Northern New Jersey Snowblower Report

Posted on February 12, 2014 by grim

Open discussion about snow removal, mass transit, traffic, collapsed roofs, ice dams, broken pipes, snow drifts, end of the world.

I should have stayed in Key West.

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114 Responses to Northern New Jersey Snowblower Report

  1. anon (the good one) says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:03 am

    @MotherJones: USA! USA! RT @KateNocera: Debt ceiling passes. Dems cheering on the floor.

  2. grim says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:06 am

    Nom – does this thing have you getting 20+ inches?

  3. anon (the good one) says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:12 am

    @RoubiniGlobal: Join our conference call today on housing bubbles. Where are indicators flashing red? 1:30 EST.

  4. grim says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:15 am

    Housing bubble alarms? Canada. They make our bubble look like Mister Rogers Neighborhood. Imagine if our bubble had gone on for seven more years. I’m surprised we aren’t seeing a massive wave of retirees from Vancouver. Hell, Canada expats could probably singlehandedly recover the Florida market. If you thought the housing market rescued NJ boomers? Vancouver boomers can move to FL and live like KINGS in comparison. Shitholes in shit neighborhoods are commanding jaw dropping prices.

    Others? I’d say UK – but it’s London Metro that’s insane. Aussies as well.

  5. anon (the good one) says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:22 am

    @guardiannews: Bedroom tax: one in seven households ‘face eviction’ http://t.co/yW2dOM1gNG

    grim says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:15 am
    Housing bubble alarms?

  6. Street Justice says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:37 am

    Snow blowers and roof rakes in short supply around here…

  7. grim says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:54 am

    From the 3am report:

    … Winter Storm Warning in effect from midnight tonight to 6 am EST Friday…

    The National Weather Service in New York has issued a Winter Storm Warning for heavy snow… which is in effect from midnight tonight to 6 am EST Friday. The Winter Storm Watch is no longer in effect.

    * Locations… western Passaic… eastern Passaic… western Bergen… eastern Bergen… western Essex… eastern Essex… western Union… eastern Union.

    * Hazard types… snow.

    * Accumulations… 10 to 14 inches.

    * Winds… north 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.

    * Temperatures… in the upper 20s.

    * Visibilities… one quarter mile or less at times.

    * Timing… snow will develop late tonight and continue during the day Thursday before tapering off Thursday night. Some sleet may mix with the snow on Thursday.

    * Impacts… snowfall will make travel treacherous in addition… heavy… wet snow may cause some weak… flat roof structures to collapse and trees will be susceptible to falling.

  8. yome says:
    February 12, 2014 at 8:12 am

    Canada kills visa popular with Chinese

    A decades-old program that allowed scores of wealthy Chinese to move to Canada is ending

    http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/12/news/canada-chinese-immigration/index.html?iid=Lead

  9. Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:
    February 12, 2014 at 8:21 am

    [2] grim

    It was all over the place. Two days ago, it was 8-12. Last night, it was 1-3, wintry mix and still says that this morning. I have no fcuking idea what to expect, which was why I prepped by getting on the plow list with my guy, putting in the usual food supplies, and topping up my gas supply.

  10. Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:
    February 12, 2014 at 8:29 am

    [2] grim,

    Weather.com reporting confirmed that snow totals, and even what precip we get, depends on the track. Slight changes in the track can greatly affect the outcome. This is reminiscent of a storm I drove through three years ago that just buried the Conn. coast but if you went a few miles inland, nothing.

  11. Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:
    February 12, 2014 at 8:34 am

    Interesting development out of Canada:

    http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/12/news/canada-chinese-immigration/index.html?iid=Lead

    On its face, the decision doesn’t make sense unless you look at the politics. The country would want investors but Canada is attracting plenty of FDI so they don’t need to attract wealthy residents with visas. But at worst, the program is benign so why get rid of it? Because selling economic citizenship has been extremely unpopular in Canada. No politician wants to defend it and the disapproval cuts across party lines.

  12. Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:
    February 12, 2014 at 8:37 am

    [11] redux,

    On the tin foil hat side of the aisle, there may also well be an argument that Ottawa was getting pressure from the Chinese and other governments to curtail what it probably saw as opportunistic poaching of its wealthy citizens and a way to curb capital flight. This is a real concern for China and India.

  13. njescapee says:
    February 12, 2014 at 8:39 am

    My friends and colleagues in NJ hate me

  14. Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:
    February 12, 2014 at 8:45 am

    Got an email from the Superintendent of the school district.

    It closed with “Its time for me to get back to the weather graphics. Funny, I used to like purple and red . . . now-not so much.”

  15. Painhrtz - Disobey! says:
    February 12, 2014 at 9:06 am

    Escapee don’t worry tomorrow I’m going to hate you to.

    If it wasn’t for the kids we would be skiing instead of snowthrowing. finshed tuning up my snowblower last night.

  16. JJ says:
    February 12, 2014 at 9:20 am

    I will be at work on time Thursday and Friday bright and early. Now this is what always cracks me up. The middle aged men get up, shovel out driveway and clean off cars and come in from surburbs while the kids under 30 who live in apartments come in late.

    I find it funny, cuase I used to cover for my bosses when I lived in NYC. I lived in City would tell boss dont worry I will be at my desk at 8am or earlier if you need it and I will be here as late as you want. Come bonus or raise time it was well worth it.

