RDM

Was thinking the same thing as I recalled that event. There were hundreds of people walking down I-395 late that afternoon. Once their cars ran out of gas, they became bipedal again. Once they abandoned their cars, the plows could not get through. Back in 1987, FFCO "only" had about 750,000 people, vice nearly 1.2M today. With not many more roads to handle the load now compared to then, the results now would potentially make commutageddon in Jan 2011 a walk in the park. Here's a good write-up about the story from CWG a few years ago. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/11/10/weathermen-recall-the-record-veterans-day-snowstorm-that-totally-fooled-them-30-years-ago/

That was a doozy. Remember it well. I was working downtown DC that day IVO the Dept of State Hqs on 23rd st NW. USG closed down late morning. My colleague Tim and I made the mistake of pulling a couple of people out of the parking lot in his Isuzu Trooper. That delay cost us. We skied a lot and had loaded his Trooper up with winter clothes and my logging chain that morning. TG we did... We headed down I-395 past the Pentagon and towards home in Lorton (me) and Woodbridge (him). I-95 around the Pentagon was a parking lot. That night the news said there were over 800 cars abandoned just IVO the Pentagon with pictures of women in high heels walking down Rt-1. We got off I-395 and went through Old Town to take the Mt Vernon Pky South with the chance a round about way would be better. It was about 2pm then and it was coming down in buckets. Got nearly to Mt. Vernon and the Pkwy was closed due to two big pines that lost the battle to the the very wet snow. They had completely blocked all 4 lanes of the pkwy. We bypassed the traffic backup and managed to get to the front of the backup with the Trooper. We commandeered people from their cars and hooked up the logging chain to the tops of the pines and were able to drag the pines enough to reopen one lane in each direction. We had 14 extra people sitting in the Trooper, on top of the roof, on top of each other, in the back, 2 on the hood, and more hanging off the open doors of the Trooper for weight (figured later it well in excess of 3000 lbs of weight). In 4WD and granny gear it worked. Wish I'd had a camera - it was a sight to see with all those people piled all over the Trooper. Everyone was laughing so hard it was comical. The crowd of onlookers in their dresses and suits wondered where on earth my buddy and I came from. They also wanted to know where we were going because they wanted to follow the Trooper with the chain. haha. We went through Ft. Belvoir, got on Rt-1 South and just sat there for over an hour. Finally got over to Newington and onto I-95 South. When we got to the Pohick Road bridge that goes over I-95 I got out, climbed over the fence and clawed my way up the embankment onto Pohick Rd. Turned around only to see about 15 people behind me who liked the idea and followed me up the hill. Everyone helped everyone else because nobody else had the right clothes or shoes on. I walked the last mile home and arrived a little after 6pm. Six+ hours after departing downtown DC. Measured 17" on the flat behind my house. The Mt. Vernon and Ft. Hunt area was bullseye for that one.

The tally of voters will be interesting. I volunteered for our local precinct 8 years in a row until 2 years ago (it's hard work to stand nearly all day from 6am until around 10pm and then work the next day). The turnout in 2016 was incredible. Nearly 70% for the precinct, which is amazing for any election. In 2016 we had people in line all day, with periodic surges. My wife and I went to vote in person a couple hours - the same precinct was nearly deserted. No line at all to check-in or record your ballot and only a handful of other voters visible. Understand a LOT of people cast main-in ballots this year, but didn't expect the in-person turnout to be so low.

Just lost power for about a minute in our neighborhood. Once the breakers reset it came back on again, fortunately. Had a decent gust about the time the power tripped. Lost the sync with our Vantage VUE, so not sure what the gust measured. Am guessing a tree came in contact. Routine here along Lawyers Road NW of Vienna. We typically lose power several times a year. Too many trees in close proximity to the high voltage lines, which are above ground around here.

