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Chatterbox Winter 2017-2018

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Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Saturday, January 13, 2018 9:06 PM

tree68

Here's that creek:

Sandy Creek, Ellisburg, NY

 

Larry, I presume the highway department plows eventually cleared the road. Did anyone hit that ice while driving? Coming upon that at night could be disasterous.

 

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Posted by tree68 on Saturday, January 13, 2018 8:41 PM

Norm48327
The Canadian chill is hitting Michigan too.

And now in northern New York, where we're enjoying beautiful clear skies and mega-radiational cooling.  Currently (9:40PM) it's -7.3F.  

About ten inches of snow overnight, which wouldn't be bad, but with the north wind, I get a pretty solid drift right in front of the garage door.  I don't think the truck would push through it, either.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by mudchicken on Saturday, January 13, 2018 5:25 PM

Mooks: I thins I found the freezer door yesterday in Salina, KS ... Driving across I-70 from Denver, you go from dry roads and cold to four inches of blowing cold and stupid cold between Ellsworth and Salina. The highway suddenly was full of semis in the ditches.

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by Murphy Siding on Saturday, January 13, 2018 4:30 PM

April's not always a picnic either. Our wedding was on April 7th.s Some guests didn't make it on account of the blizzard.

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Posted by Mookie on Saturday, January 13, 2018 12:24 PM

Norm - I think April should come right after October.  

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by Norm48327 on Saturday, January 13, 2018 11:36 AM

Mookie,

I have Canadian friends living in both Alberta and Ontario.  Altough I have suggested to them they keep those cold winds north of forty nine they have ignored my requests. In their efforts to keep reasonably warm they propell those cold winds across the American prairies.

Bundle up girl. The Canadian chill is hitting Michigan too.

I am ready for April.

Norm


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Posted by Deggesty on Saturday, January 13, 2018 10:53 AM

Growing up 50 miles south of Charlotte, I would go to sleep at night listening to the broadcast from the ballroom in the Roosevelt Hotel from WWL in New Orleans (I had a pillow speaker)--and wake up in the morning hearing the station in Kannapolis (30 miles north of Charlotte). 

Johnny

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Posted by tree68 on Saturday, January 13, 2018 10:46 AM

Norm48327

As was WJR in Detroit.

Indeed.  We listened to WJR all the time at our house - but it was local, so clear channel didn't make much difference...

LarryWhistling
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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Saturday, January 13, 2018 10:06 AM

And who can forget "clear channel 650, WSM in Nashville, Tennessee".  Listened to the Grand Ole Opry one night while driving home with my son from his hockey game in Peoria.

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Posted by Norm48327 on Saturday, January 13, 2018 8:26 AM

As was WJR in Detroit.

Norm


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Posted by tree68 on Saturday, January 13, 2018 7:21 AM

CSSHEGEWISCH
Both were clear channel stations with 50,000 watts of power

My father was working as a reserve police officer one NYE and listened on the AM radio in the patrol car as the new year was rung in in several places.

WBZ in Boston, and CKLW in Windsor, ON, were also well-known clear channel stations.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Saturday, January 13, 2018 6:53 AM

For those of us old enough to have enjoyed listening to AM radio on the car radio at night, the reach of WGN and WLS was remarkable.  Both were clear channel stations with 50,000 watts of power and could be picked up at night almost anywhere in the United States.  I can remember listening to WLS in western Nebraska at one time and in Grand Portage, Minnesota while working the night shift at the port of entry.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by CShaveRR on Friday, January 12, 2018 4:33 PM

A foreword for Norris:  "Chicagoland" was coined by a local radio/television station a good 50-60 years ago.  I think it rolled off a little easier than "WGN-land".  Of course, I grew up where WOOD was a thing.  It isn't any more...for some reason it's now "WOTV".

Having said that, here's the Chicagoland aft-cast:  We got up to 60 degrees yesterday.  It was amazing...but I don't think it was a record.  

Actually, we got up (out of bed) to the 50s, in Michigan, and drove home in it--the kind of on-and-off rain/mist where one can't just set and forget the wipers.  The river behind my sister's house got high enough to cause some flooding of the lowlands--in their yard it just filled the channel and boat landing a little deeper.  We could literally watch the snow melt while eating breakfast.

But while we drove home after lunch, the temperature dropped into the 40s--and by the time Pat got home from choir practice, it was below freezing.  It never got out of the low 20s today, and we had a stiff wind the whole time.  Fortunately for us Chicagolanders, the precipitation had gone east before it got too cold, so the icy conditions were due to moisture already on the road, and that was it.  The garage door cracked like I'd never heard it do before when I opened it this morning, due to water having been driven into the hinged sections by the wind, then freezing there.  Today brought us steady temperatures and a brutal wind.

And now, after the aft-cast, a public service announcement:  we love "Chicagoland".  "The Chicagoland Area," not so much...it's redundant.  So is "Greater Chocagoland".  And "The Greater Chcagoland Area" (and we've actually heard this!) is probably the most redundant of redundancies!  It's repetitive, too!

P.S.  By WGN's old definition, we never left Chcagoland.  Milwaukee, Rockford, Rochelle, Ottawa, Streator, Kankakee, Valparaiso, South Bend, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Muskegon...this gives us Chicagolanders a lot of stomping ground!  I'd like to think we make the most of it!

Carl

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, January 12, 2018 3:25 PM

Here's that creek:

Sandy Creek, Ellisburg, NY

LarryWhistling
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Posted by tree68 on Friday, January 12, 2018 3:10 PM

After a high for the day of +60F about noon, the temperature is now (4PM) +34F and dropping like a rock toward a low toward zero tonight.