  17. Richard says:
    February 12, 2014 at 9:22 am

    About global bubbles, the Indians and Chinese guys in our office now say they can’t afford a house back home, NY is much cheaper.

  18. Richard says:
    February 12, 2014 at 9:30 am

    Though NJ/NY is unique in the sky high property taxes. I’m sure we’d all be happy paying a few 100k extra if it meant you didn’t ever have to pay property tax.

  19. chicagofinance says:
    February 12, 2014 at 9:33 am

    Yeah on Feb 4 I was supposed to meet a friend….I have a driveway that is hell long and I live out with the deer and horses et al……the guy says …it may snow ….I said I don’t care….he started waffling……I said dude….you live a short walk to the Forest Hills subway stop……WTF are you kidding? His lives in a co-op in the Gardens……

    JJ says:
    February 12, 2014 at 9:20 am
    I will be at work on time Thursday and Friday bright and early. Now this is what always cracks me up. The middle aged men get up, shovel out driveway and clean off cars and come in from surburbs while the kids under 30 who live in apartments come in late.

    I find it funny, cuase I used to cover for my bosses when I lived in NYC. I lived in City would tell boss dont worry I will be at my desk at 8am or earlier if you need it and I will be here as late as you want. Come bonus or raise time it was well worth it.

  20. grim says:
    February 12, 2014 at 9:45 am

    My buddy from Hong Kong told me he would never be able to go back home, impossible. Selling his place near Princeton, which he owned outright, wouldn’t even begin to cover the price of a decent apartment. He said it might consider going back once his parents died – since they intended to leave the flat to the kids.

  21. JJ says:
    February 12, 2014 at 9:48 am

    I am trying to pay no property tax but the assessment dept keeps fighing me on it.

    Right now I am appeal my last tax grievance that I “won”. They knocked down my taxes only a slight bit. Lady seem pissed I am appealing a win. I was like look I know I could accept and do it next year but it is so little it is not worth it.

    I think it is a new scam. Let everyone win by a tiny bit then once they accept they cant re-grieve till next year. Rates can change each year so a small reduction in assessed value you can end up with higher taxes next year.

    18.Richard says:
    February 12, 2014 at 9:30 am
    Though NJ/NY is unique in the sky high property taxes. I’m sure we’d all be happy paying a few 100k extra if it meant you didn’t ever have to pay property tax.

  22. Painhrtz - Disobey! says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:03 am

    listening to the kids at work complain about coming in during the snow is hysterical. I do not 1 but 2 driveways and I’m here before they are. I get how do you do it. Easy get up at 5 am done by 7 showered by 730 and at my desk by 815.

    Response i never get up at 5am, but I have gone to bed at that time. mine me too difference was when it snowed I just stayed up and still made it to work. Pussies!

  23. A Home Buyer says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:16 am

    Nom – Previous thread

    You mentioned a whole house stand-by generator. Do not get taken by a salesman, or electrician, who will want to install a 15+ kW backup unit for the whole house.

    While technically speaking it would cover the WHOLE house, it assumes you will be using every device and every outlet in your house at the SAME time. It is the laziest way to size a generator (essentially assuming no load diversity) and costs you quite the premium. You will also need all the auxiliaries it requires (larger transfer switch, cables, etc).

    By all means if you have the cash to spare (or plan on doing it all at the same time) go for it, but sizing a generator for full house load, and then using a quarter of that load is not efficient or helpful for the generator or your pocketbook.

    A quality analysis of the generator needed would include a breakdown of every device you plan on running during the outage and its assumed time frame / duration for being used.

  24. Libturd at Home says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:26 am

    Just took a look at latest guidance and we are easily looking at 18 inches tomorrow. Question is, will the schools be closed on Friday too? We are already one snowday over not including tomorrow. Montclair is already two in and the town is out of salt.

  25. Juice Box says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:29 am

    re: Hong Kong

    Friends of mine just back from a three year stint there. Expat apartments are tiny and cost NY rates comparable to a loft in Soho. If it was not for multinational companies picking up the tab nobody would want to relocate there. The only real bonus is the cheap live in Nanny who will cook, clean and take care of your kids full time for peanuts so you can go out and party.

    Work hours are similar to a Japanese company, they expect you to work late every night and then go out partying.That grows tiresome as well.

  26. Street Justice says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:34 am

    I heard on the news the Fort Lee school system is considering having Saturday classes. The teachers and students probably aren’t happy about that.

    24.Libturd at Home says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:26 am
    Just took a look at latest guidance and we are easily looking at 18 inches tomorrow. Question is, will the schools be closed on Friday too? We are already one snowday over not including tomorrow. Montclair is already two in and the town is out of salt.

  27. Juice Box says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:40 am

    re # 20- Grim there is a massive amount of slums in Hong Kong, refugees mostly from China occupy apartments if you can call them that since they are many times the size of a cubicle. They spend most of their lives living in those cubicle apartments. Somewhere around a million people perhaps. If your friend is inheriting one of those cubicles in Hong Kong then he won’t be going back for sure.

    Another thing similar to Canada a few years ago Hong Kong stopped offering residency to foreigners who buy property. My friend instead has a family property in Macau across the bay, it is an hour boat ride.

  28. Ben says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:50 am

    I heard on the news the Fort Lee school system is considering having Saturday classes. The teachers and students probably aren’t happy about that.

