Life in progress


22 Comments

JusJoJan 20 – Whoa!

I have love/hate relationship with those moments when I just stand back and go, “Whoa!” at something I’ve figured out after years of doing it wrong.

Today my “Whoa!” moment came to me concerning the operation of a car, which is something I’ve been doing for (I’m dating myself here) about 34 years. I was talking to the lady who manages the dry cleaner down the street, and during our conversation, we were discussing the inclement weather yesterday. She said she had been in a store for only a few minutes during the blizzard, and when she came out her windshield was already frozen so much that she had to scrape it off. That’s when I realized it.

I too, went into a store yesterday for a few minutes during the same snow storm, and when I came out, for the first time in all my years of winter driving, didn’t need to scrape the windshield. Why? Because for the first time in my life I drove to the store with the warm air blowing out at my feet and through the front-facing vents instead of the defrost, which warms up the windshield causing ice to form before I get back in. If the windshield is relatively cold all along, the snow doesn’t melt.

I’m wondering why in the name of all laziness have I believed since I was a novice driver, that if it’s cold out do I need to warm up the windshield? But that’s it! If I’m too lazy to brush the snow off when I first go out, instead of letting the warmth of the car do it, then I’ll have to either keep doing it, or waste gas letting the engine do it!

Whoa!

How I love that feeling: and how I hate having not thought of it before.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Post on your site, and join Just Jot it January. The rules are easy!

1. It’s never too late to join in, since the “Jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post) counts as a “Jot.” If it makes it to WordPress that day, great! If it waits a week to get from the sticky note to your screen, no problem!
2. If you write a JusJoJan post on your blog, you can ping it back to the above link to make sure everyone participating knows where to find it.
3. Write anything!
4. Have fun!


19 Comments

EDDD 28 – Frost Quakes

I read an article in the paper today about something known as “Frost Quakes,” or “cryoseism.”

Apparently they are caused by the sudden freezing of ground water below the earth’s surface, and they cause the earth to shake and can make very loud noises, much like that of a tree landing on one’s house.

Anyway, it explains why all of the ice from the tree branches is on the ground today. It didn’t melt off as it usually does. It came off as though it was shaken off, still solid.

Have you ever heard of such a phenomena? It’s a first for me!

Blog post of December 28th, in honour of Every Damn Day December. Check it out!


2 Comments

Adventures on my Paper Route – Ice

Ah, the pleasures of living in southern Ontario.  Instead of the forecasted mountain of snow, we’re having an ice storm. Power is intermittent. If it wasn’t so pretty it would be intolerable.

Ice 4 Ice 3 Ice 2

It took a bit of bravery to deliver my papers today. Having to listen for cracking from above and dodging falling branches.

Ice 5

Timber!

Living in an old part of town is pretty, but it’s also pretty dangerous when the ancient behemoths come crashing down.

Ice 7

My backdoor neighbour’s tree

I didn’t expect to post two of my adventures in one week, but today certainly deserves honourable mention.