These sixty degree swings are murder - the other day we went from -30F to +30F in a day.  

Made a trip to town - the frozen ground isn't soaking up the rain, resulting in streams running banks full and water over the road in some areas.  Just south of me about 20 miles, the ice on a creek broke up and ended up in very large chunks over a state highway.  

All of which means that like Joe, we'll end up with a layer of ice under that foot plus of snow they're forecasting...

LarryWhistling
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Posted by JoeKoh on Friday, January 12, 2018 2:34 PM

afternoon

Have a nice glaze of ice underneath under our 1/2 inch of snow.Mother nature is blowing it around pretty good.Ns had some empty cars uptown when I left work.Going to stay inside and keep warm.

stay safe

Joe

Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").

 

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, January 12, 2018 11:40 AM

Murphy Siding

     The big, bad storm dumped a full half inch of snow on us. But.... and this is your big but.... some areas got 5/8" to 3/4"!!!,  with some spots reporting drifts over 7/8" deep!!!

Oh, the humanity!  I'm still making sure I've got plenty of gas for the snowblower...

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Murphy Siding on Friday, January 12, 2018 7:39 AM

     The big, bad storm dumped a full half inch of snow on us. But.... and this is your big but.... some areas got 5/8" to 3/4"!!!,  with some spots reporting drifts over 7/8" deep!!!

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, January 12, 2018 1:12 AM

Murphy Siding
With straight faces they regularly say things like "Parts of KELO-land could get up to 8-10 inches of snow or more!!!!!" While technically true, it's still pretty cheesey.

Look up Sonny Elliot - longtime TV weatherperson at WWJ in Detroit, and one of the first weathercasters in the nation (1947).  One regular "feature" of his forcecasts (done on a chalkboard cutout of Michigan with a removable Keewenau Peninsula jutting out the top) was combining words, like, it was going to be clear and cool, or "CLOOL."

Here's a video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZD-gKG5-g8

LarryWhistling
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Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Thursday, January 11, 2018 11:04 PM

Murphy Siding
While technically true, it's still pretty cheesey.

Well, they do have (or at least used to have) some pretty good cheese in that area of SD, so maybe that has something to do with it.

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Thursday, January 11, 2018 10:40 PM

     Our local weather liar is KELO TV. They also have a station 360 miles west of us in the Black Hills with coverage into Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and Nebraska. With straight faces they regularly say things like "Parts of KELO-land could get up to 8-10 inches of snow or more!!!!!" While technically true, it's still pretty cheesey.Dunce

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Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Thursday, January 11, 2018 9:26 PM

More than you'd know from listening to the news. Glad every thing came out well. (Pun intended).

 

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Posted by tree68 on Thursday, January 11, 2018 8:31 PM

Norm48327
...and Larry, being in an area that gets lake effect snow, isn't done shoveling yet.

I suspect that this upcoming storm is a generalized event, so we'll all get the 1-2' they're forecasting...

The snowblower is running just fine.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Norm48327 on Thursday, January 11, 2018 8:28 PM

Joe,

Please keep all that inclement weather in "Buckeyeville". We Wolverines are sick of winter. LOL.

OTOH, I know we still are going to have more snow and cold coming our way, and Larry, being in an area that gets lake effect snow, isn't done shoveling yet.

I will come out of hibernation in late March. Big Smile

Norm


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Posted by Mookie on Thursday, January 11, 2018 8:01 PM

tree68
Just had a knock at the door - a lovely young woman to whose home responded just before Christmas because she was having her baby at home, almost a month early.  She brought some goodies, which will be shared at our banquet Saturday.

there really are some nice people left in our world....

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Thursday, January 11, 2018 5:40 PM

Sundog today at sunset. That means brrrr cold!

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Posted by tree68 on Thursday, January 11, 2018 4:09 PM

JoeKoh
Major snowmelt day today.

Same here - with a winter storm hard on it's tail and more single digit temperatures.

It was nice while it lasted...

Just had a knock at the door - a lovely young woman to whose home responded just before Christmas because she was having her baby at home, almost a month early.  She brought some goodies, which will be shared at our banquet Saturday.  

Apparently the "little peanut" is doing quite fine - very mellow little fellow.

LarryWhistling
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Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
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Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

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Posted by JoeKoh on Thursday, January 11, 2018 3:58 PM

afternoon

Major snowmelt day today.Ns replaced one coal train with another one today at work.Ran errands here in Defiance and Csx sent a westbound.Going to be interesting tomorrow.Were calling for a blizzard now ice,maybe something else.It's NW ohio.Just glad it's Friday.

stay safe

Joe

Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").

 

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Posted by JoeKoh on Wednesday, January 10, 2018 2:40 PM

afternoon

Ns had a coal train to go east in the siding.They also sent another train eastbound as well.Had a bit of freezing drizzle this morning that caused quite a few fender benders.Matt was already at school and we were at work.Gussers say a storm is comg for us on friday/Saturday.Just depends where the storm track is.Chores to do here at home.

stay safe

Joe

Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").

 

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, January 9, 2018 8:24 PM

Randy Stahl
Frozen pipes in the enginehouse.. big mess, so far no engines were seriously damaged by the cold.

That's why there's an electric heater in one of our F units, and the other will be getting one.  The long pipe run up to the cab for the old heater was the culprit.

We had a close call not long ago when one of the Hot Start units quit during the night.  Fortunately, there was no damage.  

Wish we had an engine house.  There is one in the works, though...

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

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