    Not true. Teachers love it. About 25% of the students show up…and its a shortened day. Meanwhile, they don’t have to cancel their vacation plans on their spring break. In my district, the break is going to be cut down to 3 days at a minimum meaning a bunch of people had to cancel flights or reschedule. Problem is, you really can’t reschedule because another snow day makes you have to do it again after that.

    Realistically, no one would care if they had to come in on a Saturday. Besides, most teachers have to do grading over the weekend anyway. Might as well just make a half day out of it and get it over with.

  29. Painhrtz - Disobey! says:
    February 12, 2014 at 11:05 am

    Lib we got texts from town that they are just about out of salt and we should stay off the roads. Living in considerably hillier morris county I’m going to take that one seriously. 4 wheel drive or not the hill down teh street from my house has almost a 30 degree grade. If my snow board wasn’t at the cabin we would be able to board and ski down it as it is probably more challenging than some of the stuff at mountain creek.

  30. Ascent of the Robots says:
    February 12, 2014 at 11:09 am

    stu (24)-

    Surprised the Peoples’ Republic hasn’t commandeered their restaurants’ supply of Maldon sea salt “for the public good”.

    “Just took a look at latest guidance and we are easily looking at 18 inches tomorrow. Question is, will the schools be closed on Friday too? We are already one snowday over not including tomorrow. Montclair is already two in and the town is out of salt.”

  31. Ascent of the Robots says:
    February 12, 2014 at 11:11 am

    PRM could also break up ice dams in town by having the homies shoot them.

  32. Ascent of the Robots says:
    February 12, 2014 at 11:14 am

    How are people in Upper PRM supposed to make it through this? How will they get to Amanti?

  33. Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:
    February 12, 2014 at 11:15 am

    [23] buyer

    Thanks. I intend to do my homework on this and haven’t been seeking any solicitations. The electrician I was speaking to about it is someone I know personally so he F’s with me at his reputational risk. And my neighbor who had this done is one who would do his own homework and knows something about this; he purchased the unit himself and then hired his guy (whom he swears by) to install it.

  34. Ascent of the Robots says:
    February 12, 2014 at 11:15 am

    Note to self: cancel placenta encapsulator consultation tomorrow.

  35. Ascent of the Robots says:
    February 12, 2014 at 11:17 am

    Whatever happened to the days when you could build a decent fire in your living room?

  36. Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:
    February 12, 2014 at 11:25 am

    It’s still an infinitesmal number of our citizens, but the trend is still up as the 4th quarter sets yet another record.

    http://intltax.typepad.com/

    But it’s okay, we are replacing them with Chinese millionaires (except that Canada shut down its investor citizenship program because, in their words, it didn’t add any value).

  37. Ascent of the Robots says:
    February 12, 2014 at 11:29 am

    Wake me up when it’s time to leave the planet.

  38. Ascent of the Robots says:
    February 12, 2014 at 11:42 am

    Hmmm…

    “Ordinarily we would ignore the news of another banker’s death – after all these sad events happen all the time – if it wasn’t for several contextual aspects of this most recent passage. First, the death in question, as reported by the Stamford Daily Voice is that of Ryan Henry Crane, a Harvard graduate, who is survived by his wife, son and parents at the very young age of 37. Second, Ryan Henry Crane was formerly employed by JPMorgan – a bank which was featured prominently in the news as recently as two weeks ago when another of its London-based employees committed suicide by jumping from the top floor of its Canary Wharf building. Third: Crane was an Executive Director in JPM’s Global Program Trading desk, founded in 1999 by an ex-DE Shaw’er, a function of the firm which is instrumental to preserving JPM’s impeccable and (so far in 2013) flawless trading record of zero trading losses.”

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-12/another-jpmorgan-banker-dies-37-year-old-executive-director-program-trading

  39. Street Justice says:
    February 12, 2014 at 12:01 pm

    Ohio National Guard portrayed gun rights supporters as domestic terrorists during drill
    Published time: February 11, 2014 21:04

    http://rt.com/usa/ohio-nationalguard-gun-drill-590/

    Questions are being raised about the Ohio National Guard after internal documents revealed that the agency conducted a training drill last year in which Second Amendment advocates were portrayed as domestic terrorists.

    WSAZ News reported out of Portsmouth, Ohio early last year that a mock disaster had been staged in order to see first responders from Scioto County and the Ohio Army National Guard’s Fifty-Second Civil Support Unit would react to a make-believe scenario in which school officials plotted to use chemical, biological and radiological agents against members of the community.

    “It’s the reality of the world we live in,” Portsmouth Police Chief Bill Raisin told the network last January. “Don’t forget there is such a thing as domestic terrorism. This helps us all be prepared.”

    This week, though, the website MediaTrackers published documents pertaining to that drill, and with it they’ve raised concerns regarding how gun rights activists were depicted.

    Those documents, Jesse Hathaway wrote for MediaTrackers on Monday, “reveal the details of a mock disaster where Second Amendment supporters with ‘anti-government’ opinions were portrayed as domestic terrorists.”

    One of those documents referenced by Hathaway is an incident summary that appears to have been completed by the first responders who participated in last year’s exercise.

    According to that report, the first responders who handled the mock emergency took special note of what appeared in the classroom of a school that was searched during the exercise.

    “On the chalkboard as well as the tables there were several statements about protecting Gun Rights and Second Amendment rights,” the summary read.

