Random Thoughts

[zachary_amaryllis]

This particular geekery, led me into another form of geekery that I didn't know I was interested in: tower spotting. The radio equipment itself is fascinating, and the views from these places are just bananas. There's two farms near me I can drive to.

unrelated: I feel like if you're going to name something 'signal mountain', there should be .. well, signals emanating from it.

[Dirt Roads]

unrelated: I feel like if you're going to name something 'signal mountain', there should be .. well, signals emanating from it.

There are three radio structures on Signal Mountain near the town of Signal Mountain, plus microwave facilities on the water tower owned by the City of Chattanooga.  There is another one on Signal Mountain further north near Walden, plus microwave facilities on the water tanks owned by the Walden Ridge Utility Department.  From what I can tell, the four radio structures are indeed towers.  And some of these radio structures are owned by third-parties, which usually means they are shared by multiple transmitter sites.

All of this reminds me that the microwave towers of old are quickly disappearing.  One of these facilities the town of Signal Mountain is owned by AT&T, and is likely a remnant of its microwave telephone network.

[zachary_amaryllis]

unrelated: I feel like if you're going to name something 'signal mountain', there should be .. well, signals emanating from it.

There are three radio structures on Signal Mountain near the town of Signal Mountain, plus microwave facilities on the water tower owned by the City of Chattanooga.  There is another one on Signal Mountain further north near Walden, plus microwave facilities on the water tanks owned by the Walden Ridge Utility Department.  From what I can tell, the four radio structures are indeed towers.  And some of these radio structures are owned by third-parties, which usually means they are shared by multiple transmitter sites.

All of this reminds me that the microwave towers of old are quickly disappearing.  One of these facilities the town of Signal Mountain is owned by AT&T, and is likely a remnant of its microwave telephone network.

There's a whole sort of subset of this hobby, that speaks to spotting/finding/id-ing old ATT Long Lines sites. I'll whip out Google Earth and see what I can see. The one I drive to (buckhorn mountain) used to be one, and apparently manned, back in the day.

If this makes me weird, so be it, but there's something oddly relaxing about being on a beautiful hilltop sort of amongst the signals. Bazillabytes of data flying a little bit over your head, and just, seeing what you can see. My neighbor and I bring all his telescopes and binoculars, and we map out what we can see. Best I've done was something I confirmed was about 45 miles out. If you sight along the same direction that the dishes point, you can, on a clear day, often see the other thing it's pointing at.

[webny99]

Wake County, NC (Raleigh) vs. Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) may be my all time favorite population graph. Not just because they're close, but because they're growing equally fast (very fast by my poor standards) and it's been a dead heat for over a decade. And the stakes are high, too, as the title of Most Populous County in North Carolina™ is on the line.

[kurumi]

And the stakes are high, too, as the title of Most Populous County in North Carolina™ is on the line.

The winner gets six new interstates

[LilianaUwU]

And the stakes are high, too, as the title of Most Populous County in North Carolina™ is on the line.

The winner gets six new interstates

All of them have the same number as other, more popular Interstates.

[webny99]

And the stakes are high, too, as the title of Most Populous County in North Carolina™ is on the line.

The winner gets six new interstates

All of them have the same number as other, more popular Interstates.

The loser, of course, only gets five new interstates. 

[Max Rockatansky]

And the stakes are high, too, as the title of Most Populous County in North Carolina™ is on the line.

The winner gets six new interstates

All of them have the same number as other, more popular Interstates.

The loser, of course, only gets five new interstates. 

The loser needs to raze all their Interstates and convert them to multi-use stage routes.  Primitive coupled with a healthy dose of unhappiness for all.

[ZLoth]

Wake County, NC (Raleigh) vs. Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) may be my all time favorite population graph. Not just because they're close, but because they're growing equally fast (very fast by my poor standards)

For purposes of statistical comparison, I prefer to use Metropolitan Statistical Areas instead of county population because it includes the suburbs as well. Thus, Wake County, NC (Raleigh) becomes Raleigh, NC MSA (#41) and Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) becomes Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC MSA (#22). This also allows me to throw in some areas of interest for me also, such as Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MSA (#4), Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX MSA (#5), San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA MSA (#13), Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA MSA (#26), and Austin - Round Rock - Georgetown, TX MSA (#28).

