One word sounds good to me, mate! "Mainer"? I always thought of myself as a "Mainiac"! nyuk, nyuk
Hellooooo
- Thread starter jonsi
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That's more like what I was aiming for, but I was trying to write it describing the weird inflection I heard when listening to the locals/tour guide from when I visited the area. I'm not quite sure how to put it into letters. Your's works well enough. There's a Y sound, but it wasn't pronounced as hard.
That also works. I've seen that, a different spelling, and a hyphenated version.
"Just another Mainiac Monday"... there should be a song for that.
The lyrics would be fun to adapt, but it better include coffee brandy, fishing, hunting, making fun of tourists (even though your livelihood depends on them, making fun of people who aren't from Maine who move here, the words 'ayuh' and 'bub' should be included, and a few references to the weather and a curious part of the year known as 'mud season'.
Wait, I seem to recall hearing that's what they do in Hawaii, too. Ya go too far east or too far west and it just gets strange.
Hmmm... is this like when someone in the Corgi forums asks, "When does the shedding season end?" and everyone laughs uncomfortably.
No. Mud season is between winter and spring. The snow melts and turns the ground into mud. We also regularly get flooding, washed out roads, some high winds that like to take out power, and these strange thing known as 'frost heaves'.
The ground moves as it freezes and thaws. This movement is not universal, so you end up with roads that are extremely bumpy. This can be reduced with proper road construction, and some roads have had that work done to them. However, many areas have roads that just tear their cars to pieces, especially if they're not wealthy enough to have kept their car's suspension working properly.
I actually adjust the vehicles I drive based on the weather and road conditions.
But, with that said, I do have my new daily driver out. I didn't trade in the M6 Competition. It's too good to trade in. I actually went with AMG this time, as BMW didn't have anything that truly excited me.
One of the things we were most surprised by when we went to Rangeley the first time (which I have been pronouncing Raingly... oops!) was how quickly the roads were plowed, and how nicely they were holding up. Not a ton of bumpiness, cracks, potholes, etc. I'm sure that varies with how rural the routes are, but I like backroads and was pleasantly surprised. We drove up in winter right after a snow. It was gorgeous.
They're usually pretty good about it. I actually love plowing snow. We're out on a private road and I take care of all of that and then head into the village to make my route where I plow out older folks. If I see you're out there shoveling to get to work, I'll likely stop and plow you out too. They've had some issues with equipment, so I've helped plow the town itself.
I don't charge. I just like smashing snow.
It surprises me that you don't need a special license to take a plow onto the public roads, but here we are. I also have a broadcast sander in the bed of the truck, so I can put down sand after/while plowing.
When it reaches the point where the snow is too deep, I've got a lovely Kubota L6060, complete with heat and A/C. i use that when the piles of snow get too big to plow. If it's bad, I'll finish up my area and then load the tractor up on a trailer to go help move snow elsewhere.
I love driving in the snow. Heck, I'll take off when it's really snowing and drive around. I help pull the people out of the snowbanks. (I call 'em 'drunk bumpers'. Driving while drinking is still insanely common in Maine.)
I love the snow. If I didn't love the snow, I picked a stupid place to live.
I'm hoping for a mild summer. I didn't include central air when having the house built. I only really need it for a few days per year, but they're still annoyingly hot -- even with passive solar. Because of the way the house is constructed, it's just too much of an ordeal to add it now. I can't reasonably put in a window unit or anything like that because it's an 'envelope house'.
We use a variety of ways to keep the house cooler than it is outside, but there are still a few days when it sucks. I have a thermo-pile mass that circulates the water through a deeply dug, concrete-filled hole. The house has an overhang that blocks out the summer sun while letting it in during the winter. Stuff like that...