    The summary also suggests that the first-responders took note of documents found inside the building pertaining to the school’s lunch schedule, as well as instructions and informational sheets on the poisonous compound ricin. Although it’s not referenced specifically in the incident summary report, the 38 pages of documents obtained by MediaTrackers also includes a 2011 article pertaining to gun control that’s on file alongside other evidence obtained from the school, including the name and phone number purportedly belonging to William Pierce, a now-deceased notorious neo-Nazi. MediaTrackers’ Hathaway says the documents that have been made public show that Pierce was portrayed during the trill as the “fiction right-wing terrorists’ leader.”

    When MediaTrackers approached the Scioto County Emergency Management Agency director Kim Carver about the documents, though, she said she was “not going to get into an Ohio Army National Guard issue that you have with them.”

    Ohio National Guard Communications Director James Sims II, MediaTrackers claims, told the website that it was “not relevant” as to why conservatives may feel targeted by being portrayed as anti-government extremists.

    “Okay, I’m gonna stop ya there. I’m going to quit this conversation,” Sims told the site when reached for comment. “You have a good day.”

    Those who did agree to speak to MediaTrackers, however, had much more to say.

    “The revelation of this information is appalling to me, and to all citizens of Ohio who are true conservatives and patriots, who don’t have guns for any other reason than that the Second Amendment gives them that right,” Portage County TEA Party Executive Director Tom Zawistowski told the website.

    “[I]t is a scary day indeed when law enforcement are being trained that Second Amendment advocates are the enemy,” added Buckeye Firearms Association spokesman Chad Baus.

  40. chicagofinance says:
    February 12, 2014 at 12:05 pm

    At first I thought this was another spambot, although with a impeccable feel for these threads…..then I realized that clot was again hitting the bottle hard in the AM…….I wonder when his liver will appear like a severely freezer burned steak…..

    Ascent of the Robots says:
    February 12, 2014 at 11:29 am
    Wake me up when it’s time to leave the planet.

  41. Street Justice says:
    February 12, 2014 at 12:05 pm

    Interesting that a law passed in 2013 in NJ declares people on the “terrorist watchlist” unable to purchase firearms.

  42. JJ says:
    February 12, 2014 at 12:28 pm

    Catch 22 is buying a firearm is nutso in iteself

    treet Justice says:
    February 12, 2014 at 12:05 pm
    Interesting that a law passed in 2013 in NJ declares people on the “terrorist watchlist” unable to purchase firearms.

  43. joyce says:
    February 12, 2014 at 12:42 pm

    Are the cops, private security, JTTF, entire security apparatus around Wall Street… oh almost forgot, guards at the NY FED all armed or unarmed?

    JJ says:
    February 12, 2014 at 12:28 pm
    Catch 22 is buying a firearm is nutso in iteself

    treet Justice says:
    February 12, 2014 at 12:05 pm
    Interesting that a law passed in 2013 in NJ declares people on the “terrorist watchlist” unable to purchase firearms.

  44. Nicholas says:
    February 12, 2014 at 1:18 pm

    “but sizing a generator for full house load, and then using a quarter of that load is not efficient or helpful for the generator or your pocketbook. ”

    I read this and it makes me cringe a little because I’m an electrical engineer.

    I noticed how you indicated that an electrician will size your generator for the maximum possible load that could be pulled from your house and then recommend/require a generator that could handle that entire load.

    There are safety devices to keep individual circuits from pulling too much power. This keep the wires from heating up and melting the insulation and eventually shorting/grounding to the house and causing fires. There is a house main that keeps you from pulling too much power from the electric company and equally destructive things will happen if it wasn’t in place. These sequence of protection schemes are build around the idea that the power company has unlimited power and only wants to give you “some” of that power.

    Lets now connect a generator that doesn’t have unlimited power. In fact, it is severely limited in power compared to your potential power usage. The problem then becomes that you pull too much power from a limited source. None of your protection schemes that are currently in place will work. Pulling too much power from a generator has the potential to do some serious damage not just to the generator but to every motor that is downstream. The main reason is that in order for the generator to continue to provide that much current the voltage has to decrease. A drop in voltage can be devastating to motors and electronics. Washer, dryer, furnace, air conditioner, etc.. have the potential to burn out and would need to be repaired. Generators that are overloaded often can’t maintain a 60Hz AC current system and it could fluctuate wildly which would cause problems for DC rectifiers. This would cause problems for all modern electronics.

    You may be aware of the undersized generator and know and accept its limitations but anyone else that is using it will not understand the hazards.

    If you are not interested in powering your whole house then specifically size it for only certain circuits in your home.

    Don’t be foolish on this issue.

  45. yome says:
    February 12, 2014 at 1:21 pm

    How did AOL leave itself exposed to million-dollar baby bills? It has also unearthed a potentially growing problem in corporate America. Amid rising medical costs, more and more companies may be taking on too much health care risk.

    What that means is that AOL didn’t actually purchase any insurance to cover the health costs of 95% of its employees.
    As odd as that sounds, AOL has plenty of company. These days, health insurance consultants regularly tell companies with over 500 employees not to buy health insurance. It’s a waste of money. Instead, collect the payments that your employees would have paid an insurer. Then hire a big health insurance company to handle the paperwork. Voila, it looks like you are providing your employees health insurance, but you haven’t purchased any coverage.

    http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2014/02/12/aol-distressed-babies-insurance/?iid=Lead

  46. Nicholas says:
    February 12, 2014 at 1:24 pm

    Common myth about standby power generators is that you don’t need a larger one if all the loads are not concurrently running in your home.

    http://www.readysource.com/perfect_generator.htm

    The recommendation that you buy something 10-20% larger than you think you will need is to make sure that you stay in the safe operating range for the generator. You won’t see too far of a drift from 60 Hz or a collapse in voltage.

