New Scaratings

Posted just prior to Sandy...


Posted a couple days after Sandy...

Personal experience?



They probably didn't develop, you know how weather forecasting goes...

There were areas in Connecticut that did get the 60 to 80 mph wind gusts, particularly on the shore. Bridgeport received wind gusts of around 75 mph. But inland (where I live), the winds were less. Even at the height of the storm, in the late afternoon or early evening, winds were only sustaining around 27 mph with gusts to about 50. But the most damaging aspect to Sandy was not from the winds, it was from coastal flooding and storm surge. Since I live inland near the top of a small hill, I wasn't affected by the flooding.

Personal experience? Maybe. I've lived in Connecticut now for 30 years, and have seen Gloria in 1985, Bob in 1991, Irene last year, and now Sandy. All four of these storms hit Connecticut hard enough to produce massive power outages, even though only Gloria and Irene had their storm centers pass over Connecticut, and only Gloria was still a hurricane when it struck this state. So, of these storms, Gloria produced the most wind and from what I witnessed was the most destructive storm I have seen. Bob produced the most rain (over 5 inches in one day). And, ironically, Sandy seemed to be the least destructive of the storms - until I turn on the TV or radio or read about it in the paper.

-- RWM

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"...It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED...."

ZOG, you're a Nutmegger...! So was I once. I was born in New Haven, where my mother's family lived. My father's family lived in Haddam. There were other relatives that lived in Rocky Hill. My grandfather had a beachhouse on Long Island Sound in West Haven, which survived Hurricane Carol in 1954.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Carol

Later in life, after our family had moved to upstate New York, we would spend every summer and Christmas in Connecticut. Even after the grandparents had passed away, we spent several summer vacations in Madison, right next to Hammonasset Beach State Park. When I was in college, I had a girlfriend, whom I visited in Milford, as well as buddies at Yale. I wasn't quite done with Connecticut yet, as I spent the spring and summer of 1967 attending Mitchell College in New London. The last time I was in Connecticut was in the summer of 1980, when (my now ex) wife, first daughter, and I made the long drive from Louisville to Boston, and spent a lot of time going through Connecticut to visit places from my past. I took them to Gillette Castle, the Peabody Museum, Mystic Seaport, Savin Rock (Jimmie's hot dog stand was still there. However, it was quite different from the 1950's, and the big wooden roller coaster, that went out over the water was gone.), as well as many other places of lesser significance. I should add that we had a wonderful seafood lunch in Old Saybrook.

I also spent many a day as well as miles hiking through the Cockaponset State Forest with my dad and younger brother in the late 1950's and early 1960's, where we rediscovered the cave that my dad and his brother found back in the 1930's. Yep, I've been to the Devil's Hopyard too.

Connecticut will always be a special place for me. My lady friend and I are seriously thinking about taking a trip to Connecticut in the near future. If we do, maybe we could meet up with you.

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"The game is afoot."

It Was 57 Years Ago Today...

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(o\_!_/o)

It's unfortunate they're both NL teams and thus cannot meet in the World Series itself, but it could happen that the Cubs beat Miami on the way to winning in 2015

Remind me to check the early lines two years from now

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/°v°\ • Every time Linux boots, a penguin gets its wings
I'm a solipsistic conspiracy theorist. I'm sure I must be up to something, and I won't stop until I find out what
Why not downgrade Plutonium to a dwarf element?

How in the World do you keep coming up with this stuff?

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"The game is afoot."

How many times have you struggled trying to think of a present for someone, who has everything?

Another tie, that will hang in their closet, and never be worn, is a waste of your money, as well as their closet space. A coffee mug, with their name on it, will wind up in the back of a kitchen cabinet along with dozens more that are all just sitting there collecting dust, unless they drop it off at the "Goodwill Store" to get rid of it. A fancy scented candle that will never be lit, because they already have enough scented candles to light up New York City in a blackout, is a present that they will thank you for, but as soon as you leave, it is headed for the basement, never to see the light of day again.

