robert bristow-johnson <rbj@surfglobal.net> wrote in message news:<BC1A50DC.754D%rbj@surfglobal.net>...> In article 3FF2F689.BD81CCCC@z-sys.com, Glenn Zelniker at glennz@z-sys.com > wrote on 12/31/2003 11:17: > > ... > > i can't "one-up" Rune or Fred (but Burlington VT is kinda a cool town and > before a recent warming spell i wuz nordic skiing right outa my back door). > > > P.S. Although I've only been hanging around here in earnest for a > > few days, it's a great group and a great resource. There's quite > > a pool of helpful, verbose talent, and the discourse is extremely > > civil. Much better than the rec.audio groups! > > comp.dsp is not always civil (i might sometimes be the least civil) but our > spats get a little deeper and more objective than "my system sounds great, > your system is crap."I must admit that I too may have stepped over the line on one or two occations. However sarcastic my stings may be, they are based on an objective disagreement. Of course, when the matter takes on the political, religious or otherwise cultural twist, matters might become slightly more subjective (in my case, they certainly do when company management philosophies are discussed) than if we "merely" discuss this or that implementation of the IIR filter. Rune
OT: A winter morning in the arctic outback
Started by ●December 31, 2003
Reply by ●January 2, 20042004-01-02
Reply by ●January 2, 20042004-01-02
allnor@tele.ntnu.no (Rune Allnor) wrote:>A few years later I had my office on the facade of the R&D facility, >where some steel beams and gurders supported an extended roof above >the main entrance area. A white wagtail [Lat.: Motacilla Alba] had found >that the steelworks just under the roof would be a perfect place to nest. >I followed this poor creature for days as he tried to build that nest. >He usually got the first two twigs or sticks to lie down on the steel >gurder, but when he arrived with the third, and wanted to put it firmly >in place between the other two, he pushed everything over the side >of the slippery beam, and the whole thing fell to the ground. The fifth >time that happened, he sat down, watching his twigs as they fell, with >a body language I afterwards always believed was a universal expression >of disillusion. Still, a few minutes later he was back with yet another >twig. He never got his nest up, though.I worked at a place once that had a large indoor manufacturing facility. Every now and then, some birds would fly in. It must have been pretty bad for them, since during the day, there'd be a lot of loud machinery and people, and they'd fly back and forth, with no rest. I found one in a hallway once, so decided to try and help by opening a window at the end of the hallway, and getting it to fly towards it. The bird took off, and headed towards the window. Unfortunately, instead of going through the open part of the window, it went full speed into the part of the window that had to remain closed. Doh! Robert ( modify address for return email ) www.numbersusa.com www.americanpatrol.com
Reply by ●January 4, 20042004-01-04
r_obert@REMOVE_THIS.hotmail.com wrote:> ... -38 C ( -26 F ) ...-40 C = -40 F. I make -38 C to be about -36.6 F in my head. (I know, I know: I swore off mental calculation in public. So sue me!) "So cold, when you spit, it bounces." Jerry -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
Reply by ●January 4, 20042004-01-04
Rune Allnor wrote:> robert bristow-johnson <rbj@surfglobal.net> wrote in message news:<BC1A50DC.754D%rbj@surfglobal.net>... > >>In article 3FF2F689.BD81CCCC@z-sys.com, Glenn Zelniker at glennz@z-sys.com >>wrote on 12/31/2003 11:17: >> >>... >> >>i can't "one-up" Rune or Fred (but Burlington VT is kinda a cool town and >>before a recent warming spell i wuz nordic skiing right outa my back door). >> >> >>>P.S. Although I've only been hanging around here in earnest for a >>>few days, it's a great group and a great resource. There's quite >>>a pool of helpful, verbose talent, and the discourse is extremely >>>civil. Much better than the rec.audio groups! >> >>comp.dsp is not always civil (i might sometimes be the least civil) but our >>spats get a little deeper and more objective than "my system sounds great, >>your system is crap." > > > I must admit that I too may have stepped over the line on one or two > occations. However sarcastic my stings may be, they are based on > an objective disagreement. Of course, when the matter takes on the > political, religious or otherwise