Polar Vortex

I took a course in meteorology several years ago. I did quite well at it. We visited a national weather service station which was valuable experience. My mentor for the course was a well known tv weather program personality. I taught the course for many years in high schools. We had weather stations installed on the roofs. Why all this background? I never heard of a polar vortex - or not that I remember. It might be in my notebook. It could be that a polar vortex simply didn't visit this far south in all this time - about 12 years. Be that as it may, wow, it isn't the 5 degrees or so, so much as the howling winds and the 30 knot gusts. We have minus twenty, even minus thirty around here often, but it never hits this hard!
Whatever you want to call it, it certainly isn't the Beach Boys!
Take cover! Wear lots of extra clothing! Have plenty of extra heating back offs in case of failures. Stay warm and keep your sense of humor! All you need for hot chicken soup is a can of soup, some pieces of wood, a sheltered place away from the wind and some matches!

Even Colder!

The National Weather Service had a forecast which included minus 27 degrees Fahrenheit for the low last night. I doubt it got below minus 12, but that was cold enough for an emergency decision. I brought the pets inside and left the electric heater going in the garage. This morning at about 8:00 am, the thermometer just inside the side door read about 33 degrees; too close for comfort! I barely slept and I'm still tired. The cat was a distraction - she plays with everything, which is cute most of the time, but sometimes not when there are stresses.
She's usually a help though and seems to be very sensitive and helpful during stress times. The dog stayed in the bathroom and so I didn't have my usual shower and slept with my clothes on as well, expecting minus 27 degrees. So I was too hot and had to get up to remove clothing. I also itched and some sores on my hands and neck irritated the heck out of me. Still, I managed to sleep about 2 hours.
It all worked out today when I napped a couple of hours and had a good breakfast. I was really "keyed out" on an apparent whole track perception! Wow!


OP 16d

OP 16d was an abandoned observation post with a still intact and workable landing dock. It allowed careful close manoevering and tight "lash down" for the ship. They could all safely and comfortably transfer to the main building. Thirty minutes or so and the whole thing was up to temperature and all the power was flowing and reporting "pass" on the warm up system check. OP 16d deserved some kind of design effiency awared for its insulation. Jim would read up on its history. About three inches of bulkhead was all that separated the interior from a near total dark vacuum outside. Much of it was clear poly cyclo hc (hydrocarbon) triple layered thermoplast or clear pc thermo as it was usually called. It appeared totally clear, but was not, of course, and was aluminized on the interior side of each "clear" layer to prevent radiation from within the station. It appeared fully reflective from without and wide open clear from inside. The opague alloy walls followed similar construction designs, vacuum insulation and front surface reflective metal ion deposition against radiation heat losses.
"What do they do here?", Nomi asked indredulously. "They make all kinds of obervations and standby for emergencies like ours!", Jim answered with humor that quickly became gratitude and wonder of his own at the foresight. "Do they know we're here?", she asked.  "They will soon, about eight hours or so.". Jim answered. "Where did they go?" Nomi's questions were totally normal and in this case they served to bring Jim out of a state of semi-shock as he reoriented to his work and training. "They usually have periodic patrols. We're spread fairly thin out here. I have to go over their log. I'll see what kind of messages they left."

Getting through the night without freeze damage!

At about 8 pm, I put two propane heaters on in the garage and drove the temperature up from about 38 degrees to about 48 degrees. The electric "milk house" heater is still on since its very safe to leave on over night - even with the pets in there. If it falls over, it goes off. I don't like to leave it on, but I feel confident that the dog will bark loud enough to wake me if there's a problem. Last winter, we tested it to twenty below outside and it still was above freezung inside in the morning. Good insulation and the milk house heater is efficient, albeit a bit expensive. It might still be worth the investment to heat the garage properly, with a large propane heater, and just keep it above 40 all the time in there. I think the quote was 1300 dollars. The real difference would be maintaining the temperature automatically with less worry about fire.


