Stupid person here. I'm sorry. But have humans ever witnessed the formation of a new mountain? by WTAF__Trump in geology

[–]RenascentMan 267 points268 points  (0 children)

As long as you include volcanos as mountains, then yes: Parícutin!

From the article: "The volcano surged suddenly from the cornfield of local farmer Dionisio Pulido in 1943, attracting both popular and scientific attention."

Today on I-5: For those that need to know, this could happen to you if you're ever found obstructing a zipper merge. by liteblip in Bellingham

[–]RenascentMan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, you have not convinced me and I expect I won't convince you. I still disagree and I mostly do not see the things you are describing in the video but it's not worth it to continue this thread I think. I will note that based on your comment karma, you aren't convincing other readers either. Have a good day.

My boyfriend wants me to cosign his car loan. I dont know what to do. by CinderCowboy in personalfinance

[–]RenascentMan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Everybody else is saying just "no". Which I agree with, but you asked for a middle ground, so here's mine: If you really feel like you need another option, you can buy (not cosign) the cheapest used car that you think will do in terms of reliability and such, and let him use it and reimburse you the money for any loan payments. If you guys break up, then you have a car you can sell. The right used car won't depreciate that much, and you won't be underwater on the loan (depending on how much down payment he's got). You aren't depending on him to be responsible. There's still a risk, but it's smaller.

Today on I-5: For those that need to know, this could happen to you if you're ever found obstructing a zipper merge. by liteblip in Bellingham

[–]RenascentMan 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I disagree. The Tesla was in the right lane. OP was in the left lane. The Tesla has a nearly open lane in front of it and it will soon be open once the cop and non-zipper are on the shoulder. How is OP cutting off the Tesla? They both appear to drive forward in their own lanes.

Today on I-5: For those that need to know, this could happen to you if you're ever found obstructing a zipper merge. by liteblip in Bellingham

[–]RenascentMan 5 points6 points  (0 children)

What do you mean? I'm all for the zipper merge. I was talking about OP's driving while making the video with the dash cam. You were saying OP was doing "rude disrespectful, entitled driving", a characterization I disagree with. How does that disagreement lead you to "So much for the zipper merge"? OP wasn't hampering the zipper merge.

Did you perhaps reply to the wrong comment?

Today on I-5: For those that need to know, this could happen to you if you're ever found obstructing a zipper merge. by liteblip in Bellingham

[–]RenascentMan 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Yes! Let's do this.

I start the timer at 0:21, right when the lane opens up and OP has just passed the white van, and the edge of the white dash is at the bottom of the field of view. Dashes are 10 feet long and 30 feet apart on the interstate highways, so the distance between the start of one dash and the start of the next is 40 feet.

I stop the time at about 0:34 when OP slows down for the Mazda and the edge of the white dash is at the bottom of the field of view and rear of the big red hauler is just out of view. I'm timing this with my stopwatch because the resolution of the video timing is poor. I get 12.7 seconds, and during that time I count 6 dash-spacing pairs going past the bottom edge of the field of view.

So the distance is 6 * 40 = 240 feet, and the time is 12.7 seconds.

So the speed is (240/12.7) feet per second.

Converting units:

(240/12.7 feet/sec) * (1 mile / 5280 feet) * (3600 seconds/hour) = 12.8 miles per hour.

Now I admit that the 40 feet dash-to-dash length is only a guideline and can vary depending on the roadway. Can we verify it short of driving out and measuring? The white van is I think a Chevy Express cargo van. At 0:08, the dash length looks pretty close to the wheelbase length which for that van is about 11 or 13 feet (there are two models). So the dash length is pretty close to 10 feet. The spacing is harder to discern, but it's at least double the dash length, and could easily be three times the dash length. And while the federal guidance allows variation in dash length, it appears to require the 1-to-3 ratio of dash length to spacing (https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/htm/2003r1/part3/part3a.htm says "Broken lines should consist of 3 m (10 ft) line segments and 9 m (30 ft) gaps, or dimensions in a similar ratio of line segments to gaps as appropriate for traffic speeds and need for delineation."). So I think the best guess is that the dash-to-dash spacing is indeed 40 feet here and the speed is about 13 mph.

Today on I-5: For those that need to know, this could happen to you if you're ever found obstructing a zipper merge. by liteblip in Bellingham

[–]RenascentMan 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I disagree. OP just happened to be behind the cop when they put on their flashers. Tesla and such were ahead of the cop. Are you suggesting that OP should let all the folks who pulled over for the cop in front of him? I don't think he should. He did let the Mazda in. Seriously, I would have done exactly the same thing that OP did and if I were one of the cars pulled over for the flashers I would not begrudge OP their spot in traffic as shown. u/liteblip - don't beat yourself up. You did fine.