cultural twist, matters might become > slightly more subjective (in my case, they certainly do when company > management philosophies are discussed) than if we "merely" discuss this > or that implementation of the IIR filter. > > RuneSarcasm is sometimes justified -- there really are some people who ought to know better -- and creative incivility, practiced well, can be an art. I admire your skill and the restraint you ordinarily practice. I'm not sure I envy you your location, however. On a 99/99* day in New York in an un-air-conditioned classroom, an Eskimo classmate from near Point Barrow said to me, "I've been too cold and I've been too hot. Let me tell you: too hot is better." Jerry _____________________________________ * 99 F, 99% humidity. -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
Reply by ●January 4, 20042004-01-04
X-No-Archive: Yes Jerry Avins <jya@ieee.org> wrote:>r_obert@REMOVE_THIS.hotmail.com wrote: > >> ... -38 C ( -26 F ) ... > >-40 C = -40 F. I make -38 C to be about -36.6 F in my head. (I know, ITypo/mistake. Should have recognized that, since I know the -40/-40 thing. Guess my cold weather exuberance got the best of me. Was -32 C ( -25.6 F rounded to -26 F ).>know: I swore off mental calculation in public. So sue me!) "So cold, >when you spit, it bounces."Yah, perty refreshing cold. Not the kind of weather you want to be licking a fence pole. Ha. But I've learned the fine art of dressing for the cold, so wasn't uncomfortable. One of the most interesting things I took away from the trip, though, was how the natives dressed ( First Nation, indigenous peoples in Canada ). Some of them were walking around without hats, or coats that wouldn't keep Yanks warm on a cool spring day. Guess thousands of years of populating those northern regions have made them less sensitive to it. One of the guys I talked to there, however, said that they suffer during the increasing summer warmth. Robert ( modify address for return email ) www.numbersusa.com www.americanpatrol.com
Reply by ●January 4, 20042004-01-04
X-No-Archive: Yes Jerry Avins <jya@ieee.org> wrote:>Rune Allnor wrote: >Sarcasm is sometimes justified -- there really are some people who ought >to know better -- and creative incivility, practiced well, can be an >art. I admire your skill and the restraint you ordinarily practice. I'm >not sure I envy you your location, however. On a 99/99* day in New York >in an un-air-conditioned classroom, an Eskimo classmate from near Point >Barrow said to me, "I've been too cold and I've been too hot. Let me >tell you: too hot is better."In terms of cold or hot weather, I'll take cold anyday ... if appropriate dress is available. You can put on more clothes for cold, but can only shed so much for hot. Robert ( modify address for return email ) www.numbersusa.com www.americanpatrol.com
Reply by ●January 5, 20042004-01-05
Jerry Avins <jya@ieee.org> wrote in message news:<3ff89846$0$6771$61fed72c@news.rcn.com>...> Sarcasm is sometimes justified -- there really are some people who ought > to know better -- and creative incivility, practiced well, can be an > art. I admire your skill and the restraint you ordinarily practice.Careful now, Jerry! In a weak moment I might actually read this as an encouragement do deliver more such stings... I'm not sure if that's a very wise thing to do... but then, wisdom never was my strongest point.> I'm > not sure I envy you your location, however. On a 99/99* day in New York > in an un-air-conditioned classroom, an Eskimo classmate from near Point > Barrow said to me, "I've been too cold and I've been too hot. Let me > tell you: too hot is better."While I have never been to the extreme colds your eskimo friend certainly would have experienced (-30 C is the coldest I have been), I find that it's generally possible to deal with the cold: Get warm clothes on and keep the oven burning. It does take a bit of preparation and one's freedom of movement is somewhat restricted, but it works and can actually be quite comfortable. To the little extent I have experienced heat, I find that there is only so much you can do without an air conditioning system. My worst experience on the hot side was 32 C and ~90% humidity in Italy. I found that way more troublesome than 42 C and dry air in Greece, a few weeks before. It was damp and humid and there was nothing I could do about it, except staying in an air-conditioned room. Rune> Jerry > _____________________________________ > * 99 F, 99% humidity.