  47. Street Justice says:
    February 12, 2014 at 1:26 pm

    Therefore, 47% of Americans are nutso.

    42.JJ says:
    February 12, 2014 at 12:28 pm
    Catch 22 is buying a firearm is nutso in iteself

  48. Street Justice says:
    February 12, 2014 at 1:29 pm

    At least in the UK they took the guns away from most of the cops too. So now everyone there can stand around, piss their pants and watch as terrorists saw off a citizens head in public (while they wait around for guys with guns to arrive).

    43.joyce says:
    February 12, 2014 at 12:42 pm
    Are the cops, private security, JTTF, entire security apparatus around Wall Street… oh almost forgot, guards at the NY FED all armed or unarmed?

  49. joyce says:
    February 12, 2014 at 1:30 pm

    45
    Yome,

    I only read your blurb not the article but it sounds like the author doesn’t know anything about corporations self insuring OR aol did a piss poor job of it.

  50. Libturd at Home says:
    February 12, 2014 at 1:36 pm

    Yome…my company is self insured and used BCBS to negotiate rates and handle the paperwork. We have closer to 5K employees.

  51. 1987 Condo says:
    February 12, 2014 at 1:39 pm

    #45…you can self fund (insure) but you should have a stop loss in place…

  52. yome says:
    February 12, 2014 at 1:47 pm

    From the article AOL has a 1 million dollar stop loss which is too high.More common is $250,000 stop loss.
    Joyce,AOL did a piss poor job at it.

  53. Juice Box says:
    February 12, 2014 at 1:58 pm

    AOL still exists?

  54. Libturd in the City says:
    February 12, 2014 at 2:23 pm

    Juice…good one.

  55. Juice Box says:
    February 12, 2014 at 2:49 pm

    Imagine telling the kids in the future about what it was like when pot was still illegal?

    http://blumenauer.house.gov/images/stories/2014/02-12-14%20Blumenauer%20Rescheduling%20Letter.pdf

  56. joyce says:
    February 12, 2014 at 2:50 pm

    55

    Honorable, pff

  57. NJGator says:
    February 12, 2014 at 2:52 pm

    Yome 45 – AOL could have had a reinsurance policy to hedge against large claims. I’m guessing that most companies that self-insure (including mine) likely do.

    The $2M in distressed baby medical bills is way still less than the $12M they decided to pay their CEO.

    http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2014/02/tim-armstrong-aol-whose-distressed-baby-is-it.html?utm_source=tny&utm_campaign=generalsocial&utm_medium=facebook&mbid=social_facebook&mobify=0

  58. Michael says:
    February 12, 2014 at 3:05 pm

    On the topic of the storm, I believe salting is the biggest waste of money by govt. It destroys the environment, cars, and roads. It’s taking a valuable resource and simply wasting it for no other reason whatsoever besides people need to get to work. People should just sit in their house when it snows. It’s ok to miss a day of business or work. People need to relax and not take life so seriously, you are never going to make it out alive. Recommend reading a book titled, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and it’s all small stuff. World could be a much better place if people slowed down and enjoyed life instead of racing to make a fortune that you can’t take with you when you die.

    Seriously feel bad for the scrooge’s out there. They all die extremely wealthy, never living a day in their life. They basically go through life working and saving money. They are so boring, they don’t do anything. They basically live the same life as someone in jail. Sad part, if they could only open their mind, and realize they are not going to live forever, they could use that money they saved, to build a good life, instead of building a life of prison. Huh, prison? Yes, their obsession with saving has turned their life into a prison. Everything costs too much to do. Can’t waste money. I need to save and save and save. Every aspect of their life revolves around saving. For what? I don’t know. Think about this…..I don’t spend money, so what is the point of saving so much of it. You don’t need it…lol

    I will never ever understand this disease.

  59. A Home Buyer says:
    February 12, 2014 at 3:08 pm

    44 – Nicholas,

    Valid point and I do make the assumption that he will manage his load to ensure he doesn’t exceed the sizing the generator was based on. After all, that is what you need to do when you hook up for 5 kW through a suicide cord and back feed through a dryer breaker or something along those lines.

    Call it a difference in professional opinion, but the typical person I deal with struggles with cost deltas of a few hundred dollars. The price between a 20 – 30 kW generator to supply all loads versus a 8-10 kw to cover a normal day’s basic operations (with customer load management) is where I base my opinion from.

    But thank you for sanity checking me, and I have no disagreement with what you say.

  60. yome says:
    February 12, 2014 at 3:11 pm

    What is concerning about the article is more and more companies going without stop loss insurance

    “Anecdotally, consultants say, despite rising health care costs, more and more companies like AOL are opting to go without stop-loss insurance. This seems not too different from the subprime mortgage bonds that banks constructed in the run-up to the financial crisis. Bankers thought they had diversified their risk by packaging together thousands of home loans. But when housing prices fell, many of those borrowers defaulted all at once. In the same way, AOL has a relatively young workforce. That may be why it decided to take its ill-advised insurance bet.

    But overall, the workforce is aging, and women are having babies later than they used to, leading to an increase in maternity costs. Cook, the consultant, said that million-dollar claims are becoming increasingly common. The financial crisis forced banks to deal with their long-tail risks, or at least it got regulators and others to wake up to them. The rest of corporate America may still be asleep.

