Another Climate Record Falls

A few rain showers overnight pushed us over the top — 2011 is now officially the rainiest year ever in Cincinnati. We’ve had 58.37 inches, far above the annual average of 42 inches — and we’ve still got a couple months to go.

Kinda soggy

Read the Enquirer article about it here.

The yearly rainfall record follows on the record set earlier this year for the rainiest spring ever (36 inches in three months), and a record-tying summer heat wave that saw us sweltering in temperatures of 90-degrees plus for 17 straight days.

Deer Crash Season Update

More eye-opening statistics about deer/vehicle collisions in an article in the New York Times this morning: in the last year there were 1.09 million collisions with deer nationwide, with the damage to vehicles averaging $3,171. Ohio is among the high-risk states, with drivers having a 1 in 132 chance of colliding with deer. West Virginia is the highest-risk state, with the chances 1 in 53, while California was far down the list at 1 in 1,116. The total deer population of the United States is estimated at 30 million. My previous post about the threat of deer crashes in Ohio is here.

Thoughts While Painting a House

I make no claim that any of what follows is interesting. But it’s what has been on my mind over and over again as I’ve spent long hours painting the house this fall:

You have to stir (or shake) a can of paint at least 100 times before using it to coat anything. My dad taught me that and I’ve never forgotten it. I usually do 200 just to make sure.

First gotta stir it 100 times at least

Scraping and sanding surfaces that are old and flaking is one of the most boring and time-consuming jobs of all, and it provides no satisfaction in making the surface seem to come alive. In fact, it makes it look worse. But it’s crucial if you want the paint that goes on top to look good, and to last.

Over the years, I’ve come around to the view that applying a coat of primer before topcoating is likewise crucial for endurance.

I used to use tape to protect various surfaces from unwanted, slopover paint. But it’s time consuming to tape off surfaces, and if you’re careful (and have a wet cloth handy to wipe up mistakes) you can do an equally good job by just painting.

Paint these days is a lot thicker than it used to be. I wonder if that makes up for the declining amount of toxic and/or environmentally hazardous compounds in it (say what you want, but those compounds contributed to a long-lasting finish).

A good trim brush (with angled bristles) is invaluable – the bigger the better, because the bigger ones hold more paint.

Painting with a ladder increases the time it takes to coat a wall by roughly 50 percent, because of all the time you spend going up and down the ladder, moving the ladder, and moving the paint can.

The previous guy’s mistakes always wind up looking like yours unless you take the time to correct them.

Deer Crash Season

The season for cars colliding with deer, which are suddenly more active during their fall and early winter mating season, is upon us. Astonishing statistics in a recent article in the Enquirer: Statewide there were 23,201 car accidents involving deer last year.

Dangerous and Hard to Avoid

Ohio’s deer population is estimated at 750,000, with up to 41 deer per square mile in some places. Mrs. SR013 and I regularly drive on two of the top highways for deer crashes in this area; I-275 and U.S. 50.