Yes, I see your points. This reflects the shift in the US from a manufacturing base to a high-tech focus, which exploded in the 90's. The US Steel industry used to be part of the American manufacturing might. Currently our largest steel company is #14 on the world list, the next US company on the list is 27th. Sad. I grew up IVO Dayton, Ohio, which was a very diverse manufacturing city dating back to the late 1800's. In the 70's and 80's, Dayton was full of large factories run by NCR, IBM, GM and others, largely supporting the automotive industry. Delco, GM Engines, the S-10, countless other hard industry products were built in Dayton. I moved to NOVA in 85 and then from 88 to 2009 spent 15+ years overseas. When I went back to Dayton in 2000 after a lengthy hiatus, the sight of all the closed factories was heartbreaking. From 1990 to 2000, the Dayton manufacturing economy was wiped out by out by outsourcing and certain trade decisions of the administration the 90's is unfortunately known for (trying to avoid tripping the political breaker here). Back in the 70's and 80's, GM was the flag bearer stock on the DOW, a role it held for decades. Now Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook lead the way, albeit with Aramco at the top of the value list. And nobody can touch Aramco because the Saudis have it locked down by only allowing the trade of Aramco stock on their home market. Agree with the sediment many stocks are overvalued as much of their value is determined by a theoretical value and not the sales of a commodity in the traditional sense (especially FB, Google etc). Apple and Amazon are more traditional in their value is also driven by sales, or the anticipation of sales in the future, yet FB and Google are largely theoretical. Wonder what the balance will be like in 10 years?

Yea, ok, but... It's hard to compare IBM to Zoom. IBM is not the powerhouse in their market segment they used to be. There's a lot more competition out there in the mainframe market; that to some degree IBM once owned. The value of Zoom has exponentially grew largely due to COVID and the growth of virtual based activity - WFH and Academia being the two main factors. Before COVID, probably only a fraction of the current Zoom user base had heard of them. Once we get COVID behind us, it will be interesting to see what happens to Zoom's value. Overall, it's still amazing stock market is even close to where it's at after everything the US and the global market as a whole has been through with COVID. We've gone through 3 quarters of quarterly reporting in the COVID era. Will be interesting to see what happens when the next quarter reports come in relative to the ongoing resurgence of COVID.

Is that akin to the stock market? I remember when we hit 1000 for the first time in 1972 (yes, I'm old). There was a debate on whether we'd EVER hit 2000, which took 15 years. Your at 33,000+ now. What's next, 50k? Appreciate everything you do that most of us never see... Prost.

1.71" so far - in a lull now. Ground is saturated and pooling all over.

45F and .55" for the day. Still a cold drizzle here. Wife and I just came in from 45min soaking in the hot tub. Felt like winter in the air.

Nice splitter. Splitting wood is good exercise. Built a log splitter for my senior engineering design project in school. Still have it 35 years later. Uses two cylinders mounted inside the edge of the I-beam to slide a "box" with two wedges against two end stops. It splits wood in both directions to avoid the unproductive return cycle. Works 4 guys to death. Have some Locust to split myself when it gets colder.

With access to the western side of the beltway in mind, suggest focusing on something south of the Potomac. Where, depends on what your priorities are. Having to cross a bridge around here can be a royal pita, especially during inclement weather or accidents. To access NOVA from MD there's only have 4 options after you get away from DC - Chain Bridge, 495, Whites Ferry, Rt-15 and I-81. On any given day, one or more of them have significant backups. Throw in even a minor incident and a normal drive across a bridge can be a nightmare. Rt-15 is getting notorious for backups between Leesburg and the Potomac/MD. In NOVA, it's all about price vs commute. In the reference to "Western side of the DC Beltway", what are the things your wife is interested in and how far out are you looking? As WinterWxLuver pointed out, the area around Front Royal and Winchester is beautiful if you're looking in that area. It depends on how far west you want to be. From I-81 it's a min of 45 mins to an hour to get to the Beltway, w/o any traffic FWIW - I-66 is torn up yet again for widening and will be a construction zone for the next several years. I-66 is also a demarkation point in that if you have to cross over it to go from N to S across FFCO or Loudon to PW County, crossing I-66 can be akin to crossing the Potomac. If you get west of Rt-28 (and north of I-66) Dulles airport is another obstacle. The main arteries/routes running E/W to the western suburbs are Rt-50, the Greenway, Waxpool Road and Rt-7. If you go as far west as Leesburg, the options to get to NOVA are the greenway (F/T toll road and $$$) and Rt-7 (also under construction for widening). If your focus West of the Beltway is closer in towards the Tyson's area, it's hard to beat Vienna, Oakton and Reston. That triangle is convenient to I-66, the Dulles Toll road, Tyson's, multiple shopping areas, plenty of hospitals and medical care, and only 30 mins to downtown DC (non-rush hour). The challenge can be expense. The old saying used to be, for every mile outside the beltway in NOVA the price of a house goes down $10,000. That figure still roughly applies. Hope this helps.

