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Old 01-30-11, 02:13 PM   #1
Xringer
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Default For you Texans, a video of my snow

Yeah, this is what New England snow looks like..

It's been building up pretty high. Not much is melting away.
When the next storm comes, we are going to be looking for places to put the extra snow..



Some roofs are starting to cave-in around the area now.
If it rains, or if we get another foot or two, there will be real problems.
Snow is covering up gas hot water heater exhaust vents too.

One of the big hazards this month, is driving into intersections.
You can't see that guy that's driving 60 in a 30 zone, while he's
talking-n-texting on his 'cell'..
My wife's Corolla is just too low. At least I can see over some of the banks
when we take my Escape.

As it stands now, the snow plows aren't going to be able to push snow up
the roadside banks. They are taller than the plows..

After the blizzard of 77-78, they had to bring in big front-end loaders to
load the snow into dump trucks. (That was after they filled up my front yard)!
When the melt came, we had an indoor pool in the basement..
This time we have more pumps and back-up power!

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Old 01-30-11, 04:52 PM   #2
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Yeah the snow just keeps coming and isn't really melting. I'm out in Western MA (Northampton) and we don't get as much snow as the rest of the state but we are swamped! My mother in Maynard has been getting automated phone calls from the police department telling her to shovel her roof. She's got at least 6" more snow on the ground than I do. Probably more. It's no "blizzard of 78" but if we get one more good storm before it warms up again no one in the Berkshires is going to be able to shovel their drive ways because they won't have anywhere to put the snow. I have to be grateful though. It hasn't been as cold as it could be. In 2003, I think it was, I was living in Lowell and we went 18 days without it getting above 0F. We had an unstoppable bout of storms that year too. The Apt. Bldg. I was in had snow piled up to the second story windows. Insanity. When solar power becomes more efficient/less toxic I'm going to quickly say " F the grid" and go completely 0 footprint. This stuff is just ridiculous. They can take my car too. As much as I love working on it, it’s a pig. Internal combustion? In this day and age where watching a movie off of a plastic platter is wildly obsolete? Where is my hover board? Or my cold fusion hover car for that matter?

Oh also…. Batteries suck. We need an alternative for those pieces of garbage. Solar power would be much more interesting, even with its wide array of current limitations, it batteries weren’t such trash.
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Old 01-31-11, 12:22 AM   #3
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Accuweather says "5.3 Inches of Snow on the way".. Coming on Tuesday.
And, they are also talking about some more really cold weather too.

I just hope the sun spots perk up a little this summer and we get some warm weather.
I'm hoping this mess will be gone by April.. Without flooding the basement!

The last two summers we went up to Lake Winnipesaukee and the water was too cold to go swimming.
I'm about ready to buy a wetsuit..

Some technology segments have moved along slowly. Batteries are one of them.
But, they are getting better as of late. The problem now is the cost.

Anyways, if you go with a grid-tie system, you don't need to use any batteries..
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Old 01-31-11, 02:26 AM   #4
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I'd never be willing to go just grid tied. If I had a few grand's worth of panels sitting on the roof and the power goes out I damn well want to be able to use that power. grid tied with battery backup makes sense if not economic sense to me.
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Old 01-31-11, 08:25 AM   #5
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I know what you mean.. That's one reason I think people who own some GTI PV,
should also be able to hook up a fueled generator to their house and trick the GTIs into working.

But, the occurrences of power failures around here are becoming less and less.
I think all those CFLs are reducing the load, or the gird is better maintained these days.

The failures on my street are hardly ever more than an hour or two.

My battery back-up system should keep us from being flooded with rain or snow-melt water.

And if another 100 year ice storm hits and we are off the grid for weeks,
we might be able to eek by using 500w of solar recharge,
the 5kW gas generator and burning some wood for heat.
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Old 02-02-11, 06:23 AM   #6
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The Storm of the Century of the Week rolled through Buffalo, and it failed to live up to the hype. We got 4" of rained-on snow, and skies and roads look clear right now. Xringer, hopefully you'll get something similar.

Even if you do get a blizzard, none of the things you mentioned in your first post render a region uninhabitable. When we run out of room to put snow, suburbs pile it up on town land, while the city dumps it in the river.

I haven't been able to see around intersections in the village since early December. It's okay, you get really good at learning where your hood is, and how far forward you need to creep to see oncoming traffic. It hurts my fuel economy, though: I have to accelerate briskly, since I don't know whether my opening is large or small.

Living in a region with snow means higher taxes and roofing expenditures, but c'est la vie. It's better than hurricanes or earthquakes.

Well, enough talking, I need to get back to shoveling.
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Old 02-02-11, 08:06 AM   #7
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YES!! I was pleased to see it was over-hype.. We only have about 4" on the Sanyo cover.
It might be real heavy, but there isn't much of it!!

Back in Bliz78, I saw smart people out in the burbs that attached those tall bike flags
on their front bumpers.
When you start into an intersection, waving a red flag on a 7 foot pole helps..


TRAIL FLAGS, MARKER FLAGS ,FLAG MOUNTS

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Old 02-04-11, 03:04 PM   #8
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Default If I had put PV on my roof




I had to clean off my roof some. Far as I could reach with my snow rake.
(We have had about 90 area roofs collapse during the last week).

If I had put PV on my roof, I would have had a real mess up there..

Here's the lesson I just learned. If I put panels on that roof, I should
completely cover that whole left side. With a completely seamless array.
Need to allow the snow the freedom to slide right off..
(and not take the gutter with it)..
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Old 02-09-11, 03:58 PM   #9
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The normal winters here in Alabama in the last several years have been - maybe - one dusting of snow, an inch or two. That closes all schools and quite a few businesses.

This year we've had two snows that left 6" and 4" on the ground for close to a week apiece. While I know that is laughable to you {and me as a matter of fact, since I've lived in snow country before}, remember this one little tidbit.....there's no snow plows in this area. They just announce the roads are closed and you're on your own. They don't sell snow shovels here, either.
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Old 02-09-11, 04:14 PM   #10
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Wow, that seems like a lot of snow for that area..
It looks like more is on the way too.. NWS Enhanced Radar Mosaic: Southern Mississippi Valley Sector Loop

My guess is the lack of a good sun spot count, is to blame..
(Mini-ice-age coming)?

I'll bet the show shovel & snow thrower makers are happen as can be..
After being all bummed out by old 'Al buzzkill Gore'..

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