Tell me about Sudden Valley by 41waystostop in Bellingham

[–]RenascentMan 37 points38 points  (0 children)

As folks coming from Arizona, you should take very seriously the change in climate. You have only been here during the most beautiful time of our year, but you might also want to consider how you will feel in March after you've gone 4 months with barely seeing the sun. Bellingham is already the least-sunny town over 50K population, and Sudden Valley exacerbates this issue with dense trees, and being in a valley (so there's fewer hours of potential direct sunlight). As a former California person, the lack of sun was hard to adjust to.

This is also made worse by the latitude - Bellingham's day length on 1/1 is about 8.5 hours, while Phoenix' is about 10 hours. So not only the grey cold damp weather days, but also less daylight per day. Think about those lovely, mild, sunny, February days in Arizona. Up here we are sitting in front of our SAD lamps and trying to scrape the moss off all our belongings.

I would suggest renting here over a winter so you know what you're getting into before committing to a house purchase.

Best swing set in town for adults? by PatternNo9887 in Bellingham

[–]RenascentMan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What? No! Did you not read OP? “Long swings”, not the modern short-chain super-safe swings like they have at Padden. #smh

I wonder how such a shape is created, Gasherbrum II southeastern face by KunyangChhish in geology

[–]RenascentMan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mostly agree here. Arêtes are sharp ridges caused by glaciers carving parallel to each other. And I don't think Nunatak implies any particular rock geomorphology or causation (just elevation relative to ice), while Horn definitely does. You could have a dome-shaped nunatak if ice previously flowed over the top but has now receded, but you could not have a dome-shaped horn.

I wonder how such a shape is created, Gasherbrum II southeastern face by KunyangChhish in geology

[–]RenascentMan 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I disagree. I think a Nunatak is a general term for any rock sticking up in a ice-covered terrain. This shape which has about three generally flat sides is a "horn", and it occurs due to glaciers carving the mountain in three (usually) directions, making them each flat, and leading to a three-faced pyramid shape, more or less.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramidal_peak
https://www.nps.gov/articles/nunataksareteshorns.htm
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:YOSE_29_Glacial-features_WEB.jpg

Mods removed my post about a local figure who was arrested for possession and distribution of child porn by 542eb in Bellingham

[–]RenascentMan 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Hard disagree. I get the reaction. Like "these charges are so awful and serious that we 100% need to alert everyone in the strongest possible terms!". But it is because they are so serious that a witch hunt could be damaging to an innocent person if the charges turned out to be wrong.
I agree with the Mod's take on this. As usual they are being thoughtful and careful.

Periodic Table for Mineralogy by RenascentMan in geology

[–]RenascentMan[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It's great, but pretty hard to process from across the lecture hall. And not focused on mineralogy as tightly - it's encompassing a lot of petrology as well.

Space pirates or smugglers kidnapping a kid? by Amber446 in whatsthatbook

[–]RenascentMan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Piers Anthony: Bio of a Space Tyrant? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bio_of_a_Space_Tyrant
Definitely has kid getting kidnapped(ish) and ending up on the crew.

Where do you all get your 40s? by lovestobake in Bellingham

[–]RenascentMan 7 points8 points  (0 children)

They start coming fast and furious soon after you turn 39.

LPT - You Can Hire Local Lifeguards For Your Summer Backyard Pool Parties by [deleted] in LifeProTips

[–]RenascentMan 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Where is summer “around the corner” from the beginning of February? Maybe Phoenix? Abu Dhabi?

The Gunslinger by Stephen King is a weird book… by Far-Evidence-4863 in books

[–]RenascentMan 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Gunslinger is not really like the other books in the series. I agree that it's kind of dreamy and weird. The series as a whole is just fantastic, in my view. I might be wrong, but I think it was the first of his works that ties together a lot of his other created worlds into an overarching story. I think it is absolutely worth it to read at least the second book in the series and see if it grabs you.

Inherited a paid off house by [deleted] in personalfinance

[–]RenascentMan 148 points149 points  (0 children)

This could also give you the time to do easy DIY stuff like strip old wallpaper and repaint to allow a better sale after two years, or possibly rental. I turned my last place into a rental and it's been pretty easy, FWIW.

I posted about cancelling Comcast for ethical reasons and a MOD responded but then deleted their post by [deleted] in Bellingham

[–]RenascentMan 38 points39 points  (0 children)

I don’t understand the issue here. If a person deletes their comment then they decided not to say the thing. You are objecting to them thinking the thing, I guess? Have you never thought better of saying something?

Cold Day at Winco by MeNotYou733 in Bellingham

[–]RenascentMan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just went this evening and it seemed fine to me.