FWIW - https://www.yahoo.com/news/accuweathers-2020-2021-us-winter-162219383.html

Try spreading peat moss over the seeded bare area. Peat moss keeps the soil more moist and has additional nutrients compared to straw. Takes a lot more to blow it away too compared to straw. I've had good luck with it in the past.

haha - Indeed on the Alps. Their trails typically go blue, green, red and black, with not much blue. And if you come across a sign that says "Actung" you gotta really pay attention (that means this is REALLY steep). If you ski and haven't had a chance to ski the Alps it is a must. After skiing the Alps I went to Squaw Valley in CA - was disappointing in the lack of vertical. In Zermatt, Switzerland (where the Matterhorn is) you can ski more than 8500 feet of vertical in one run - more than twice the max vertical of anyplace in N. America. It's breathtaking, literally. You start at 13,500 feet where the air is thin and curve around adjacent to the Matterhorn. It's an incredible experience. It would be a rough endeavor now as I'm near 60. But back in my 20's and 30's it was a blast. Learned to telemark ski there and have not been back on Alpine gear since.

Sounds like a nice project nj2va. If you ever need to service it, would guess you'll like having relatively easy access to it from the ground. (compared to the roof). Hope it works well for you Been thinking about taking my wife and daughter (23yo) on a long weekend trip sometime soon. Being cooped up since March is taking its toll. Your mention of Deep Creek made me think that would be a nice area to take them. Do a little hiking etc. They've never been there before. Wisp was the first place I skied after moving here in 85. Was terrified at the time how "steep" the front face was. Three years later I moved to Germany dove in big time and skied all over the Alps. Went back to Wisp once after that - what a different perspective it had the second time. None the less, like the area around Deep Cr

Assume by "pitch" you mean the ridge of the roof? Or are you referring to the rake, which is the angled edge at the end of the roof? Either way, if its not too late suggest giving thought to mounting the anemometer on a chimney if you have one. If you're taking the step of hiring someone to mount it on the roof, assume accuracy is the goal. Mounting the anemometer on or near the ridge or rake of a roof would subject it to the influence of the slope of the roof. This could significantly influence the readings depending on the geometry of the roof and wind direction. By design, the top of a chimney must be a certain distance above the roofline to provide ample draft and minimize turbulance. Getting the anemometer way up there has a better chance of getting into more laminar flow and minimizing the influence of the house itself.

Have the Davis Vantage VUE wireless. Performed flawlessly for nearly 10 years now. That said, agree with nj2VA on Davis - their GUI is a bit dated. The solar array on my VUE is clouding over and starting to loose its ability to effectively recharge the outdoor unit's internal battery. (no surprise there after 10 years). A nice thing about the Davis family of weather stations is that about ever part on their different models can be ordered online. The solar array is about $20, so I may just replace that and keep the VUE.

Interesting. Given how relatively new the unit is, makes you wonder if there was a defect at the point of manufacture. Hope the system provides trouble-free service going forward.

Congratulations! Care to share any details on what the fix was? Curious...

Oh my - yet more memories. My parents had an 80's Buick LeSabre diesel - think it was an 86. Same platform and same failed diesel engine as in your parents Delta 88 diesel. The GM 5.7 (350ci) diesel was a terrible engine. GM took a standard gasoline engine and modified it to be a diesel. It was fundamentally not able to withstand the added stresses of a diesel compared to a gasoline engine. After only a year or so, the diesel in my parent's Buick started making noises. Dad took it to the dealer who was overwhelmed with recall related services on the engine at the time. My dad, a P/T aircraft mechanic who learned the trade in the Korean War, took the internal/failed engine parts that GM replaced and measured the discrepancies with micrometers. Went to arbitration with GM and was able to force GM to buy back the Buick. Can you imagine... He showed up at arbitration board with a hard side briefcase. The lawyers for GM expected the briefcase to contain notes etc. When my dad opened it to reveal 8 connecting rods w/bad bearings, 8 wrist pins w/bad bearings, and an array of scoured/failed bronze journal bearings from the crank, the lawyers for GM slumped in their seats. The arbitration board quickly ruled in favor of my dad. He actually received nearly the full purchase price, minus some minor prorated fee. When he passed away 2 years ago we found the briefcase of old parts from that Olds and the arbitration board. GM lost a load on that platform/engine combination and it left a sour taste on GM diesel products that still lingered for decades.

