This ain't Hatteras! The View from our 25th story hotel room! My ears popped on exiting the elevator...It was an all out affair, so I did some self grooming, and put on a tuxedo for the first time in almost a decade! We had a blast, dining, dancing, and generally partying it up for a few days with some buddies from the good ol' days! It was a really fun weekend!
All Cleaned Up, and ready to rock and roll!While driving home, Anne and I noticed these huge ugly wind mills on a hill top. I can't believe how much they disrupted the otherwise pristine view. Doesn't whoever put them up know that there's probably at least a few weeks worth of coal underneath that mountain? If they were to cut that hill top wide open and pull out all the natural resources, the local kids would end up with a sweet swimming hole to cliff jump into.
Sometimes sarcasm is hard to infer in print form, so I'll just go ahead and tell ya: The last paragraph was meant to be sarcastic. I actually enjoy seeing wind farms. I think they're a relatively clean, low impact energy source. Concerning the manipulation of the landscape "argument", well, I think they're majestic looking. I'd much rather see a wind farm than a huge steam cloud pouring out of a monstrous nuclear reactor, or smoke puffing out of a coal or wood powered energy plant. Seriously, smoke and steam are visible from dozens of miles away, even over the horizon from the original source. Wind farms, on the other hand, well, you pretty much have to squint to see a windmill from more than 2 miles away, even on a clear day...
Anyway, Pete DeKay nailed it perfectly with his Summer 2008 Windsport editorial. The first sentence reads: "Don't you love it when your best friend schedules his wedding for "Big Saturday," the windiest day of the summer?" I'm sure you've all seen the local Hatteras coverage of Tropical Storm Hanna, but if you haven't, check out Bill and George's reports. Looks like I missed a pretty sweet Cove day, some high wind Canadian Hole blasting, and a meaty Lifeguard Beach session... So, if you were here and caught it, I'm currently accepting Thank You notes for being the official Tropical Storm Hanna Hatteras Wind Sacrifice...
11 comments:
seeing as to how you were so instrumental to the process of getting me to rotate, I wont take any cheap shots...........
You should have stopped by Saratoga on your way to Rochester. We had SW 20-25 with gusts to 30 on Friday. I sure someone would have loaned you some gear. But sunday was beautiful wasn't it?
Nice tux Andy. And I felt guilty putting you in a tie in Jamaica...
Rochester...that is a hike from Hatteras!
Loved the bit about the windmills.
Nice tux.
I guess for this wedding getting into your penguin suit did not mean climbing into your hooded 6.5.4. I don't know how comfortable it would have been on the dance floor anyways.
All memorable windy days always need a lamb for the gods - thanks for being a team player.
Thank you for making the sacrifice for all of us. It was a fun couple of days. I won't say you missed it because you'll make up for it eventually.
-james
Andy -- I almost was ready to rage out with a comment about wind power before I read the 2nd paragraph. I think windmills are actually beautiful. They look like progress to me. I feel sorry for all those people who seem to think they are ugly. I hope they enjoy the air-quality and health problems that they have coming their way...
Cheers!
Thanks for not rubbing it in too hard, everyone! Barely a "you missed it" even mentioned! And thanks for the Tux compliments, I don't even wear pants all that often, so putting on a tux felt a little weird!
VS- I took the Western route, so Saratoga was WELL out of my way on an already way too long road trip! And yes, the weekend was beautiful up there!
Jim- I had to wear shoes, too!! Can you believe it??
Lucky you had a wedding, the ocean was little rough for your Rookie season in the waves. Keep at it and we'll save you a spot in the line up the next time it gets big. Unless of course they decide to plant windmills out in the surfbreak.
the boys
I would think that the offshore drilling that "they" are talking about would be a more pressing issue to any ocean lover than the possibility of a windfarm out in the middle of the sound somewhere...
By the way, "The boys" is a very suitable way to sign such a juvenile comment. Weird though that it's coming from someone who's probably WAY older than I am...
You look reeel perdy in a tux and windmills look perdy too, especially when they are actually rotating. But they just don't cut it as a source of power. You can float them on coal or nuclear powered grids and they'll save some nuclear fuel consumption or coal combustion. That's all good. But get your flashlights and Coleman stoves ready if you want to power the US with them!
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