It’s Raining – Set the Voices Free

New England Life, SoCS 69 comments

Whether you realize it or not, this is your lucky day. We know what Dan was working on. It wasn’t that good, but he was gonna smush it around and stick It out here anyway. We didn’t want to let that happen, but he hasn’t been letting us out much lately.

Too busy for the voices in your head, huh? Too many serious events, important meetings, phone calls and junk like that? Well, we knew Linda would rescue us. Her prompt for today is like a get out of jail free card. Mental jail that is.

“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “whether/weather.” Use one, use both, use them any way you’d like. Bonus points if you start and end your post with one (or each) of them. Enjoy!“

We’re going to snag those bonus points, too. We started with ‘whether’ and we’ll end with the other one. We didn’t want to start with the weather cause the weather around here has been crappy lately. Or is that ‘crispy’? The iPhone flagged ‘crappy’ and suggested ‘crispy’ instead. Those two words are not interchangeable. We’d go into graphic detail, but we might just lose our lease on this blog post for that.

The weather this year seems like it’s trying to be anti-weather. Like it’s opposite weather day. We had 70°f (21.1°c) days in February, and 40°f (4.4°c) in May. Did you notice how nice that Fahrenheit/Celsius thing looks? That’s courtesy of the NF Utility page. We’re still working on the Metric to English version of that utility, but that’s turning out to be trickier.

The really cool thing about the Metric system is the whole powers of 10 thing. You know, orders of magnitude and all that. 10, 100, 1,000, etc. makes for easy math. 16 ounces to a pound, 12 inches to a foot, three feet to a yard, 5,280 feet to a mile. Five thousand two hundred and eighty? Who the heck came up with that? Actually, we know this. A mile is 8 furlongs. A furlong? A furlong is the length of the furrow a team of oxen could plow in a day. That’s handy, isn’t it?

These aren’t easy things to work with.

See, computers don’t think like us. Actually, they don’t think at all. Well, there’s been some big advances in artificial intelligence, but you have to consider just two things to put that into perspective: 1) We measure intelligence as compared to human intelligence, and 2) Our collective human intelligence elected the crew in Washington that decided to stick with English measurement.

Anyway, take 3 meters as an example. That would be 30 centimeters, or 9.84252 feet. Nobody says “9.84252 feet” – Most Americans wouldn’t know how tall/long/far 9.84252 feet is any more than they’d know hard tall/long/far 3 meters is. We would say “nine feet, ten and one eighth inches” – that wouldn’t be exactly accurate, but at least we would understand, kinda. So, having a utility that converts 3 meters to 9.84252 feet is kinda useless. Where were we?

Oh yeah, the weather. The weather around here stinks. Whether you know it or not, you’re luckier reading about the metric crisp (that’s just to see if you’re paying attention). We will let the photos in the gallery give you an idea about the weather.

“Why didn’t the grounds crew roll out the tarps? We’re not going to be able to play here…”
Hartford on a gray day
Korean Dogwood – the upper leaves and blossoms are keeping these dry, for the moment.
Yep, that’s the pole I used for the #ilinerWed badge
As seen while out with Maddie for her morning duty
The rhododendrons are opening
The sun is trying its best
Sand Cherries. Maddie and I have to walk through these so she can check the perimeter
Wet rhododendrons

Yes! – Bonus Points – And, for the second time in a couple of weeks, you get to listen to Natalie Merchant, this time with 10,000 Maniacs.

69 comments

  1. The Dogwood is GORGEOUS. I don’t have any around here so thanks for sharing. But, you can keep the rodent. I have his extended family on steroids already living here. I can’t even go outside and leave the garage door up. The weather is a roller coaster topic this year. I go out between showers. I just heard it is snowing on the top of Mount Washington today. Summer? Not quite yet. :-)

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    1. Thanks Judy. The rodent rules the roost here. He has the Mrs trained to put out food for him and his squirrelly buddies.

      Snow? Ugh, it’s June! When are we going to get to complain about the heat?

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  2. The weather is all over the shop here too. It makes it hard to know what to wear each day.
    Naturally, as an Australian, I’ll never understand why you find it easier to remember all those weird numbers when you could just multiply/divide by 10 instead.
    The voices in my head get plenty of fresh air – they like to hitch a ride on my runs. Sometimes they escape out of my mouth and people look at me like I’m strange. I’m thinking of investing in one of those bluetooth ear thingies so they’ll just think I’m talking to someone on the phone.

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    1. Ha ha – that’s a great idea! I don’t know why we stuck with 12, 16 and 5,280 but we elected these idiots so it’s our own fault. I think we’re the only country not using Celsius. Oh well, fodder for the voices. I hope you have s great weekend.

