The Vent and Rant Thread

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I just looked. Other than El Paso, I think your mileage was way way off.

What mileage? The closest city of any size is Las Cruces, which is about 130 miles in driving distance.

Or are you suggesting Alamogordo is much more than 100 miles from anywhere?

(Roswell AFB is relatively nearby. A friend who was stationed there in the Air Force points and laughs at people going on about "Area 51".)
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Dennis

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

What mileage? The closest city of any size is Las Cruces, which as about 130 miles in driving distance.

Or are you suggesting Alamogordo is much more than 100 miles from anywhere?

(Roswell AFB is relatively nearby. A friend who was stationed there in the Air Force points and laughs at people going on about "Area 51".)
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Dennis

The second one. Though a quick Google says Las Cruces is bigger than I thought.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

What mileage? The closest city of any size is Las Cruces, which as about 130 miles in driving distance.

Or are you suggesting Alamogordo is much more than 100 miles from anywhere?

(Roswell AFB is relatively nearby. A friend who was stationed there in the Air Force points and laughs at people going on about "Area 51".)
______
Dennis

Mr. Hitch is a former resident of the lovely land of the incredibly blue skies. He was born and raised there, in the megalopolis of Ruidoso (which the locals pronounce Ree-OH-doh-so, for reasons that elude me). Land of the great sport of quarterhorse racing. :-)

Our own state has many spots equally remote--hell, I'm 40+ miles out of "town," but the truth is, NM is pretty remarkable in a lot of ways. Although, heat-wise, yes, it's bloody there and here. And for our Texan neighbors.

Having lived in both NY and AZ...I'll take NY summers over AZ summers. It's all well and good to yammer about humidity, but over the last 4 decades, Phoenix (and Tucson both) have had pretty significant increases in humidity, as more and more people relocate to the area and bring their idea of "tolerable" with them, planting green lawns of grass, building pools, and so on. In fact, the heat island of Phoenix is now so great that the lovely summer monsoons (incorrectly named, but..) that we used to get, reliably, almost every afternoon during the worst of the summer heat are now a memory. We get SOME summer storms, but nothing like we used to. And yes, that was in my lifetime; I experienced them myself.

One of the things that I like about living outside of town is that we are far enough away where we escape some of that heat bloom. Our average temps here are 5-8(F) cooler than they are in the city. It doesn't sound like a lot, but believe me, when it's 110F or 115F, that 8 degree deifference is really, really NICE to have. Plus, due to where we are, we get a constant breeze here. In the mornings, the air is pulled down to the city, and in the afternoons, it's pulled up to the mountains behind us, all driven by the temps.

Of course...it's still bloody HOT. And talk about stink..lord. You can say that sure, you cool off as soon as you get inside, blabbety, but all that does is dry off the shirts and pits, and the clearly discernible stench of bacteria is hard to ignore, no matter HOW clean someone is!! Trust me, around here, in July-Aug, you really avoid being in crowds coming in from the outside. For the sake of your own nose AND theirs! We should have an unofficial state title--land of summer BO. :-)

Hitch

[CRussel]

ROFLU. That sounds truly horrible, Hitch. Of course, I'm in the land of comfortable summers (highs in mid-20's), pleasantly cool spring/fall (highs in low 20's, but nights in low teens), and acceptable winters (highs in low to mid single digits, but lows rarely below 0). Of course, those are all degrees C.

But remote? I've got you all beat -- we're a solid hour from the nearest Tim'r. (Tim Horton's, a Canadian institution in the land where the national food is the donut.)

Sunny skies, gentle breezes, and currently 15 degrees, though they're saying we might get up to 22 or 23 today.

[Toxaris]

Ah, I remember Tim Horton from when I visited Canada. First thing in the morning, a large cup of coffee. The sandwiches were also good. Not too fond of donuts in general though.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

Ah, I remember Tim Horton from when I visited Canada. First thing in the morning, a large cup of coffee. The sandwiches were also good. Not too fond of donuts in general though.

