! Also like the late George Carlin's view... "Earth doesn't care what we do. It will shake us off like a bad case of fleas!" As for me, (Oh Brother, where art thou) The tie breakers vote... "I'm with you guys!"

 

[member28833]

Last evening, The latest forest fire smoke accumulation has now blown out to sea. Nice fall weather here.
It is always fun to sit by the Columbia River here near Ft.Vancouver and listen for the fathers who tell their children that this native gal statue is Sacajawea.. No, not even close. This Statue gal is representative of the once local Columbia River indigenous population.
Who traded with the French fur trappers.

 

[MaxPete]

We've got a cold wet pissing-down rainy day today. I am hoping for some more inspiring weather later in the week.'

Pete

 

[Downeaster]

Went for our daily morning walk yesterday, it was cloudy but clearing. Got home, it was mostly clear. Did this and that, suited up for a ride, got half a mile from the house and the clouds started rolling back in. At 5 miles got to the the first intersection and had to make a decision. Turn right and head for the boonies as intended, or turn left and go home.

Went home. Started sprinkling as I pulled into the garage. Slow but steady rain until dark. Dammit. Today isn't looking much better. Maybe tomorrow.

Hard to bitch too much tho, we desperately need the moisture.

 

[azman857]

We've had a record of 105 days of over 100* days and more are forecasted. (Sigh) At least they are under 105* and not 110* anymore. Old record was 99 days.

 

[fredintoon]

14ºC predicted high in Saskatoon today. My XS650's plate is good until Oct 24th, the roads are usually ice or snow covered by then.

 

[Raymond]

It's cooler. But they ain't salted the roads since last weekend's heavy rain.

So, even if it's just a trip to the shops in Galashiels, still get out every day. On the Kawasaki or the wee Honda.

It's good for the soul.

 

[kshansen]

This is kind of weather related.
We had some very strong winds in the state Wednesday afternoon that managed to knock a bunch of trees down and caused widespread electrical outages. No trees down in our lawn but we did loose power around 2:30 pm. Well I figured out it was time to roll out the portable generator and hook it up, if for nothing else to give it a little work out.

Once I remembered to turn on the gas it fired right up! Before plugging it in I was careful to trip the big switch out by the meter on the end of the house. Generator worked fine and powered everything just right. Did need to run to gas station in town as wouldn't you know our supply of gas for lawn equipment was down to around 2.5 gallons and that was not going to run a 10,000 KW generator even at light loads for long.

Lucky for us the local Fast-Track station is on a separate part of the grid so they had power. Ten o'clock shut down generator and went to bed. Checked power in AM and still out, no problem power up genset and cook breakfast and wife calls her doctor to be sure they had power for her appointment, all good there.

Checked a couple time on the electric company's hot line and around 11:00 AM they say our power was restored. So I shut down the gen set and turn the main breaker on by the meter and figure we were good to go. Well that was until we notice that only part of the house was getting power. Left a couple calls to the power company and clicked on the option for the only part of house getting power.

Well a couple hours latter a pair of bucket trucks show up in front of house. They go about checking the transformer on the pole out front and then pull meter off the end of house and install a load test device to check for power and sure enough it shows good power on both the two 120 volt legs. 121 volts no load and drops to 117 volts under load. Problem has to be on our side of the system, call electrician!

Digg out the number for the electrician that fixed a problem when our contractor cut an underground line last year. A little luck is he called back a few minutes latter and he was going to swing by on his way home in about 15 minutes. It took him about 10 minutes to find the problem, the main disconnect switch next to the meter was not making contact on on leg, need new switch! Too late in the day to get new switch so he simply ran a jumper wire from input to out put side of the switch. There is another main breaker at main panel in house and only reason this one is out by the meter is the length of cable from meter to main panel is a bit over the limit the power company spec's. He will get a new switch and replace as soon as possible.

Guess it could have been worse that bad switch could have been making a little better contact and first time we ran a load of wash in the electric drier it might have over heated and caused a fire! Guess my turning the switch off to disconnect from the grid let dirt or corrosion to get in the contacts for the one side of switch.

 

[jetmechmarty]

Humanity is the problem. As a species we are a virus, we consume everything and kill everything we come in contact with. Eventually we will go the way of the dinosaurs, the earth will heal and the planet , with whatever new life forms that follow will be better off for it. Until then we are all just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
How’s that for a cheery little observation?

You got that right! Mother nature will be just fine as soon as she shakes us off her back.

If you'll think back to the previous administration(s)... I know, seems like a lifetime ago don't it.... ... what they did was offer incentives to go solar. Tax breaks... that sorta' stuff. What did that do? It spurred innovation. The cost of solar has come down 70% in the last 10 yrs. Ask yourself if that wold have happened if government hadn't created the incentive. In that respect, tech ain't no different from any other sector... it follows the money. Government control... or government prodding? My opinion is too much government control is a bumper sticker. We the people will determine.

I don't see evidence of governments improving things. Maybe some are. Where I'm sitting, I see environmentally destructive practices all around me.

 

[azman857]

The weatherman said we had 107 days of 100+ temps this year. Old record was 99 days set back in 1994. We have seen the last of them this year. I hope he is right!

 

[kshansen]

This is kind of weather related.

Well decided to give a bit of an update on our "power failure".

Electrician was back about 20 hours after first phone call with new breaker panel and a few hours later we were back in business! Not bad service I would say.

Well decided a bit of an investigation was in order as to the failure mode of the switch. Like most things these days switch was not built to be repaired, all riveted together.

But as I was not planning on fixing just interested in why it did fail. A couple well placed hit with a hammer and gasket scraper had it opened up fast.

I'm no expert on switches but I think I found the "bug in the system"!

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

Something about bugs and 'lectricity.

Down here, we gets fire ants and "rasberry crazy ants" into junction boxes, and water well pump switches...

 

[thuban]

Something about bugs and 'lectricity.

Down here, we gets fire ants and "rasberry crazy ants" into junction boxes, and water well pump switches...

Yeah, and across the top of batteries.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

That weird time of the year again.
Hot, cold, hot, cold.
A/C, heater, A/C, heater...