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  3. interesting and realistic post, Sir…
    * * *
    @”Most Americans wouldn’t know how tall/long/far 9.84252 feet is any more than they’d know hard tall/long/far 3 meters is.” – absolutely and definitely true!!! :) years ago, during our 5 years spent in Houston, TX, NASA lost one satellite(165 000 000$!!!) – because of a human error: some guy got confused and messed-up with the metric system…

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    1. Yes, I remember that. The funny thing is, as I was writing this, I noticed an error in my utility. Feet to meters is incorrect. Oh well, I’ll fix that over the weekend. I hope NASA isn’t using it :)

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  4. I’m reasonably bilingual in both metric and imperial / celsius and fahrenheit. Please don’t feel obligated to test me on that though. It’s much like my english and french …. I know enough to fool people about the level of my knowledge ;)

    There is a very famous story in Canada involving an error in metric calculation for airplane fuel requirements. It’s in the same category as the Miracle on the Hudson in NY. The 767 lost all engine power at 41,000 feet when both engines ran out of fuel (as usual, there was a combination of errors). The pilots managed to glide the 767 into a landing on an abandoned runway in the small town called Gimli, 17 minutes away. There were only minor injuries on the rough landing.

    This scenario has never been successfully landed in a simulator. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

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    1. Wow! That’s a long way to glide a big heavy plane. All the metric system did for us was give us less wine in a bottle. I’m getting better from reading so many blogs in other countries.

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  5. First of all, Dan, thanks for the 10,000 Maniacs video. It’s a happy little tune about crappy weather, but mostly I love Natalie Merchant’s voice. So distinctive!

    As for the weather, we’ve been experiencing some of the same. I haven’t ridden my bike to work yet because either the day is too cool, it’s raining or it’s 44F in the morning. I’m hoping that comes to an end soon because summer is short and time’s a wasting. If I find consistently nice and dry weather, I’ll try to send it your way.

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    1. Thanks – I love Natalie’s voice. The version of this song I really like is from the Unplugged album, but I grabbed the wrong URL. I hope your weather improves soon. That’s usually a good sign for us. How far is it for you to ride to work? I have a 17 mile drive, but it would be about 20-22 by bike, depending on which dangerous road I take in order to cross the river.

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  6. ah and excuse to loose the cerebral voices. my favorite phrase lately is ‘did i say that out loud ?’ fairly sure it has more to do with the sarcasm gauge than the weather. fortunately one of those voices is a curmudgeon and the rest of us gang up on him and shout ‘he did it !’ whether or not the thunderbolt of the weather lets anyone hear we said that. and yes the meteorological patterns are definitely askew. sorry one of those voice got its hands on a thesaurus, time to grab a shovel and finish the compost pile and work up a thirst….

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    1. Thanks John. I’ll have to take my inside voice to the bar next week. We’ll need to wash down the pollen. The sarcasm voice is one I let out a little too often.

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  7. Being Canadian means that in school, they taught us metric. The only problem is that my dad is old enough to pre-date metric (that junk started in the ’70s here), and since I was always working with him on projects, my brain somehow rejected most of the metric stuff and Imperial is what I default to. Except when it comes to temperature because seriously, Fahrenheit? 32° is freezing? Why? That to me is like Twitter’s 140 character limit. Why did someone decide to make it 140 and not 150? Ugh. So I think Celsius makes so much more sense, with zero being the baseline. Anything below it is cold, anything above it is, well, if you’re in Canada, LESS cold. ;P

    Because the weather here has been no better. We had snow three weeks into May, and despite the abundant sunshine today, the temp is sitting at a very chilly 5°. I had to put a fire on last night! And last year, I was cutting lilacs on the 7th of June. That’s only four days away and there aren’t even any buds yet, let alone any hint of purple colouring.

    This is bad, even for here. Where is my summer???

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    1. I’m sorry that you’re losing your already short summer. It looks like the rain will hold off today. That’s good, because I have some work to do outside. I’m OK with it not being hot, but I’d like a touch of warmer.

      I know how you feel about measurements. I can handle metric, but for woodworking, I don’t think I could ever switch. There’s something about “2 and fat 3/8ths” that I can’t get away from. My father used ‘fat/skinny’ when it wasn’t quite a 16th, but the rule/tape didn’t have 32nds marked.

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  9. This post has struck something in me. The first time I converted Celsius to Fahrenheit, I wondered who had come up with the formula and why. It’s a linear graph with a gradient of 5/9 and which crosses the y-axis at 32. I couldn’t understand why 32, and it looked to me like somebody just made it up. To date, the formula still strikes me as odd. I have never seen the actual derivation that produced the formula. Most derivations start from the known instead of from the fundamentals.
    Then there’s the Fahrenheit to Kelvin, which is even weirder.
    Thanks Dan.

