Today's Weather

2C and overcast here today.  They're forecasting snow for the south of the UK this week (I guess that's what LBC were referring to), should be fun watching the roads gradually turning to car parks as nobody here seems to know how to drive in the snow.  It's not a storm as such so doesn't have a name, it's just a winter weather event that we get every winter.  If you have the Met Office weather app on your phone, they've just started doing UK long-range weather forecasts that are useful if you're planning things a bit further on.
I wasn't looking forward to today's little drive as the schools started back this morning and we share a culdesac with one of our village primary schools, so it's manic getting out when the school commute is on.   Back from the medical; I guess it's a bit different for me as I know all the Doctors and nurses (Mrs C works there); took 15 minutes to answer the questions, and do the tests (and I've lost 1 kg - yay).  Now I just have the COPD event to look forward to in a couple of weeks.
   

    -@Cynic

COPD doesn't sound nice.  I don't have that but I could easily end up with it - working on dodgy places where no-one cares about air quality.  Both my parents had dodgy hearts towards their respective ends.  Not quite the same as COPD.  They had leaky valves.

I don't use the UK Met Office weather service as it's quite untrustworthy.  On the laptop, I use the Norwegian weather service - free, no adverts and nicely designed user interface.

The HU version is called OMSZ.  It's not too bad on Android.   Webcams and water temperature at Balaton and other lakes.  Radar pictures are quite useful to see where the storms are.

We have a school on the corner of our st.In the mornings I hear cars honking at each other with so many lazy parents just stopping ,blocking traffic so their children can get out of the car.What happened to walking to school?No, I never had to walk through a forest or cross an ice lake to get to school but we never got rides to school.We didn't live very close to my HS either. A good 40 mins each way to school and back.It had to be a torental downpour for mom to give us a lift over to school.Think my Jr. high school was further away, a good 50 mins each way.Good to hear the medical report is good.COPD isn't anything to mess with.I did in my BIL a couple years back.So much ,"junk" in the air around Budapest with people burning things.Sometimes it smells nice, when it's real firewood but at times who knows what is burning?My husband said back in the old commie days, the gov. would move poor families into new apts.They couldn't afford firewood so they tore out their wood floors with varnish on them and burnt them up.I sometimes wonder why we still live in the city, No reason for it really, bad air quailty and overly busy many times.Who really knows though, they can still burn painted wood, plastics whatever in the countryside just as easily.One day a few years ago we walked in the 7th district and we smelled Meth burning...Someone was making a home brew and they had their windows wide open.I've smelt pot coming from a neighbors apt. in the past but I would have an issue with a meth lab in the house.We had a fireplace in our Ca. home. More for decoration then actually needing it to heat the house up.We tore down an old woden fence around our property to have it replaced with a new brick wall.I had bundled it up in piles and tied it up fr the thrash man to take away.For some insance reason my husband decided to try and burn it in the fireplace.What a huge mistake!! Not sure where his mind was but the paint on the wood was sickening.Had to oepn all the doors and windows to the house to get the smell out.Had plans to run some errands today but thought the better of it, not in the mood to be out in the cold.Last night I was thinking of the 2 homeless men living rough on the blvd. corner down the st. from our house.How do they do it?Scones for a snack... Haven't had those in many years.My sisters used to be on a kick and bake them every week.Actually I could go for one right now thinking about it.        -@Marilyn Tassy

I was out with the dog and it was quite OK, even though it was cold.   Surprisingly, quite a few people around.  There's a particular place on that walk where I can see over Budapest through the trees.  It was quite sunny for a bit and it looked quite good.

I really like scones with raisins in.  In fact, anything like that with raisins is very acceptable.  Mrs F was making mini-apple pies today.  With raisins!

Wood is a problem when it's going to be burnt.  We have a moisture meter to check the levels.  Has to dry out for 2 years.  If it's not dry enough, all the heat goes into evaporating the water in the wood and the chimney will never get hot enough to burn off any sap deposited.  Sap will eventually catch fire.  Absolute a no-no to burn anything with paint on, especially here.  All the paint will have lead in it.  And that will go up into the atmosphere and drop everywhere. It could enter the food chain by dropping on people's home grown vegetables.  Horrible!

I am not sure why kids cannot walk to school. I use to go to school on my own to another town on a bus.  I was probably about 8 or 9.  To me it seemed like a zillion miles way.   And Mrs F used to travel into Budapest when she was about 12.  Kids are a bit mollycoddled being taken in the Mum and Dad taxi to school.  In the UK, it's a could be a bit dangerous to walk in the dark but the "walking bus" concept is quite a good idea.

