The Squamidian Report – Dec. 11 / 10

 

Issue #446

 

Including:

The Ontarion

 

Hi All,

 

I’m stumped, I’ve drawn a blank. There is just nothing to write about this week. I thought about writing about helping Ryan move to the city and how moving is work for people a lot younger and stronger than us. About how they had to fit it in between touring trips and none of his friends were available to lend a hand. About how it rained 5 inches that day, and that brings me to another thing I thought about writing about. How we had January in November, now we are having November in December and who knows where we will end up having December. But I just couldn’t work any of this into a topic I could write about. Some weeks are like that. I even thought about writing about Christmas shopping but I haven’t quite gotten into the shopping mood yet so that wouldn’t really work very well. I got so desperate that I almost wrote about getting a much needed haircut but that would have been pretty silly, at least once I’d thought about it for a while. Then I consoled myself with the idea that what the heck, “you get what you pay for”, and so this is what you get this week….

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I’ve had a couple of requests for information about the upcoming eclipse of the moon. So, here’s what I can tell you. There will be a total lunar eclipse visible from all of North America during the late night of Dec. 20 into the early hours of Dec. 21, depending on where you are. The timing won’t be too bad out here on the west coast but it will be the pits for anyone back east.

Eclipse begins at 1:33am Dec. 21 Eastern Standard Time.         (10:33pm Dec. 20 PST)

Total is reached at 2:41am Dec. 21 EST.                                                        (11:41pm Dec. 20 PST)

Rather than go into all the information about path and timing and shadows etc for anyone interested, I’ll just point you to this web link:

http://www.mreclipse.com/LEdata/TLE2010Dec21/TLE2010Dec21.html

 

Incidentally, anyone who downloaded and installed that Stellarium Astronomy program (open source and free) that I wrote about a year or so ago can watch the eclipse on their computer screen ahead of time, or at the time in real time. To watch ahead of time you simply find the time controls on the tool bar and fast forward to the evening of Dec. 20 and then stop the time from advancing. There is a time readout at the right end of the tool bar above the time controls. Then, locate the moon and zoom in until the moon is sized for easy viewing of details. Once zoomed in and centered, (use your arrow keys to keep it centered) speed up the time again until it is fast enough to see movement, you will see the time readout advancing. Adjust the speed until you are coming up on the beginning of the eclipse, and then adjust if necessary to make for good viewing. Sit back and watch the eclipse unfold in front of you. Don’t have Stellarium? Download it at:

http://www.stellarium.org/

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Probably wasting my ink here but if anyone wants to send something in to be included in the Dec. 25 issue (that’s Christmas), you have less than 2 weeks to write it and send it to me. I would prefer to get your composition no later than the 23rd. Looking forward to some good contributions…

 

doug

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THE ONTARION REPORT

 

Hello Everyone!

 

I know, you are all expecting me to talk about the snow we aren’t getting yet! Well, I will do that but just briefly. The weatherman has said that we will be getting 10 to 15cm of the white stuff on Saturday and Sunday. I guess that’s a significant amount for our true first snowfall but it is certainly a miniscule amount when compared to London at 89cm and Lucan Ontario at 187cm over the past two days. They are definitely in South Western Ontario’s “snow belt” and I’m sure they are used to getting walloped this way most winters. With the great lakes immediately to the west of them what else can they expect this time of year. We used to get slammed pretty well with snow each year but for the past decade we have been off and on with our winters. Looks like we’ll be getting started this weekend with our snow so who knows for sure, we may just get a heavy snow load this year too! What the heck, snow is nothing new around here so let’s just get on with it! With a positive attitude we’ll make it a fun winter rather than one to complain about.

 

Winter always brings challenges and this year will be no different. I was out in the Jeep the other evening just after we received a few cm of snow and found that my back end was sliding out on me with the slightest touch of the accelerator. This hasn’t happened for that past 5 winters with the tires I have on the Jeep. In 2005 I purchased new all season tires for the Jeep. They are BFG Radial T/A “Long Trail” model tires and they have been amazing both in the snow and the rain or dry weather. I have put over a 120,000km on them and they still have tread life left on them. However I’ve been told by the dealer that once they are getting down to the minimum recommended tread depth for safety, they will start to grip less in winter conditions. I guess 5 years of driving and all those kms will bring me to that point where they should be replaced. I know if I drive with the Jeep in four-wheel drive I still get plenty of traction. I just don’t like to drive in 4x4 all that much. The type of system on this Jeep is one that is meant for intermittent 4x4 operation. This means that I have to switch it in and out of that mode as required. It’s not meant to be engaged full time, only when the roads are slippery with snow or heavy water. That’s ok and I really don’t mind having to do that but when the tires are still quite good with tread it’s not necessary as often to use the four-wheel drive. I’m sure there is enough tread on these tires to make it through the winter and into next summer but it bugs me when they are losing their grip when in 2 wheel drive. It becomes a safety aspect rather than a tire life situation.

 

I think I’ll check into the cost of a new set and make my decision once I have some prices to go by. The other night I was down at Costco and decided to check with their tire people. I thought of maybe purchasing a set of “winter” rims and straight “winter” tires and switch tires and rims each spring and winter as required. The clerk was very helpful and gave me all the info I needed with regard to doing this. Back in the 60’s and 70’s that was the thing to do, own two complete sets of rims and tires for the different seasons. Nowadays tires are designed to be run all year round if you have good “all season” ones on your car. Straight winter tires are better in the snow and ice but good all season ones are fine if they still have good tread. So you see, I have a choice to make. The price of the “Winter” tires on “Winter” rims was around the $1000.00 mark with taxes and all charges included. That seems a tad heavy to me so after thinking about it, I would probably be better off just purchasing a full set of new “all season” tires before winter really sets in! I certainly had great luck with the BFG “Long Trails” so they are probably the way to go this time as well. Al gave me some good advice on tires last time and I’m sure he’ll agree that using the same brand and model tires this time will be a sensible choice!

 

I’ll likely head over to Belmont in the next few days to get a price and have a talk with the guys at Dettmer Tire since they treated me fairly last time and they certainly have a good product! Wish me luck!

 

That’s it for this week folks!

Thanks for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!

 

Bye for now… GREG

 

PS: Something To Think About>

Even if you are driving a vehicle with four-wheel drive you may have better traction while accelerating but you do NOT have any better braking ability in the slippery snow of winter. Please adjust your driving according to road conditions and have a safe winter!

 

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Have a good one..

the doug

http://www.thedougsite.net

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