Saturday, January 09, 2010

Global Warming my ass!

OK, this in not the rant I've been planning on and promised a few days ago, but I have a splitting headache, My train crew was annoying the shit out of me all night and now this is happening...

I grew up in Pennsylvania. I remember as a child Trick or Treating on Halloween with a snowsuit on under my costume... I remember quite vividly not seeing the ground for all the snow for months... School snow days? A rarity. No school bus? Walk your happy, frozen ass to school. in the snow. I've hunted Whitetail deer in up-state PA in the heart of the Appalachian Coal Belt in -30 F weather... Worked outside as a cop and walked a beat in weather so damn cold it would freeze even the heartiest Cannuck's balls off... Lived in a part of Arizona of all places that measured snow it Feet...

So one would think that living in southwest Florida, winter should be pretty mild to me.

For the last four years I've lived here and the weather has been quite mild until now...
For over a week now it's been fucking cold. I'm sorry. It's fucking cold here.

frost on my car every morning when I leave work. I look at the thermometer on my porch and every morning it's been hovering at the freezing point. I'm 80 miles from Miami! I had just commented to a friend that I'd finally gotten my utility bill down to under $200 because this time of year I don't run my central air, so now I've actually had my heater on in my house for two fucking weeks! I've never had it on before in the last four years!

Around 4:30 AM today at work it started to drizzle rain... A miserable steady drizzle that made my knees scream in agony. The heater in the locomotive's cab is about as effective as using a candle to heat a banquet hall. One more degree lower and I swear it would have turned to snow.

That would have been a hoot!

Anyway, it's still raining, damp, cold and miserable out... The fireplace in my living room is real, but I need to get it inspected by the Fire Marshal before I dare use it, my house is pre-WWII era... And tonight, tomorrow and Monday it's getting even colder, down into the 20's overnight...
I know in the greater scheme of things a lot of people live in a lot colder climates than I presently do and are experiencing far colder temperatures and snowy and icy conditions so I should feel I'm a lot better off than most, and I do... I really do, and I'll survive, but...

But not this fucking cold this far fucking south!

The last time it's been this cold this far south for this long was in 1927... 83 fucking years ago!

Al Gore can kiss my Irish Ass and take his Global Warming bullshit and shove it up his pontificating, smug, superior ass while he blows a polar bear.

Bitching Rant Copyright 2010 Thomas J Wolfenden
Photos pinched from the Interweb/Googlenet

18 comments:

Unknown said...

Tommy! Did I read you might be coming to the UK this summer? The girls miss you so (as do I *wink*)!

London is horrid right now! Be glad you're there! I'm still very sad that I had to move back! you're always in my thoughts!

~C

your psycho ex-girlfriend said...

i live in the desert so i do not need to concern myself with such things. it is so nice and warm here....arent ya jealous?

i think i will wear shorts today...

i will send pics....

snow blows and not in the good way.

cmk said...

Yeah, I'm wondering--and have been for quite a few years--where this global warming bullshit is coming from. Living in the Great White North, it is very easy to wonder.

Today The Husband and I were feeling very sorry for those of you in the south who are experiencing 40 degree temps. Yeah, right! Forty degrees here would make me believe in global warming. ;) But seriously, I realize it must be very difficult to have these temps when you are used to 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Liane said...

LOL.. i am with ya. it's freakin' cold. We had snow and it turned to ice. People go nuts on the streets, creating or are involved in an accident. Those, who should know better.. but no, they have to get in the car and 5 minutes later find themselves stuck in their car, if not on a stretcher. I grew up in Germany... When I was around 16 or 17, Winters were way milder than at the time when I was a kid, where we would have sooooo much snow.. Every winter break, every single day of it, was spent on the hill with the sled... So, mild winters during some of my early adult years, and now the winter in Berlin is similar to what I recall growing up there. Here in Hotlanta, today was the coldest day on record since 1980.. we should be in the 50's F instead of 10 with a wind chill of 0F. My lawn has a sheet of ice on it, my car is frozen shut. Going to trade in my Golden Retriever for a baby ice bear... Global warming.. ha, i say "Ice-age, here we come"..bbrrrrr

Thomas J Wolfenden said...

