Winter and/or calendars and/or kphoger's and/or Rothman's daddies

[kphoger]

Winter 2026 for the mini-meet?  A year from now?

Less than 15% of any given winter is in December.

[Rothman]

Winter 2026 for the mini-meet?  A year from now?

Less than 15% of any given winter is in December.

Makes you wonder how a poll would result on the general public as to whether they think of winter being at the end or the beginning of the year...

[kphoger]

Makes you wonder how a poll would result on the general public as to whether they think of winter being at the end or the beginning of the year...

Actually, the best way to phrase the question is this:

In the winter, do the days get longer or shorter?

The correct answer, of course, is that the days get longer in the winter—all the way from the solstice at the beginning, which is the shortest day of the year, to the vernal equinox at the end—but many people will intuitively answer that the days get shorter.

[Rothman]

Makes you wonder how a poll would result on the general public as to whether they think of winter being at the end or the beginning of the year...

Actually, the best way to phrase the question is this:

In the winter, do the days get longer or shorter?

The correct answer, of course, is that the days get longer in the winter—all the way from the solstice at the beginning, which is the shortest day of the year, to the vernal equinox at the end—but many people will intuitively answer that the days get shorter.

Nah, better question is, "Do you think of winter being at the beginning or end of the year?"

[kphoger]

Nah

My daddy could beat your daddy up.

[Rothman]

Nah

My daddy could beat your daddy up.

Probably.  My daddy's quite old.  So, your daddy would just look like a jerk.

[kphoger]

My daddy could beat your daddy up.

Probably.  My daddy's quite old.  So, your daddy would just look like a jerk.

Maybe.  But my dad has Parkinson's.  So, he might just fall over trying.

[Rothman]

My daddy could beat your daddy up.

Probably.  My daddy's quite old.  So, your daddy would just look like a jerk.

Maybe.  But my dad has Parkinson's.  So, he might just fall over trying.

Oh.  So, my daddy can indeed beat up your daddy.  Not sure where you got the idea it was the other way around.

[Roadgeek Adam]

The answer to this discussion is which father can eat the most reaper peppers in a 10min setting.

[Max Rockatansky]

My dad would have been pretty hard to beat in a fight when he weighed 330 in his mid-40s.  The man was 6'5 tall and had a very long reach. 

[Roadgeekteen]

The cultural winter starts on black Friday and ends when March starts.

[vdeane]

I think my days of not taking this forum seriously are definitely coming to a middle.

[Roadgeekteen]

I'll tell you my other cultural seasons. Cultural Spring is beginning of March to Memorial Day. Cultural Summer is Memorial Day to Labor day. Cultural Fall is Labor Day to Thanksgiving. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

[Scott5114]

I'll tell you my other cultural seasons. Cultural Spring is beginning of March to Memorial Day. Cultural Summer is Memorial Day to Labor day. Cultural Fall is Labor Day to Thanksgiving. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

When is Cultural Gemerton's Day?

[Roadgeekteen]

I'll tell you my other cultural seasons. Cultural Spring is beginning of March to Memorial Day. Cultural Summer is Memorial Day to Labor day. Cultural Fall is Labor Day to Thanksgiving. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

When is Cultural Gemerton's Day?

May 32nd.

[Max Rockatansky]

I'll tell you my other cultural seasons. Cultural Spring is beginning of March to Memorial Day. Cultural Summer is Memorial Day to Labor day. Cultural Fall is Labor Day to Thanksgiving. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

When is Cultural Gemerton's Day?

May 32nd.

Don't you mean Smarch 1st?  Lousy weather that month.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I'd say "cultural spring" begins at Easter, regardless of when Easter actually falls.

[CoreySamson]

I'd say "cultural spring" begins at Easter, regardless of when Easter actually falls.

I wonder if the beginning of a "cultural season" depends on the weather of where you live. I understand that you live in Minnesota, and there you still get lots of snow in March, so Easter is the point where the weather starts becoming acceptably warm for spring. Meanwhile, I (a south Texan) think spring starts at the beginning of March.

A personal example: my definition of cultural fall is probably skewed because of my culture. September remains pretty hot in Texas and is relatively indistinguishable from August, so I tend to think of fall ariving not on Labor Day but instead the beginning of October (essentially the end of Texas hurricane season), because that is when the weather tends to start changing (more cold fronts, etc.).

[LilianaUwU]

Daylight Savings?

[Laura]

I'd say "cultural spring" begins at Easter, regardless of when Easter actually falls.

I wonder if the beginning of a "cultural season" depends on the weather of where you live. I understand that you live in Minnesota, and there you still get lots of snow in March, so Easter is the point where the weather starts becoming acceptably warm for spring. Meanwhile, I (a south Texan) think spring starts at the beginning of March.

A personal example: my definition of cultural fall is probably skewed because of my culture. September remains pretty hot in Texas and is relatively indistinguishable from August, so I tend to think of fall ariving not on Labor Day but instead the beginning of October (essentially the end of Texas hurricane season), because that is when the weather tends to start changing (more cold fronts, etc.).

I would agree with this. I live in MD so in my mind winter goes from after Thanksgiving to about mid-March (daylight savings) because that's our snow season.

[Max Rockatansky]

Daylight Savings?

My dad can beat up Daylight Savings Time.

[kphoger]

The answer to this discussion is which father can eat the most reaper peppers in a 10min setting.

I like the idea of an alternative solution.

My daddy would probably kick Rothman's daddy's butt in translating ancient Hebrew...

The cultural winter ... ends when March starts.

I tend to think of fall ariving ... the beginning of October ... because that is when the weather tends to start changing

This is something I've been thinking about lately.

For some reason, people seem to expect the weather to be warmer in March than it was in February, and then we're all surprised—every single time—when it snows in March.  There's just something about the calendar page flipping over, and then we just forget what we learned the previous year.  Every year.

And then people seem to expect the weather to be cooler in October than it was in September, and then we're all surprised—every single time—when temps are still bumping up against 90°F.  Again, the calendar page flips over, and we forget what we learned.  Every year.

I think it's because we subconsciously associate March with Easter weather, which can be cold and wet but typically not snowy.  And we associate October with Halloween, which is usually quite a bit chillier than September.  Yet Easter can never be earlier than March 22, and Halloween is on the very last day of October.

When is Cultural Gemerton's Day?

As the unofficial start to the fall season, the date of Gemerton's Day is different in the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern.

Daylight Savings?

As I've already explained about forum moderation:

Religion and politics are officially banned but are often tolerated.  DST is not officially banned but is never tolerated.

[Roadgeekteen]

I think dst discussion should be allowed here change my mind

[kphoger]

I think dst discussion should be allowed here change my mind

I kind of think you're more likely to change someone's mind about religion or politics than about DST.

[JayhawkCO]

This is something I've been thinking about lately.

For some reason, people seem to expect the weather to be warmer in March than it was in February, and then we're all surprised—every single time—when it snows in March.  There's just something about the calendar page flipping over, and then we just forget what we learned the previous year.  Every year.

March is our snowiest month. April gets just about as much snow as December or January.