RDM

Great that you remember it. We were out of school in our area for a full 2 weeks. You know how it is just North of Spfld in latitude (from Rt. 41 North). It gets very flat and there is nothing to stop the wind. Many roads in our area were drifted shut by the 70+mph winds for well over a week until they brought out the snow blowers from Dayton Airport and Wright Patterson AFB. That was a sight to see - airport snow blowers driving down Main street in our little town. The thing that sicks out about the blizzard of 78 was the true flash freeze and the wind, which created white out conditions for 36+ hours. Temps dropped 40+ degrees in a couple hours. Our dad delivered several babies in the back of our town's 4x4 rescue truck.

Cool - Know Young's very well. One of my sister's favorite places. I grew up in New Carlisle. Used to hang out at several spots in Spfld, to include the Upper Valley Mall, which is of course now closed. Glad you got some of the 96 event. I was living in Japan then and missed it. Too bad you missed The BIG One for Ohio, and that was the blizzard of 78. Incredible experience to live through and to this day one for the record books.

haha - rotflmao - but remember, never bring a knife to a gun-fight and I'm deadly out to about 400yds.

First, I see your Airborne patch - so thank you for your service to our country. Second, your mention of MO brought back a memory from my childhood. In 1970 we drove from Ohio to Colorado Springs on I-70. 1200 miles one-way and my dad drove it non-stop with the 6 of us in the Buick Electra 225. Back then, you could rive 90mph in Kansas and nobody cared. On the return trip, there was a big snow and ice storm IVO Kansas City, MO. The snow was 12-18" deep with a crust of ice on top. One of those events where you can walk on top of the crust. A double trailer semi had jackknifed across east bound I-70 just east of KC. Traffic was backed up for miles with post-Christmas traffic going home. A trooper was passing by on the plowed shoulder and my dad finagled the ok to follow him to the front of the line to help (our dad was a volunteer fireman and paramedic for 50+ years). We got up to the head of the backup near the semi and noticed everyone there was walking like they were on pins and needles. As the trooper went to get out of his car he slipped on the glare ice. His feet went about 3 feet in the air and my dad caught him just as he was about to hit the asphalt. Yes, it was crazy slick out. After about 20 mins we noticed the traffic was no longer flowing on the west bound lanes of I-70. Our dad came back to the car and told my older siblings and I to all to pay attention... we were going to see something we'd never forget. A few mins later two double axle snow plows came flying by driving east bound in the west bound lanes of I-70. Don't know how fast they were going but they were hauling. They had their plows raised in the air and as they passed us they angled for the median between the lanes of travel. Snow when flying everywhere as they used their mass as momentum to go through the median to maneuver from the west bound lands over to the east bound lanes of I-70 on the other side of the jackknifed semi in front of us. The trooper was standing next to my dad when it happened and he let out a "wow, it's so cool when they do that" as it was a common practice. He told us it was too far to the next exit and would have taken too long for the plows to go around and come back. The two plows backed up to the semi, hooked up chains to the semi and simply slid it around on the ice to get it pointed in the right direction. The semi driver got in and everyone went on their merry way. The image of those two plows barreling through the median is something I'll never forget. Happy Thanksgiving

Hey 007 - who's snow are you talking about? Ya'll up yonder in NE get more than your fair share. (except last year, you were hurting too). If you are speaking on behalf of us in the MA and trying to protect our measly allocation, appreciate the support. (smile).

Springfield? You used to roam around Springfield, OH? I grew up 11 miles west of there. Spent a LOT of time in Springfield until I moved to NOVA in 85.

Fully agree - Gator blades quickly mince leaves into bits. Stopped picking up leaves years ago. Minced leaves are great for the trees and grass too. The only thing I use my tow behind Cyclone Rake for is to pickup the pesky pine needles, which kill the grass.

Any mention of a basketball player for this category must include Wilt Chamberlain. Admit I never saw him play in person, but did see him on TV many times. In his era, he was the most dominate player in the game. There had never been anyone so dominating before him, and arguably since with such a profound impact on the game. In many ways the way Wilt changed the league was instrumental for those who came on his heals like Dr. J in the 70's and Michael in the 80's/90's. Yes, Bill Russell won far more championships than Wilt (11 to 2) - because Boston had a stronger team/roster. But Wilt had many rules changed and other new rules generated because of his domination of the league. Wilt is the only player in history to average 30 and 20 (pts and rebounds) for a season and he did it 7 times. He did 7 times what no other player has ever done. That stat alone should put him on the list somewhere. In the theme of dominating a single sport, yes - Phelps should be right up there. There's another worth mentioning too, albeit he never got the notoriety he deserved and the mention of him may raise eyebrows. That is Edwin Moses in the 400 meter hurdles. He held the reigns of the 400 meter hurdle champion for longer than anyone in that event. He won 120+ races in a row over a span of nearly 10 years. Yes, Track & Field did not generate another honorable mention in the lists, and within T&F the 400 hurdles is an anomaly. But it's also one of the hardest events in the sport. A run of 120+ wins in a row over nearly 10 years w/o a loss is something to consider. Lastly, Moses has degrees in Physics an Engineering. Many of the others on the list couldn't even spell.... I digress.