    Anecdotally, consultants say, despite rising health care costs, more and more companies like AOL are opting to go without stop-loss insurance. This seems not too different from the subprime mortgage bonds that banks constructed in the run-up to the financial crisis. Bankers thought they had diversified their risk by packaging together thousands of home loans. But when housing prices fell, many of those borrowers defaulted all at once. In the same way, AOL has a relatively young workforce. That may be why it decided to take its ill-advised insurance bet.

    But overall, the workforce is aging, and women are having babies later than they used to, leading to an increase in maternity costs. Cook, the consultant, said that million-dollar claims are becoming increasingly common. The financial crisis forced banks to deal with their long-tail risks, or at least it got regulators and others to wake up to them. The rest of corporate America may still be asleep.

  61. Michael says:
    February 12, 2014 at 3:12 pm

    55- I hope they legalize it. War on drugs is the biggest waste of money I have ever seen. It doesn’t solve anything. You guys complain about paying welfare. How about paying the damn bill for jailing someone for drugs. That’s insane. You are paying at least 40,000 to house this guy in jail. Why? That’s worst than welfare imo. Esp now that this person will be a negative cost on society after they get out of jail since they can’t get a job due to being in jail. Then this person is stuck on welfare for life. So over a little pot, society ends up having to pay to support someone for life. It DOES NOT MAKE SENSE.

    DEA? You could eliminate this division asap. Only thing that would be a major problem, dealing with the ghetto that just lost it’s most lucrative income.

  62. Street Justice says:
    February 12, 2014 at 3:23 pm

    They don’t use salt in California. Their snow removal sucks.

    58.Michael says:
    February 12, 2014 at 3:05 pm
    On the topic of the storm, I believe salting is the biggest waste of money by govt. It destroys the environment, cars, and roads. It’s taking a valuable resource and simply wasting it for no other reason whatsoever besides people need to get to work

  63. grim says:
    February 12, 2014 at 3:30 pm

    61 – Completely agree. War on drugs has everything to do with maintaining law enforcement empires.

  64. Pete says:
    February 12, 2014 at 3:31 pm

    Michael @ 3:05 PM

    “On the topic of the storm, I believe salting is the biggest waste of money by govt”

    Michael 7 minutes later,

    “War on drugs is the biggest waste of money I have ever seen.”

  65. xolepa says:
    February 12, 2014 at 3:32 pm

    My company is self insured. They have to be. 20K+ US employees.One good thing about being self-insured is that if you have an insurance payment issue, your buddy in HR/Benefits can help resolve it. E.G., several years ago, my wife had to undergo major spine surgery. She’s OK now. The surgeons bill alone was $35K+ for 1 1/2 hrs worth of work. Surgeons were paid in full. Our out of pocket was less than a couple hundred.

    With O’Care, that ain’t happening anymore.

  66. joyce says:
    February 12, 2014 at 3:33 pm

    Pete,
    I’m laughing so hard, I noticed the same thing… I was wondering if the bi-polar guy would notice his genius.

  67. Painhrtz - Disobey! says:
    February 12, 2014 at 3:39 pm

    street same thing in colorado

    Mikey you do realize it is pretty easy to make salt right? Not so sure about the whole prescious resource thing.

    didn’t you say that you were wealthy, well of course you could sit on your a$$ and do what ever you wan,t but for the rest of us to try and achieve a better lives for our children and ourselves we work hard.

    War on drugs comment smartest thing you ever said to bad democrats have been just as bad a republicans in perpetuating this failed policy.

  68. Anon E. Moose says:
    February 12, 2014 at 3:39 pm

    Sid Caesar < Abe Vigoda

  69. Anon E. Moose says:
    February 12, 2014 at 3:45 pm

    Juice [55];

    Bebo is in Congress?!? (p. 3)

  70. JJ says:
    February 12, 2014 at 3:48 pm

    Derek Jeter < Abe Vigoda

    Jeter just announced he is retiring after the 2014 season

  71. Painhrtz - Disobey! says:
    February 12, 2014 at 3:59 pm

    JJ and I can finally go back to hating everything about the yankees.

  72. Fast Eddie says:
    February 12, 2014 at 4:12 pm

    Sid Caesar was a very talented man. I remember just a few years ago, he accepted an award at either the Emmys or Oscars and he began his speech speaking German, then Italian and ended it speaking French. The crowd loved it and it was funny as he11. The mannerisms and expressions were hilarious! All those guys from the Golden Age of TV and movies were great! Take a look on Youtube at some of the Dean Martin roasts, really good stuff.

  73. Michael says:
    February 12, 2014 at 4:52 pm

    Lol I was just trying to make a pt. I don’t know what program is the biggest waste of tax payer money, nor do I think anyone does. I just was trying to make a pt that these two policies are a waste of money.

    Paying for tons of salt to throw down on something that melts the next day is a sin (most of the time it melts next day). Paying for the cost of vehicles and their upkeep, along with paying the workers, to destroy our roads is sick. Can only imagine how much it costs to clear snow when accounting for the damage to the roads and vehicles on top of the other costs stated.

    “Pete,
    I’m laughing so hard, I noticed the same thing… I was wondering if the bi-polar guy would notice his genius.”

