If I were so inclined

Today would be a good day to fly for a while.

Clear skies, small winds, GREAT density altitude. (-5000 ft) and no chance of icing.....

Of course, there is the issue of getting the plane out of the hangar without frostbite, and I'm not sure I could get any oil temperature if it would start....and at -20F ...i'm not sure the avgas won't be frozen...

I'm going on Saturday though. 

Y'know

I'm gettin' frustrated by the weather people.

They are giving out "Real Feel" temperatures...and I got that...I understand that people need to know that information if they are going outside. But they are using "Real Feel" in place of actual temperatures. My pipes, more or less, are out of the wind. They don't care what the 'Feels Like" temperature is. Nor does my truck. Once it has cooled to the actual temperature (as measured by a thermometer) they don't get any colder. And that cold measurement is what matters.

But how cold is that temperature? Not -48 degrees. More like -19. Big difference.

I'd rather have 'em give me BOTH temps. Real Feel/Feels Like Wind Chill matters to those folks outside, but we need the REAL-Real temperature as well.

I suppose that the (not as low) temperatures (-25F) don't make for the hysteria that the "feels like (-48F) temperature numbers do. But still.

And, as an aside, have a thought for the folks that ARE working outside....the Power folks, the Water folks (lots of water main breaks in cities don't do Real Cold well) and others who are bringing much needed services to you home. I've worked outside in weather like this...and even with the proper gear, it is bad......which is why the scar tissue in my hands and fingers hurts so much in the cold....and why I didn't leave my house except to help my neighbor today (and likely won't tomorrow, either). 

"Up" to -11F

And the wind chill is "up" to -28F.

I loves me that Global Warmening stuff.

Spozed to be as cold tonight too, but not as windy.

I'm thinking Ecuador looks good right now.....

Hoax "Hate Crime"?

Sure looking that way....

Seems that there was a report from some actor "Jussie Smollet"...he claims that he was walking back from an all night Subway Sandwich shop when he was (allegedly) set upon by "several masked men" who shouted "racial epithets "while punching and kicking him"...who then "Placed a noose around his neck" and said things about "Trump" and "MAGA Country".....

He then, according to reports, went home and called his "friend" or agent who then called police, who took a report. Investigation is ongoing.

A couple of points:

The police are very careful to use the word "alleged" in every one of their reports. As is the News Media....who can't wait to tell us about racist Trump supporters.

Mr. Smollet "wasn't seriously injured". Odd, 2:1 or greater odds and he only got a bruise? They apparently knocked him down and incapacitated him long enough to "wrap a noose around his neck"...but he wasn't hurt. Odd, that.

Said "noose" was still around his neck when the police arrived, tens of minutes later....Strange, that.

There is no other corroborating evidence....In fact, there may be video of him walking home, apparently unharmed.

The use of the word (and symbol) "noose" is becoming prevalent in the Black community when they make any complaint about white people, at least in the greater Chicago area.  Every time there is an (alleged) racial incident, there is always a "noose" involved. One wonders.
Thing is, a noose isn't, at least to most white people, a symbol of hate.  Only black people. Ones that have been told for years that white people hate them and we are all racists. Lynching and all that(never mind that whites were lynched too)...And MAGA? Really?

I really believe that this is made up. Too many indicators. I mean, I wasn't there, and I can't say he is lying, but it sure doesn't pass the Smell-O-Meter test.....It smells like the night soil of a large and well fed male bovine.

But then again, I'm a white guy. and we are all racists. But then again, on the other other hand, most of these types of claims are later found out to be false. Not all, but most. And this one has all the hallmarks of falsification.

BTW, if they find evidence that he is lying, I hope he gets some punishment and has to pay for all the man-hours used in this investigation. 

Dodged a bullet, I think

Went to the house, opened up the well room, and set up 2 heaters. The room was about 20 degrees F.

Turned OFF the well at the panel, so if there were any broken pipes, we wouldn't have water running everywhere...opened the faucet valves and flushed the terlets so that ther was somewhere for the water to go.

Set a small fan to blowing the warm(er) air on the pipes, and went to the house to get a heat gun for some more persuasion.

When I returned, Bill said that water was dripping from the upstairs faucet. opened it fully and had a small stream until the pressure tank was empty.

Turned on the well, and the faucets first dripped, then ran a stream of rusty water.

Then full flow.

Ran all the faucets for 10 minutes, flushed the toilets twice each, and then shut everything off. Ran the well until the pressure switch hit cutoff and then watched. And listened. House was quiet.
No bleed off of pressure and no hissing of water. Waited 10 minutes. Nothing. I don't think he broke a pipe. I hoe not.