I don't like the sound of a meth lab.  They are really dangerous. It could blow up.  I've seen Breaking Bad!

-4°C / -15°C today, we had a flutter of snow but walking up the road the pavement was quite icy.

Whilst living in Transylvania for thirty years, high in the beautiful Carpathian mountains and forests, one of my most beloved possessions was my big beautiful ceramic stove. This would take an hour or so to heat up, before throwing out an immense amount of heat, hot and warm all day and most of the night. It could easily cope with outside temperatures of minus twenty degrees centigrade or more.

But first, there is a lot to learn. The art of starting a fire from scratch, the best kindling wood, which kind of logs to use, how old they should be, and how to store them inside and outside the house. During autumn, collecting sacks of twigs from the forest, to start the fire. You learn by experience, it takes a long time. Years.

The Bible tells us that a wise man toils all summer preparing for the winter. And so it is.   Woe is he who does not have enough logs to last until spring, especially if for cooking too.  If you run out, never ask your neighbours for some of theirs for they dare not take the risk. Now the foolish man is in big trouble.

Inside all of us is a primitive love of fire to provide warmth, safety, and protection from wild animals. I attended several survival courses whilst in the RAF. One of the first things you are taught to do after a remote crash, far from safety, is to make a fire. This raises the morale of survivors like nothing else. It is also a beacon of hope.

And so too it is with ceramic stoves, the most beautiful of which can be found here in Hungary from in simple homes to great palaces and museums. The sight of a roaring fire and burning red-hot embers knocks modern household radiators for six. You feel impervious, invincible to the snow and ice outside,  snug warm and safe inside.

They also make great toast!

Next time Part 2.

Looking forward to Part 2.

Well writrten and interesting .

Learned how to make a fire in Girl Scout camp but like many things I've forgotten how to do it.

We always packed wood matches in an water tight container but doing it by rubbing 2 stickes together is difficult.

My mother shared stories about when her father was a foreman in a coal devilery place.

Trains would pull in with coal piled up and bits and broken pieces would fall all over the ground as it was removed from the train.

Her fahter stayed long after everyone else went home for the night.

He got huge burlap bags and filled them with the coal from  the ground.

She would see him carrtying a 100lbs. bag worth of coal through the snow as he walked home.

He often gave away the coal to other poor families in their building who had many children.

Nice to know he was such a thoughtful man when he wasn't drinking.

Also nice to know my mom was always warm in winter during the depression, also she never went hungry.

Her mother before she got too ill to work, had been a personal cook in a wealthy home.

They lady of the house always allowed her to bring home the left over Sunday roast and other left overs.Lots of fresh fruits too.

My mother once went to the home where her mother worked.

Said she just about sank in the carpets, they were so thick , white ones with a huge grand piano overlooking the water...

Must of been rough seeing that house then going home to some old tenament house.

I do wish it would actually snow here in the city, haven't used our sleds in years.

    2C and overcast here today.  They're forecasting snow for the south of the UK this week (I guess that's what LBC were referring to), should be fun watching the roads gradually turning to car parks as nobody here seems to know how to drive in the snow.  It's not a storm as such so doesn't have a name, it's just a winter weather event that we get every winter.  If you have the Met Office weather app on your phone, they've just started doing UK long-range weather forecasts that are useful if you're planning things a bit further on.I wasn't looking forward to today's little drive as the schools started back this morning and we share a culdesac with one of our village primary schools, so it's manic getting out when the school commute is on.   Back from the medical; I guess it's a bit different for me as I know all the Doctors and nurses (Mrs C works there); took 15 minutes to answer the questions, and do the tests (and I've lost 1 kg - yay).  Now I just have the COPD event to look forward to in a couple of weeks.        -@Cynic

COPD doesn't sound nice.  I don't have that but I could easily end up with it - working on dodgy places where no-one cares about air quality.  Both my parents had dodgy hearts towards their respective ends.  Not quite the same as COPD.  They had leaky valves.

I don't use the UK Met Office weather service as it's quite untrustworthy.  On the laptop, I use the Norwegian weather service - free, no adverts and nicely designed user interface.

The HU version is called OMSZ.  It's not too bad on Android.   Webcams and water temperature at Balaton and other lakes.  Radar pictures are quite useful to see where the storms are.
   