You're very welcome. This HVAC stuff can be complicated, but isn't bad when you get it figured out. Hopefully the technician working on your system is on top of his game so you and your family can rest comfortably soon w/o worry. Our dad installed our first central air conditioner himself in our home in 1968. House was built in 1880 w/o any duct work to the upstairs at all. Until dad installed the central system the only heat that got upstairs in the winter was via the stairwell (and it got cold in Ohio in the 60's). Prior to 68, we only had one AC unit in the living room window and a second in our parent's bedroom. Can relate to some earlier comments from others about sweating through summer. haha. Will never forget the first time dad turned on the new central AC for the first time in his life. That AC unit worked reliably without being touched until it finally gave up 2 years ago. 50 years of service is not bad.

Looks like a Mazda 323 or 626 coupe.

Mappy - a 2014 unit is still considered new, so you should not be having leaking coil issues. Was the ice on the line outside the house near the compressor? (the compressor section is the large boxy looking component outside the house with a large fan on it that comes on with the AC). If there's ice on one of the freon lines outside the house, that's not a good sign. It means the evaporation point of the freon has shifted from the evaporation coil inside the air handler (where you want it to be) to a point down the low pressure line. Was the ice present on that line before the technician added freon the other day? If not, and the ice only developed after he added freon to the system he may have over charged the system. Is there any ice on the freon lines where they exit from the air handler? Any sign of ice on the air handler itself? If so, the coil may be frozen with ice. Check the condensate drain inside the air handler (in the basement?). If the condensate drain clogs up, the water fills the condensate tray under the coil until the water touches the coil. Once the water level gets to the coil, the condensate quickly turns to ice and the ice level migrates up the coil until the entire coil and condensate tray is one solid block of ice. This can happen fairly quickly with a clogged drain. If there's no air flow from the registers around the house, that's because no air can get through the evaporator coil due to the ice. If the condensate drain is clogged, the technician should have zeroed in on this during the inspection. Was there any water laying on the floor in the area around the air handler? If so, that was water that overflowed the condensate drain and/or ice that thawed from the coil. Be careful, with an electrically charged air handler, water laying around is a potential shock risk. With the clogged drain there's no place for the water to escape. Clogged condensate drains happen rather frequently. On houses with 2 or more HVAC zones, there's often an air handler in the attic. These air handlers are installed on top of a large tray that is used to catch overflow condensate when the drain clogs. There's a float switch in the tray that shuts off the air handler to prevent the overflow tray from filling up and running over, which would damage drywall in the ceiling etc. I only raise this because I'm not sure where your HVAC unit inside the house is located. If the condensate drain is clogged, you may be able to fix it yourself. Turn off the AC at the breaker panel. There will be two breakers - one for the outside AC compressor and a separate breaker for the air handler. Open the side access panel/s to air handler near where the two freon lines go in and out of the air handler. If the coil is iced up, that should be easily noticed. Need to let the ice thaw in order to find the drain in the condensate tray and unclog it. The ice could go down the condensate drain hose too, which can take a while to thaw. Look for a piece of 3/4 or 1" diameter PVC pipe exiting the air handler IVO the two freon lines. This is your condensate drain. It likely runs to a drain in the floor nearby or to a small pump that pumps the condensate water to a drain someplace else. If there is a drain in the floor, see if there's water coming out. If there's a small pump, check to see if it is working properly (just pour some water in it - the condensate pumps are auto on/off). Hope this helps too.

Picked up a quick .91" over the last 30 mins. Was a torrent for about 20 mins.

That's hilarious. My parents bought our "Shove-It" in Nov 75 just after they went on sale. The 76 model year was the first year of production. Didn't even have AC as an option until later. So our AC was the windows. Fortunately, my dad insisted on getting the "larger" engine - the 1.6L compared to the standard 1.4L, which was an even worse dog to drive. Remember having to carry a baseball bat behind the driver's seat all the way through HS and then part way through college (until I rolled it). The starter had a dead spot and had to routinely open the hood and bang the handle of the bat on the starter to "bump" it through to start it. Suspect there's some other old timers out there that know what I mean by "bumping a starter". I was lucky when I rolled the Chevette - didn't get hurt but totaled the car. Was not sorry to see it go though. The 71 Caprice 2 door hard top my dad picked up as a replacement for $150 ran like a scalded cat, had a front bench and even had working AC. Couldn't put anything in the trunk though because the rear fenders were so rusted out anything in the trunk was likely to fall out.