Rocketing-warp9
Well-Known Member
Some Good ones when I was up there in 23'
Beautiful Area.
a-yuh
When I was in Alaska, back in 63 to 66, I heard a news report on the local station (KFAR) about a driver who plowed into a snow bank somewhere down the Richardson highway. This dude walked to the local Volunteer fire Department, took out their first line piece, and used it to pull his car out of the snow bank. He left it at the scene, where it ran out of fuel, and the engine, and water tank froze. He also neglected to close the bay door on the fire house, so the furnace ran out of fuel oil and the water pipes froze. This self centered individual did not notice that the snow bank held a secret - a perfect image of the front of his car, including the license plate. It must have been a surprise when they took him to court for the damages.
Do you remember the old commercials that had their fulfillment in Bangor and they pronounced it 'Banger'?
As an aside, I just finished up watching a hill climb in Rangely. Nope, it wasn't in Rangeley. They pronounced it more or less the same.
I think you're being a bit too kind. However, we're kind of obligated to. We have kids who visit.
I gave the USMC eight years of my life. I can swear with the best of them. If we were on another forum, I'd give my take on the jackhole who did that.
There's no way he can pay to get all of that repaired. His insurance isn't going to cover that, at least not entirely. Firetrucks are expensive. The plumbing probably wasn't 'too bad', but the furnace would be expensive. They could probably get the plumbing fixed for free by some community member(s). The rest is going to cost real money.
Back in the day, drinking and driving was fairly socially acceptable. I would dream of doing it today. There is no point in my life where I'd do that (drunk or sober). I've done some stupid things in my life. There are times when I had quite an ego. Yet there's never been a point where I've been that assinine.
I hope the judge threw the proverbial book at him.
If I'm pulling a drunk person out of a ditch, I do one of two things. I either get their address and have them follow me home, or I follow them home. I've declined helping people who were not willing to cooperate or were just too hammered to make it the few miles home. If they want, I'll give them a ride home or let them find a sober driver to bring their vehicle home.
Also, I'll help you shovel and move snow, but it's up to you to hook up the kinetic rope to your vehicle.
Well, I'm sexist and ageist, I suppose. I've been known to hook up females and older people. I prefer they do so; that way, I'm not at fault.
And, of course, they're not all intoxicated. Only a small percentage are.
People may ask, "Why are you driving in the snow?!?"
Well, if we didn't drive in the snow, things wouldn't get done. We can't just shut down when it snows. People have to work, have to get supplies, have to go to appointments, etc... Sometimes we slow down quite a bit, but we never really shut down completely.
Some places -do- just shut down when it snows. It's easy to just think, "Sissies!", but no.
I visited Atlanta, GA once. They had an ice storm the day I left. Initially, I was amused but then I had to kind of feel bad for the folks that live there since they really don't have the infrastructure to deal with anything cold-weather-related.
Nah, I don't think of them as sissies. They don't have the snow removal equipment we have, nor are they used to dealing with any significant snow and ice.
A younger me happened to be somewhere on the Eastern Seaboard when there was a few inches of snow that had been followed by about a half inch of ice. That younger me was quite the hellion. In my defense, I was younger. I blatantly violated most of the rules of the road, even when there were cops who could see me. I did things like drift sideways around a rotary (roundabout) multiple times, slid sideways around corners, etc... I did slow down for intersections, giving myself enough room to stop if needed.
The police did nothing. I'm not sure that they had the ability to do anything. This was in the Crown Vic era, and they likely didn't have any experience driving in those conditions.
The more mature me wouldn't do such a thing. However, I was probably already too old to be engaging in such shenanigans. Still, it was a younger me.
OOO-rah!
In the Padawan stage, eh?
Yeah, Karma like that would have been fun to watch, I would have loved to see his face when they came for him. SHOCK!!!
When the first decent snow of the year arrives, I like to find a big empty parking lot and play in it a little with my car. It helps to refresh the skills and habits that may have gotten a little rusty over the summer and to get a good feel for how the car handles on a slippery surface - which may have changed since the previous winter due to such things as the tire wear. It only takes a few minutes and it makes for a safer winter. And it's fun.
