[way off-topic] weather around the world

[McBrain]

I supposed the snow to have been gone yesterday evening, but I was wrong. This morning there was about 10cm snow!

DocHoliday wrote:
I have another idea though... Why don't we compare the NEWS we hear. I wonder how the same event is reported
by different agencies and services. I can't pick an event off the top of my head right now.. Tsunami is old news, not
really much to fuss around Bush's inauguration, but to report it happened..

Anyway, pick an event, which is global or regional in nature (not local anyway) and we all keep a track on how it's
reported by our own news outlets..

That's a good idea! But even so I have to tell you a "local news":

On friday, the 21st a McDonalds burnt up in our neighbor town! The 21st was also my 17th birthday!

[McBrain]

McBrain wrote:
I supposed the snow to have been gone yesterday evening, but I was wrong. This morning there was about 10cm snow!

Um, wrong tense...?
Please correct me if it's wrong!

[freespace2dotcom]

I think it should be "I thought the snow was gone"

"Suppose" doesn't really fit in past tense

[McBrain]

freespace2dotcom wrote:
I think it should be "I thought the snow was gone"

"Suppose" doesn't really fit in past tense

Ok, thanks!

[StarLost]

Better choice is:

The snow was supposed to have been gone by yesterday evening.

Bitchin' language is English.  Hard as hell to learn (though tonal languages are harder, like Mandarin). I've been around
Anglos too long.

McBrain, keep at it. Your English is still better than my German (Drop me an email about the PB shuttle Mk 2 will you?)

As for news.  Its a tough one 'cause I don't watch TV either. Most news I pick up is radio or press. The best examples I can
give about difference in news perspective comes from 1991.  I spent six weeks in Kiel, Germany.  World was sane when I left
home. They started bombing Baghdad a week later.  Fifteen minutes of listening to Voice of America was all I could stand.  My
best English language news sources were CBC shortwave and, believe it or not, Radio Moscow.  Interesting perspective
variances.  And thank the Creator for Wednesday night BBC futbol broadcasts bounced across the North Sea.

North America reports news with a very different slant vis-a-vis European reports.  And Canada is not in lock step with the US.

Pick a news topic though, and I'll pass on what's said from here, if it's reported at all.

[DocHoliday]

Light snow, -12C
Feel-Like: -12C

Hey, Freespace, can you explain, what the difference between the stated temperature and "feel-like" temperature
ought to be? I've seen this many time, but I never completely understood, what people meant by it.. Is it, the
temperature that is accounted for wind, or what? I mean, it's 0 here, but when I stepped out it FELT -40.. But that's
just because I overslept, so I went to work, almost directly out of bed.. so "feel-like" feels pretty damn subjective to
me unless there is actually a definition behind it..

Happy Birthday, McBrain! (sheesh, I'm gonna be 30 this year!)

Cheers,

[Atom]

Don't worry if you're not that good at English, because I  can bet I know an English person with worse English than you.

[StarLost]

Doc,

Try this link:

http://www.pnr-rpn.ec.gc.ca/air/wintersevere/windchill.en.html

In Canada we used to use two methods of windchill reporting.  In Eastern Canada it's expressed as an equivalent temperature. In Western Canada it's expressed as cooling in watts/m^2.  because of the confusion a new system was developed in concert with the US and both countries' military.

What they came up with is on that site.



Post Edited ( 01-25-05 09:15 )

[DocHoliday]

Hm.. Very interesting. Although the windchill factor still is kind of confusing it would be better to just call it deltaT
due-to-wind and then substract the number of degrees the wind will add, because that's what it's basically about.

You rarely stop and think that in extreme cold, issues such as body heat loss, DO play a major role. Back here, the
lowest we get is -20 or -25C which is pathetic compared to Scandinavia, Canada and other places, where you people
actually have to take into account such things...

I admire the determination and resilience..

[freespace2dotcom]

I liked the "I was a guinea pig for wind chill" link on the page.

[StarLost]

It's actually easy to relate to.  And -0C temperatures don't matter.  You can get windchilled above 0C, too.

Think in terms of transpiration.  How does your body cool itself?  Air flow over the skin evaporating perspiration.  Now
think of a bicyclist or a long distance runner.  At the end of a race, a marathoner's body is overheated (often to the point
that perspiration is not produced thus seriously affecting the body's ability to cool). Any kind of breeze will take the body
from overheated to hypothermic very quickly.  That's why they often cover a runner in a "space" blanket (silvered mylar)
after a race; to prevent chilling too quickly.

Same for a cyclist.  Faster you go, the cooler you get due to wind speed. That's why your toes, knees and nose fare so badly.

It's just that it gets real critical at low temperatures.

