dave2013

I think that's what it is. We have the a similar issue here where the weather services now issue severe storm and tornado warnings to scare the bejesus out of everybody, and then it almost always turns out there was no actual sighted tornado, just a "radar indication" of "possible rotation". However, if they didn't do this and there ended up being an actual tornado that killed people and/or destroyed property, they would be criticized for not issuing a warning. Dave

80F inside the house is a bit too warm for most people. You're pretty old school and grew up without air conditioning so you can handle it better than most, I imagine. In July and August we'll set ours at 76F(24.5C) during the day, but that's about as warm as we want it. Before we go to bed we drop it down to 70F(21C) as it makes it easier to sleep. We lived in south Italy for a few years back in the mid 90s and had no air conditioning. Our apartment was on the roof, sort of like a penthouse but only half the top floor as there were 2 units, so the sun blasted the whole structure all day. The interior temperature would get up to 85-86F(30C) even though the walls were concrete block. It was so uncomfortable that I would take a cold shower right before I went to bed, leave my body wet, and had a fan blowing on me in bed so I could sleep. Opening the windows to allow in a breeze didn't help because the breeze was actually hot air known as the Scirocco wind from northern Africa. I wonder how many Americans have ever had to endure something like that, other than old folks wo grew up without air conditioning? Dave

I just read a story about Torino, Italy having an electrical blackout due to all the air conditioners running full blast. I'd be surprised if more than 40-50% of Italians actually have an air conditioner, so just that extra air conditioning load caused the system to be overloaded. Something you really have to think about if millions of people in the UK start running air conditioners is: can the grid handle the extra load? Air conditioners use a lot of power. In fact, its the largest electrical load in the vast majority of houses. We notice that when we start having to run ours in May, and we keep the house at 24C so only need to run it a few hours a day in May, our energy usage increases 30-40%, and in the Summer it doubles because we have to keep it running all day and some of the night. Our grid in the U.S. was designed and built to handle large loads because spoiled Americans have been using air conditioning for 70 years, yet we still have occasional problems in places like southern California or Texas when it gets very hot and millions of aircon units start running full blast. I wonder if the electrical grid in Europe can handle this extra load? Dave

Yeah, that's west TN near Memphis which is typically hotter and more humid than areas further east. West TN isn't actually representative of most of the State, which is generally hilly and mountainous and averages over 1,000ft above sea level. Dave

Please try to avoid encouraging certain people to go full censorship crazy because of their personal biases.😉 This is an interesting topic and there's nothing wrong with discussing it in an effort to find the facts. Dave

That is very interesting and enlightening. I've been reading and watching alarming news about data centers and how they'll consume all our water and electricity, but I'm guessing that a lot of this is exaggerated and hyped. It used to bother me that golf courses were green and watered daily where I used to live in New Mexico, but water restrictions were common, as the area was a desert with very little surface water and most fresh water coming from deep wells. Many data centers will have their own power plants, mostly natural gas. I'm guessing that they use closed loop water cooling systems, where cooled water is circulated through pipes and radiators. This does not mean that new, fresh water must be pumped into the system, rather it's the same water recirculated through the system. My concern is what the data centers will actually be used for..... Dave

Yes, you certainly feel more miserable in hot, humid air than in hot, dry air. We lived in New Mexico for 16 years where the humidity was in the 10-30% range 90% of the time, and even 100F(38C) didn't feel too bad. It's very humid where we live now. Almost always above 50% and typically 60-80%. Right now it's 90% relative humidity, but only 22C so not too bad. Dave

Yikes! That's pretty warm for northern Europe this time of year. 39C for northern France is crazy. We've been watching Italy, where temps will be around 35C for the next week. It's just the opposite where I live. We're in the 25-28C range, a bit cooler than usual for mid-June. Dave

You are correct. This is the real reason. The authorities like to use "the children" to enact and enforce all manner of restrictions on freedom(for the little people, that is) and this is just the latest example. What's really pathetic is that the parents aren't performing their duty to protect their own children, so the government feels justified in stepping in. Dave

I wish I could make it over there to meet some of you guys. Alas, flying all that way is simply too much of an expense and hassle for me, so no can do. We need somewhere about halfway between the U.S. and Europe where we can host these types of events. Bermuda is too far away from Europe, and the Azores and Iceland are a bit too far from us, unfortunately. Maybe Atlantis will rise up in the middle of the Atlantic and we could meet there in the future? Dave

We used to watch some of the World Cup matches every 4 years, but that was back when Italy was doing well(my wife is Italian). Now that Italy didn't even qualify this year, our interest is, well, about zero. Yeah, pretty selfish, I know. Many Europeans think that soccer(football) is a relatively new thing for us, but in reality it has a very long history in the U.S., going all the way back to 1685, and an early form of it was played at Harvard University in the 1700s. The first football club was established in 1862. The United States Soccer Association, originally called the United States Football Association, was established in 1913. The term "soccer" replaced the term "football" in 1945 to distinguish it from American Football. It hasn't been as popular as football, baseball, and basketball, but it nevertheless has been a popular sport here for a very long time. Dave

Ever the optimist😀 I hope you're right. Dave

Wasn't this actually proposed by Ryanair? I doubt it will happen due to safety concerns, however, never underestimate the power of $$$$ and how that can influence lawmakers and regulatory agencies.... Dave

Looking forward to the next mission, where hopefully the astronauts will actually land on the moon. This isn't guaranteed yet, BTW. I've almost given up hope for a manned mission to Mars in the next 20 years. Without a great leap forward in propulsion technology, a round trip manned mission simply isn't feasible. We need to either double the speed, or half the fuel. Moreover, landing people on the surface of Mars adds a whole other layer of complexity and difficulty - just look at how hard it is to land people on the moon. Sorry to be so negative, but I prefer to be a realist. Dave

Yeah, I must have been really bored, or maybe drunk, at the time. I only recall watching it a few times and don't remember anything about the show, so it must have been pretty forgettable. Dave