Snowed in

"Adrian" wrote in message
om...


I well remember the winter of '63, the snow stayed on the ground for
months. Still had to walk to school every day which seemed perfectly
normal then.

Indeed and that's when many feet of snow were on the ground in lots of
places. My infant school was well over a mile walk on ungritted paths. Folk
would get the shovels out and dig a path from their front door to the
pavement and then clear the pavement (footpath) in front of their homes as
much as possible. As kids we just wrapped up warm, woolly jumpers, duffle
coats, cardigans, hats, gloves, scarves... and that could be *inside* the
classroom. Being chucked out on to the playground at break time, to make
slides on the ice...I remember my bedroom window having ice on the inside -
no central heating in the house - a single coal-fire in the living room and
that was it - the rest of the house was unheated. Somehow, we managed to
survive...

"Baird Stafford" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Jofirey" wrote:

I know one storm or one place does not make a weather pattern, but
I've got a feeling you Brits are wondering just where global warming
is when you need it!

I can't find the url, now, but the BBC had a report yesterday suggesting
that global warming *is* here, even now. A similar weather pattern in
1962-63 brought much, much colder temperatures than the UK is
experiencing this time around.

Also, IIRC, the chance of a snowy winter back then was one year in five;
now it is one year in twenty-five.


Yes, global warming is well-and-truly here. Winters such as the one we are
experiencing now used to be the norm 30/40 years ago. Now, it's much, much
milder. And that's the problem - there's a whole generation who have
forgotten how to deal with what used to be a normal winter. And, it would
seem, have forgotten how to drive in snow/ice...

Kreisleriana drtATearthlink.net wrote:

But he has funny stories about how some of the embassies from warmer
climates freak out about the snow. Once the Thai embassy had someone go out
and throw hot water to melt the snow. Of course, that froze into a solid
sheet of ice.

Wow! There's someone who had no idea what happens in sub-freezing weather.

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)

Magic Mood Jeep wrote:

The b17c4 of a department manager wasn't there for much longer - wonder
why

LOL, it took me a minute to figure out what "b17c4" meant.

The problem was where I lived and where I worked were about 30-35 miles
apart, in two seperate counties. The county where I lived, the southern
most one, got socked with that ice storm - and my department manager
couldn't understand *how* ice could hit further *south*. She was not from
Indiana. The store manager had to explain it to her.

I don't know anything about Indiana weather patterns (other than that it's
in the Midwest, so it probably gets lots of snow in the winter). But one
location being 35 miles south of another would hardly make a difference in
temperature (because it's more "southern") anyway. Is it because it's further
from the Great Lakes? (Gad, I have to look at a map...)

I told the story about the time a department manager asked me to go into
a computer lab, after the sprinkler system had left a few inches of
water
on the floor, and start plugging in and turning on the big machines,
didn't
I? Since when is facing possible electrocution part of the job
description
of a software developer??

Did you go home and get thick-soled rubber boots and thick rubber gloves
first?

LOL, I thought of demanding the rubber-soled boots. I never actually
refused to do it. I simply ignored his request, figuring that someone else,
ie, someone more qualified, would do it instead. I decided that if he
approached me again and asked why I wasn't doing it, then I'd explain about
Electricity and How It Works.

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)

On Sun, 08 Feb 2009 03:08:06 +0000, bastXXXette wrote:

Magic Mood Jeep wrote:

The b17c4 of a department manager wasn't there for much longer -
wonder why

LOL, it took me a minute to figure out what "b17c4" meant.

The problem was where I lived and where I worked were about 30-35
miles apart, in two seperate counties. The county where I lived, the
southern most one, got socked with that ice storm - and my department
manager couldn't understand *how* ice could hit further *south*. She
was not from Indiana. The store manager had to explain it to her.

I don't know anything about Indiana weather patterns (other than that
it's in the Midwest, so it probably gets lots of snow in the winter).
But one location being 35 miles south of another would hardly make a
difference in temperature (because it's more "southern") anyway. Is it
because it's further from the Great Lakes? (Gad, I have to look at a
map...)


There wouldn't necessarily have to be a temperature difference. If one
area had cold air plus freezing rain, and the other area just had cold
air without precipitation, then only the first area would have an ice
storm. It is just like the way summer storms may rain on one area and
miss another area.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

Judith Latham wrote:


Monday we left home a few minutes early, (we're usually out at 6.55am) we
managed to get to work about 6 miles away and the snow was coming down
thick and fast.

