A few thoughts at the end of 2022

 "If you gaze long enough into the abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." - Friedrich Neitzsche

I've always loved that quote.  It's neither a stoic quote nor an astute observation about human nature, but from a psychological standpoint, it seems likely.  

Driving has been absolutely sketchy lately.  About 6 inches of fluffy snow fell whilst I was working several shifts, and I left it on the driveway until I had a day off to plow.  In the meantime the weather warmed up significantly, and we've had several days above freezing, with rain.  The snow on the driveway turned to four inches of slop, like you might get with a slushy.  Leaving for work was really difficult, as the car wouldn't track where I was turning it.  I bounced off a couple of snow drifts - harmlessly, at very low speed in the driveway - before getting out to the road.  

Once on the road, I had a massive wobble, probably due to the snow packing itself inside the rims and causing an imbalance.  It took several miles at reasonably high speed before the snow either melted off or flung itself out of the wheels.

Getting back in after that night shift required judicious use of steering and throttle to keep the vehicle moving, so as not to get stuck, but also small steering inputs to make sure the car actually turned somewhat.  Big steering inputs the car simply ignored, and kept going in a straight line even with the wheels turned hard.  It was a challenge to get into the garage without scuffing the car that was already parked inside or the door frame.

I ended up plowing the driveway immediately after work that morning, which was also challenging.  The snow was so dense that after a few tens of feet, the truck would come to a halt and spin the tires against the heavy pile of snow the plow had picked up.  Eventually I had to make a run at the pile and ram it.  It scattered all over into giant wet boulders, which I was then able to push into the snowbank.  The driveway is getting narrower and narrower this winter.  It's a bit concerning.

On the highways things have also been difficult.  The ground is still frozen, but we've had rain and fog, so each morning there has been a thin coating of ice on the roads.  You can feel the car gently moving off course as all four wheels lose traction - you just have to stay off cruise control and make very fine movements with the steering wheel to correct course.  It's a bit alarming when it happens at 70 MPH, and it's really weird being able to stomp the gas at 70 MPH and spin up the tires, but that's what we have going on for traction right now.

Other cool stuff...

Asteroid Launcher:  Select the size of your asteroid, its incoming speed, angle of attack.  Pick a point on the map and see what happens.  I did a very brief post on this topic a while back.  A bit scary, really.

 Absolutely stunning video of a beautiful Lockheed L-1079 Super Constellation taking off.  A gorgeous design with three vertical stabilizers.  It looks amazing with the flaming exhaust out of the two-row Wright R-3350 Radial engines.  Even knowing this is normal behavior at full throttle, I'd probably find it alarming as a passenger :)

Posting may be intermittent for a bit, so I'll just wish visitors an early Happy New Year at this time.