CapturedNature

9 hours ago, WinterWolf said:

Wow, now that the pot calling the kettle black.  You’re the biggest Troll in the history of these forums Dr Dewsh.  Go change your avatar..it’s been a day or two already..lol.

I am so glad that I block that guy.  It makes reading the forum so much easier.  I just never saw any posts from him that provided value outside of trolling for fish...

11 hours ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said:

So I have the pleasure of getting off my parents health insurance next month (turning 26) and am choosing between an hmo and ppo for myself and wife. 
 

Ive always has a ppo on my parents insurance, and that has worked well, especially when needing to see a specialist for various reasons.

Im leaning ppo, any practical reasons not to do so?

Its about 50$ more per pay period and co pays are 10$ higher 

Since you're young, I'd consider a health savings account with a high deductible plan.  You have 40+ years to build a health savings account and that money can be used for ANY healthcare related expense, including Medicare premiums when you retire.  The money comes out pre-tax so it lowers your overall tax burden.  The premium will be lower but you'll have a higher deductible.  If you divide the deductible out, it will actually be about the same as the HMO or PPO.  It gives you the benefits of the PPO but you'll be able to carry over funds year to year and you never have to worry about out of pocket healthcare expenses.

1 hour ago, BombsAway1288 said:

Unbelievably nice out today. Felt like early May, hard to believe it's February 24th.

I think we can call winter officially over if some haven't yet.

I will on Sunday. 

2 hours ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Those leaves that hang on one species of the White Oak all winter are blowing down today. Earliest I’ve seen that. It’s typically around early-mid Napril. More signs from Mother N. Anyone else notice that you n SNE last 2-3 days?

Are you trying to insinuate that things are 6 weeks ahead of schedule?  If that was the case the sap should not be flowing and the buds would be coming out right now.  In 2002 and 2012 the forsythia were in bloom at the end of March too.  You can't fool mother nature. 

Meh...ensembles look pretty seasonable to me through the first third of March to me after the freeze later this week/weekend.  Seasonal works for me and the maple producers.  That's perfect for another good run next week following the one this week. 

Just now, donsutherland1 said:

As of 1 pm, the high temperature in Boston was 63°. That is the warmest temperature this February. In addition, January-February 2020 remains on track for a two-month average temperature of 37.6°. That would easily surpass the 36.5° recorded in 2002 for the warmest January-February on record.

*

33 minutes ago, tamarack said:

Sat/Sun temps at my place were 37/-8 and 43/12 and it was low teens again this morning with full sun and light winds each day.  Tubing about to burst and 24-7 boiling?

The lines were full to capacity and constantly flowing Saturday and Sunday with temps 44/20 and 51/20.  It was 19 this morning and it's in the 50s already.  I'll be boiling tonight and tomorrow night but only for a few hours.  I do the bulk of my boiling on weekends at first but starting next week I split my time between jobs - 4 days boiling and 3 days IT.

4 minutes ago, weathafella said:

I can see cold drizzle in November but spring and summer?  I’ll never fully understand that preference... 

I don't mind it as a break.  I wouldn't like it every day but as a break from heat and humidity, it's a relief.  

14 minutes ago, Ginx snewx said:

If wishes were dishes we would all be fat. Its gonna do what it wants to do. I hope you have today off.  Spectacular day in store will definitely be tanning the nape.

I wish I was off.  Should be another great sap run today as temps were in the teens this morning.  They've been running great the past few days.

57 minutes ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said:

To be fair though, does some cat paws in May really save the season? I mean, it’s been wretched. Your statistics even back that up... 8” between 12/20 and now? Yuck... does t get much worse than that.

Most folks got half their snow in an event the first days of December, little since.

I know people are trying to spin this as not so bad because of the early December event but I mean, come on, it’s been awful ever since.

I don’t get the odd need for many to defend this winter, especially south of like hubb and Hippie 

Yeah, I'm not saying that snow in May "saved" the season.  Far from it.  It's just a cautionary tale to anyone calling for no more snow on 2/24.  For a time it might look right and then feel safe when well into April it starts getting hot.  You might even be tempted to even make an early call for the "hottest summer ever" but then a few weeks later the ground is coated with this stuff that you said wouldn't fall any more.

I'm also not spinning anything.  It's been crappy since 12/20 snow wise but the fact is when looked at it's totality we've had warmer and less snowier seasons.  I think we're on to spring and that we'll add to our seasonal snowfall.

4 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

With no more coming you Newark . NJ or DE. You pick 

Forgot to mention, in 2012 (one of the winters worse than this one), we actually had one of our latest snowfalls in May.  There was even a heatwave at the end of April but despite that we had snow in May and it was my latest snowfall on record for a while.  I'm sure nobody saw that coming in February so good luck with your call of no snow the rest of the season.