Here is an idea for a present for those, who have everything, that they will actually like. Go to the "International Star Registry" and name a star after them.

Here's a link to their web site:

http://www.starregistry.com/



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I can promise you that this is a gift that they will never forget, and when they thank you for it, they will really mean it. If you get it framed, it will cost you a lttle bit more, but if you do, every time you visit them, it will be hanging on the wall.

p.s. I am in NO way connected to the "International Star Registry" people, and have absoluty NO financial interest in how many star namings they sell. The only reason for this post is to suggest something that you might not have been aware of.

p.p.s. Don't tell the person, whom you give the gift to, that they really don't own the star. Just let them think that they do. It is very unlikely that they will ever visit their star, and find out that the natives, who live on the planets that orbit it, don't know who your friend is, and don't consider your friend to be their master.

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"The game is afoot."

Let's see how much trouble this gets me into.

It's time for the U.S. Postal Service to be privitized...

I like and respect the wonderful postal workers, who deliver lettes to my mail box, as well as the nice folks at the post offices I go to, but the system is an absolute financial failure. If it continues the way it is going, before long a first class stamp is going to cost you a dollar, and they will still be losing money. Does anybody think this is the way to keep going? I don't think so. I think private sector companies could do the same job much better, and for lower costs. The federal government could probably make billions of dollars selling the Postal Service off, as well as ridding itself of a loser that is costing it billions every year.

Okay, I'm putting my bullet proof vest on, waiting for those, who disagree, to go postal on me.

p.s. For those of you, who disagree with me, please send me a first class letter explaining your argument, but you better hurry, because I just heard that the cost of a 1st class stamp is about to go up again.

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"The game is afoot."

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If the Rays moves to Miami and renamed Marlins (since the current Miami owner is getting lambasted for the latest fire sale), then it can be Cubs-Marlins in the World Series (the old Marlins will be sold and moved or contracted).

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Mitch (MTCHWF/WLFFLY)

Co-Home Bar: Buffalo Wild Wings Edwardsville, IL and Time Out in St Louis, MO

Even though I might not have all of the facts about this story exactly correct, I'm close.

Recently a man, who was counterfeiting $100 bills, took one of them to his local Target Store in North Attleboro, MA., bought some stuff, got his change, and walked out. He did the same thing at the same Target Store the next day, and walked out again. Hell, he was on a roll, so he went back there the next day, and tried it again.

This time he left the Target Store in handcuffs, because he finally ran into a cashier, who knew that Lincoln was not the president on the $100 bill.

(This is NOT another CLOUDY dumb joke. I'm pretty darn sure it is a true story.)



.......................................... Looks good to me, and everybody knows that Abe is honest.

p.s. PENGWN, did you know this guy? I'm thinking his counterfeit Lincoln $100 bills, might become much more valuable to collectors, as time rolls by, especially, if they can get the guy to autograph them.

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....................... With a bunch of Lincoln $100 bills in my pocket, I'm going to bed, so I can head over to the Target store with them in the morning.

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"The game is afoot."

The story of the short changed robber is another funny true story.

This happened more than 30 years ago, but it's true. I might not remember all of the facts of the story exactly, but I'm close enough.

A guy walked into a conveniece store, bought something cheap, and layed a $20.00 bill on the counter. The cashier opened the cash register to get the guy his change, and when he turned around, he had a gun pointed at him, and the robber demanded that he empty the till into the bag that he placed on the counter. The robber grabbed the bag, leaving his purchase and the $20.00 bill on the counter, and took off.

There was only $17.00 and change in the till.

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"The game is afoot."

"Lincoln", see the movie...!

I just saw Spielberg's movie, "Lincoln", yesterday. It is a "must see" film for those, who have an interest in history. The acting is superb. The casting could not be better. The visual likeness of the actors to whom they portrayed is unbelievable. It tells a wonderful story, which I believe to be as true as any could be that is nearly a century and a half old.