I left one heater in his well room set to 40F and buttoned it all back up. Came home. He does have a light bulb in the room for heat, but, when it burned out, he replaced it....With an LED. Yeah.
I'm gonna get him a heat bulb, or just might leave the heater there set as low as it will go for the rest of the winter.

I think Bill (the neighbor) was lucky. So far, no broken pipes.

So far, so good. Temp is -22 F.

I'm in for (hopefully) the rest of the day.

It's a good time to scrub the kitchen floor and so some other inside jobs.

AAAAnd it begins

The elderly neighbor called.

No water. He's 80 years old and in a panic.

He didn't leave water running as I suggested when I called him yesterday.

So I hope his well isn't frozen.

Truck is warming up and I'm about to load small space heaters and extension cords.

Off to thaw pipes and who know what else.

THere are days when I wish I was the kind of guy who could just say"no". 

So far not as bad

As of 5:30 AM:


only -18.7F.

Winds chill is only at -40F

But, the skies are clearing, so it may get worse.

SO the temp is dropping rapidly

As of 6 pm, we had slid from 11F at noon to zero F.

In the past hour it has fallen 3 degrees. No wind to speak of yet.

Got a real fire going in the woodstove and the temp inside is 72F.

If it gets as cold (and as windy) as the weather-guessers forecast, then short of an emergency I ain't leavin' the house tomorrow.

Yeah...right. Trust the State

It is cold, I get it. I plan on not leaving the house for the next 36+ hours....


But.....


So the City of Chicago has, for many years, been telling people to "Take Public Transportation" in order to reduce downtown congestion and ease the lack of parking...

And many people have become entirely dependent on Public Transportation.

Then, when it is going to be dangerously cold, the city has announce that, due to the weather, they will be running METRA  and South Shore commuter trains at a "reduced service level". and the CTA busses will be on a reduced level as well...

Yeah, just what people want to do...try to stay warm in an unheated bus stop shelter or on a METRA station in -25 F cold with -50 wind chills while waiting an extra time  for a ride....

Best way to get people to ditch those cars and use public transport...(and then there are those who need transport, can't, for whatever reason, afford a car)...Let those people down on the worst weather day in a decade....
If ever there was a good reason to not trust ever growing Government, to distrust and never depend on the State....here is a good example.

Interesting Observation:

HERE

True though.

Scary, innit?

The Dems must really be afraid of him:

Schultz, is the Dude to whom I am referring.

I mean, they are even trotting out the "What does he know about the Political System?" bit. And "Very inexperienced".

Where were they when Hillary and Barry were running? Hillary might have been marginally competent, Barry wasn't even that. Trump may not know Politics, but he is at the least a leader....

I think they know that he will take many of their middle of the road voters...Sorta semi-conservative types.

And, ultimately, they know that they will lose if the vote is split 3 ways.

(is it harder to cheat if there are three candidates??)

So...

Other than making life difficult for a bunch of Federal Employees, and angering a bunch of people, What, exactly, did Trump accomplish?

He drew a line in the sand, as it were, and dared the DNC to cross it.
They did. And he had nothing when they did.

And he folded. He got NOTHING. No commitments, no partial payment for the Wall, not even a promise (which the DNC types have broken before anyway) to come up with some real, actual working border security.

He damaged his brand, disappointed his supporters (again) and made the Left stronger.

(Why didn't he do something while the RNC held the reigns?)

Was this just a power play? (one that he lost, badly).

I am disgusted. I'd have rather seen him keep the shutdown happen than this. Do an EO saying that (at least) "essential" employees get paid.

But instead he folded.
Failed.
Completely.

But, at least we don't have Hillary. There is that, even if that isn't much. 

Wax on, Wax off

The 182 was having a bit of maintenance this week, and was sorta buried at the back of the shop. Since the wind and cloud cover was such that there was't gonna be any VFR flying, I didn't mind.

Friday, I took advantage of the fact that it had sat in a heated shop for 3 days, and decided to wax it.

I got the wings and tail surfaces done. Man, that is a LOT of area. especially when most of it has to be done from a ladder.
At least it beads water now. Hopefully, next time I get caught in a snow squall, the wax will prevent any minor buildup. (Not that I'm gonna fly in icing conditions, mind you)

The best part was the other pilot who asked me why I was bothering....I showed him the bottle and told him that this was a special coating and it gave 7 knots extra speed because of the smoother airflow across the wings. I really shoveled it on about the "special aerospace coating" and "Extra low friction polymer" and "developed by the French airforce for the Tornado fighter" (he didn't get that) and a whole bunch of other total BS.

He was all excited and interested.
"Really?????!?"

me: "nope, just kidding"

He wasn't amused. Everyone else in the shop was, however.
People should know better...too good to be true and all that. 

And he folds

So, what, exactly, did TheDonald get out of this?
What did the nation get?