    -@fluffy2560

COPD is not fun; I went from being a reasonably fit middle-aged person to a basket case who was struggling to breathe while producing excessive amounts of phlegm; the meds help control it, plus living where we do, the air quality is good and the ones that aggravate my COPD, particulate (nox & PM), is excellent.  I feel sorry for people with COPD who don't get the choice of living where we do as my experience is that air quality does matter.

Your comments regarding weather apps spurred me to check something I used to use at work; this link will take you to today's weather for where I live on Accuweather; maybe it will cover Hungary as well.

@CynicI

Is it possible to send photographs for publication with articles, please?

Best wishes Ken.

    @CynicI
Is it possible to send photographs for publication with articles, please?
Best wishes Ken.
   

    -@skusekenneth

Photographs of ................ ???

    @CynicI
Is it possible to send photographs for publication with articles, please?
Best wishes Ken.
   

    -@skusekenneth

Reason why?

COPD is not fun; I went from being a reasonably fit middle-aged person to a basket case who was struggling to breathe while producing excessive amounts of phlegm; the meds help control it, plus living where we do, the air quality is good and the ones that aggravate my COPD, particulate (nox & PM), is excellent.  I feel sorry for people with COPD who don't get the choice of living where we do as my experience is that air quality does matter.Your comments regarding weather apps spurred me to check something I used to use at work; this link will take you to today's weather for where I live on Accuweather; maybe it will cover Hungary as well.        -@Cynic

Now you said that...

My rooftop weather equipment is connected to the Internet so I supply weather details automatically to a number of web sites.    The PWS (Personal Weather Station) doesn't cover NOX and PM.  Now I think of it, it's an omission on the part of the designers and myself for not paying attention. But I am not thinking of changing it out as it might not work well here.  A lot of people around here are burning wood so I expect it'll show high levels of PM at least but not so much NOX. as there are no cars standing in queues 

In downtown Budapest, there are a couple of places with air quality signs I've seen but I never really paid any attention to them as regards people's health.  We don't live in the city and we're usually just driving through, polluting it up for others.  I guess what I am saying is I should think a bit more about it.   

I did however recently buy pollution stickers for Germany and France for our main car and I did - when buying it - check if it was Euro 5 or Euro 6.  So behaviour is changing.  Our older car is too old to drive in say, Frankfurt.  It's a diesel.  My hobby car, despite the large gas guzzling engine can drive there no problem as it's a petrol/benzin car with a "California" package.  Not that anyone in the EU cares about that!

    Looking forward to Part 2.Well writrten and interesting .Learned how to make a fire in Girl Scout camp but like many things I've forgotten how to do it.We always packed wood matches in an water tight container but doing it by rubbing 2 stickes together is difficult.My mother shared stories about when her father was a foreman in a coal devilery place.    -@Marilyn Tassy

I tried making fire with the kids during the summer once. It's much harder than it looks.   We made a kind of violin bow with a bit of string and using a rock to hold the vertical rotating part drilling into a split piece of wood where the fire would appear.  It didn't work because we didn't have the right kind of wood.  It was far too soft.  Might try again during this summer. It's a skill that's important to know how to do it when the apocalypse comes.

I remember our house had a coal bunker out the back. I learnt how to make coal fires back then in the 1960s/70s.   Obviously that disappeared with gas fires but how to make fires with wood will never disappear.   I just bought an electric fan for our wood oven. It's powered by the heat difference (Peltier effect) between sheets of material.   Doesn't use batteries.  The fan goes on the top of the wood oven and blows the heat around the room to distribute it more evenly.  It's quite small so who knows if it'll really work well.

    COPD is not fun; I went from being a reasonably fit middle-aged person to a basket case who was struggling to breathe while producing excessive amounts of phlegm; the meds help control it, plus living where we do, the air quality is good and the ones that aggravate my COPD, particulate (nox & PM), is excellent.  I feel sorry for people with COPD who don't get the choice of living where we do as my experience is that air quality does matter.Your comments regarding weather apps spurred me to check something I used to use at work; this link will take you to today's weather for where I live on Accuweather; maybe it will cover Hungary as well.        -@Cynic

Now you said that...

My rooftop weather equipment is connected to the Internet so I supply weather details automatically to a number of web sites.    The PWS (Personal Weather Station) doesn't cover NOX and PM.  Now I think of it, it's an omission on the part of the designers and myself for not paying attention. But I am not thinking of changing it out as it might not work well here.  A lot of people around here are burning wood so I expect it'll show high levels of PM at least but not so much NOX. as there are no cars standing in queues 

In downtown Budapest, there are a couple of places with air quality signs I've seen but I never really paid any attention to them as regards people's health.  We don't live in the city and we're usually just driving through, polluting it up for others.  I guess what I am saying is I should think a bit more about it.   

