Random Thoughts

[Max Rockatansky]

30-40 MPH winds were common in the Sonoran Desert during the winter.  It got really unpleasant running in stuff like that when it was 35-40F during a cold winter morning in Phoenix.   Fortunately the semi-nice thing about the Tule Fog where I live now is that it takes stagnant winds to exist during the winter.

[webny99]

Don't know about Texas, but here in Oklahoma, winter is still miserable even without snowfall or gray weather. We have plenty of days of clear-blue skies, temps in the 30s—40s, and 30 MPH north winds. Those are more unpleasant than snowy days to me.

Clear blue skies sounds like great winter weather to me regardless of temps or wind.

I don't think you understand how bad the wind chill can get here. 30°F with 30 MPH is the equivalent of 15°F in calm conditions. However, unlike in calm conditions, the wind is actively penetrating your clothing, so unless you have entirely impermeable clothing on, you will feel the chill in parts of your body you'd never thought about feeling the wind on.

I do, since I'm familiar with ND winters and it's even worse there since temps are colder. However, you're probably going to be inside regardless, in which case I'd still much rather have the sun shining.

So if it's "spend a few hours outside in this weather", sure, I'd rather 30 degrees and snowing than 30 degrees with heavy winds. But if it's "spend 3 months in this climate", quite the opposite.

Here, 30 mph wind during clear weather is almost unheard of. Even sustained 25 mph winds can cause power outages here.

Same here, although we do usually get a few such days in spring/fall. But of course the Plains are a whole different beast when it comes to wind since it's so flat.

[US 89]

Yeah, wind is one of those things that nobody ever talks about but is hugely different in different parts of the US. When I moved to Georgia, people notice and complain about wind speeds that nobody would even bat an eye at in Utah.

Even the NWS wind advisory criteria is different. In Atlanta, they'll generally issue advisories if sustained winds are over 15-20 mph or gusts are over 30. That same alert in SLC requires 30mph sustained winds or 45mph gusts.

[hotdogPi]

Just a question: My current radio, if I set it to 104.9 FM, will play 104.5 instead if I physically stand in a certain location. This makes me think that I get both, and 104.9 is a stronger signal unless I'm blocking the 104.9 signal, in which case it plays the only one it can receive. Why is it, then, that being 0.2 off for any radio that's set digitally gets static instead of the one 0.2 away?

My radio is likely at least 15 years old, if that matters.

Unrelated to that: Boston Market's logo looks like the Transport for London logo.

[Max Rockatansky]

Speaking of Boston Chicken/Market, the Boston Carver always struck me as a great name for a serial killer:

[Scott5114]

Yeah, wind is one of those things that nobody ever talks about but is hugely different in different parts of the US. When I moved to Georgia, people notice and complain about wind speeds that nobody would even bat an eye at in Utah.

Even the NWS wind advisory criteria is different. In Atlanta, they'll generally issue advisories if sustained winds are over 15-20 mph or gusts are over 30. That same alert in SLC requires 30mph sustained winds or 45mph gusts.

Sorta unrelated...The folks that write the Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks are in the Seattle area, and it shows whenever they talk about the weather. There is one spell, Warding Wind (2), which creates a "strong wind", defined as 20 MPH (which I would consider particularly average, not strong). This magical 20 MPH wind is somehow strong enough to give everyone in the vicinity the Deafened status effect, and make the area difficult terrain (which costs twice as much movement to pass through).

So, under the D&D model, every Oklahoma resident is implied to have some sort of super-hearing and would be capable of moving at double speed at all times, were they not slowed by the wind.

[hotdogPi]

and make the area difficult terrain (which costs twice as much movement to pass through).

Does it depend on whether you have a headwind or tailwind?

[Scott5114]

and make the area difficult terrain (which costs twice as much movement to pass through).

Does it depend on whether you have a headwind or tailwind?

No, fortunately, the rules are not quite so fiddly in D&D 5e (although there are other systems that absolutely get that fiddly if you like that sort of thing).

In 5e, how it works is that a character has a movement speed listed on their character sheet. By default, this is a function of the species your character is, though other perks can modify it. Humans, and most human-size-and-shaped things (like elves and orcs) have a movement speed of 30 feet per turn (gnomes and hobbits halflings only get 25 feet because they're smaller).