1 minute ago, Damage In Tolland said:

With no more coming you Newark . NJ or DE. You pick 

Good luck with that.  As for snow, we've had winters with less so I'll stick with New England.  Sounds like you want to move back to your homeland...

37 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Except that you do 

Except that I've had more than 5" of snow - closer to 30" for the season and 8" for the cherry picked time after 12/20 and I don't live in Newark. 

14 minutes ago, Cold Miser said:

What do you do where you depend on snow/ cold weather for your line of work?

Not much you can do.  Thankfully it's a mostly seasonal thing for most people.  That's what happened to me in 2012 though.  I was expanding right when the market collapsed.  You're at the mercy of nature and it affected producers throughout the region.  Bulk prices soured and many buyers stopped using maple syrup as an ingredient.  It's come back some but I think there was lots business across the board.

1 minute ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Yup. We Newark 

Glad we don;t live there...

11 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

It’s an all timer . You don’t get 5” of snow from Dec 22- Morch 31st. not in anyone’s worst nightmare . It’s like we moved to GD Newark , Delaware 

Who's the "we" that had 5"?  You?  And how can you include March which hasn't happened?

2 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

A chunk of December skews the DJF temps and snow. From about 12-20 until now, I think this is up with the all timers. I didn’t look at the numbers, but I feel like it’s up there.

Anyways not trying to complain....it is what it is. 

Yeah, it's been an incredible stretch but you can't cherry pick the periods that get factored into met winter.  I think you're right though, I think in terms of snow It's 2 or 3 (possibly 1) at some locations for that 12/20 onward stretch.

39 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

I was born and in NJ in 72 and moved here in 78. Other than 89-90, this is worst . And it might be as bad

'02 and '12 were worse.  This winter lines up behind those those and '89 when you factor in snow and temperatures.  '12 was particularly worse for me for the financial hardship it created for me that took me and others years to recover from.  That doesn't exist this year.  The average temp this met winter has been 28.9 while 2002 was 33.4 and 2012 was 31.6.  Those are actually my warmest winters and 2012 had just about as much snow and we've had nearly twice as much as 2002. 

If you want to think that this winter is worse than a winter that was warmer and had half as much snow, you're welcome to believe that but while this winter has been crappy, I think looking at the data for my backyard that those were worse in totality.

15 minutes ago, dryslot said:

Yup, It was a good one

Hmmm...It's not showing up on the USGS map:

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/

1 hour ago, dendrite said:

MetHerb just cut down all of his sugar maples.

Yeah, mother nature is telling me it's early spring.  Sap was flowing like a mo fo yesterday and today.  I tap every mid-February and everything is running (pardon the pun) on schedule.  With the exception of the lack of snow, temps look good for a great maple season.

2 hours ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Had a lot of limbs and branches from those two icestorms . But there’s been very little wind this winter , so not nearly as much as usual. The best thing is there’s no mud. So easy with no mud season 

Do you really wait till spring to clean-up branches?  The grounds been clear 90% of the winter why couldn't you pick them up after the storm?  LOL...and golfers as a sign like no courses are open year round.

Meanwhile in reality land, the sap is flowing like it's early spring and the run looks to continue for a couple of days before freezing things up later in the week and then another run next week right on schedule.  Spring projects...plenty of time to work on the lawn later in spring.

While it would be nice to put some snow on the ground, I'm focused on temperatures.  It looks like a start of a pretty good sap run starting today into next week.  Then we reset and have another run after that.  I can live with that.  Hopefully it's a rinse and repeat through March.

39 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

Don't.

30 minutes ago, Snowcrazed71 said:

Stop

25 minutes ago, EastonSN+ said:

Believing

24 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

Street lights....people?

LOL

2 minutes ago, weatherwiz said:

I always wonder...what's the line between where these places and handle snow and where all hell breaks lose over a 1/2''. I know Atlanta falls into the later category so are they like that line or is it a bit north of them? 

Every year I deliver syrup to a brewery in Charlotte around New Years.  A couple of years ago they were expecting snow.  I think it was forecast to be around 6", maybe more and I thought no problem.  I'm from New England and I can deal with that.  Then I discovered the real issue down there - lack of plows and more importantly, salt.  People would drive around and pack the snow down and before long all the streets and interstates were sheets of ice and you could barely move.  I took the interstate north and at some point climbing up the Blue Ridge the roads were plowed and treated and it was fine north of there.

I think it's a budget balancing act.  Does it make sense to invest in equipment and material you might use once a year or even a decade?  Even here there's equipment that isn't as widely used as places that get more snow more often.

2 hours ago, DotRat_Wx said:

I know most are hesitant on sharing this type of stuff but I don't care, always worth a shot. 

Was laid off this AM. Have experience in a variety of areas. Most recently a project manager last few years. 

If anyone has anything in mind in Boston or South shore please shoot me a message. I can forward resume. Thanks guys. 

Hang in there and keep in touch with your contacts.  Use the opportunity to assess your current path and see if there's a different route you want to take.