  74. JJ says:
    February 12, 2014 at 4:54 pm

    Chicken Stanley was a better short stop

    71.Painhrtz – Disobey! says:
    February 12, 2014 at 3:59 pm
    JJ and I can finally go back to hating everything about the yankees.

  75. Michael says:
    February 12, 2014 at 5:05 pm

    73- should just call it a snow day for everyone and past the savings onto taxpayers by lowering their taxes to make up for the missed work day.

    Lol Ending the war on drugs and legalizing snow days could end this debt debate. The elimination of these programs will save so much money. Combine those savings with the increase in tax revenue from taxing the druggies, and you have yourself a govt that is not crying about debt. About time that the cost of druggies gets passed onto themselves, instead of the rest of society footing the bill.

    You have to admit that is a pretty funny idea. Wonder if it would actually work?

  76. cobbler says:
    February 12, 2014 at 6:09 pm

    Michael,
    Roads being damaged by the winter effects is more a function of corruption in process of their construction than of the use of salt. States and countries with comparable climates have vastly different road damage in winter; needless to say that NJ is on the bad side.
    An alternative to salt or brine is to sand the road. The problem here is that most of the sand eventually ends up in the storm sewers which are not designed to handle such loads of heavy solids; finer sand particles make the highway very dusty for weeks and months, and contribute to air pollution.
    Obvious way out is not to clean the roads in winter at all – you can use sleighs, snowmobiles, etc. when it is snowy. This had been actually demonstrated in Yellowstone NP. You can informally poll people around regarding this approach, I am sure many will agree with it, especially if an all-winter recess typical for the peasant society of old, is codified.

  77. Comrade Nom Deplume, back as Captain Justice says:
    February 12, 2014 at 6:27 pm

    Latest information on the storm is that it will hit my area tonight and leave 4 to 6 inches before turning to a wintry mix and leaving another one to 3 inches tomorrow.

    Schools have already been canceled for tomorrow so I am expecting another long slog.

    Time to bring in the firewood and hunker down. Stay warm everybody.

  78. Ragnar says:
    February 12, 2014 at 6:45 pm

    Agreed on drug legalization. Make it cheaper for people intent on destroying their brains to achieve their end. But I’d like to pair this with the end of wealth transfer programs that requires me to fund their self-destructive lifestyles.

  79. Ragnar says:
    February 12, 2014 at 6:51 pm

    Just as I suspected, cobbler is in favor of the codification of a “peasant society”.
    I think in some places they leave a layer of snow on the road and mandate the use of snow tires or chains.
    My wife has Blizzaks, I have Pirelli sotozeros. So we manage. I think the blizzaks are better on snow-covered roads.

  80. xmonger says:
    February 12, 2014 at 6:55 pm

    F this weather. I used to love the snow. I used to drive hours to get to it.

    Now I think TX is in my future as soon as the kid finishes up Holmdel High. Hopefully there will be a greater fool waiting to bail me out of my tax liabilities when the time comes.

  81. Michael says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:02 pm

    76- Interesting info. Always thought salt was to blame. Any details into how corruption is to blame for the terrible quality of our roads?

  82. Street Justice says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:02 pm

    NRA gets behind NJ man’s lawsuit challenging state’s gun carry restrictions, group says

    http://www.nj.com/sussex-county/index.ssf/2014/02/nra_challenging_njs_2nd_amendment_stance_in_lawsuit_group_says.html

    FREDON — The National Rifle Association is supporting a Sussex County man’s lawsuit seeking a permit to carry his handgun outside of his house, the organization announced this week.

    The national lobbying group said it was backing John Drake’s lawsuit with a forthcoming amicus brief, in support of Second-Amendment rights in New Jersey, the organization said. Drake, and other plaintiffs involved in the lawsuit, petitioned last month to have their case heard in the U.S. Supreme Court.

    “Law-abiding citizens have a constitutional right to defend themselve beyond their front doorstep,” said Chris W. Cox, the executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action.

    Drake, of Fredon, is a business owner who owns and services ATMs – and who carries large amounts of cash, he said in an interview this morning. The suit challenges New Jersey law requiring “justifiable need” to acquire concealed-carry permits, he said.

    “It seems unreasonable to me to have to wait until you’re beaten up or shot at to get a permit,” Drake said.

    The lawsuit was initially filed in 2010 by Jeffrey Muller, a Newton pet-store owner who was beaten and kidnapped in a bizarre case of apparent mistaken identity.

    Muller was subsequently issued a permit in 2011, and withdrew from the case, which underwent several name changes as plaintiffs and defendants changed, even as the argument has remained the same.

    Also joining the suit is the New Jersey Second Amendment Foundation and the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, Drake said.

    Cox, the NRA official, said it would file an amicus brief on behalf of Drake. The group is challenging New Jersey’s legal stance on the Second Amendment, Cox added.

    “New Jersey law unconstitutionally forces lawful gun owners to prove ‘justifiable need’ in order to carry a handgun for self-defense, showing specific threats, or prior attacks. This is absurd,” Cox said. “Our fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms is not limited to the home.”

    Bryan Miller, the executive director of Heeding God’s Call, a faith-based gun-control group, said he wasn’t concerned with the U.S. Supreme Court changing the Garden State gun laws.

    “We’re not concerned – this suit is doomed from the start, based on recent Supreme Court rulings,” Miller said this afternoon. “We’re happy to have the NRA waste their money on this.”