It is customary to run a battle (the only time when turn order matters) using a map marked out with a grid of squares 5 feet to the side. If a square is deemed "difficult terrain" (such as by this wind spell, other spells such as Entangle (1), or even something mundane and pre-existing like containing dense plant growth or a pile of rubble), then traversing that square costs 10 feet of movement instead of 5. Thus, a human that could normally traverse 6 squares on one turn can only traverse 3 if all of those squares are difficult terrain.

Generally, difficult terrain applies to everyone, friend or foe alike. A clever player can thus use spells that create difficult terrain to force enemies to position themselves where the party is likely to get bonuses for things like flanking and sneak attacks. It can also be used to put a barrier between the enemy and those with ranged attack capabilities (i.e. archers and spellcasters).

[Bruce]

going weeks - sometimes even months - without seeing the sun is what makes people around here wish for summer.

A winter in Seattle is enough to drive people truly insane.

[Bruce]

Sorta unrelated...The folks that write the Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks are in the Seattle area, and it shows whenever they talk about the weather. There is one spell, Warding Wind (2), which creates a "strong wind", defined as 20 MPH (which I would consider particularly average, not strong). This magical 20 MPH wind is somehow strong enough to give everyone in the vicinity the Deafened status effect, and make the area difficult terrain (which costs twice as much movement to pass through).

So, under the D&D model, every Oklahoma resident is implied to have some sort of super-hearing and would be capable of moving at double speed at all times, were they not slowed by the wind.

Sounds a bit strange, since our windstorms (a normal fixture of late fall) are normally above 50 mph and can get into the 70s occasionally.

[Scott5114]

Sorta unrelated...The folks that write the Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks are in the Seattle area, and it shows whenever they talk about the weather. There is one spell, Warding Wind (2), which creates a "strong wind", defined as 20 MPH (which I would consider particularly average, not strong). This magical 20 MPH wind is somehow strong enough to give everyone in the vicinity the Deafened status effect, and make the area difficult terrain (which costs twice as much movement to pass through).

So, under the D&D model, every Oklahoma resident is implied to have some sort of super-hearing and would be capable of moving at double speed at all times, were they not slowed by the wind.

Sounds a bit strange, since our windstorms (a normal fixture of late fall) are normally above 50 mph and can get into the 70s occasionally.

Then I have no idea how to reconcile it. It can't be that it's a holdover from before Wizards of the Coast bought it, because it was originally developed in Wisconsin (and I'm fairly sure Wisconsin gets strong winds at least occasionally too).

Given that the wind speed is thoroughly irrelevant to any of the in-game effects of the spell, my only guess is it's there to give the GM justification for telling a player no should they try to use the spell to damage a building or something (which would be far too powerful for a level-2 spell), and they hoped nobody would notice the apparent mismatch in wind speed and effects.

[hotdogPi]

Indeed has a page for Dunder Mifflin, complete with five reviews:

https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Dunder-Mifflin

[SkyPesos]

71"  was the smallest used x1 number for an interstate highway in the contiguous 48 until sometime in the past decade, and "83"  was the smallest used x3 before the 1980s.

[Scott5114]

That made me curious, so:
10 11 02 43 04 05 16 17 08 19

43 is still an outlier.

[webny99]

71"  was the smallest used x1 number for an interstate highway in the contiguous 48 until sometime in the past decade, and "83"  was the smallest used x3 before the 1980s.

What about I-41?

[SkyPesos]

71"  was the smallest used x1 number for an interstate highway in the contiguous 48 until sometime in the past decade, and "83"  was the smallest used x3 before the 1980s.

What about I-41?

I-41 (along with I-11) didn't exist until sometime in the 2010s.

[webny99]

71"  was the smallest used x1 number for an interstate highway in the contiguous 48 until sometime in the past decade, and "83"  was the smallest used x3 before the 1980s.

What about I-41?

I-41 (along with I-11) didn't exist until sometime in the 2010s.

Wow, I must confess I had no idea I-41 was designated so recently.

[CoreySamson]

America, when compared to the rest of the world, seems to be doing remarkably well in saving endangered species from extinction, despite what National Geographic tends to imply. Lots of species (bald eagle, buffalo, California condor, Florida panther) here have been brought back form the brink of extinction, but meanwhile, Africa, Asia, and Australia seem to be having issues protecting endangered species.

[hotdogPi]

Does iHop know what they're doing with their PanCoins special? Keep in mind that the average profit margin in the restaurant industry is 4%.

