weatherpruf

it was a beautiful day. i made a couple bucks returning abandoned stroller rentals at the local mall.....got a little workout during my walk.

Saw pussy willows in the mall parking lot blooming already.

I grew up playing it but I can't watch it. I simply don't have the attention span. The reason I like soccer is because it flows with minimal interruptions and then the game is done in two 45 min halves ( except in finals and playoffs ). A tied baseball game can go on for hours. Like I said, it's not the fault of the sport, I just can't get into it. There was a reason it got booted from the Olympics; for the expense there just wasn't enough interest. There was some hope the baseball World Classic would help the game, but the tournament has largely been a failure in terms of interest, even right here in this country; I'll be watching because the US will play Colombia ( parts of Colombia play baseball ), my wife's country ( played them in soccer Saturday night, not a great game, 0-0, but an exhibition is not a good barometer, and neither the US or Colombia, which is an elite team, sent their top players ). I've had students over the years who just loved sports and didn't much care what was on as long as something was being played. That wasn't me. My favorite sport was angling, and you just can't watch that on tv ( well, people apparently do these days ). I have the same issue with NFL really; the ball is only really in play for a short period of time for the entire game, like 7-11 minutes, the rest is starting and stopping. Plus, in American sports you don't get to see players collapse in pain, then get up a second later and score a goal after a miraculous recovery.....but I recognize people love baseball and its part of the American psyche ( though I think it now takes a back seat to NFL and Basketball ) but that has been the history of the game; it has waxed and waned over the decades, with the low point during the 94 strike, then later with the steroid scandals. When a colleague wanted to send a baseball cap to a friend's kid in Europe, she was going to send a Mets cap, I said Heavens no, it has to be Yankees or Red Sox.....

I kinda dislike American sports too, but I recognize that's my failure to appreciate them, not the fault of the sports themselves. I like soccer and it's not an American sport ( well it is now, but not when I started watching ) but that doesn't mean I think its better than other sports. People tend to enjoy what they grow up with; you can learn a lot about a society by knowing their sports history. For example, Venezuela became a baseball country because American oil companies introduced the game there. British influence in Brazil and Argentina introduced soccer, which took off in the rest of South America. Cricket was introduced by the British as well, but failed to gain a foothold in North or South America ( Guyana being an exception ) but did make it in the West Indies, in fact its the 2nd biggest sport on the planet. Good luck trying to figure it out. Then there is Rugby, likely the 3rd most popular sport. Places like Australia and New Zealand developed their own sports, and Americans introduced baseball and later basketball to a lot of other countries. i don't care for basketball because really, you have to be almost superhuman to be world class; it is not a sport for normal sized humans ( though yes, there are some exceptions, but I remember a coach once saying, give me a tall player, I'll make them into a basketball player, which has irritated non athletic tall people to no end...). There's also ice hockey, and net ball ( played by mostly women in Europe due to a misinterpretation of basketball rules when it was introduced ) and field hockey, badminton ( yes, I kid you not ). And guess what? I really enjoy figure skating. I think the stuff the skaters are able to do is mind blowing. And then, for most of my life, I didn't pay attention to any sports at all. The super bowl or world series could be going on and I couldn't even tell you who was playing, in fact just yesterday my wife asked when the super bowl was, and I said I don't know, maybe in a few weeks ( so we could plan a party menu LOL for my BIL).

I guess you guys don't watch much soccer; PKs given now with VAR because the ball bounced up from the turf and hit the player's arm in the box.....and in soccer one PK can decide the whole game ( the infamous 1990 final between West Germany and Argentina ). We watch the super bowl mainly for the commercials, we aren't big NFL fans but will watch at times. Will be pulling for the Eagles simply because Philly lost both the Series and MLS Cup last year and that's just too much for one city to bear.

At this point I wasn't getting excited over 2 inches anyway. Snow still OTG up in ME though, but only about 5 inches or so.

I believe that was the Wilentz building, which is close to royalty in NJ....I'd take 2013-14, lots of nice events, but no blockbusters; 2015 had many piddly events of 3-5 inches and a lot of rain mixes. 2011 loses out because it was over in Jan, but what a time it was.....two big blockbusters.

94....came after a decade of crap winters, took everyone by surprise, and no one had snowblowers that still worked...and there were not enough Home Depots around to buy one, and no such thing as online orders....by 96 most of us were ready, but not for something that big....it was back to snowless for a half decade afterwards.

