ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area So how's your summer?

after a blistering 4 year drought in NC, we're getting rain most every week for the past year. i think i heard people in the know say this is the wettest year in the last 100 or so. and its been relatively mild all of which makes for a nice change of pace.

yup, flooding...
just the other day i was close by to a local fire chief, whom was viewing trees and rocks the size of volkswagons traveling via river into town...

he called up the FC in the town downstream, said something to the effect of "guess what your gettin!"

Well, I geuss its time for someone like me to get on the SUV/truck soapbox. Read an article the other day that says many people will be buying those bigger gas guzzlers this year and that is what many auto manufacturers are betting on. Most said they were going for the bigger Ford F250 four door models for their all around use. Other manufacturers were mentioned. Now I say thats ok if you need it for real work. But it is not required to haul the kids to school in, sitting there in traffic for 30 minutes burning a lot of gasoline and emitting a multitude of unburned hydrocarbons into the air and causing global warming. Nor is it required to go the local grocery store, restaurant or to take the kids to soccer practice. More economical transportation is readily available for those chores. Bear in mind, I don't belong to the greenpeace organization, or any enviromentally active group. However, I do think we here in the US should be a little more concientious toward the environment, and what we are leaving to our children and grandchildren. After all, our parents and grandparents didn't leave us with a big mess to clean up.
I'm sure there are many out there who don't even think about the results of driving a big gas burner that emits hundreds of pounds of stuff into the atmosphere every year. And all this stuff goes into the upper layers of of our atmosphere causing, you guessed it, global warming. Of course, SUVs and big trucks don't do it all but with so many millions of them on the road, they contribute a remarkable amount to the problem.
I'm sure this will bring a lot of remarks. Lets just see.

The reaction to this global warming thing varies from country to country. The Russians think it is great. A lot of more farmland and faster growing trees. And no more -50°C in the winter.

Us Scandinavians aren't as thrilled, as it could mean the end to the transatlantic winds and the Gulf stream keeping us warm. We steal the heat from the east coast of the US and Canada.

I wouldn't worry. The gas price will be too high to allow cars to run on gasoline in 50 years. I know they have been saying that we will run out of oil for 50 years now. We won't. There is plenty of oil. It's just costly to extract. Did you ever wonder why the gas prices won't come down? It's because there is simply no cheap oil anymore.

Well.... I know of a coupla "EPA Superfund" sites in my area that weren't put here by my generation.

Back to the topic We had a 109 degree heat index at 11:00 A.M. this morning.Ellington Field reached a heat index of 118 yesterday.

It hasn't been real Hot on LI recently, but it sure has been wet!

Donnie,

What's your pool temp up to now?


Bill

Paul,
Saw the late news the other night.
There were people bathing in the fountain outside Buckingham Palace!.
Queen Victoria would not have been amused!.

It was so hot in Dallas yeaterday(108) I saw Satan himself serving Kool-Aid. I really must say that the Port-O-Lets are no fun in the heat. You guys know exactly what I mean LOL.............

I feel for you guys, suffering in that heat. Me, I'm working in the balmy, cool breezes of Las Vegas. Many times, most people's high is our low. I've seen it 104 degrees at 4:00 a.m. here.

Yes, it's dry heat, but so is the oven! Rooftops are blistering hot and attics are just sweltering. The sun sure is bright here in the desert, if you try to work outside without sunglasses you'll have a splitting headache in a few hours and crow's feet like Clint Eastwood by the end of the day.

Only a couple of months more of intense heat before the highs are back down into the double digits.

Not that I'm complaining. I'm working nights for the next 6 weeks, indoors, air conditioned! Ha ha ha

No fountain outside Buckhingham Palace:


It's more likely the pictures were of Trafalgar Square:


Or maybe the lake in nearby St. James's Park:



[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 08-09-2003).]