I confess, I'm not usually a doughnut fan. But for some reason, bygod, I can eat Krispy Kreme glazed. Nothing else, but I like those. (Not a gigantic sweet eater to begin with; I'm a savory girl, not a sweets person.)

We have some TH's fans here at the shop, fersure.

Hitch

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Hitch

We have some TH's fans here at the shop, fersure.

Hitch

Canadians are passionate about their Tim Horton's coffee. Personally, I don't get it, I'm a Peet's fan myself. But I've known more than one expat who, when asked what we could bring when we came to visit, always said Tim Horton's coffee beans. They just couldn't find a US blend that matched up to it. I used to routinely pack a couple of pounds whenever I went to Redmond, since there were several Canadians there who missed their Timr in the morning.

Now their donuts? Those are quite good for a chain donut. I'm a fan of their TimBits, myself. But given how far away they are from anywhere I am regularly, I don't often get the opportunity.

[Bilbo1967]

Oh, I love Tim Horton's when we visit Canada. Everything bagel with cream cheese for breakfast every day when we were traveling. Coffee and a donut at the rest stop. Yummy!!

[wodin]

I was born and raised in western Wisconsin, near Saint Paul Minnesota in the forties and fifties. After graduating from high school and enrolling in the local cow college (University of Wisconsin at River Falls) where I learned to play poker, euchre, pool, and schafkopf in the student union for a year, and little else. When the administration suggested that I might benefit from some life experience elsewhere, I decided to join the military.

Just after the Christmas of 1962 my Mother and Father drove me to Wold–Chamberlain Field, now Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport. In those days we didn’t know about wind chill factor, but we understood mercury in the thermometer, and the mercury said it was 18 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Wold–Chamberlain Field didn’t have jet ways so we had to walk out on the tarmac and climbed up one of those stairways on wheels. The wind was whistling across the runways, and the snow was up to my little okole. I climbed up into a little twin engine propeller driven airplane and we flew to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

At Sioux Falls we transferred to a little four engine propeller driven airplane, and flew on the somewhere else. After several somewhere else’s, several little airplanes and twelve hours, picking up several more Navy recruits along the way we arrived at San Diego.

We got off the Airplane (by then it was a Boing 707 four engine jet) and walked through this tunnel thing that rolled right up to the plane. We followed the signs to the baggage area, and out to a bus that was to take us to the Recruit Training Center, and it was EIGHTY THREE DEGEES F. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven, and if I NEVER saw snow again it would be too soon!

In the course of my Navy career, I did have occasion to see snow again, but I was able to pull strings to minimize it until I ended up at Pearl Harbor for the final three years (twilight tour). After they piped me over the gangway, I was casting around for what I would do with the rest of my life, and I had an occasion to have breakfast in the restaurant at the top of the Sheridan Waikiki. It was a beautiful late November Saturday morning, temperatures were in the eighties, the humidity in the forties, and the sun was shining off the blue Pacific. I looked out the port side and saw Diamond Head and Waikiki beach. Then I looked out the starboard side and there was Ala Moana Beach Park and Honolulu Harbor. If there was a more beautiful place in the world, God hadn’t shown it to me, and I wasn’t going anywhere.

I’ve been here for nearly half of my life now, and if I never see snow again it’ll be too soon.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by wodin

I’ve been here for nearly half of my life now, and if I never see snow again it’ll be too soon.

Amen! Sadly, I will see snow here. And at least every other winter it will last past the mid-morning rain. But only about every 5 years or so is it at the level of annoying. But this is as close as Canada gets to a perfect climate, and I'll live with the occasional snow. Just so long as it stays occasional. And as long as I can escape for a week or so in the middle of January/February time frame, just to get away from the unremitting gray. (I love the winters here. They're wet, they're gray, but the tourists are gone and the whole world seems to just kind of hunker down and settle in to knit and watch some good curling. But it helps to get away in January to get some sun. )

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by wodin

..... I ended up at Pearl Harbor for the final three years (twilight tour). After they piped me over the gangway, I was casting around for what I would do with the rest of my life, and I had an occasion to have breakfast in the restaurant at the top of the Sheridan Waikiki. It was a beautiful late November Saturday morning, temperatures were in the eighties, the humidity in the forties, and the sun was shining off the blue Pacific. I looked out the port side and saw Diamond Head and Waikiki beach. Then I looked out the starboard side and there was Ala Moana Beach Park and Honolulu Harbor. If there was a more beautiful place in the world, God hadn’t shown it to me, and I wasn’t going anywhere.