I did however recently buy pollution stickers for Germany and France for our main car and I did - when buying it - check if it was Euro 5 or Euro 6.  So behaviour is changing.  Our older car is too old to drive in say, Frankfurt.  It's a diesel.  My hobby car, despite the large gas guzzling engine can drive there no problem as it's a petrol/benzin car with a "California" package.  Not that anyone in the EU cares about that!
   

    -@fluffy2560

I got involved in emissions just before my retirement; I still get some interesting stuff - this (link) was an interesting paper written recently on tyre pollution; some were claiming that tyres were worse than engine derived pollution, but I never hung around to find out whether this had any basis in fact, or was just another environmentalist stunt.

I got involved in emissions just before my retirement; I still get some interesting stuff - this (link) was an interesting paper written recently on tyre pollution; some were claiming that tyres were worse than engine derived pollution, but I never hung around to find out whether this had any basis in fact, or was just another environmentalist stunt.   

    -@Cynic

I've heard that before.   Tyres aren't environmentally friendly at all.  But I also haven't looked into it much.

There's so many other things to look into, it'd be a full time job trying to even just get familiar with everything.  Mrs F keeps saying we should move to an island and live isolated from everyone and everything.  Understandable.  Too much too fast. It could be worse, we could be living in the shadow of a  dodgy volcano.

One must be judicious with one's time - literally.  I spent some of the afternoon listening to the legal arguments over Trump's immunity as President during the election riot.  It's a significant case for the Court of Appeals there.   We'll see if the weather blows in the Teflon Don's direction.  From the questions from the judge, it didn't look very good for Donny I must say.    Is it going to make a difference to me?  Maybe it will, maybe it won't.   

And meanwhile to keep on topic,  it's -1.5C, +1m on sunset at 16.11h today. Sunny skies expected tomorrow but crispy cold.  Looks like dog walking tomorrow will be pleasant if rather cold.  Gloves and hats needed. I just hope it's not windy. 

Our son's car was having issues passing the pollution control .

My husband ( I think he is a genius) borrowed equipment from a auto parts shop, did his research and worked and worked to get the smog control perfect to pass the test.

IDK, he saved allot of money by doing it himself rather then go to a pollution control repairman.

I know it took a long time to figure out how to fix it but that was his first ( and hopefully last) time he ever attempted such a complex repair. Those newere cars with all those computers.

Had to invent some testing itmes, air bubbles and a water bottle to check for leaks... IDK it was sort of stressful to get it done right and on the cheap.

In the US and in Cal. it is so stressful to pass that test every year.

We never purchase or sell a used car unless it has a new test done and passes.

It's a great reselling feature.

Yucky outside today,no sunshine and a bit too cold for a joy walk.

    Our son's car was having issues passing the pollution control .
My husband ( I think he is a genius) borrowed equipment from a auto parts shop, did his research and worked and worked to get the smog control perfect to pass the test.
IDK, he saved allot of money by doing it himself rather then go to a pollution control repairman.
I know it took a long time to figure out how to fix it but that was his first ( and hopefully last) time he ever attempted such a complex repair. Those newere cars with all those computers.
Had to invent some testing itmes, air bubbles and a water bottle to check for leaks... IDK it was sort of stressful to get it done right and on the cheap.
In the US and in Cal. it is so stressful to pass that test every year.
We never purchase or sell a used car unless it has a new test done and passes.
It's a great reselling feature.
Yucky outside today,no sunshine and a bit too cold for a joy walk.
   

    -@Marilyn Tassy

It's indeed yucky outside.  I was already on the roof fixing my weather station.  The batteries had gone flat.  They don't charge up enough from the solar panel due to the shorter days and overcast days.  Seems to be a design fault not to have an option to power it directly without batteries.  That said, the batteries last forever in the summer.

Temperature today is 0 C.  Sunset 16.16h but quite noticeable wind at 2 m/s from NNW.   It says it was raining but I didn't see any of that. 

I'm planning to do some DIY today, all plumbing related.  I did some yesterday and I will need to do a bit more today.  I've got electrical work to do outside but I'm not doing it in this cold.  Very difficult to to hold the tools as your fingers go numb.