IIRC there was also an ice storm. So, a more active year than this one....we get stinkers, we're gonna get a lot more. But 2021 wasn't so long ago and last year had a couple events, so who knows. Conditions just aren't coming together this year, and that can and does happen, sometimes for years in a row, even aside from warming, which we know is happening anyway.

2007 had a couple sleet incidents IIRC....one around VD and one in March, at least in CNJ....both were a few inches, perhaps it wasn't measured right....to date we've had nothing close...also note that it was a few years before big snows returned, and even then they weren't blockbuster events; most of those were south of us ( though we'd kill for 10-12 in events these days ). 2008 and 2009 were still slim pickings, though Monmouth and the shore scored in March 2009. This is about the worst I've personally seen in recent years, though 2020 was really bad too, but I think there was something else going on so no one really cared, I know I didn't.....

Just went outside to throw some compost on the heap and a cloud of fruit flies ascended from the pile....

Well, the world actually might just be ending as we know it...in fact I read scientists saying as much all the time. I expect winters will get warmer here, and further north too.

Pretty much the life of a US mens soccer fan......

Months are made of weeks....I'm confident though, that we will be done in weeks, not months. It may say winter on the calendar, but it's toast. 6 weeks. Maybe earlier. Will eat crow if I'm wrong, but even one storm isn't gonna turn this around.

I doubt it really matters. I'm ready for spring. Enough of this. Of course, we are stuck with it a few more weeks. Weeks, that's all, then we won't have to think about it until next Dec.

I did not like having to constantly water the garden....for most years I really didn't need to water; there was enough weekly rain to keep things fine if they were well mulched. Last year I couldn't go anywhere lest the whole crop shriveled. Some normal balance to our weather would be nice; a few snow events, a t-storm or two a week in the summer, a spring where you didn't have to wait til June to plant because of cold snaps and so on. A little frost on the pumpkin in late Oct.

I'm done. Nothing is likely to happen this year. Maybe next year will be better. I know one thing. I'm dumping both snow blowers next year ( I got rid of one already ) and just keeping the electric toro. Haven't needed more than that since 2016, and that includes 2021. We just don't get big amounts IMBY even when areas nearby do.

Ask the politicians; they seem to think they know better than everyone else. I mean why ask a professional? Seriously, it's all due to funding. Since our schools in this country basically compete for crumbs, every little bit counts. Without state aid, the schools can't really function, even with the high property taxes. And heaven forbid a teacher should get paid for 180 days when the school wasn't open for that many days. Shiver me timbers, that would just be unbearable. What's that you say? No one wants to do the job anymore?

Man does this suck. Ugh. I know it's necessary, but I just hate rain. Just hate it. Nothing worse than winter rain. Stuck inside and short days. Enough already.

Well we don't have to worry about that this year LOL. My neighbor is a limo driver and he was saying thanks be to God for this winter. Most people just don't care that it's abnormal, they just hate snow.Me, I hate cold and damp....

It's not a break; the days all have to be made up. I taught in 94 and went right through to June 30 without a break because Gov Whitman in her infinite wisdom threatened to withhold funding if we didn't. By holding classes online for half day it counts and doesn't have to be made up. If days are built in and not used ( as often happened in the 90's ) then school let out a few days earlier or days were added to spring break.

Hand over your heart, and you are much younger than me, but have you ever seen a more pathetic winter? I may have, 97-98, but this is challenging that one.

Surprised they still have snow days; they are able to transition to online classes for snow in some districts now. No need for snow days anymore. They do need days for bad weather when power goes out though, because they can't do online then. It was Sandy that made them rethink snow days and holidays; they used to give a 4 day break for President's day; there was so much bad weather that decade they decided it would be best to limit some holidays, especially in winter, where they were likely to have snow. Looks like that paradigm might be shifting as far as snow, but I think we see other extreme events that force closures.

Yes my son works for the state and he said the complex is surrounded by a layer of salt. Even here they treated the streets. I mean, they are calling for a high of 46 here...come on, man....

Some of us are getting older and don't want to wait for another decade....but there's nothing we can do about it. But I tell myself most people are happy to never see snow again once they are retired; they pity those of us who have to deal with it. Most people hate the stuff. Still, winter just doesn't feel right without it. Thing is, it's too cold to do anything else, but too warm to feel like winter. It's just cold and damp. Really depressing weather.