Dance of the Deep - continued

"What is it Nomi?" Jim was surprised to see her at his cabin door. He was a lot more surprised to see the Vulture behind her with some kind of weapon at her back.  "We simply have to do what they want and they'll let us go", she offered weakly and matter of factly. "Ouch, that hurts", she added. It must have been less than an hour later that Jim, Heshy, and Nomi found themselves in the "dingy" with barely enough fuel to make the nearest port. "No telecommunication Heshy, can't you do something to strectch the range?" Jim was seriously worried now. They were too far out to handle most emergencies, even simple ones. He began to understand his job better now, from the other side. He began to understand what serious matters their little  "jokes" had been, and he began get a very faint insight into how he had gotten them into this situation in the first place.

A Beginning

Jim wasn't quite sure where all this fresh new feeling was coming from. Perhaps it was an escape from the fear and pressure he'd been under for so long now. "Where did it begin?", he asked himself. He remembered a glance she'd sent his way, a curious inquiry.  The last time he'd seen something like that was way back in grade school, Sheila Somers and her glance back at him after he'd come in to the classroom late and out of breath from running. It was more like a "what's really going on" questioning look. He never really thought of Sheila that way until then. For that matter, he'd never thought of girls that way at all till then. Here it started again, way out here, deep in exospace. It was odd. The whole thing was like a strange dream. Gosh, she was pretty though,  especially in that dress with those flowers and that incredible music from centuries ago. It was like they were alone on the beach in Hawaii, after this "see who you like the most" dance and there they were looking at each other and knowing.  

Centuries ago and ancient Hawaiian customs seemed more appropriate and workable than anything today. Here it was 2314 and all he had was one close friend and something of a crew and these pirates all over him. His career had degenerated into this hopeless mess! He'd be lucky to pull out of this with his life, let alone his ship, and what about the hostages? Surely life was better hundreds of years ago on the shores of the Hawaiian Islands. He would have had even darker thoughts if Nomi didn't appear at his cabin door. "Can I speak to you please Captain Wallace?" 

Here Comes 2014!

It was minus three degrees Fahrenheit early this morning. Here comes the Vermont winter! I took some pictures from my iPhone out front of the house, but I can't seem to get them uploaded onto Blogger.
So much for technology.
I have to arrange my day carefully today and take advantage of all the time off from work. I'd like to write more of my new story about piracy in the space age - a comedy. I'll do that and put it up for review onto Blogger. We'll see what happens. Don't forget your resolutions!!

Getting Colder

It had been fairly warm all day yesterday, but it was close to 16 degrees Fahrenheit on the thermometer just outside my kitchen window this morning, and headed for minus 13 overnight according to the weather forecast on the weather.gov website. So it would be good to wear an extra pair of socks, make sure the pets are warm and snuggle in for the night!
We're apparently at the beginning of a new era, judging by the large social, economic and technological changes that have taken place over the past few decades.
With "new years" coming up in just one day, I think it would be a good idea to look at the future over a larger time period than just this year coming - at least for now. Just how do you see the future taking shape? What would you like to happen? What new challenges do you think might prove the most productive?
Things like that!
The "great grand-children" postulates. Safer, smaller, more economical cars - easier to learn algebra - more stable families - stuff like that!
I'll write up my own list and publish it on Wednesday. How's that?

Drive carefully!

  Bill

A "No Go" in Hardwick

Cold this morning - very cold - and following a disappointing day yesterday, could have made it feel even colder than it was! I had to go out and get more propane at the gas station. It's a problem keeping the garage from freezing in the winter, and it's not even quite winter yet! So the morning wasn't as bright and happy as it should have been! I think the birds and squirrels agree about that! I put extra rations of peanuts into their feeder and I don't think they got enough - they really need a lot of food to combat this cold. It's about our sixth winter up here and I think we're as well prepared as we've ever been. It's just come a bit early this time!
I went down to Hardwick for the first time to see about a teaching job - strictly no go. The only thing that might prove good about it is I won't have to work there. It was hard to find much to like about the place, so run down and understaffed. The math teacher seemed personable, but I though she was a student when I first saw her and it quite set me back when she was introduced to me as a teacher.  She looked about 16 or 17. I imagine that having a retired teacher, like myself, apply for the job could have been similarly disconcerting. I certainly don't like to think that way about myself, but it could be. C'est la vie.