As far as I can see, nothing. Again

"Pop-Up"

The media keeps talking about "Pop-Up" food banks and "Pop-Up" soup kitchens...for Government workers (only).

Where is the funding coming from for these "pop-Ups"?

Most food banks can't get enough funds to meet their needs, and they plan ahead months in advance to get the food they do get.

Yet these "Pop-Ups" just appear? Maybe with a week notice?

Who is funding them? It takes tens of thousands or dollars to stock a food bank for even one day. Where are all those dollars coming from?

Or are they just Media showpieces so that they can highlight the poor government workers who aren't being paid?

One wonders. 

They never heard of teleconferencing?

I mean, speaking of hypocrites:

David Attenborough might have urged world leaders at Davos to take urgent action on climate change, but it appears no one was listening. As he spoke, experts predicted up to 1,500 individual private jets will fly to and from airfields serving the Swiss ski resort this week.

As they say...I will start to think about believing the Climate Crisis is real when those who tell me it is start acting (and adjusting their lifestyle) as if it were.

1500 private jets. about 450 to 500 gallons of Jet-A per hour at a little less than 500 knots.(figures are for a G-IV) 
How many jet hours per average flight? Lets say 5. So each plane (say 3 passengers) burns 2200-2500 gallons of fuel. So say 750 gallons per passenger or more. Each way.

That's more carbon than the average person causes (in the US) for 8 months or so.
For ONE trip. times, of course 4500 (3 per airplane).
Lots of carbon there. Plus aerosols from the jet engine.
That's a lot of carbon for a few lectures and presentations that could ahve been watched via videoconferencing, doncha think?

Do what I say, not what I do.

But, I suppose, if they didn't make the trip (on whose dime?) then they wouldn't find ways to fleece the world governments for more money...

Hypocrisy

Seems that everyone (at least the DNC trypes and the Media) is decrying the "manipulation" of images and and video and the fact that a person or persons used a 1 minute video to purport that catholic school student Nick Sandmann was "disrepecting" a Native American at a march...

Ironic, isn't it?

They got snookered, and could not wait to report how a kid in a red "MAGA" hat was such a terrible person (and, by inference, so was every Trump supporter) and when additional, more complete video showed the tiny blurb in context, they were embarrassed. Forget that those people and groups that they support do much worse than just stand there and smile at people with whom they disagree...(and that wasn't even what was happening))

Yet they do it nearly every day, giving us only part of a story, or only showing 10 seconds of video rather than the complete clip, or creatively editing a video to show what they want, and not the whole story....choosing to give only facts that support their viewpoint and, again, not the whole story.

Hypocritical of them, doncha think?? It's not like they haven't done the same thing.  

Truth:

HERE

Starting to feel sorry

For the folks who are employed by the Federal Government that are deemed "essential" and that aren't being paid.

Now, for most of the rest of the country's citizens, being laid off (furloughed) is a fear and a thing that must be dealt with....But when a factory worker is laid off he or she can go find other work, or can choose to try and live off of unemployment.

But if one is an "essential" worker, then one cannot do that.

And it's been long enough that these folks that aren't being paid are likely starting to hurt.

I think they should be paid for the work they are doing. Alternatively, don't operate those departments and see how the people like it when they don't have those service. Shut down the ATC and the airlines and see what happens. Or other departments that are "essential"....

If they are working, pay 'em. If not working, don't.

This charade is unfair and, frankly, stupid.

(And yes, I know I was unsympathetic to those who, 4 days after missing a paycheck claimed to have had to go to a soup kitchen to eat...that is different...4 days? ....now it is getting serious. Missing 2 paychecks is where it begins to hurt, and where one is up against late fees for missed payment dates and other such issues. Missing one paycheck and being in financial trouble shows bad fiscal management...missing two (with little likelihood of the issue being resolved soon) is where it starts to get serious.)

One would wonder why the Democrats care so little about the Federal Workers such that they would refuse to even try, but would rather see those 800,00+ folks not get a paycheck rather than let a dime be spent for a barrier to prevent all the illegal invasion taking place? I mean, they gave away significantly more than three times that to the countries from which most of our invaders border crossers came from (didn't help the poor folks of that country, just enriched the oligarchs) yet they won't spend a nickel actually enforcing the border integrity to protect the economic welfare and the security of the citizens of the US.

Why is that?

All in the news

I think it is great
All those "Gubmint Workers" getting help form private businesses....Free meals, free or discounted entertainment tickets, etc....Communities helping each other and all that.

But....Where are these "Pop- Up " food banks coming from? Where are they getting their food, and who is paying for it? Just suddenly a truckload of food appears and the press is invited and takes some pictures.....For the evening news...

Odd, that. Almost as if it were staged. Like propaganda...

Who is paying for it though?