Feeling productive

[redbird]

I got up this morning thinking that there are days that I'm pleased to be unemployed, because it means I can stay in when the weather is bad.

So I sent off a letter to someone who posted on Craigslist about a possible editing job; sent a reminder about a small outstanding invoice; and made apple cakelings. The invoice reminder was answered within minutes, with an apology and a promise that the check will be written today, and the cakelings are fine and tasty.

After lunch--Artemis and I had sardines, and I had raw carrots--I decided "only -8 [C], I can handle this", put on my flannel-lined jeans and my new snow boots, and went out. The snow was light and fluffy, the wind minimal, and I handled it well enough to go out to the grocery store (about 1/3 mile each way), instead of just a quick stroll to get sunlight. So we have exciting things like butter and yogurt.

No actual fiction so far today, but I spent a bit of time reading about Jupiter, which may be useful background.

Comments

[mintogrubb.livejournal.com]

-8 degrees? Omigod, I am so glad we have the gulf stream here in the UK!
BTW, I found you thru' a friend and decided to friend you myself. The strange thing is that your profile goes right off the screen when I click to view. No idea why- perhaps you can explain whare I'm going wrong...
Anyway, nice to meet you. I assume Artemis is a cat, not an aunt of yours, but I could be mistaken...

[redbird]

I have only the fringes of the Gulf Stream here, and we've got a large mass of Arctic air sitting over the region now.

My userinfo looks okay on my machine (Netscape 6.2); what browser are you using? The only thing with width specified is the little bit of Spanish text, and that's the narrowest bit.

Yes, Artemis is a cat, of the elderly persuasion.

[mintogrubb.livejournal.com]

sorry, 'browser' is a term I hear, but do not understand, never mind know what type mine is. I have Windows XP, and that is the limit of my knowledge. However, it has been interesting to float back and forth over your userinfo.

[zsero.livejournal.com]

Actually, the Gulf Stream has almost nothing to do with it. At least, according to this paper (http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~david/Gulf.pdf) in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society (http://www.royal-met-soc.org.uk/qjrms02.html), the Gulf Stream could only possibly account for a few degrees' temperature difference between western Europe and eastern North America, rather than the 15-20C difference that actually exists. Rather, the real cause is the Rockies, that stop the winds blowing east across North America and send them south instead. Because of this, the prevailing wind in western Europe is from the south-west rather than from the west, bringing with it relative warmth. Meanwhile, east of the Rockies, there is no wind coming from the west, so the prevailing winds come from the north, leading to the horrible cold outside tonight.

The hypothesis that the Gulf Stream explains the difference was first proposed by Matthew Fontaine Maury (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG97/monument/maurybio.html) in The Physical Geography of the Sea, 1855, and never tested or challenged until very recently.

[mintogrubb.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the info. I love it the way you meet all kinds of interesting people on LJ!