Pollution control on my hobby car is easy.  But these are standards of the 1990s.  It only has 2 exhaust sensors and they are easily replaceable but also quite unreliable.   They seem to break down every 5 years or so and then I get an error on the car computer and the dash lights up.  I replace them, reset the computer is all OK again.  A lot of the sensors seem to be made by Bosch.   I also get ABS errors but they seem to clear themselves every so often.  Maybe loose connections but not going out to get under the car in this weather.  I keep asking the dog to do the work but she's useless.  She just grunts and sniffs.

It's 2.4C today, sunny and 1.5 m/s wind with a chill factor of 0.8C.  It means in technical language Brrrrr.....

The good news is sunset is 16.18h so we've got back about 18m from just before Xmas.  Sunrise is unfortunately about 07.28h.

I don't think it's going to rain until about Tuesday.  I need to do outside jobs but it's just too cold. It's so frosty.  We've got a big pile of sticks from trimming the bushes.  That all needs chopping up to put in bags but they won't come again until April for green collections.  So what do we do with it? Just pile it up?  In the old days, we'd just burn it but it's no longer allowed around here. I think people do it still in the countryside - they don't care out there.  It's no good putting it in the compost heap. It'd still be there in 5 years time. Wood takes forever  to compost.

One  outside job I'm considering for the summer is building a bird bath - this has been on the cards for some years. I need Mrs Fluffy and a Fluffyette to help lift the blocks onto the base.  I've also got a planting list - more exotic grasses to add to my collection (Purple fountain grass) but it's an invasive species in the native form.  I am also looking for a Red Maple - I like the colours changing.

Cold here - Thermometer says 3C, but the wind has now swung around from the North, so effectively -1C.  Just been to Leeds to renew my Costco card; the wind was penetrating as I walked across the car park, but that's now done for another couple of years.  First time I've used my Forces Veterans ID card as a means of ID.

    Cold here - Thermometer says 3C, but the wind has now swung around from the North, so effectively -1C.  Just been to Leeds to renew my Costco card; the wind was penetrating as I walked across the car park, but that's now done for another couple of years.  First time I've used my Forces Veterans ID card as a means of ID.
   

    -@Cynic

It was pretty cold walking the Poochmeisterin today.   Not that she cares, she's got her own fur coat.

I was wondering if I should apply for a Forces Veterans ID card.   I wondered if it would do anything for me.  I've got a Veterans badge which I sometimes wear on my coat on Remembrance Sunday.  But I don't wear it all the time.  No-one here knows what it means.

Apparently there's a Veterans UK railcard discount as well but I am not 100% sure of how to get that. I did look into it but meh, I hardly travel by train in the UK, it's probably not worth the money.

-@CynicIt was pretty cold walking the Poochmeisterin today.   Not that she cares, she's got her own fur coat. I was wondering if I should apply for a Forces Veterans ID card.   I wondered if it would do anything for me.  I've got a Veterans badge which I sometimes wear on my coat on Remembrance Sunday.  But I don't wear it all the time.  No-one here knows what it means.Apparently there's a Veterans UK railcard discount as well but I am not 100% sure of how to get that. I did look into it but meh, I hardly travel by train in the UK, it's probably not worth the money.         -@fluffy2560

Even colder this morning (-2C, with wind factor -3C), and they've issued a snow warning (note to self - winter coat out for dog and snow boots out for me); it would be nice for the dog as he hasn't seen any snow yet.

Veterans ID card; I got mine as part of the trial; they were going to roll it out in the New Year; I just checked and it doesn't look like it's New Year enough yet.  Anyway, this link will take you to the latest info on their website.

Super chilly out yesterday.

Plan on attmeping a errand run today, we'll see if it happens.

Got out yesterday, wlaked a few blocks and my husband said that's it, the wind chill was too much.

They were spraying hard in the sky yesterday too.

Hate getting all those chemtrails in ur lungs.

Where though d they not spry on in the world?

Some remote Island with 6 people living on it?IDK.

VA card, they should have a list of discounts and benefits if you have one.

My 2nd step-dad had a small check coming in everyone from his time of being a  2 xPOW. In the 80's it was somewhere around $365. per month.

I'm sure they give increases every so  often.

If you show your VA card in the US they give discounts in many stores and restaurants.

Auto insurance discounts too.

In the 1960's my 1st step-dad was offered a loan for a second home for just $1.00 down as down payment.

He should of gone for it  and rented the place out for extra income.

