Yeah Strider, we're seeing some crazy heat here in Winnipeg this March. I don't think it reached 27, and there was a cool wind and clouds that didn't make it feel like 27 but I think it hit around 25C or something. It's suppose to hit 25C again today and be in the teens almost all week. It's nice to have, but in the back of my mind it's like...this is freaky man. Haven't turned on the AC yet though. I just open the windows and let the air blow through.

I think our average temperatures for this winter are going to be between 5 and 7 deg F above the normal average.
We did see some nice savings on heat, but it's nowhere near 50%..

This is our first year running dual Sanyos and heating the whole house (to 21C).
If next winter turns out to be a lot different (colder or warmer), I'll have something to compare to.

It was nice to get a break from the snow this winter, after the beating we took in 2010/2011.
Roofs caving in etc.. :eek:

I heard on the radio (I was at work again) that we broke another record today.

You mean water reserves right? Drought (ie rain/snowfall is independent of population, water levels aren't) is independent of population and probably part of GCC. Any water reserves otoh (aquifers, lakes, and so on), are going to be drawn down faster during a drought if there are more people, but that's a separate issue and wouldn't be one if not for record setting drought.

Fracking uses lots of water, too.

San Felipe Springs
 

No, I mean that relatives in Texas have been telling me it's getting bad.
In central & south Texas, it's drier these past few years than it's been for decades.
No one said anything about reserves.

In 1950, there were about 8 million people in Texas. Many of them weren't
effected by the lack of rain. But today, there are about 26 million Texans.
So, all those folks must be putting a strain on the water supplies.

I lived in Del Rio during the 1950s drought, which wasn't affected at all..
San Felipe Springs
When it got too hot, we went swimming in ice cold spring water.. :)
http://www.edwardsaquifer.net/images/2-014.jpg

Our burst of Global Warming disappeared after the tree blossoms bloomed.
We had a hard freeze (3-27-12) and those trees look like they are dying..

We have friends who are paying around $4 a gallon for home heating oil.
Their typical fill-up is costing them $400 to $600 bucks.

Depending on how the elections go, they might be paying over $1,000 a fill-up this coming winter..

I don't think the elections are going to make any difference on that aspect. Really high oil prices are pretty much inevitable at this point.

Ditto. All they can do is use tax money so that everyone is paying for everyone else's heat which I really don't like the idea of. Then, once again, the people with foresight get penalized because the normal Joe just lives his "normal" life of over consumption.

I'm not so sure. If we are lucky, we might get a helpful government.
If all we get is the demonizing of 'big oil' etc etc for another 4 years, things could get really dire.

If we had a strong economic recovery, we might be able to negate some
of the effects of bad government.

A demonizing-only policy isn't going encourage economic recovery.
It will only keep stall any recovery for another 4 years.

Today, I'm hearing that our president wants to increase taxes on oil companies.
Like that's going to lower fuel cost.?.
I'm pretty sure they are just going to pass their 'punishment tax' cost, on to us, at the pump.

Of course, increasing fuel cost is going to increase everything else.
Which means we might have to cut back on things like milk and bread.. :(

The oil companies are making record profits. And yet we give them $4 Billion in subsidies.