So, looking at the current populations estimates:

• Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MSA - 7,759,615
• Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX MSA - 7,206,841
• San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA MSA - 4,623,264
• Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC MSA - 2,701,046
• Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA MSA - 2,411,428
• Austin - Round Rock - Georgetown, TX MSA - 2,352,426
• Raleigh, NC MSA - 1,448,411

If we go back to 2010...

• Austin - Round Rock - Georgetown, TX MSA - 1,716,289 (37.1% increase to 2021 population)
• Raleigh, NC MSA - 1,130,490 (28.1% increase to 2021 population)
• Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MSA - 6,366,542 (22.46% increase to 2021 population)
• Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX MSA - 5,920,416 (21.73% increase to 2021 population)
• Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC MSA - 2,243,960 (20.37% increase to 2021 population)
• Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA MSA - 2,149,127 (12.2% increase to 2021 population)
• San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA MSA - 4,335,391 (6.64% increase to 2021 population)

2000...

• Austin - Round Rock - Georgetown, TX MSA - 1,249,763 (88.2% increase to 2021 population)
• Raleigh, NC MSA - 797,071 (81.7% increase to 2021 population)
• Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC MSA - 1,742,647 (55% increase to 2021 population)
• Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX MSA - 4,693,161 (53.6% increase to 2021 population)
• Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MSA - 5,156,217 (50.5% increase to 2021 population)
• Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA MSA - 1,796,857 (34.2% increase to 2021 population)
• San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA MSA - 4,123,740 (12.11% increase to 2021 population)

and 1990...

• Austin - Round Rock - Georgetown, TX MSA - 846,227 (178% increase to 2021 population)
• Raleigh, NC MSA - 541,100 (167.7% increase to 2021 population)
• Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC MSA - 1,365,184 (97.9% increase to 2021 population)
• Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MSA - 3,984,437 (94.7% increase to 2021 population)
• Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX MSA - 3,750,963 (92.1% increase to 2021 population)
• Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA MSA - 1,481,102 (62.8% increase to 2021 population)
• San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA MSA - 3,686,592 (25.4% increase to 2021 population)

Based upon an extremely limited and subjective dataset based upon my own personal vested interest, I was surprised to see the Raleigh, NC MSA outgrowing the growth in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MSA. Both were outpaced by the growth in the Austin - Round Rock - Georgetown, TX MSA.

If you want to dig through the data yourself, go to https://www.citypopulation.de/en/usa/metro/ . In fact, when I import the data and perform some Excel magic, plus filter out for MSAs below 100k people in 1990, these are the top three growth areas:

• 1990 → 2021: Las Vegas - Henderson - Paradise, NV (209.2%), Austin - Round Rock - Georgetown, TX (178%), Raleigh, NC MSA (167.7%)
• 2000 → 2021: Myrtle Beach - Conway - North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC (89%), Austin - Round Rock - Georgetown, TX (88.2%), Greeley, CO (88.1%)
• 2010 → 2021: Austin - Round Rock - Georgetown, TX (37.1%), Myrtle Beach - Conway - North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC (35.3%), Greeley, CO (34.5%)

[CoreySamson]

Buc-ee's is really missing a huge opportunity to put huge amounts of EV charging stations in their parking lots. EV travelers should have plenty of time and money to burn while they wait for their vehicles to charge.

[Max Rockatansky]

Buc-ee's is really missing a huge opportunity to put huge amounts of EV charging stations in their parking lots. EV travelers should have plenty of time and money to burn while they wait for their vehicles to charge.

The lack of catering to freight vehicles is equally strange to me. 

[CoreySamson]

Buc-ee's is really missing a huge opportunity to put huge amounts of EV charging stations in their parking lots. EV travelers should have plenty of time and money to burn while they wait for their vehicles to charge.

The lack of catering to freight vehicles is equally strange to me.

You might be surprised to learn that one Buc-ee's actually accepts trucks and has primitive truck services.
Port Lavaca, TX

[Scott5114]

Buc-ee's is really missing a huge opportunity to put huge amounts of EV charging stations in their parking lots. EV travelers should have plenty of time and money to burn while they wait for their vehicles to charge.

I'm thinking that as EVs become more common, convenience stores are going to end up more in the Buc-ee's/Sheetz/Wawa mold than they are currently.

