Didn't like THIS surprise...

[Wingnut]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

looks at least a quart low to me, Harv.
My problems this winter weren't as severe ... but likely as annoying. I have an inground 13x32 rectangular indoors. The pool heater started acting up in mid-December and I traced it to the pilot assembly ... which reacted to my checking it out by falling apart. Took 3-1/2 weeks to get replacements by which time the pool was down to 52 degrees. Got it back on line finally and ran the heater overtime for awhile to get it back to operating temperatures ... and my second nice surprise was my propane bill ... #500 for the month (house and pool heat) ... gotta love that $1.75/gal cost.
I'm getting seriously tempted to fill the pool in ... save electricity, save propane ... and give me a huge space for a pool table (after all, it is a pool house) ...

too bad that common sense ain't

 

[Harv]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

<font color=blue>reacted to my checking it out by falling apart.</font color=blue>

I can sympathize there, Peter. That's what always happens to me when I touch any house plumbing. And it usually breaks off inside the wall -- after the stores are closed, and the next day is a holiday. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

Never been to Michigan, but I gather from other posts that it gets chilly up there. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Energy costs seem to be high everywhere this year, but out here in Californy our governor is making noises about us being overcharged, and he might see to it that we get a refund.

I've read articles about people using their pools to raise fish during the winter. You don't have to heat it, and you get to catch/eat/sell your crop before summer. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[RobS]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

<font color=blue>Never been to Michigan</font color=blue>

Harv, you don't know what you're missing. We (can I say "we" as a property owner or do I actually have to live there?) have our version of the oceans in the Great Lakes, towering sand dunes, true four seasons (yes, it does get chilly) and no earthquakes. You really should come visit sometime. Bring your tractor, I'll put you to work this summer /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Harv]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

<font color=blue>no earthquakes</font color=blue>

You don't know what you're missing, Rob! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

My impression has always been that pretty much every part of this country has its upsides and downsides, including natural disasters. I know of people who are so terrified of earthquakes that they won't even visit California, yet they live right smack in the middle of tornado country. Fact is, we sometimes go years without a noticeable earthquake, but I think tornados are a regular thing every season (correct me if I'm wrong).

I'm not familiar enough with Michigan to know what the scariest thing is up there, but I'm already convinced that I can handle the possibility of a little ground-shakin' better than I could the 20-foot snow drifts every year. Call me a wimp -- you wouldn't be the first. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

It does seem like we're missing out on the true concept of seasons out here, and I sort of regret that. So tell me about your part of the country -- what are the plusses and minuses? I may yet travel. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[RobS]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

We do get some wicked spring and summer thunderstorms with the occasional tornado (more a spring time event). I rather enjoy watching a big storm roll in... the skies darken, the winds pick up, rains start with huge drops (if it's a really good storm) then all h#%$^@& breaks loose. If it's a "cell type" storm, it's all over in an hour or so and often quicker.

Other than that excitement, we've got hot/humid summers, cool/crisp falls and our unique lake effect winters. When the winter winds howl across the big lake the air picks up moisture from the warmer water. It's then deposited on us as snow, in sometimes spectacular amounts. The bands of snow actually show up on radar as "fingers" following the wind direction. Depending on the winds, we can get a foot of snow while the town right down the road doesn't get a flake. It's also common to be snowing heavily at ground level yet look straight up and see blue sky.

The biggest downside to the lakes is the perpetually cloudiness. The same phenomenon that generates the snow in the winter gives us an abundance of cloudy days all year long. Today happens to be a rare, clear day and it's in the mid-40's. So nice I rode my bike to work and may slip out for a lunchtime ride /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Michigan weather (along the lee side of the lake anyway) is also conducive to grapes and we have a nice selection of wineries to enjoy. The season is shorter than California, so the reds don't do as well but there are a lot of top quality whites being produced. Yet another of my many pastimes (enjoying, not producing wine). Maple sugar season is just wrapping up as well with a bumper crop of sap/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[GlueGuy]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