    -@CynicIt was pretty cold walking the Poochmeisterin today.   Not that she cares, she's got her own fur coat. I was wondering if I should apply for a Forces Veterans ID card.   I wondered if it would do anything for me.  I've got a Veterans badge which I sometimes wear on my coat on Remembrance Sunday.  But I don't wear it all the time.  No-one here knows what it means.Apparently there's a Veterans UK railcard discount as well but I am not 100% sure of how to get that. I did look into it but meh, I hardly travel by train in the UK, it's probably not worth the money.         -@fluffy2560

Even colder this morning (-2C, with wind factor -3C), and they've issued a snow warning (note to self - winter coat out for dog and snow boots out for me); it would be nice for the dog as he hasn't seen any snow yet.
Veterans ID card; I got mine as part of the trial; they were going to roll it out in the New Year; I just checked and it doesn't look like it's New Year enough yet.  Anyway, this link will take you to the latest info on their website.
   

    -@Cynic

Dogs+weather:

With a name like Boris, you'd think the dog would know intuitively what's what with snow. I can imagine your doggy wearing a ushanka with a red star on it and growling comrade (not "sausages").   

Meanwhile in HU, it's brilliantly sunny but freezing cold 2.2C but going up, chill factor 0.3C, snow a possibility and sunset at 16.19h. Breeze 3.6 m/s from WNW so chill factor variable.  Humidity surprisingly low at 65%. Pressure steady.

Veterans ID cards:

I suppose Shapps is dealing with the cards as part of his MoD brief. I am not expecting it to go anywhere fast.

Hello everyone,

My little contribution as we are facing cyclonic conditions here in Mauritius.

Cyclonic wind is howling, there are powercuts every now and then.

Cyclone Belal is due to pass at its closest tomorrow morning (in 10 - 11 hours time)

http://metservice.intnet.mu/forecast-bu … ritius.php

Our neighbours from Reunion Island have been more affected earlier today since the cyclone passed directly on the island.

We are all safe but have been caught by surprise by heavy rain and floods earlier. It was chaotic.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-67982380

If you don't hear from us (mods) , don't worry, must be electricity issues.

    Hello everyone,
My little contribution as we are facing cyclonic conditions here in Mauritius.

Cyclonic wind is howling, there are powercuts every now and then.

Cyclone Belal is due to pass at its closest tomorrow morning (in 10 - 11 hours time)
http://metservice.intnet.mu/forecast-bu … ritius.php

Our neighbours from Reunion Island have been more affected earlier today since the cyclone passed directly on the island.

We are all safe but have been caught by surprise by heavy rain and floods earlier. It was chaotic.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-67982380

If you don't hear from us (mods) , don't worry, must be electricity issues.
   

    -@Bhavna

All of you - please take care; flood water can be very dangerous.

    Hello everyone,
My little contribution as we are facing cyclonic conditions here in Mauritius.

Cyclonic wind is howling, there are powercuts every now and then.

Cyclone Belal is due to pass at its closest tomorrow morning (in 10 - 11 hours time)
http://metservice.intnet.mu/forecast-bu … ritius.php

Our neighbours from Reunion Island have been more affected earlier today since the cyclone passed directly on the island.

We are all safe but have been caught by surprise by heavy rain and floods earlier. It was chaotic.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-67982380

If you don't hear from us (mods) , don't worry, must be electricity issues.
   

    -@Bhavna

Wow, keep safe all of you at HQ

Just saw on the news, that parts of America are having it rough.

Wind chills in Montana and the Dakotas have felt as low as -57C, while temperatures could be 20-40 degrees lower than normal in large parts of the country between Idaho and Ohio.

In such extreme conditions, frostbite can take just minutes to set in.

Highmark Stadium, where the NFL match had been due to kick off.

Icy conditions affected a worker's beard as he tried to clear snow from the stadium.

    Hello everyone, My little contribution as we are facing cyclonic conditions here in Mauritius.Cyclonic wind is howling, there are powercuts every now and then.Cyclone Belal is due to pass at its closest tomorrow morning (in 10 - 11 hours time)http://metservice.intnet.mu/forecast-bu … ritius.php.....If you don't hear from us (mods) , don't worry, must be electricity issues.         -@Bhavna

I did read that story and I wondered if you were all affected in some way. 

I read Reunion also was hit quite hard.

Hope it passes quickly and without damage.