[Scott5114]

In the "I can't believe it's not Alanland" department:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_Hat_Riot

The Straw Hat Riot of 1922 was a riot that occurred in New York City at the end of the summer as a result of unwritten rules in men's fashions at the time, and a tradition of taunting people who had failed to stop wearing straw hats after autumn began. Originating as a series of minor riots, it spread due to men wearing straw hats past the unofficial date that was deemed socially acceptable, September 15. It lasted eight days, leading to many arrests and some injuries.

[...]

[September 15] was arbitrary; earlier it had been September 1, but it eventually shifted to mid-month. It was socially acceptable for stockbrokers to destroy each other's hats, due to the fact that they were "companions" , but it was not acceptable for total strangers. If any man was seen wearing a straw hat, he was, at minimum, subjecting himself to ridicule, and it was a tradition for youths to knock straw hats off wearers' heads and stomp on them.

[Max Rockatansky]

1920s times were weird.

[kkt]

Truth is stranger than Alanland, but it is because Alanland is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.

(with apologies to Mark Twain)

[formulanone]

In the "I can't believe it's not Alanland" department...

That's the name of the gift shop at Alanland Interregional Airport.

[skluth]

In the "I can't believe it's not Alanland" department:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_Hat_Riot

The Straw Hat Riot of 1922 was a riot that occurred in New York City at the end of the summer as a result of unwritten rules in men's fashions at the time, and a tradition of taunting people who had failed to stop wearing straw hats after autumn began. Originating as a series of minor riots, it spread due to men wearing straw hats past the unofficial date that was deemed socially acceptable, September 15. It lasted eight days, leading to many arrests and some injuries.

[...]

[September 15] was arbitrary; earlier it had been September 1, but it eventually shifted to mid-month. It was socially acceptable for stockbrokers to destroy each other's hats, due to the fact that they were "companions" , but it was not acceptable for total strangers. If any man was seen wearing a straw hat, he was, at minimum, subjecting himself to ridicule, and it was a tradition for youths to knock straw hats off wearers' heads and stomp on them.

This is the terror that happens to people when you deny them alcohol. (Prohibition was in full force in 1922.)

[formulanone]

Is there any regulatory agency for determining the Coldest Beer in [Placename]?

And is there a legal mechanism for Not-As-Cold Beer, or Beer That's Actually Frozen?

I want to be sure I'm not getting ripped off nor frostbitten.

[Flint1979]

Michigan being a true Winter Wonderland.

[kurumi]

Imagine being born in Connecticut in late spring and aware of things from the beginning (IRL I don't remember any of it.)

First few weeks: Wow, CT weather is really nice! I'm lucky to live here!

Summer: humid, but still nice, especially in the evenings. (Helps that I don't have to go to work...)

Fall: Wow. Cool nights, warm days, and spectacular scenery. Nice job, CT!

First snow: Beautiful, it's like a storybook! Snow-covered tree branches, everything's so quiet and magical.

Two days later: OK, I'm good with winter, we can do spring now.

Wait what?

Five more months?

[MultiMillionMiler]

I knew there must be some massive winter storm in Ohio, Michigan, and Kentucky today. The traffic levels always turn orange on Google maps all over when there is one, just a sea of orange. That means there's no volume but everyone is going 30 mph by choice on the highways because of the snow/ice/low visibility. Happens everytime. When it's normal traffic, it's a mix of green yellow orange red, with dark red concentrated in the high traffic areas. When it's orange, and only orange, for hundreds of miles continuously, it is a weather problem.

[LilianaUwU]

Gonna sue whoever composed Jingle Bell Rock for making a song that's anything but rock.

[bm7]

Gonna sue whoever composed Jingle Bell Rock for making a song that's anything but rock.

I once heard a hip hop cover of "I Love Rock 'n Roll". If they love it so much, why don't they make that genre of music?

[Flint1979]

I knew there must be some massive winter storm in Ohio, Michigan, and Kentucky today. The traffic levels always turn orange on Google maps all over when there is one, just a sea of orange. That means there's no volume but everyone is going 30 mph by choice on the highways because of the snow/ice/low visibility. Happens everytime. When it's normal traffic, it's a mix of green yellow orange red, with dark red concentrated in the high traffic areas. When it's orange, and only orange, for hundreds of miles continuously, it is a weather problem.

It's normal. It happens every year.