Here in Finland, drivers are required by law to have winter tyres, i.e.
studded tyres on their cars for a certain period of the year (maybe
start of December - end of March? I'm not sure, it's been so long since
I took my driving licence, and I've never owned a car). Since it's been
a long time since we had a really cold and snowy winter here in the
south, some people have wanted to change this law, but I think it's
pretty good on days like this, when we're just below freezing and the
roads are wet/icy.

I got myself a pair of boots with built-in studs, and they're great for
walking outside, but useless to walk indoors. So I can only use them for
walks, not e.g. for walking to work (where I would really need them, as
I have to walk up a very steep incline that gets very icy and slippery),
since I have to walk along long corridors to get to my office. I also go
to the shopping centre on my way home, and that would be impossible with
the studded boots.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban.
In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

Marina wrote:

I got myself a pair of boots with built-in studs, and they're great for
walking outside, but useless to walk indoors. So I can only use them for
walks, not e.g. for walking to work (where I would really need them, as
I have to walk up a very steep incline that gets very icy and slippery),
since I have to walk along long corridors to get to my office. I also go
to the shopping centre on my way home, and that would be impossible with
the studded boots.

Couldn't you carry indoor shoes with you and then change when you got to
your work building? That's what I used to do when I lived in an area that
required snow boots.

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)

"wafflycat" wrote in message
...

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...
We Brits are not used to snow. Anyone who has to travel to work is in
trouble.


Mind you, some of us are of an age where remember the winters of the 60s &
70s and how folk went to work, buses ran and schools stayed open. In other
words, a bit of snow was dealt with and yes, we were used to snow.

I think you will have to agree that in the last bad winter (was it '63?)
owning a car was not that usual. Most people lived within walking distance
of their workplace. Every child walked to school, mostly on their own. I
had to do it, 2 miles through a scary quiet pathway alongside a brook at 8
yo. I was not particularly frightened until my grandmother told me a young
boy had been drowned along with his mother who tried to save him in a pit
alongside the brook that was called "Savage's Hole." I wished she hadn't
told me that.
Every time I walked that pathway I cast my eyes towards Savage's Hole and
hurried past. Small children have a lot of imagination.
It was filled in not long afterwards so it could not happen again.

I still know exactly where it was, though. It's become a playing field now
but those of us who are old enough still remember Savage's Hole and that
mother who perished trying to save her son.

Tweed




Things have changed now. The distance that is now often travelled to work
would not have been dreamed of then and the road congestion did not happen.
As a child you would have been unaware of the dangers of it even if it was
so.


But your manager is a twerp.

"Marina" wrote in message
...
Judith Latham wrote:


Monday we left home a few minutes early, (we're usually out at 6.55am) we
managed to get to work about 6 miles away and the snow was coming down
thick and fast.

Here in Finland, drivers are required by law to have winter tyres, i.e.
studded tyres on their cars for a certain period of the year (maybe start
of December - end of March? I'm not sure, it's been so long since I took
my driving licence, and I've never owned a car). Since it's been a long
time since we had a really cold and snowy winter here in the south, some
people have wanted to change this law, but I think it's pretty good on
days like this, when we're just below freezing and the roads are wet/icy.

I think it's the same in Germany, the need for winter tyres but I don't know
if it's actually *the law* to have them. I will ask Nüle.
They have an amazing amount of snow in rural Germany during the winter. On
each side of the road is a 3ft post every couple of yards, one with a
fluorescent yellow stripe on and the other side of the road, posts with
fluorescent spots.
I asked what they were for. "so we know we are actually on the road.."

Tweed

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...




I think you will have to agree that in the last bad winter (was it '63?)

Whilst 63 was the worst, there have been bad winters (as bad possibly worse
than the current one) since. What we are getting now was not unusual in 60s,
70s and in part of early 80s. I can remember driving, in the early 80s, in
my little Mini City E, along roads where the snow was laying & drifting &
the roads were unsalted. And the buses ran, as did the trains. Yes, there
are differences, as work patterns change & many live further from their
work, but it still doesn't change that back then, the buses still ran, the
trains still ran, schools stayed open and people mostly got to work (often
due to buses & trains still operating).