However, as wonderful as I think this movie is, and as well as it is currently doing, I doubt it will have legs at the box office for several reasons. It has no sex. There is virtually no violence, after the opening scene. There are no dazzling special effects. It requires some knowledge of fairly obscure history that today's legions of poorly educated masses won't understand. Worse yet, there ain't much low brow, bathroom humor in it.

It's a movie for smart guys and gals like you, and I can promise you that you will learn things from it that you didn't know before.

"Lincoln" is not a fair title for this movie. Though Lincoln is deservedly the central character, it really isn't about him. This movie would be more aptly titled, "The Passage of the 13th Amendment", because that is what the movie was about. However, how many people would have bothered to go see a movie with that title?

I should warn you that the movie is somewhere around two and a half hours long, so be sure to sneak in as many brewskis, soft drinks, and things to nibble on as possible, as you slip by the ticket taker.

Here's the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiSAbAuLhqs

p.s. Look for some Oscars from this one...

p.p.s. For any of you, who do not know, Abraham Lincoln was born and spent his early years in Kentucky.

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"The game is afoot."

As I understand it, salt is a chemical compound of sodium and chlorine (NaCl). When humans ingest sodium chloride, I do not believe that their digestive system breaks this compound down into the elements it is comprised of. I believe that this compound retains its characteristics, which are very different from those of the two elements that it is made of.

If I am correct about this, why do I keep hearing "salt" and "sodium" used interchangably, as if they were the same thing, when it comes to high blood pressure warnings.

I'm not trying to be cute here. I would really like someone to explain this to me.

p.s. Please don't tell me that I am an idiot. I already know that I am, especially when it comes to chemistry. Just teach me something that I don't understand.

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......................................................... Goodnight I'm going to bed, as soon as I find my lost shaker of salt.

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"The game is afoot."

I am neither a doctor nor do I play one on TV, but I'll see what I can misinform you about to the best of my abilities.
Salt is indeed broken down to its two constituent components.
The chlorides remain primarily in the stomach as hydrochloric acid.
The sodium is processed from salt and sent on its merry way to perform the functions that we normally associate with salt intake.
Considering that sodium can also be ingested from a wider variety of foods to help perform the same functions whereas chlorine can not, along with the fact that sodium is the chief functional component of salt, may be why people short change "salt" down to just "sodium".
I sure could go for a soft pretzel right about now. Thanks, Cloudy.

Thank you SPOTES. I never knew that my digestive system knew more about chemistry than I did, and could break compounds down into things that will kill me. It looks like it's time for me to swich to salt substitutes.

p.s. While on a tour of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky many years ago, the guide took us to a place where a mummified Native American died somewhere around 10 BC, when a boulder fell upon him, crushing him, and preserving his remains until they were discovered in 1935. The guide told us that the he was most likely in the cave scraping salt from the wall of the cave, when the boulder fell and killed him.

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...................................... "Salt can kill."

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"The game is afoot."

IT WAS 71 YEARS AGO... YESTERDAY...



Seventy one years ago yesterday we were attacked & it sent us all into war. Even though most all of us on this forum were not yet alive, we all have been affected by this event in some way.

Did our government really know that it was coming, and didn't pass along what they knew to our fleet at Pearl Harbor?

It's pretty much for sure that the Brits had broken the Japanese code, and many think that we had also, before the attack. One conspiracy theory says that the Brits didn't tell us what they knew, because they wanted us to get into the war to save their butts. Another conspiracy theory says that FDR knew it was coming, but did nothing about it, because at the time most Americans wanted us to stay out of the war, he thought we needed to get into it, and if the Japanese attacked our fleet at Pearl Harbor Americans would rise up and rally to the call to go to war.

Many believe (As do I.) that Army General Short and Navy Admiral Kimmel were made scapegoats, when both were relieved of command and demoted after the attack.