Great map - thanks for sharing. Can really see the FFCO Waste Transfer Station stand out as the red blob near I66 and FFCO Pkwy. That also happens to be the highest point in FFCO, with a close second being in Tyson's Corner at 123 and Intl Dr.

26 here now with 24dp and dropping

28 here NW of Vienna already. First hard frost of the year.

Cool - love the "crush" solution to increasing pressure. PV=nRT at its finest. Remember my bud talking about the fuel pump and other stuff he did to his GN. You and him would have a lot to talk about. Can relate to the test pipe too. Had to remove the catalytic converter on my Civic when I went to India in 92. Got the EPA waiver and had Landmark Honda install the test pipe just before shipping the car. India didn't have unleaded gas back then. Had to use a funnel to fill up with gas for 3 years. Didn't want to punch out the nozzle restrictor because I planned to use the car after returning to the US. Upon return, all I had to do was have the converter reinstalled along with a new O2 sensor. Was shocked when it passed emissions after burning the crap they call gasoline in India for 3 years.

Yup - largely agree. We're from the same era. Only thing is, in the first year of the GN, they would take a Vette in 0-60. GM upped the ante on the Vette as a response. What really got the GM 3.8L going in the GN and T-Type was sequential fuel injection. My HS buddy's GN had some tweaking on the injectors too, but I don't recall what he and his GM colleagues did. The Buick T-Type had the same engine as the GN and was a real sleeper in the 80's. Always had a soft spot for the Gen 2 Vettes. First thing in my life I ever drove with a stick was my older brother's 67 Vette. Was a small block with factory side pipes - aka leg burners. Sounded great but a small block isn't the big block and even the 396 was wasn't the 427, which came in several variants including the top of the line 435 tri-power (rated at 435, but actuals were much higher). Then there's the 69 ZL-1 beast... My brother had 4 different C-2/3 Vettes when I was in HS and college. Was really cool getting to use them on special occasions. Then in 85 I bought my first car - a 84 Honda Civic. Drove it for 13 years and put 150k miles on it including overseas tours in Germany and India. Sold it in 98 for $2000 - most reliable car I ever had. The mid to late 70's was a forgettable time for hp and US manufacturers. They made some of the poorest excuses for automobiles ever produced, like the Pacer, Matador, Gremlin, Chevette, Pinto, etc. Still remember the Arab oil embargo vividly - long lines at the pumps and rationing...

Rgr on the GN and the turbo cool down - that was std in the 80's era until the installation of post-shutdown oil circulation pumps, which is now std. Not sure if I mentioned to you when we were talking about GNs some time ago, one of my best HS friends was a co-op at GMI (Gen Motors Institute - Now called Kettering). He helped develop the control algorithm for GM's Gen-I ABS system in the early 80's on the Vette. He had one of the first GNs sold with some special tweaking. He had access to the skunk works at GM and they did all sorts of things to the "chip" the performance and the track time to try things. Dunno what improvements he had over a stock GN, but they were substantial. His GN was a blast in a straight line, but could be a hand full on curves. The Buick guys drove the Vette guys crazy in Chevy because GM had never before contemplated having something in the same model year that would take on the Vette. The GN broke the glass and helped opened the GM aperture to sharing more performance components across the entire GM line. Just like we see a Cadillac now with Vette powertrains. My Silverado is the 2wd extended cab short bed. Dark blue and silver two-tone paint and real steel/chrome bumpers. Has front disks and rear only ABS. That was the best you could get on a Silverado in 91. Has nearly every option except locking rear differential, which I wanted but couldn't find. Doesn't have remote locking and no rear doors on the extended cab. Both were not available in 91. Many times Germans would come up and ask to see the engine and marvel at all the extra space under the hood. Sometimes they'd ask to hear it run and would get giddy at the rumble of the torque. Was one of the best stewards of all things great in the USA.

Seeing a lot of articles around about GNs these days for some reason. Dunno why. Seeing a few here and there show up on the online auto auctions too - like Meecum etc. IMO the GN was the beast that started the turbo trend and shift. Didn't see a lot of turbos before, other than funk offs like the Merkur XR4-TI and Dodge Omni Turbo etc - most of which had issues with turbo oil bearing failures due to oil cookout after shutdown. Enjoyed the debate between you and CAPE on color and car purchase volume. I'm nearly 60 and have owned 7 cars in my life. Still own 5 of the 7, including the only 2 I've ever bought new. A 91 Chevy Silverado with 183K miles and a 2001 Sienna van. The Truck was my daily driver until a couple years ago. Took both to Germany some years ago. Was a blast cruising am der autobahn in the truck at 110mph (it topped out at 114 and took about 3 weeks to stop).

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.