BBIFL: And I miss you and them also! Tell them I said hi... And I think about you often too *wink*

Psycho: I've seen it snow in the desert... Just saying...

CMK: If it was 40F I'd be ok with that... But this is freezing and below freezing temps every night! And have you noticed they've slowly morphed it from "Global Warming" to "Global Climate Change"?

Liane: I was in Germany in the mid-80's and I remember the one winter was far colder and a lot more snow than I was used to at the time... Up to my hips, but that was in Bad Tolz up in the alps.

Anonymous said...

You seem upset, RT, perhaps if you drank some kool-aid... ;D

Just telling it like it is said...

Cop that is a pantie dropper moment...I"m just saying

Thomas J Wolfenden said...

Leazwell: Too true! Maybe I should, and then maybe I'll see the light! ;)

Just Telling It: You're being naughty again... Just saying ;)

Becky said...

Well, now all the nuts say it is not just global warming it is climate change! I mean look how crazy cold it is, and see how those polar ice caps that melted already have frozen back... Blah, blah, blah. The truth is the Earth goes through a cycle, hot, cold, hot, cold, hot, cold. This has happened for years and continues to happen. I have a firm belief that God would not give us a planet that could not sustain the life in which he told, "to multiply and replenish the Earth."

LIBERALS SUCK!!!!

FishEagle said...

Let me be the party spoiler because I say global warming is a very real threat :). With almost 7 billion people inhabiting and polluting this earth, it's impossible that we don't have an impact.

I work in an environmental field - nothing to do with global warming (directly) - and I'm am absolutely astounded about the ignorance of the average Joe when it comes to the environment, in general. Tommy, you know what I do for a living (don't kiss and tell, please :) ) Frankly the extent of the problem is scary and it's just getting worse.

I say use your common sense. Don't try and put this thing in a box, like it's a liberal thing. Bull shit. I'm one of the most racist, pro capatilist people I know. But climate change is something to worry about.

The Ramblin Hillbilly said...

You know why it is this cold dont ya Tom? It is because I am finally down here. It is not supposed to get this damn cold this far south! And you lied to me, it does rain on the RR.

Just telling it like it is said...

Let me quess you hair was frizzed up due to the weather!!!

Kimberly said...

Pontificating - a word I rarely use but should. It's fun.

Btw, there was global warming all over my car windshields this morning - front, back & sides.

Thomas J Wolfenden said...

Becky; Yes they do. Big fat ones.

FishEagle: I respect your opinion, but this time I have to agree to disagree. We're still friends though, right?

Bill: It never, ever rains on the railroad!

Just Telling It: It was! You were spying on me again, haven't you?

Kimberly: I pontificate a lot. And I had the very same Global Warming on my windshield this morning to!

FishEagle said...

RT, of course we're still friends. Friends agree to disagree.

Just for the record, I completely disagree with the solutions that have been proposed for global warming. My problem is that conservatives are losing out on the debate because they have been denying the problem. So guess who has all the say in how to fix it??


I am dead set against the proposal that developed countries pay undeveloped countries raparations to damage done to the environment. Most population growth is projected to take place in developing countries when earth's carrying capacity has already been exceeded by 1.4 times. That's BULL SHIT!!! If developed countries get more money, they're just going to breed and do further damage to the environment.

The environment is like a spiders web. You can push against it and there is an inherent inertia that keeps everything together but once you push too hard (like having 30 - 40 % people too many) it's bound to snap at some point.

I've been following the global warming debates and it can be confusing at times. Still, I think we are in trouble.

FishEagle said...

Sorry, my last comment should read:

"If developing countries get more money, they're just going to breed and do further damage to the environment."

Exzanian said...

Global warming, Global shwarming - It's a crock 'o shite...Our only problem is that we are running out of the stuff too quickly. And that's what all these fucking wars are about! Start looking for alternatives, wind, solar, tidal? Maybe 20% - The biggie is nuclear...Stop debating global warming, and start debating how we are going to handle nuclear waste...Think big, think 500 years into the future...it's got to be nuclear...

Thomas J Wolfenden said...

FishEagle; I'll cede to your one point... There far to many people.