    A separate lawsuit filed by a Manalapan businessman filed last year is still awaiting oral argument before the state Supreme Court, said the man’s attorney, Evan Nappen. It will be the first time in nearly a half-century that the state has revisited its own gun-control laws, the lawyer said.

    “It’s going to be interesting to see how New Jersey weighs in for the first time in 45 years,” Nappen said.

    New Jersey’s highest court ruled in 1968 that only citizen militias – and not individuals – have Second-Amendment rights in the state.

  83. xmonger says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:08 pm

    When I get to TX I am going to mount a .50 cal on the Jeep.

    #82 “New Jersey’s highest court ruled in 1968 that only citizen militias – and not individuals – have Second-Amendment rights in the state.”

  84. cobbler says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:09 pm

    rags[79]
    Do you seriously believe I meant it?

    You can leave layer of snow on the road if it doesn’t thaw all winter long (like North Dakota) – otherwise you get icy bumps all over.

  85. Ragnar says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:18 pm

    Sure. Welfare peasants.

  86. Scrapple n'Ricin says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:22 pm

    street (82)-

    …and gun-runners, skells, drug dealers, gangbangers and other assorted jetsam and flotsam from NJ’s urban dead zones.

    “New Jersey’s highest court ruled in 1968 that only citizen militias – and not individuals – have Second-Amendment rights in the state.”

  87. Ascent of the Robots says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:24 pm

    I’m fine with NJ’s current gun laws…as long as we can amend the criminal code to allow for summary trials and immediate public executions of anyone who commits a crime with a gun.

  88. Ascent of the Robots says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:27 pm

    And I mean executions on TV, in prime time. Ceaucesu-style.

  89. Ascent of the Robots says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:29 pm

    Basically, NJ declared war on the majority of its law-abiding, taxpaying citizens in 1968, then proceeded to empower the criminal element in order to both form a voting bloc and terrorize average citizens.

    And, we stand for this.

    Baaah.

  90. Ascent of the Robots says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:30 pm

    All of a sudden, stripping criminals and feeding them to packs of starved dogs seems perfectly reasonable.

  91. joyce says:
    February 12, 2014 at 7:40 pm

    Can I join Hobo with a shotgun’s citizen militia? According to NJ’s court, we can carry…. though we might have the feds to deal with.

  92. goettl says:
    February 12, 2014 at 8:11 pm

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  93. Street Justice says:
    February 12, 2014 at 8:22 pm

    Many of the gun control laws were passed at the height if the civil rights movement. I get the feeling that many of them actually were conceived out of racist fears that blacks would exercise their second amendment right.

    http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LcrIClrGs1M&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DLcrIClrGs1M

  94. Juice Box says:
    February 12, 2014 at 9:44 pm

    They handle snow well in North Carolina with just a nice smooth coating of snow right cobbler?

    http://tinyurl.com/mtphf7p

  95. joyce says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:00 pm

    93
    Let’s say that’s true… just shows the jury system needs to be re emphasized to lower the chance one person(s) can impose their desire and make it harder to corrupt said one person by outside influences. our system(s) of govt might have once, or still may be, the best ever but are still a joke.

  96. cobbler says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:03 pm

    Juice [94]
    There is no one in sight on a snowmobile which had been my suggestion, as an alternative to a sleigh. Ragnar thinks if there is some shoulder available he can ride around the whole mess on his expensive snow tires.

  97. joyce says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:07 pm

    But! heaven forbid we allow jury trials (option for such) for everything it would get in the way of the revenue collection / prison industrial complex / churn them in & out system(s) we have now. I mean, christ, there’s $$$ at stake.

  98. joyce says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:09 pm

    I don’t usually agree with cobbler but the initial comment was clearly TIC

  99. cobbler says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:10 pm

    michael [81]
    Corruption causes subpar construction quality: you always get better results if for a fixed amount of money you have to buy just labor and materials, rather than labor, union bosses, materials, government officials and higher profit margin for yourself. Nobody knows what is under the blacktop until several years after the project is completed, right?

  101. Juice Box says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:36 pm

    just poking fun…cobbler is usually MIA…

  102. Ascent of the Robots says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:39 pm

    Ready for terminal snow event. We can’t deal with it any worse than those pea-brains down south.

  103. Juice Box says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:45 pm

    re #100 – Vive La France with their new tax rates? Where to hide?

    From what I know ” do not want American account holders. ” is laughable.
    There never has been and never will be shortages of tax havens and ways to hide wealth.

    That said I hope to be rich someday…I won’t however die trying so I purchased a Powerball ticket tonight…

  104. cobbler says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:47 pm

    juice [101]
    Posting tonight allows [while sitting in the hotel room in Houston] to avoid thinking of what my wife is going to throw at me when I get back on Friday night.

  105. Street Justice says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:51 pm

    The true duty of a jury….

    http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=c4-feed-u&v=l7nqdV7wV2k

    No victim…no crime

    joyce says:
    February 12, 2014 at 10:00 pm
    93
    Let’s say that’s true… just shows the jury system needs to be re emphasized to lower the chance one person(s) can impose their desire and make it harder to corrupt said one person by outside influences. our system(s) of govt might have once, or still may be, the best ever but are still a joke.

  106. joyce says:
    February 12, 2014 at 11:26 pm

    Shore Guy… how’s the OBX treating you?

  107. Ragnar says:
    February 13, 2014 at 8:47 am

    Privatized toll roads. They would have a market incentive to avoid overpaying for shoddy repairs.

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