    Just saw on the news, that parts of America are having it rough. Wind chills in Montana and the Dakotas have felt as low as -57C, while temperatures could be 20-40 degrees lower than normal in large parts of the country between Idaho and Ohio.In such extreme conditions, frostbite can take just minutes to set in.Highmark Stadium, where the NFL match had been due to kick off.Icy conditions affected a worker's beard as he tried to clear snow from the stadium.        -@SimCityAT

They should forget about that NFL game.  It's a misnamed sport anyway.   There's no way that can take place in that kind of environment.  They'd freeze while standing about during the adverts.

I believe the Iowa caucus for Presidental candidate is going to be affected with low turn out expected.   

    Super chilly out yesterday.
Plan on attmeping a errand run today, we'll see if it happens.
Got out yesterday, wlaked a few blocks and my husband said that's it, the wind chill was too much.
They were spraying hard in the sky yesterday too.
Hate getting all those chemtrails in ur lungs.
Where though d they not spry on in the world?
Some remote Island with 6 people living on it?IDK.
VA card, they should have a list of discounts and benefits if you have one.
My 2nd step-dad had a small check coming in everyone from his time of being a  2 xPOW. In the 80's it was somewhere around $365. per month.
I'm sure they give increases every so  often.
If you show your VA card in the US they give discounts in many stores and restaurants.
Auto insurance discounts too.
In the 1960's my 1st step-dad was offered a loan for a second home for just $1.00 down as down payment.
He should of gone for it  and rented the place out for extra income.
   
    -@Marilyn Tassy

I know US service people get on the plane faster and don't pay excess baggage (on United anyway).   

We get no such discounts or benefits as far as I know. The UK rail travel discount looks like it might give perhaps 50% discount.

I know US service people get on the plane faster and don't pay excess baggage (on United anyway).   

We get no such discounts or benefits as far as I know. The UK rail travel discount looks like it might give perhaps 50% discount.
   

    -@fluffy2560

UK Forces have access to a couple of schemes.  Whether they are any better than others I don't know.

For ferry travel, check out the Forces Travel website (link); I get 15% discount on the Hull/Rotterdam P&O sailings.  I think they also offer this deal to the emergency services.

For General discounts, there is the Defence Discount Service (link); they seem to offer deals across the board.

Boarding priority - never heard of that one and am not sure what the benefit is as the plane doesn't take off any quicker and with pre-booked seating, your seat is still there.  I guess the US tend to treat air travel more or less like a bus, so perhaps there is more benefit for them.

-4°C today. I would have been quite happy to have stayed in bed today but had a couple of appointments I couldn't get of. Roll on the summer 🌞

-2C here today, no snow, we had a bit of rain overnight, but it didn't turn into snow, just very slippery when I was out with the dog this morning.

Over here in the land of Goulash and Langos, it's -1C right now. 

It's freezing rain, almost snow and it's very icy out there on the roads.  Wheels were spinning at junctions/traffic lights.  Pretty dangerous.  We do however have  winter tyres on our main car and they are (probably) saving us.

Sunset is 16.22h so a couple of minutes back but you'd never know, it's so dull dark, Mrs F say we're living in North Norway. 

As usual I hear from Blighty (UK) cold weather is upon them.  Things fall apart there - roads blocked, schools closed etc.  But other news says Frankfurt and Munich have cancellations due to snow etc.  But I bet it's all still generally running on this side of the channel despite the cold.

Forecast is for 6C tomorrow.  I might be able to get some outside jobs done.  No digging though because the ground is absolutely frozen.

Budapest 08.40h

Drizzle of 2mm rain since midnight, temperatures up to 6C, no breeze.  Sunset 16.23h.

1°C at 9.08am so has warmed up a bit from yesterday's -4°C. But we have just had rain 🌧️ through the night. Got a builder coming at 10am to look at our roof as some damp patches are showing. I hate flat roofs.

    1°C at 9.08am so has warmed up a bit from yesterday's -4°C. But we have just had rain 🌧️ through the night. Got a builder coming at 10am to look at our roof as some damp patches are showing. I hate flat roofs.
   

    -@SimCityAT

Flat roof, oh dear.  If anything will leak, it'd be that.  We have one flat roof bit and there's no slope on it so the water pools there until it reaches the edge where there is some guttering whereupon some of it dribbles away.  Eventually it'll need redoing to give it a bit of an incline so the water goes away. 

