Connecticut Appleman

2 hours ago, CoastalWx said:

Well that doesn’t make me feel good lol.

One suggestion - have a pillow handy to apply some pressure to the area just in case you need to sneeze or cough.  

I learned the hard way - sneezed without putting pressure on it and holy crap did that hurt.  Next time with pillow - not a big deal.

In general, the anticipation of the surgery was worst than the actual surgery.

Don't know economically if it is better to have a 3+/- week shutdown (would need to be on a regional basis to be effective) to try to bring this back under control or the death by a thousand paper cuts approach.

We from CT are running out of states to travel to.  NY, NJ, RI and HI are the only ones left.  We can go to VT but it sounds like they don't want us.

I realize it is nearly impossible to enforce, but symbolic of the rapid increases beginning to happen in the area.

Hockey rinks are unique with respect to this virus.  The air is cold and stays trapped above the ice and the glass dams the air up.  Also in order to keep the ice in good shape, ventilation is not designed to exchange out the cold the air above the ice.  

Connecticut is following suit on the roll back.

Pats game against the Broncos now moved to next Sunday.

Lightning in the distance was profuse 20 minutes or so ago, barely any lightning now.  Maybe it will surprise me, but odds are the thunderstorms will be dead as they traverse the last 15 miles to get here.

0.32 inches here for the day.

7 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

You saw my pics right? Everything is dead 

Yeah, rough summer for plants.  Been spending a lot of time watering to keep the new plantings going around the house.  Mature trees looking very tired from the dry stress.

6 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

More than me! Congrats . They say Saturday is our next soaker 

Some serious rain would be welcome - I was digging a trench last weekend and at 2-3 feet, the soil was bone dry.

Drought still holding strong  - only 0.26 inches today.

14 feet is generally the maximum width for wide loads.  I had a 16 foot wide prefab shed and it had to be delivered in 2 pieces which were then married together and the roof had to be constructed in place.

So far the rain has been the most impressive component. 

Knowing that area very well as I grew up in Norfolk - chasing would have been nearly impossible as it traveled through areas where there aren't any roads and they are almost all tree covered with little view.

1 minute ago, JC-CT said:

I dont know why I thought you were more central CT

I used to be in Ellington - moved in 2018.  In Ellington - we never were close a jackpot with the eastern hills right to the east.

One the few times where things lined up just right to keep having it pulse up on top of the hill.  We rarely jackpot here.

Just over 2 inches of much needed rain here on the days so far.  Came down hard for better part of an hour.  

Can't buy a drop of rain here.  We have certainly been on losing streak here for since last year.  

We moved here almost two years ago and only had one thunderstorm actually hit us and that was last winter...

Just added to the Tor watch.

Awesome snow shower right now.  Hardest it has snowed all year.  Down to 32 degrees.

Down to 53, cloudy with a stiff wind - ugly.  Was planning to do a few things outside this afternoon.  So much for that plan.

I just like the fact that I look smart for not taking the blower off the tractor.  Reality was that I was lazy last weekend, but now...genius!

Snowing quite nicely out there.  Ground is white and driveway beginning to turn white as well.  29 degrees.

1 hour ago, powderfreak said:

I’m sure it’s a state thing.  Given the volume of material they need to put down in the parking lots and resort roadways, I’m not sure all that salt going into the local waterways is any better.  At least with sand they can contain it with silt catch basins and various methods.  I mean the spread for traction every single day all winter.  

My guess is it is something the state of VT  has told them to do vs just the cheapest method.  Like hey you can put all this sand down and then use a ton of money to pick it back up.  I think sand is more costly as they spend weeks cleaning it up.

Recycling sand on roadways is just about impossible as traffic running over it tends to round the sand particles which makes it act like marbles and does not help as much with traction.  It also creates a ton of very fine particles which turns to mud.

Sand/salt mix works well on gravel roads - particularly right after application as the dissolution of the sodium chloride is endothermic (absorbs heat) and can cause the road to ice up temporarily.

Every state has different application rates, but the use of straight salt does increase the amount of salt used some, but it is not as much as most people think, since the salt in the sand was doing the work for snow and ice removal so you just had to apply a lot more material to get the desired affect.

When CT switched from a sand/salt (de-icing) mix on state roads to all salt (anti-icing), the number of crashes occurring on roads with snow, slush or ice was significantly decreased.  The idea of anti-icing is preventing the bond of the snow pack to the pavement which ultimately requires less salt to get the pavement bare at the end of the storm.  The idea is to maintain a layer of brine between the snow and the road.  For salt to be "melt snow", it needs to be a brine - dry salt does not affect ice.

And for what its worth - salt (sodium, calcium or magnesium chloride) does not damage asphalt pavement.  The same can not be said for Portland Cement concrete.

I will apologize for the dissertation on winter operations - it is something that I have spent a lot of time on.

44 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

I knew it helped.l with traction. But I thought most got away from sand due to the environment issues it causes. 

The sand does temporarily help with traction, but after 30 cars or so go over it, depending on speed, there is no sand left in the wheel paths.  I have done a lot of work on this for CT and as chloride levels in ground water continue to increase, it is amazing to me how many people think of the good ole days of sand not realizing that there was salt mixed in with it.  Without the salt, it would have frozen in the back of the truck.  

The sand is an environmental headache as they clog rivers and streams and generate hundreds of thousands of tons of sweeping that need to be disposed of which is not a cheap or simple problem.

LR model theme for this winter:  hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies - Shawshank Redemption