I’ve been here for nearly half of my life now, and if I never see snow again it’ll be too soon.

OHHH! I had to go to Wikipedia to find this sentence "Sandwich Islands was the name given to the Hawaiian Islands by James Cook in 1778." Didn't realize you were even in the US, much less in a place I recognize!

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Having lived in both NY and AZ...I'll take NY summers over AZ summers. It's all well and good to yammer about humidity, but over the last 4 decades, Phoenix (and Tucson both) have had pretty significant increases in humidity, as more and more people relocate to the area and bring their idea of "tolerable" with them, planting green lawns of grass, building pools, and so on. In fact, the heat island of Phoenix is now so great that the lovely summer monsoons (incorrectly named, but..) that we used to get, reliably, almost every afternoon during the worst of the summer heat are now a memory. We get SOME summer storms, but nothing like we used to. And yes, that was in my lifetime; I experienced them myself.

We have A/C these days, and it's on 24/7 throughout the year. That's less a manner of temperature than particulate control. The A/C has an air filter function that's a necessity. The SO is asthmatic, and her serious problems appear to date from 9/11 and the toxins spewed into the air as the WTC went down. NYC's Health Department has special programs for those so afflicted as a cost savings measure. It's cheaper to take steps to keep people from needing hospital visits.

We also get air quality alerts, and there are days the SO simply doesn't leave the house because she likes to be able to breathe.

Alamogordo had some of what you describe when I was there, and an interesting set of local politics. One faction wanted to improve the local economy and was lobbying for major carrier service into the airport. Another faction was retirees who moved to a small town with warm climate on retirement, and wanted it to stay a quiet small town. I wondered what they would do down the road. They were still young enough to care for themselves, but what happened when they needed assisted living? Young folks growing up in Alamogordo all left as soon as they could, because there were no local opportunities for them.

Meanwhile, I was bemused at people who wanted verdant lawns and swimming pools in a desert area, and never mind where the water would come from. That was someone else's problem...

I'm a confirmed big city boy, so small town living isn't what I'd do deliberately, but if I found myself in someplace like that, I'd adapt to the climate instead of trying to adapt it to me.
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Dennis

[badgoodDeb]

I always worry about how we'll ALL cope, if electricity is gone for a significant period of time (re your A/C 24/7/365). Say, if someone disrupts our power grid ....

[Hemmi]

How does the song go? Let it go, let it goooooooo (I have to see that movie someday).

Anyway, I wanted to break into that song at work today. Unfortunately, the person it would have been aimed at would not have appreciated it. I can sing it silently, right?

I fear I'll need it again tomorrow.

[PeterT]

Phew.. I drive for a community organization, taking people to and from appointments, bringing clients to a program for dementia sufferers etc. Late last year they added GPS trackers to all vehicles to ensure we don't speed, go to our homes etc. Luckily to this point I've had no issues, until this afternoon 😣

My boss called me in to let me know I'd been speeding last Friday on a road downtown. All I could think was that it was on a stretch where I'd just come off an elevated expressway onto a road at ground level. My boss was surprised as she knows I'm a very careful driver, and was just letting me know with no consequences.

The more I thought about it, the more I thought the alert was false. I had her send me a copy of the report and BINGO I saw what had happened. I'd driven downtown on a highway called the DVP that links onto an elevated highway, the Gardner. Underneath the Gardner is a road called the Lakeshore. I'd taken the ramp up to the Gardner. The alerting company used the GPS to show I was on the Lakeshore (with a low speed limit) as opposed to the Gardner (with a high speed limit). Obviously they ignore the elevation data from the GPS.

Fortunately I also use an app on my SmartPhone that records my driving, so I've been able to share that data with her.