Kimmel was born in Henderson, KY, and here's a link that tells his story:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Husband_E._Kimmel

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"The game is afoot."

Project Magic had broken the Jap code a good 9 months to a year before Pearl Harbor. However, when important messages are both subtle in context and buried amongst roughly 7000 pieces of chatter in just the month leading up to Pearl alone, stuff is going to get missed, plain and simple. Or we could simply ignore it like we did the first few months of the Battle of the Atlantic or leading up to Kasserine Pass.
Just because we have solid intel, and there's not much proof that we did before Pearl, doesn't mean it gets into the right hands or is used wisely.
With the ship movement and specific training regimen of the Japanese fleet, US intel services knew with 100% certainty by early October of 41 that an attack was coming, but had no proof of location. They initially suspected either the Philippines or Singapore. They guessed wrong.
However that does not excuse Pearl leadership for lack of preparedness. They got caught with their pants down and they paid the price when that happened. That's not scapegoating. That's just the way it works, especially in a military culture. Just ask the Athenians what they did with Nicias after he was surprised by the Spartans or maybe inquire of the Romans about whatever became of dozens of generals off in the hinterlands who couldn't rein in the barbarians. With that kind of history behind them, losing a star doesn't seem nearly as bad as losing one's hat rest.

Saw this tonight. I can't think of the right words to praise it. It was simply fantastic.

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"Truth Like Football. Gets kicked around much, before reaching goal." - Charlie Chan

" Don't look back, The bastards might be gaining on you." - Satchel Paige

Frank

Frank, I knew you would like this movie. You are a historian, and an intellectual as well. I've got a feeling that most of those, who post on the "ScaRatings", will love this movie as much as you and I have. When it's released on DVD, I am going to add it to my collection.

p.s. I omitted to include this in my previous post. Besides being absolutely crazy, Mary Todd Lincoln was also from Kentucky. (Lexington to be exact.)

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"The game is afoot."

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"Stop the Beetle" is a public service announcement run on both TV and radio, that warns us about the Emerald Ash Borer Beetle . Without a doubt this is a bad bug, and the USDA is right, when they tell us that transporting firewood can spread the beetle. However, watch this TV announcement, and see if you have the same question that I have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMYg8ia6pBE

Near the end it gives this advice, "Burn firewood where you buy it."

Does this mean, if I buy a bundle of firewood at Krogers, that I will have to burn it right there in their parking lot?

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"The game is afoot."

Does anyone remember the name of the thread on the old Buzztime site that they deleted in it's entirety, that gave rise to the "Chip the Bartender" thread, that picked up where it left off...?

If anyone can come up with the correct answer, I will buy you a few drinks, when you can make it to Louisville.



.............. Goodnight I'm going to bed.

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"The game is afoot."

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(o\_!_/o)

Wrong...! Sorry, time has run out on my free drinks offer. It was called "Threads That Unravel In All Directions".

When I started it, I was merely commenting that threads often get hijacked, and go off in directions that have little of nothing to do with what the original thread was talking about. Smart guys, with a wonderful sense of humor, immediately proved my point, and took the thread in countless directions that went anywhere they wanted to take it. Realizing, that this could be fun, I joined the nonsense, and if I remember correctly, it went on for over 300 pages of silliness, until NTN's lawyers shut it down.

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"The game is afoot."

Where did the "Free For All" forum come from...?

This goes way back to the original "ScaRatings" site. At first the "ScaRatings" only had forums about NTN trivia, and related subjects. Then some young whippersnapper, called DANTE, came up with the idea of creating a forum called "Free For All". It would be a forum, where people could talk about anything. I was completely against DANTE's idea, fearing it would give rise to heated emotional arguments and controversy. I argued against DANTE's idea, but he prevailed.

Ironically, the "Free For All" forum has become my favorite, and DANTE now locks down threads there, that become too argumentative or controversial. Today it looks like I was both wrong and right about the "Free For All" forum.

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"The game is afoot."