The good thing is that it's easy  to combat.  Number one piece of clothing for cold conditions?  Wear a hat.  Your head
dissipates 70% of your body heat. Cover it up.  Wind Chill warnings? Cover all exposed flesh. It might be "cool" to wear
running shoes and no jacket in cold weather, but it's not warm either. And can be fatal.

If you are feeling cold, here's a fast trick.  It's actually a form of acupressure.  Pinch your earlobe (between two fingers)
at the place where one would normally have the lobe pierced (for one hoop only). Your body will begin to feel warmer within
ten seconds. Pinch both ear lobes. This is a temporary effect.  If you're cold, get out of the cold.

Consuming alcohol does not warm you up. It actually has the opposite effect.

As to Canada's reputation for cold, remember we're a big country.  The west coast (Pacific) rarely gets very cold.  In my
area in Southern Ontario, January temperatures are normally -4C to -12C (with much variation). The East coast (Atlantic) is
very variable.  The Gulf Stream (warm) flows by but so does the Labrador Current (cold). Their interaction can turn the
weather in five minutes. And don't forget that a large part of our country is in the arctic.  So quess where the coldest
temperatures have been found?

If you said the arctic, you would be mistaken.  Coldest temperature on record was -89C at White River, Ontario (just north of
the north shore of Lake Superior and about 400 km north of me, as the crow flies).  In general, the inland areas get much
colder than the coastal areas or the arctic.  It can be very much like Siberia on our western prairies, and for the same
reasons. Just ask Canadave, he lives there.

[freespace2dotcom]

meh. I will wear no hat or sissy gloves.

I'm a survivor! seriously though. a week ago, things were about 0 F..  I only brought along my coat, as usual...

my hands were actually stiff, and an extremely noticable shade of red. that's how frozen they were. took them a good
half hour to fully thaw out, too. but you know, It's not like I got frost bite or anything, I'm beginning to think I'm
immune to it.

I also remember one time last year when my hair went stiff. I knew better that day, and just put my hands in my
pockets, but it was still nothing I couldn't handle.

Consuming hot-cocoa will warm you up though.

[StarLost]

Ahh yes. The looks before comfort crowd. At least you'll look pretty as the centrepiece of a funeral.

It's got nothing to do with survival.

Reddened hands aren't too bad.  It's the white spots that mean it's gone too far. And NOBODY is immune.

And your HAIR went stiff?  Just had a shower?  .... or what did she look like?

Hot cocoa or hot chocolate ... but I mentioned that earlier, along with Orbiter.

[freespace2dotcom]

well, sure, if I experience -89C (-67F) temperatures, I'll be sure to bundle up too!

And yes, I had had a shower... I just wanted to sound cool..

I'm pretty sure at that point I could snap a piece off and stab things with it.

[DocHoliday]

heheheh, Freespace, I tend to agree with Starlost. Being cool isn't worth becoming cold Here where we have mild
weather we can act like heros, but out in the real cold, we'd soon learn our lessons.

Cool is a matter of attitude, not looks. And I think your attitude is cool enough without freezing your butt off.. But
seriously, you probably didn't go a very long distance that day at 0F.. if you kept on going, your body actually WOULD
run out of heat, or rather would not be able to produce enough to replace the lost and you WOULD go down...

Short-term resistance of a human body is amazing, and pain ignoring too. I used to make it a fun sport for my pals
when I was a kid, to hold the radiator with my hand. It probably wasn't much above 40C, but noone else could do it.
I was able to, for short periods of time, just enough to impress them.. The motto was: Heat is a feeling. Feelings can
be ignored. Duh.. up to some point yes, beyond that reflexes kick in. Beyond that Darwin kicks in and your branch of
the human species will righfully die out

I used the earlobe trick the other way around back then. I still do. When I get a finger burned cooking, I grab my
earlobe for a few seconds with that finger and the pain goes away..  I didn't know it works the other way around
too

There's another thing I noticed with "northern" peoples. I think it's connected to weather, being forces to conserve
energy, to do nothing that wastes it.. They tend not to complicate things, they tend to think before they act, and they
don't talk a lot, are easy to get along with... They just don't have time to waste on useless things, can't use energy
uselessly..

Unlike the people nearer the equator, which are full of loud, agressive, like to fight before they think, etc...

I see it in my country (in my ex-country those people would be the Serbs, in my current country, those would be the
south-west cities near the coast vs. norhtern cities in the Alps). I see it in Europe (Greeks, Italians, Spanish, Turks vs.
Swiss, Norwegian, Swedish, Finish, Iceland, even Danish). And I see it globally (Africa, northern South America, Mid
America, southern North America (US), Middle East... vs. northern North America (Canada), Russia, northern Europe,
south South America, South Africa, Australa, Tibet, ...)