We live on a hill and getting rid of water is a major problem. When we had the garden done, we insisted on dealing with excess of water coming down the hill.  There are places in the village where the flows are like the spillways of a dam.   Huge amounts of material is carried down - usually stones and even  rocks and small branches.   Our large area of garden paving means the water is redirected into a soak away.   Roof water is also disposed of that way too.  We don't redirect it on to the garden like our neighbours do.  Doesn't sound green but there's too much and we will collect more than enough water from our large shed roof when I get around to installing the rainwater system.  At the moment, I'm thinking about how to insulate the tank and make it look OK. We might end up having to bury it.

10.20h

Snow!

And just a bit below 0C today.  Slightly breezy so even worse chill factor but not by much (-2C). 

Barometer is saying sunny.  Yeah, right, in you dreams Weather machine.

Sunset 16.24h so another minute back.  Yay!

Should be a dog walking day but I don't think I can face it in this cold.  I might have a go at clearing up the cellar.   That is one difficult to do job  that has been on the list for some years.

Forecast says 16C next week, Wednesday or Thursday.   16C!  So from freezing to T-shirts.  WTF?

Currently 1C here; forecasting snow for later on.  Already done doggy stuff, so I don't have to go out again till this evening.  Girlie jobs are done, so shall do a bit of computer maintence; I've just bought a new 2 TB hard drive for my main PC, so I shall give it a clean out before I fit that.

They reckon the UK's cold spell is over after today, tghey are forecasting 11>13C next week and the strong winds are back for the first couple of days next week.  Then we're back to normal with temps around 7C, which is the norm for around here at this time of year.

    Currently 1C here; forecasting snow for later on.  Already done doggy stuff, so I don't have to go out again till this evening.  Girlie jobs are done, so shall do a bit of computer maintence; I've just bought a new 2 TB hard drive for my main PC, so I shall give it a clean out before I fit that.They reckon the UK's cold spell is over after today, they are forecasting 11>13C next week and the strong winds are back for the first couple of days next week.  Then we're back to normal with temps around 7C, which is the norm for around here at this time of year.        -@Cynic

Dog face is staying at home today. It's snowing too much and too cold for me to plod around the hills.

I was just outside brushing the snow off the cars. If it freezes on there, it means de-icer and scraping it off.  But it's snowing quite hard so I'll be out there again I expect.   Blinking snow has stuffed up my outside plans - again. I've got jobs to do. I did manage to replace a headlight bulb yesterday when we had a burst of 8C and a break in the rain. 

I hope it's a 2TB SSD for your PC.   I've converted all our PCs to SSDs.   I do get annoyed with the changing formats for drives.  My latest PC uses the M.2 SSD format.  Basically like big memory cards.  And as usual, the price drops.  2TB became much cheaper to make it doable.  I put the old disk drives of decent size in USB connected boxes so I can use them as backup devices.  That's reminded me to backup.  Better do that.

I've spent years with my face in the back of equipment and they are such dust and dander magnets.   I've started trying to use stuff that is fanless.   Anyway, I eventually developed an allergy to house dust - it's a real nuisance.  I've just been hoovering this morning to try and get rid of any that's around.  I don't understand dust.  I am not sure where it actually comes from. Looks mainly like fluff but where's it from?  No idea. 

   
    Currently 1C here; forecasting snow for later on.  Already done doggy stuff, so I don't have to go out again till this evening.  Girlie jobs are done, so shall do a bit of computer maintence; I've just bought a new 2 TB hard drive for my main PC, so I shall give it a clean out before I fit that.They reckon the UK's cold spell is over after today, they are forecasting 11>13C next week and the strong winds are back for the first couple of days next week.  Then we're back to normal with temps around 7C, which is the norm for around here at this time of year.        -@Cynic
.....

I hope it's a 2TB SSD for your PC.   I've converted all our PCs to SSDs.   I do get annoyed with the changing formats for drives.  My latest PC uses the M.2 SSD format.  Basically like big memory cards.  And as usual, the price drops.  2TB became much cheaper to make it doable.  I put the old disk drives of decent size in USB connected boxes so I can use them as backup devices.  That's reminded me to backup.  Better do that.

I've spent years with my face in the back of equipment and they are such dust and dander magnets.   I've started trying to use stuff that is fanless.   Anyway, I eventually developed an allergy to house dust - it's a real nuisance.  I've just been hoovering this morning to try and get rid of any that's around.  I don't understand dust.  I am not sure where it actually comes from. Looks mainly like fluff but where's it from?  No idea. 
   

    -@fluffy2560

My system drive is SSD, but the new drive is for storage, so I got a standard drive - they're half the price, plus it seems a shame to have all those drive bays with nothing in them.