I had to look up what a scoop was but yeah that seems like it would make life easier. I might have to invest in one of those. We didn't get anything close to 12' last year maybe all winter 4' all winter.
I know where you live (within reason) and I find that surprising. You don't get any lake effect snow?
I'm also in a weird micro-climate. It's more easily seen on one of the "garden zone" maps, but I'm in 3b - and then I'm up at just a bit under 3,000' in elevation and I'm surrounded by lakes - with a bit of an area for energy to be picked up between myself and the White Mountains.
Out my front picture windows, I can see Mt. Washington. Mt. Washington is famous for a few reasons, but the important one (for today) is that it has the record for the highest recorded wind-speed on land.
This is not a typo...
231 MPH.
I regularly get winds in the 60 to 80 MPH range - which means I get giant snow drifts - sometimes as high as the roof on my house.
I also have things like my chicken coop bolted to a concrete pad. One of those weather stations that tells you the wind speed and stuff like that? Yeah, I've gone through three of them - the wind is a horrible thief and likes to steal my stuff! But, it's awesome! I have a big (and really modern) house - and my whole house shakes. Even the summer storms are fantastic!
My house has to have J-bolts (the bolts that attach the sill to the foundation, keeping the house in place) at half the distance that a standard house has. If you go up on Mt. Washington, they have a house that's chained to the ground. It's chained to the ground because the wind kept moving it.
These are NOT little links of chain. Let me get you a picture... One sec!
https://imgoat.com/uploads/00da03b685/138219.jpg
Their record is -38 (my unofficial thermometer has told me I've hit -44) which was actually almost -100 when adjusted for windchill! Yeah, it's awesome! The weather here can, and does, kill people. If you're not dressed for it and assuming you're not an idiot and aren't naked, then you might have about 15 to 20 minutes.
After that, you're pretty much dead - unless someone else intervenes. At those temperatures, even in a light jacket and probably wearing a hat, your core temperature will drop so quickly that you'll lose your lucidity after just that short amount of time. You'll probably take your clothing off, because you start to feel hot. Many people who die in the cold are found in various states of undress because of this.
You've got maybe 30 minutes, but you're pretty much dead after 15 to 20 minutes.
The good news is you might just be fine! People actually do survive this now and all our hospitals are set up to deal with it.
Because you're so cold, your brain can go quite a while longer without actually suffering any damage - you cool that quickly. As in, people end up just fine (brain-health wise, they'll often have amputated limbs due to frostbite) after being dead, clinically dead, for hours!
What they do is they don't warm you up like people might think. They keep you really, really cold and increase the temperature slowly - restarting the heart when your temperature reaches the right point. They have special rooms with ice baths in them and they warm you up in that, over a period that can take days!
So, not that I recommend it, you might be just fine!
I have no idea where I am going with this, but I wanted to share some more about Maine.
Well first of all, holy shit they have to chain the house to the ground? Thats some serious wind. For my area, you go 40 minutes either east or west and you will see some serious lake effect. I was once leaving a client late at night from doing a server OS upgrade, it was 8pm and I was driving my BMW I had retrofitted HID bulbs into and I could not see over the end of the hood the snow was coming down so hard. I drove at about 15 miles per hour on the free way south(and everyone else on the road was going that slow or slower) for 2 hours before I got far enough south to get out of it enough to see.
Thats very interesting people can survive like that I would have figured you'd just be dead. I'd not brave those kind of temperatures without a guide or at least some advice. I almost have a hard time believing a cars heater would work all that well with it that cold. I think our record last year was -11 probably minus 20 with wind chill, so those kind of temperatures are hard core as shit.
I really do want to come see Maine before the the winter comes it sounds like an awesome place to visit.
It's a lovely place and the extreme weather/temperatures are awesome.
Oh, speaking of coming to visit, I got a cool phone call earlier today. Well, sort of... I haven't brought it up with the missus.
Remember the bandmate that spent the summer here and recently returned to Augusta to go back to college? Well, she called me earlier and these are the words she used. "I want to come home." She misses the place.
She might be coming back for an extended visit! Maybe a visit until she finishes college!
It'd be a serious drive, and a dangerous drive in the winter, but she said she wants to do it. I told her that I'd have to see what the missus thought about it. Technically, the missus doesn't get to say no. It's not her house and we are not married. But... She does get a say, 'cause it is her house and I'm pretty fond of her.
So, I may have an interesting update with regards to that soon! I confess, I miss having her around as well. I enjoyed her company during the summer. She's clean, helpful, intelligent, and I've been able to advance her guitar playing ability significantly. She also really, really likes the studio.
I also may have other news, but I'm going to wait to disclose that - I want to see where it goes before discussing it.
Just think, it was just a year ago when my life was pretty much free of drama, excitement, and change! LOL I was still happily retired and hardly obligated to anything...
I would be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying the change of pace. For all my pissing and moaning, I'm actually pretty happy. I just can't let people know, as it'd ruin my curmudgeon image!
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