Sterotypes, I know.. but there is usually a background to them

[freespace2dotcom]

Meh, I do it not to look cool (believe me, I really don't give a darn how I look. my hair is proof of that..)

I do it because I like the cold. and I do honestly believe I can tolerate it far better than the average person can.

Just as I can't tolerate high levels of heat like the average person can. (though I can do that radiator trick too. )

 I'd probably do better settling on mars than venus, but venus is my fav planet.

[DocHoliday]

hehe, I wouldn't mind living on venus, EASY to land there.. But Mars is my favourite

You know, since I stopped eating meat, I start being cold a lot sooner than before. I guess it makes sense.. Less fat
in my food, less fat in my body, less cold tolerance I guess.. But I didn't get sick once in the last 3 years or so. That
too is rumored to be a side effect of being vegetarian

You on the other hand with your cheeseburgers get a lot more of fat and it's only smart to BE in the cold, to use up
the extra energy you are stuck with then Otherwise you'd just store it and get fat.. So I guess that explains this
partially. The other part must be genetics then

[DanSteph]

Awww  first time we have so much snow since 4 years... I like it  

Took this photo one hour ago:



Dan

[DocHoliday]

What are you doing outside?!

Get back in the house and code, dammit!

[McBrain]

DocHoliday wrote:
What are you doing outside?!

Get back in the house and code, dammit!

You have a nice house! It seems to be a bit remote of the other houses, am I right?
Our house is at the entrance of our village, thus it's sometimes noisy from the road.
Also, less than 100m away there is a sports field. And in summer, at some evenings there are some "festivals" of the sports guys, and they party to thee o'clock in the morning! My father was in temptation to call the police from time to time!



Post Edited ( 01-25-05 17:40 )

[freespace2dotcom]

But I didn't get sick once in the last 3 years or so. That too is rumored to be a side effect of being vegetarian

*cough, gag* (choking on his meat sandwitch)

I'll have you know, that medical history is quite awesome. the last time I got sick, it was during my trip to arkansas,
which was planned poorly, as I came just when a stomach virus was going around. everyone got sick, so I couldn't
have been excluded from that.

the last time I was at a doctor? when I had that problem with earwax that I told you guys about.

before that? can't remember, far too long ago. my immune system works very well. and this comes from a guy with
severe vitamin deficiencies.

Dan, you look like you got quite a bit of snow there. I haven't seen as much snow in person since I moved to
arkansas about 5 years ago, so yeah. white is nice when you haven't seen it for a while.

[DocHoliday]

McBrain wrote:
You have a nice house! It seems to be a bit remote of the other houses, am I right?
Our house is at the entrance of our village, thus it's sometimes noisy from the road.
Also, less than 100m away there is a sports field. And in summer, at some evenings there are some
"festivals" of the sports guys, and they party to thee o'clock in the morning! My father was in temptation
to call the police from time to time!

hehe, that would be a bad idea. Happy people, especially loaded might get agressive on you.

I suggest instead next time, you just go and join them

Freespace: well, for a guy who doesn't go out much, you really shouldn't get sick often I found the worst possible
place to pick a virus or bacteria is a public bus.. So the best way to avoid catching something if you find yourself on
one is not to talk to anyone and breathe through your nose only There.. A little Dr. Holiday health advice.

Cheers,
Janez

[freespace2dotcom]

Only really strong and infectious things usually get me. I never get those flu shots, because more often than not, I
don't get the flu anyway, and I really dont' want to expose myself to whatever they've got in there BESIDES the flu
germs.

I've gotten strep throat a few times, but sometimes I drink something too fast, and cough a bit to keep it from going
down the wrong pipe.. which leads to some of what I was drinking to come out of my nose...

unfortunately, I drink soda, which is 75% sugar, and 25% caffeine. and we all know how much bacteria like sugar.

[Artlav]

Back to topic...

There was almost no snow and temperature was above zero in north-western Moscow since new year, but not until
yesterday. Now it's abot -16C outside with average wind speeds. Now everything is covered in ice and snow, and
consequently very slippery.

About the news, I would like to hear what was said about our "privilege riots" and 250 years anniversary of MSU on
the other side of the globe.

And sorry for my bad english...

[McBrain]

DocHoliday wrote:
hehe, that would be a bad idea. Happy people, especially loaded might get agressive on you.

I suggest instead next time, you just go and join them

Well, you probably won't believe me, but I HATE parties (especially those where you just drink alcohol and hear loud hip-hop-music [McBrain hates HipHop, because you need no skill to make music like HipHop, you only have to talk fast! McBrain likes good old rock music and generally music with guitar in it]).
I also wouldn't abide being awake this long! When I hear "unskilled" music, I want to turn it of immediately or go away or go sleep.