Actual temp is -12F, winds are 25 gusting 40. so wind chills are peaking at -35 or so…

I ain’t going outside unless have to…..not in wind chills of colder than minus thirty. I have the gear for it, but goddamned cold is still goddamned cold….

Keeping the woodstove under control in these winds is ….difficult. tTe draft changes so dramatically in the changing wind, it’s hard to pick a damper setting.  But I am toasty warm, so hey….

More later.

ETA: 10 AM. Temp is up to negative 7, but the winds are gusting to over 50 mph….Still not all that bad though. But I am staying in. have no reason to go out, so why? It is, after all, killing cold outside. Haven’t seen Fred, so I don’t know if he is in his house or not. I am sure he has other places to hide though, cats can handle lots of cold if they are out of the wind. It is what it is. ‘Tis fun watching the drifts grow and then erode away as the wind shifts a few degrees.

ETA: 2 pm. wind gusts  are nearing 60 MPH temp is up to minus 2F. Fred is out wandering around. Hope he is ok.

The first winter “Snowmageddon” has begun. Temp began dropping about 11:00, the humidity condensed on the roads about 11:30, the first snow began about 11:45.

Kinda sleet-ish with a small bit of mist about noon (central)

The temp has steadily declined from 34 at 8 AM to about 27 at 3 PM.

The wind is picking up. We have had about an inch of snow.

Having said that, so far it is a fizzle.

But, like a blind date for a desperate woman, you never know how many inches yer gonna get or how long it will last……

ETA: Temp dropped 9 degrees in an hour, down to 19F at 4PM

ETA2: 10 F at 5 pm. Temp dropping even faster than forecast….but the good news is much less snow. maybe 3 inches.

ETA3: 6 PM: another 10+ degree drop now +7F. Still snowing and windy. 30 MPH

ETA 4: 7 PM winds are 14 gusting 32 4 F. Fred the feral outdoor cat has finally decided to move into the heated box I made for him. He’s out of the wind in the lee of the house  and should be warm enough.

5: 9 PM now minus one F. Down 32 degrees in about 8 hours. Wind is about 40 mph. Maybe 7 inches of snow, but it is blowing all over the place. Vis is about a half mile, maybe.

Was filling the truck up with diesel today and some chick, mid-20’s I’d guess, got out of her car one pump down and she was wearing TWO masks and surgical gloves.

They are still out there.

The sad part is that they get to vote…..

And make them buy supplies to make French Toast?

Today, 12 hours before the first winter storm, there is nary a loaf of bread, a carton of milk, nor eggs to be had in any supermarket.

This happens nearly every time the weather guessers forecast a storm of any magnitude. People buy out eggs, milk and bread.

Is it a cultural thing to make french toast at the height of the storm? Is it a sacrifice to the weather gods? I mean, they don’t buy out lunchmeat and cheese, so they aren’t making grilled sandwiches, Nor are they preparing for a power outage…..Only French Toast supplies. Not meat and vegetables either, nor cereal or peanut butter and jelly. Just eggs and milk and bread.

I really don’t get it.

So Congress might actually ban TikTok from all government devices.….

Except, of course, that ban won’t include MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. 

(Not that the Chinese need to use TikTok to spy on our Congressmen….they own most of them already….)

Snoop Dogg says the highest he’s ever been was smoking weed in Amsterdam with Willie Nelson

I mean, One would expect Joe Biden to have made a deal with a Chinese supplier…..

“The USPS will buy 60,000 “next generation delivery vehicles” from contractor Oshkosh Defense — 45,000 of them electric”

One has to wonder how much it cost Oshkosh Defense in graft, but still, at least they will be employing American workers….

Of course, the claim that these “Electric Vehicles” are “Zero Emissions” is a lie, but whatever….

That the Jan 6th Committee would recommend charges against Trump?

I mean, besides getting their faces in front of the cameras, finding dirt on Trump was the single objective of the members of the Jan 6th Committee. They are all, to a man (and woman) partisan Trump haters. Have been from the beginning…. The outcome of the “committee” was preordained. And the dirt they claim to have found is pretty clean, really.

They’ve wasted 18  months and countless dollars to come up with a *recommendation* for charges. They have no real power to do more than that, they cannot actually charge anyone. They are simply trying to damage the Donald. I figure it is because they are still terribly afraid of him.

The entire Jan 6th bunch was a caricature of justice and governance.

I passed my Biannual Flight Review yesterday. I actually picked a good day to schedule it. Clear below12,000 ft, wind out of the south at 5. No precip at all. And while it was 25 degrees F, the lack of significant wind made it fairly comfortable….

I actually remembered all the regulations they asked me about in the oral portion of the exam….

And the flight portion went well. I actually made acceptable steep turns in a Piper Warrior on the first try (they usually suck in any airplane, and I don’t have that much time in a Warrior, so…..). Did all the maneuvers (stall, turns, etc) and then an approach.

So I am legal for the next 24 calendar months.

Seems that most of Europe has decided that those terribly dirty, polluting , Coal fired power plants aren’t that bad after all.

I guess the politicians decided that they’d rather fold on their high minded “environment” principles than be hanged when the peasants were angry ’cause they were shivering in the dark…..

Funny how that works, innit? You can’t rake in money from “Green” programs graft if you aren’t in power….