Reply by ●January 5, 20042004-01-05
r_obert@REMOVE_THIS.hotmail.com wrote:> X-No-Archive: Yes > > Jerry Avins <jya@ieee.org> wrote: > > >>Rune Allnor wrote: >>Sarcasm is sometimes justified -- there really are some people who ought >>to know better -- and creative incivility, practiced well, can be an >>art. I admire your skill and the restraint you ordinarily practice. I'm >>not sure I envy you your location, however. On a 99/99* day in New York >>in an un-air-conditioned classroom, an Eskimo classmate from near Point >>Barrow said to me, "I've been too cold and I've been too hot. Let me >>tell you: too hot is better." > > > In terms of cold or hot weather, I'll take cold anyday ... if > appropriate dress is available. You can put on more clothes for cold, > but can only shed so much for hot.It seems that way to me too, but he was there. He was an interesting fellow. An Alaskan native who signed up for a three-year stint in New York to learn to be an electronics technician at RCA's expense, after which he owed them three more years of service at good pay to maintain BMEWS. His salary would become a nest egg that would allow him to hunt seals in the style his father had accustomed him to, with a few modern conveniences. He had been born in an igloo and expected that his kids would be too. Part of his deal with RCA Service Company was that he would marry upon graduation and his wife would share his living quarters at the radar station and maybe have a salaried job (cook?). I still shudder when I wonder what "I've been too cold ..." really meant to him. Jerry -- Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get. �����������������������������������������������������������������������
Reply by ●January 6, 20042004-01-06
Rune, From the .no in your email address, I assume you are in Norway. I was in Oyslebo about 2 years ago to be best man at a wedding. You don't have to be above the Artic Circle to appreciate the beauty of the country. In a couple of years, the 4 of us are going to take a couple of weeks and drive (as much as possible) from the North down to Mandal (with a stop in Finsaadal to see Edith's parents). Thanks for the reminder of the fun I had there. Maurice Givens allnor@tele.ntnu.no (Rune Allnor) wrote in message news:<f56893ae.0312310532.6d3f17f4@posting.google.com>...> I'm 100 km north of the arctic circle, it's daylight only 4 hours a day, > the sun will not come above the mountains to the south for yet another > month. During the last two or three days, half a meter of snow came down. > I just hate the thought of digging out my car from all that snow before > returning to Trondheim over the weekend. > > This morning at "daybreak" (around 10 AM) four mooses stood in the garden, > 10 m from the house, feeding on the birches at the edge of the lawn. They > stood just under that pine tree where I saw that white-tail Eagle last > spring. I know, it's hard to believe but the Singular Valude Decomposition > and the Raised Cosine Windows kind kind of loose some of their charm in > comparision... > > Happy New Year, everybody! > > Rune
Reply by ●January 6, 20042004-01-06
On 6 Jan 2004 11:59:09 -0800, maurice.givens@ieee.org (Maurice Givens) wrote:>Rune, >From the .no in your email address, I assume you are in Norway. I was >in Oyslebo about 2 years ago to be best man at a wedding. You don't >have to be above the Artic Circle to appreciate the beauty of the >country. In a couple of years, the 4 of us are going to take a couple >of weeks and drive (as much as possible) from the North down to Mandal >(with a stop in Finsaadal to see Edith's parents). Thanks for the >reminder of the fun I had there. > >Maurice Givens >Hi Maurice, That was a nice post. Years ago had went to Oslo on a business trip. It was one of those jobs where we worked 11-12 hours per day, so I didn't get to see the Norwegian countryside. However, I met some of the Norwegian people and, darn, they were friendly! I enjoyed myself there so much that in the airport, on the way home, I bought a little medallion of the Norwegain flag's colors. I wore that medallion around my neck for years. [-Rick-]
