|
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 13, 2019 1:33:15 GMT
I'm 5'7" -- not a Smurfette!
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Jan 16, 2019 19:19:51 GMT
The sheer boredom of winter.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 16, 2019 19:59:39 GMT
Agreed. If we have to put up with winter, at least let something a bit more extreme happen.
|
|
|
Post by Kimby on Jan 16, 2019 22:28:26 GMT
Winter that won’t “shit or get off the pot”
|
|
|
Post by questa on Jan 16, 2019 22:50:23 GMT
Please don't wish that, K2 Sydney has gone on to highest heat response as train lines have buckled in many places. As it is a rail dependent public transport system, the city is handing out bottles of cold water to everyone waiting for busses or trains. All doctors have been called in to assess victims of heat and hospital admissions. Sydney is used to 30C heat and has been getting 40C for several days.
Adelaide is more used to high temps, but we are creeping up to the 50s. A few 48 and 49 days with Port Augusta getting 52C 2 days ago. So far the electricity is holding out...If it goes the death toll will be tragic. None of the states have released figures but hospital admission for heat related illness are at record highs.
The bitumen on the roads is melting, the brick-paved footpaths too hot for dog walks in the evenings, My garden is par-boiled, my patch of lawn brown and crispy, My house fully insulated, still feels clammy and airless as my new inverter Air-con struggles to cope. This is after 5-6 days of 40s. A 'weak cool change with a shower' is promised fo tonight...if I can wait that long!
Edit...This should be in the weather thread I think. K2 you led me astray!
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Jan 17, 2019 10:26:14 GMT
Gosh questa, I do hope you are ok. I was in Greece last year in low 40’s and it was unbearable.
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Jan 17, 2019 10:52:24 GMT
Winter that won’t “shit or get off the pot” What a quaint saying....
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 17, 2019 11:11:08 GMT
It's a grand old Americanism. Then Nike came up with a replacement.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Jan 17, 2019 11:30:52 GMT
Not as pithy, but I like."Are you gonna stand there all day with your bare face hanging out and......"
|
|
|
Post by Kimby on Jan 26, 2019 2:07:31 GMT
Our national weather broadcasts now feature Wind Chill temperatures instead of actual temps. Guess those Easterners are feeling like wimps when they see Western actual temps and realize that their own weather just isn’t that extreme. Another example of breathless broadcasting blowing things way up out of proportion to generate viewer interest and ratings.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Jan 26, 2019 6:30:37 GMT
That reminds me of my sister telling me things like "It's 38°C here today". Well, I know perfectly well that it doesn't get that hot in southern Ontario, but feels that hot when humidity is considered.
So I guess your weather office is just following the trend of what people actually say instead of measurable temperatures. It's more useful to give both actual temperature and wind chill factor. They have started giving the latter on weather sites in France lately.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 26, 2019 6:42:33 GMT
They have only started talking about "feels like" and wind chill factors in France in the past couple of years, and I don't think that anybody really understands the figures beyond "feels it's colder than the thermometer says."
|
|
|
Post by casimira on Jan 26, 2019 16:20:54 GMT
That's odd Kerouac. "wind chill factor" and "feels like" (although, the later not so much) have been expressions go back as far as I can remember.
|
|
|
Post by Kimby on Jan 26, 2019 16:48:33 GMT
I think wind chill numbers are helpful, but I don’t think they should take the place of ACTUAL temperatures.
|
|
|
Post by mich64 on Jan 26, 2019 19:36:33 GMT
I usually take notice of the wind chill, especially when we go out in the evening to the arena to watch a hockey game. We park the vehicle at the Fire Station as it can take sometimes a half an hour after the end of the game to get out of the parking lot. I usually enjoy the walk before and after the game, but, if there is a wind chill, it is a bitterly cold wind blowing up the street from the lake. I helps me to decide how many layers to wear under my coat.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 26, 2019 20:25:55 GMT
That's odd Kerouac. "wind chill factor" and "feels like" (although, the later not so much) have been expressions go back as far as I can remember. Yes, I know. I've heard that in the US for decades, but it is really quite new in France. They probably thought it was fake news.
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Jan 26, 2019 20:47:22 GMT
Questa, it is summer where you are - but just as bad. Here it is covered with ice and there have been a great many injuries. Most fairly minor, but can throw some people - vulnerable seniors, people with disabilities or chronic diseases - into a downward spiral. I HATE having to limit my walks, and obviously, not cycle at all. And there have been power outages.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Jan 26, 2019 22:06:52 GMT
Both ends of the scale are pretty horrible. It is the 'silly season' from New Year to Australia Day (yesterday). People are on holidays, nothing is happening politically, our major sporting events have finished and there have been no great scandals so all the media have to tell us is how hot it is.