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    1. Thanks Peter. My memory of these two scales was being the first student in math class to determine the point where Fahrenheit and Celsius are the same (-40). That made no sense to me whatsoever.

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    2. (note: I found this post linked from the Metric subreddit)

      The conversion formula is actually pretty straightforward to derive; there are 180 degrees Fahrenheit between water freezing and boiling, and 100 degrees Celsius. The ratio between the two is 9:5, and then you simply add or subtract 32 to align the Fahrenheit and Celsius freezing points. As Kelvin and Celsius use the same size degrees, the ratio is the same, and the freezing point is just offset by far more degrees. (A defining element of all three scales is the freezing point of water.)

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      1. Thanks. I love this comment, but if I started a post with “…formula is actually pretty straightforward to derive…” my readers might hurt me. I think the US is the only country still using Fahrenheit. I think that should go.

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  10. Love your photos Dan, especially the little… what is the little… fella standing on his hind legs? Some small rodential person we don’t have in the UK. Chipmunk? Can’t really add to the stream of strangeness that is whatever was going on in your head, as numbers and I don’t entirely get along! :)

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  11. I remember way back when (when exactly, I’m not sure… but I think I was in grade school or junior high) our government made a push for us to convert to the metric system. I don’t think it lasted very long because relearning made our delicate little American heads hurt. Although I struggled to learn (and, I admit, I was grateful when the plan was abandoned), I really wish we had pushed through our collective discomfort and had joined most of the rest of the world.

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    1. I do remember being made to make the attempt. Being a chemistry major, I had to stay familiar with some measurements. I wish we had continued down that road – or at least got the larger wine bottles back ;)

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  12. You lost me at ‘metric’. Or any kind of math, critical thinking or dedeucing. It’s my day off. Lol but the photos are lovely. I especially love the morning fog in the neighborhood with the sun peeking over. Very nice Dan. Lucky you with the bonus points! 👏🏻

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  13. Haha…I would never work out Fahrenheit! Also to me your pictures all look pretty good. :) When on a rainy day, the air must be so fresh! It’s something that I miss so much! It feels we don’t get to see many clear days in Beijing, rain or shine…haha…Thanks for the pictures and the video! By looking at these pictures, I can almost smell the freshness in the air there.:)

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    1. Ack. Don’t start with the rhyming – see Mary’s post today to see how that can go off course ;)

      Maddie can’t be in every gallery – I know, it makes her mad, too. But when she’s dragging me through rain-soaked bushes (that she walks under) I’m not in a picture taking mood.

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  16. Of course the math anxiety person me needed to read & try to comprehend all about the metric system & furlongs! Just reading it gave me the sweats & heart palpitations. Know all about those voices in the head & words that escape. Mine mostly mutter, so no one takes notice. Love the cloudy sunrise & other photos. Your specialty. Yeah, where’s Maddie? Happy Weekend, Dan & family! 🌺🌷🌸 Christine

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    1. Maddie is fine, but as I explained to Marian, she can’t be in everything. Thank you for the compliment. Sorry about the math. I see a comment from Joey, about that, I think I’m in trouble.

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  17. Me to my family, “I hate it when Dan puts math in his posts.”
    Me to my family just moments later, “Oh man!”
    “What?”
    “There’s another paragraph of math!”
    Moo offered to translate. lol I got it, but I don’t like it ;)
    Funny you used the degree thingy today, cause I did too! Gave your post some props as well! :)
    I’m sorry you’ve got overcast and wet, but in actuality, I’d trade you.
    Beautiful dogwood!

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    1. Ha ha – so much here. I appreciate Moo’s offer. I’m glad the degree thing worked. I noticed that the distance calculation is wrong, gotta fix that.

      Sorry about the maths, but I can’t control where these voices go, and Linda says no editing, so…

      We had some rain today but we walked and I got my outside work done, so I’m ok.

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  18. You dropped a zero: it’s 300 centimeters. But you knew that…

    Going English to metric, you multiply; the other way, divide. A foot is 30.43 centimeters, so 300 centimeters would be 9.85 feet, close enough to the number you got. Then, ten feet would be 304 centimeters. But you knew that… XD

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    1. Ha ha, yes, I did, but… Still, folks don’t relate well to ‘.85 feet’ they want that in inches and stupid fractional pieces of inches. I’m working on it. Thanks!

