Sunday, January 14, 2007

Population Comparisons

From the US Census Bureau website, 2005 (some 2003) estimated populations:

State of Texas: 22,859,968
Dallas County: 2,305,454
City of Dallas: 1,208,318
City of Irving: 194,455
City of Richardson: 99,536
Denton County: 554,642
Denton: 93,435
Tarrant County (Fort Worth area): 1,620,479
Fort Worth: 585,122

State of Maine: 1,321,505
Franklin County: 29,704
Farmington: 7,410*
Cumberland County (Portland area): 274,950
Portland: 63,635
Kennebec County (Augusta area): 120,986
Augusta: 18,560

*I don't know if that includes the 2,000 students at UMF or not. According to AAA, the population of Farmington is just under 5,000 so I'm guessing it does.

First Snow, Sunday, January 14, 2007

from an email I sent at 10:16am EST today:
"Sorry about your false alarm in Dallas. I hate it when they say "ice warning! stock up on 5 days worth of groceries! we're closing down the city!" and then it rains for a little bit and that's all. We're having the other problem. The snow predicted for the afternoon is already here. I woke up to a slight dusting of white on the ground that happened overnight and it's gently coming down now. It's very pretty. So far not a problem for me. The roads are all dry 'cuz it was sunny and the temperature was above freezing yesterday afternoon. But the temperature has dropped 2 degrees just in the last 10 minutes and I think changes are coming."

So I sent that email and then went to church. It's now 12:05 EST and the roads are all covered in white, the flakes are bigger, the pace at which they are falling is faster, and I think I better pack up all my work, leave the Education Center, go home, and watch the snow out of those windows instead of the one in my office!

I don't know who told me to be sure to get a snow brush, but I'm glad they did. I didn't think about it but happened to see them in WalMart and said to myself, "hmmm, someone told me to get one of those, I guess I'll do that now." I used it this morning. I know already that I need a bigger one. When I came out of church, I watched people brushing their windshields and windows AND their roofs. oh. I get it. Good idea. So when I got to my car, I did the same.

So should you use your rear window defrost? I turned it on this morning but I stripes of ice after church. Makes sense, melted snow sitting on a windshield in freezing weather are going to freeze. What I need is a windshield wiper on the back window. Plenty to learn!