Every $5 spent receives a PanCoin. Unlike most rewards systems, PanCoins are valuable; low double digits is still a decent amount. They call them crypto-pancakes in their description.

Since I joined early, I received 10 to begin, then 5 after my first purchase.

Here's what they can be spent on:

• 3: 3 pancakes
• 5: 5 pancakes
• 8: Kid's meal
• 12: Burger or sandwich
• 15: Burrito or bowl
• 20: 5 flavored pancakes (yes, flavoring them costs 4 times as much)
• 30: Omelette
• 30: Breakfast combo

Everything on this list in the 12+ range costs about the same in dollars, so I don't understand the disparity.

Unrelated to this rewards system, there's a $6 and $8 meal menu if you go between 3 PM and 9 PM. It used to be $5, then $6, then $8 on the menu but $6 in reality, and now it's mostly $8. There's also a $4 snack section (was $3 when the meals were $5).

July had a promotion that the first four times you go, you receive an additional 10 PanCoins for each visit. The fine print said the bonus would be activated at the end of the month.

At the beginning of July, I had 14 PanCoins, despite transaction history saying I should have 15.
Here is my transaction history since the beginning of July:
July 8: I was recovering from sickness, so I only got three pancakes using 3 PanCoins. Free meal. PanCoins: 11 (-3). Did not count as a visit since it was free.
July 16: $8 omelette (comes with pancakes, so it's quite a lot of food). Spent: $8. PanCoins: 12 (+1), plus 10 waiting.
July 23: $8 omelette. Spent: $8. PanCoins: 13 (+19), plus 20 waiting. Why 19? I'm pretty sure they gave me the wrong receipt to scan. 19 PanCoins would be a receipt that was between $95 and $100.
July 30: $8 omelette. Spent: $8. PanCoins: 32 (+1), plus 30 waiting.
August 11: I finally get my 30 bonus PanCoins, even though they were supposed to come at the end of July. In fact for a few days, I was worried I would never get them, but my thought was that it was first purchase after the end of July (which it wasn't; it was just 10 days late). PanCoins: 62
August 13: Redeem three pancakes using 3 PanCoins and get something from the $4 menu. Spent: $4. PanCoins: 59 (-3). I don't receive any because my meal was under $5.
August 15: I'm not by myself. I get a burger using 12 PanCoins. Free meal for me. PanCoins: 51 (-12 from the burger, +4 from the receipt from what other people ordered).
I somehow get a bonus PanCoin with no explanation, although it is recorded in the transaction history unlike the inexplicable decreases. PanCoins: 52 (+1)
Today, August 20: I get a burger using the same code I used 5 days ago, and it works. Free meal. No change in PanCoins.

As I'm typing this, my total goes down from 52 to 50 with no explanation.

How many things wrong can you find with this?

[kirbykart]

Every "x5" 2di has been used.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are only four "x3" 2dis. (43, 73, 83, 93) And one of those is one of North Carolina's crazy ideas.

[SkyPesos]

Every "x5" 2di has been used.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are only four "x3" 2dis. (43, 73, 83, 93) And one of those is one of North Carolina's crazy ideas.

I'm more surprised that only three x1 2di has been used before 2015: 71, 81, 91. Though all 3 of them are regionally important (71 and 81 as SW-NE diagonals, 91 as a long intra-New England route). I would've imagined that x1 would play the same role as x9, as those two are right in between x5 numbers: secondary N-S routes to x1s, but besides the ones that exist before 2015, nope. And it seems like x7 are playing that role better, with 57 (w/ Little Rock extension), 77 and 87.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Do southerners use the term "things went north" as a term for something that turned badly instead of "things went south from there"?

[kphoger]

Do southerners use the term "things went north" as a term for something that turned badly instead of "things went south from there"?

Only if "down" and "south" don't correspond there as they do elsewhere.  Which I doubt.  Maps, compasses, line graphs, etc, etc...

[webny99]

Do southerners use the term "things went north" as a term for something that turned badly instead of "things went south from there"?

Only if "down" and "south" don't correspond there as they do elsewhere.  Which I doubt.  Maps, compasses, line graphs, etc, etc...

It would be more likely in the southern hemisphere, but even then... seems doubtful.

[formulanone]

Do southerners use the term "things went north" as a term for something that turned badly instead of "things went south from there"?

Can't say I've heard it, except when talking about (snow)birds.