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  19. Wet, but you found all the beautiful bits! I love the city in that warm golden light. Sunrise?
    The telephone/power pole reflection is pretty great, and seriously where’s the tarp? :)

    I don’t get our math much beyond the basics even thinking about learning the metric system makes my brain spin, and want to ache. I’d round that “9.84252 feet” up to 10ft and call it a day. :)

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    1. “Round it up..,” I like that. That is the city at sunrise. I stop at a park on the opposite side of the river at least once or twice a week on my way to work. I must have 50 photos of the pole reflected in that puddle. None look like what I think I see, but I keep trying.

      I always like thinking about the birds on the ball field as if they’re warming up for a game. Thanks for dropping by, Deborah.

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  21. Great post, Dan. Long pants and socks today instead of cute capris and sandals. It’s June, Mother Nature! I love you metric conversions… well not really, I just like how you write about them.

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      1. Monday and Tuesday are weather disasters. Socks and a sweater for sure. Kids will be indoors for two days. I hope I don’t have to call Viola Swamp.

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  22. The way your mind wanders is so cool. And as I write this it is yes again so what else is new? raining. I deliberately haven’t been here on WP because for a whole let me see if I get this correct we had 2 full days of SUN here. I of course being health conscious had to soak up some Vita D. Loved your gallery, Dan, even if a bit on the soggy side. My eye swelling has finally gone down and I’m being very careful with those skeeters. I’m planning on a hike today so I’ll let you know how I fare with those blood sucking vamps. Have a great Sunday! 💖

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    1. Thanks for dropping by, Amy and for the compliments. Take care of yourself on that hike. The rain has caused a lot of stuff to grow over the trails – slippery stuff – so be careful. And, yeah, avoid the blood sucking vampires, as best you can.

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  23. We’ve been in the path of a couple of violent storms but most days during May had a little sunshine and, then, showers or thunderstorms for the rest of the day. June is getting a little better except the humidity is way up there. Typical for here though.

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    1. I think the humidity would take a toll on me. We get a few weeks every July and August that are hot and humid, and I really don’t enjoy that particular brand of sunshine. IT’s starting out to be a beautiful day today. I took the pup for a walk in cool temps and under blue skies. So, I’m good.

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  24. Crispy is never the same as crappy! I dislike the way I am writing a straightforward comment and the word is extended into a longer (wrong) choice!
    Natalie M with 10,000 Maniacs was a terrific song which is rarely played on the radio. Which makes it a great song to feature! :)
    I like the chipmunk, raindrops on flowers and the pretty lighting on the cityscape. They are definitely positive images and appreciated, Dan.

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    1. Thanks Robin, I’m glad you like that song. We’ve been having a lot of cold and rainy days here. We’ve had to look hard for the pretty sights, but they are there.

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  25. As a fellow CT resident, I totally hear ya about the weather! I’m wearing a sweater shirt with the space heater on right now. But I have to admit, I’m actually ok with the dreary, cool days this year. My son’s new favorite place is the beach, and these chilly, overcast, drizzly days are PERFECT. As we headed for the shore yesterday it started raining and I worried that we wouldn’t be able to let my son out of the car, but my husband insisted that it would pass by the time we got there and (true to New England weather) he was right! The beach was almost deserted, and my son had a blast! I love your pics and the 10,000 Maniacs song brought me right back to high school! :) Here’s hoping for sunnier, warmer days to come!!

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  27. Don’t be afraid to round off your conversions; it reads much smoother in text and false precision is best avoided. A few thoughts….

    First, you needn’t worry about decimal precision in temperatures; the national weather service uses Celsius internally, so any nice round Fahrenheit values were almost certainly converted (and rounded) from the original measurements. E.g. the “70 °F (21.1 °C)” example you listed could have actually been 20.7 °C before the weatherman / newspaper / digital thermometer “made it safe for Americans”.

    Second, 300 centimeters (3 m) is almost certainly rounded; would you guess the height of a door to the nearest 64th of an inch without pulling out a tape measure? The original number has from one to three significant figures; a conversion should be similar: 10 feet. Since mechanical parts have tolerances, it’s not unknown for items imported to the US to be made “in metric” as long as it’s close enough: an imported “4 inch” object might really be a 100 mm object and not a precise 101.6 mm.

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    1. Thanks. Those are good points. I’ve always thought that, with the narrower range of Celsius, that the decimal precision was more commonly used. We would never say that it’s 72.4 degrees, but I often see people mention 20.6 c or something like that.

      It’s interesting that you mention the internal rounding that went in behind the scenes. We’ve been working on s new system at work, that deals with a lot of foreign currency transactions. We run into a similar conversion process quite often.

      The big problem is that most people don’t like math and don’t understand rounding.

      Thanks again!

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