<font color=blue>It does seem like we're missing out on the true concept of seasons out here, and I sort of regret that.</font color=blue>

Speak for your self Harv. Even though we live in the SF Bay Area, the fact that we live at 2400' seems to alter our weather quite significantly from the rest of the flat lands. We don't get very cold (mid-20's in winter are typical lows). But otherwise, I would say that we have 4 distinct seasons. And when the wind blows up here, hang on! I would say that 60mph winds are real typical, with an occasional 80 or 90. The year we bought the place, the previous owner had installed a wind gauge. It blew away about the time the wind hit 110!

Plus we are about a mile from the San Andreas rift zone (it lies in the valley between us and the next ridge to the north-east).

Still don't miss the tornadoes, or the mosquitos, or the hot humid summers, or the bitterly cold winters (grew up in the midwest).

Also, like you, we'd installed solar heating for our pool when we were in Sunnyvale. In our case, it made the pool usable all year 'round. Including pumping costs, I estimate our total operating costs for the pool to be less than $500 per year.

The GlueGuy

 

[bpence]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

Lot's of great stuff up here in the Great Lakes State. Summers here are about the best you'll find anywhere. It gets hot some times and humid some times, but overall the spring/summer/fall climate is pretty nice. And talk about fall, the color displays will just take your breath away. I'm with RobS in that I'm real glad the ground doesn't shake around here. Sure, we get thunderstorms and occasional real bad weather, but so does just about everywhere else. Winter in Michigan can be trying at times, but the other three seasons really do make up for it. Visit the Lake Charlevoix/Boyne City area in Northwest Michigan and you'll see a little slice of my idea of God's country.

The down side....MOSQUITOES. Especially the big ones. I mean the one's that CAN carry you back to the swamp before eating you, not the little ones that would like to. But then, the ground doesn't shake.

Load the mini-van, jump on I-80 and travel east for a couple of days. When you get just past Chicago, turn left and you're almost there. Come on up. Weather's getting nicer, fish are getting ready to start biting, and they're going to be putting the pins in the cups on the golf courses within a week. And, I bet there are a few tractor owners up here that would let you "demo" their machines in exchange for a couple hours mowing / bush hogging/ dirt moving time.

Bob Pence

 

[Harv]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

You raise an interesting point, GlueGuy -- California, especially the Bay Area, is loaded with micro-climates. When I moved from El Sobrante to Walnut Creek (about 15 miles as the crow flies), it was like living in a different country. That one main ridge of hills makes a difference of as much as 20 degrees during the summer. And if I were to spend the whole year up at the property (Sierra foothills), I'd be singing a different tune about the seasons. Even so, I think the Great Lakes folks would snicker at our winters. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Sounds like Michigan has a lot to offer, and if I'm ever out that way, I'll be sure to let you fellers know I'm coming. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[GlueGuy]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

<font color=blue>loaded with micro-climates</font color=blue>

Roger that! My wife & I have felt we live on another planet when we listen to the weather report around here. They'll be grousing about the fog, or whatever, and we will have clear blue skies, etc. Sometimes the reverse too.

<font color=blue>Great Lakes folks would snicker at our winters</font color=blue>

And they have a right to! Before I moved to CA, I lived in Minnesota. The last winter I was there, we had a 1 week period where the low hit -52 (F.)/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

<font color=blue>Michigan has a lot to offer</font color=blue>

This is also true. I especially like the upper peninsula (Mackinack area (not sure of that spelling, but you Michiganders know what I'm talking about)).





The GlueGuy

 

[scruffy]

Re: Didn\'t like THIS surprise...

'micro climates' in California? Well, I suppose you could call them that! Up on the northwest coast, where I lived we got around 90 to 110 inches of rainfall per year, 7 miles north west as the crow flies, they averaged over 200(Honeydew)!
Now that's not 'micro' in my opinion! Of course the rainfall makes all that green stuff grow, when it stops long enough for sunshine that is. )