I don't know how you ice and snow people cope. Adelaide sometimes gets a flurry of snow but it soon melts. I would be too scared of falls to go out on icy ground so would stay in, just like I do for heat waves. We have major power outages too but so far my state has avoided fires. We have passed the Equinox so are heading for gentler weather.
|
|
|
Post by mich64 on Jan 26, 2019 23:11:33 GMT
I don't know how you ice and snow people cope. Questa, I feel the same when you talk about the temperatures where you live! I told my husband the other day about your post regarding the temperature and he shook his head followed by "how do they do it!" All we can do is pay attention to the weather forecast, dress appropriately, take care when out walking and trying to keep the spirit that it will be over soon! But as Lagatta states, there are many people who have a very difficult time getting around and I share her frustration for them and for everyone having to limit our activity due to the ice and snow storms of late. I am walking all the aisles in the grocery store and the Mall to get some exercise lately and seeing many others doing the same.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Feb 4, 2019 11:55:08 GMT
Internet forms where you have to fill in your birthdate and keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling down to the birth year because it is so far down on the list.
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Feb 4, 2019 15:38:47 GMT
Yes, I don't understand why one can't simply type in the year.
I went to a fading mall in the far east end of Montréal to pick up my coat at its greatly reduced price and did walk up and down the aisles of a giant Maxi supermarket (the discount banner of the huge Loblaws-Provigo chain) just to be able to walk at a decent pace (there were very few customers; the crappy weather is keeping most everyone at home when they don't have to go to work). I did buy a couple of things, 600g of fresh goat cheese at a bargain price, but there was very little I was actually interested in. Mich, I think those stores are the same as No Frills in the Rest of Canada (ROC). A lot of the bargains are on bulk buying. I find better bargains at some of the Sino-Southeast Asian supermarkets, but I guess it depends on what one is looking for.
Tomorrow it will be at least +5, but that can mean more dangerous ice...
I'm happy for my disabled neighbour who has finally moved to his adapted flat in the neighbourhood just south of ours; he was having a terrible time climbing the outdoor staircase (obviously neighbours cleared the snow for him; I did that in the back just in case there was a fire or other emergency). It will be a gift for him to have a lift and an adapted bath. Several people I know were involved in setting up that co-op. At first it was supposed to be only 15 households or so, but the borough mayor wanted it much larger, almost 50 households. I'll send him a message today just to see how he's settling in. Of course I'm not likely to run into him until the snow melts and we all emerge from our caves.
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Feb 4, 2019 15:46:50 GMT
21 months ago I paid £150 for prescription reading glassesand they have completely fallen apart. The lenses have dropped out and now the solder on one of the arms has failed. Poor value for money. I have now bought ordinary reading glasses for £2.
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Feb 4, 2019 15:50:41 GMT
That is horrible, Mick, and alas you have probably exceeded the warranty. You should still raise a fuss about such shoddy merchandise for such a sum.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Feb 4, 2019 16:17:50 GMT
That is atrocious, Mick. The place I go to guarantees everything for at least 2 years, but in fact I have found that they do much more than that. Twice, they completely replaced the lenses because they said they were scratched when I went in for something else (and we all know that it is the lenses that are the most expensive). Even though my glasses obviously come from Paris, one time I went to one of their places in Avignon where I had never set foot. They just looked me up on the computer and fixed everything immediately. And last year, my friend who is living in Guatemala broke his glasses just one day before his flight back. On top of that, it was a Sunday. I found the one outlet that was open on Sunday (Champs Elysées) and took him there. They fixed his glasses for no charge even though they didn't even come from that chain. He insisted on tipping the technician 10 euros and even though I am allergic to tips, for once I thought it was appropriate.
Over and over again I read on the travel forums that customer service in France is horrible, but I absolutely disagree.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Feb 4, 2019 23:23:15 GMT
I had to get new glasses while living in Lombok. I went to an optometrist in Mataram, the main city, and had my eyes checked with latest equipment and tests that had not reached Australia yet. I chose the frames from a large display set out in sizes. For the first time I had a choice of many frames that were small enough for my narrow bridge. The man said he would send the frame and prescription to be made up...collect in 2 weeks.
Two weeks later I collected the best glasses I have ever had. Multifocal zones just right, polarized, UV protected and perfect fit. They had a two year warranty and cost 20% less than in Australia. When I praised the service he told me that all he did was the testing, then the frames and details were sent to France where they were made up and returned. The company is called Melawi and has hundreds of optometry outlets across Indonesia.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Mar 19, 2019 15:22:44 GMT
I know we all hate certain commercials for their stupidity but one that irritates me immensely as the moment is for one of those toilet disinfectant/deodorising things that people hang on the side of the toilet bowl. This particular one claims proudly that is does not have a plastic "cage" around it since those are "nests for bacteria." Every time I hear that claim, I want to ask them if they think that the bacteria have little trampolines to jump out of their "nest" and on to our buttocks.
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Mar 22, 2019 18:08:31 GMT
Just scraped the car getting out of the very tight turn in the supermarket car park.
Might polish out.
Or I might be clutching at straws...
|
|
|
Post by onlyMark on Mar 22, 2019 18:47:08 GMT
Coloured polish?
|
|
|
Post by Kimby on Mar 22, 2019 19:02:47 GMT
Mr. Kimby used nail polish when he scratched a red rental car trying to maneuver in a narrow parking area surrounding a European cathedral.
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Mar 22, 2019 22:20:09 GMT
|
|