For the past few months I have been trying to find a cheap, lightweight, portable book to bring along with my over-priced electronic barometer gadget <g> on our Arctic trip this summer. I didn't want a meterology tome, nor discussions on global warming, human history & weather,etc. A fellow Paddlewiser did tell me of some of Alan Watt's books. (I found an inexpensive copy of WATTS, Alan.: DINGHY AND BOARD SAILING WEATHER.; London: Nautical Books., 1984. First Edition, 0-333-34558-4 , which may be useful for home reading.) However, today I finally found what I have been searching for, and thought it might be of some interest to others: The Weather Wizard's Cloud Book : How You Can Forecast the Weather Accurately and Easily by Reading the Clouds Louis D., Sr. Rubin, et al. Paperback - 87 pages Flexi-book edition (October 1989) 24 pages of color plates. Algonquin Books; ISBN: 0912697105 ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.33 x 8.48 x 5.06 List price is < $9 US. It weighs ~ 4 oz. Last summer on our first Barrenground paddle, I found it extraordinarily difficult to get a "feel" for the day's weather. It was neither my first or thousandth time in or out of the woods either! I think this book might be of interest to others. Rich Dempsey ridem_at_msn.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
In my estimation, as a professional meteorologist and experienced sailor, a barometer will do you no good at all. Perhaps a barograph would give you some warning of an approaching weather event but they are delicate instruments. Local knowledge leavened with observation of changes in cloud cover and cloud type and variation in wind direction and velocity are your best bet for short term local forecasting. Richard Smith *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I'd be the last to denigrate the value of "local knowledge" and "observation," but Richard Smith's suggestion that barometers have no place in short-term forecasting is simply tosh. Changes in pressure over time -- up or down, steep or gentle -- are important indicators of approaching weather systems.* And you don't need a barograph to discern them. A plain-vanilla barometer and a notebook will work just fine, thank you. Simply record barometric pressure at set intervals (2 hours is a good place to start) and then connect the dots. This isn't some new-fangled idea. Sailors have been "eyeing the glass" and watching for changes since the days of Admiral Fitzroy. Which barometer, then? My old Thommen Everest baro-altimeter has gone everywhere with me in the last twenty years. It's about as delicate as a Hummvee. Carry it in a double Zip-Lock bag and fear nought. What sort of notebook? Bound engineers' field notebooks (the Dietzgen S400V is a good one) are excellent logs. The orange color makes them hard to lose, and the paper, though not waterproof, won't disintegrate when it gets wet. Still, it pays to bag them. For those with deep pockets and a fondness for gadgets, Casio (and others) sell digital watches incorporating a recording barometer -- a barograph you can wear on your wrist, in short, and one that's waterproof to 100m, to boot. Barometers and barographs aren't magic, of course. No forecasting tool is. But they're well worth taking along -- and using -- on any trip outside your back garden. Terry * For guidelines in interpreting such changes, see, for example, pp. 57-58 in Jeff Renner's _Northwest Marine Weather_. (And, yes, Renner's a "professional meterologist." His is expert counsel. Faint hearts take comfort.) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
What I got (though I WANTED a Thommen), was an electronic barometer/altimeter/temperature gauge...similar to the Oregon Science models. It has a 12 hour "memory bar graph" indicating trends. I intend to use a notebook on our trip to keep track of 1)wind direction 2)temp 3)barometric pressure 4)cloud cover/type 5) and the actual "in my face weather". (thus also heeding Richard Smith's advice : "Local knowledge leavened with observation of changes in cloud cover and cloud type and variation in wind direction and velocity are your best bet for short term local forecasting.") After all it is a 7 week trip, and I probably will /can learn "something" while there! Which was part of the reason for my joy in finding a good small portable guide to cloud-types and their significance ( LD Rubin's "Cloud Book) which I mentioned in the original post. Thanks for your comments and advice! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Theresa Jancek" <tjancek_at_slic.com> To: "Paddlewise" <PaddleWise_at_lists.intelenet.net> Sent: Monday, May 15, 2000 10:41 AM Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Weather forecasting (A couple of SNIPS here and there) > Changes in pressure over time -- up or down, steep or gentle -- are > important indicators of approaching weather systems.* And you don't > need a barograph to discern them. A plain-vanilla barometer and a > notebook will work just fine, thank you. Simply record barometric > pressure at set intervals (2 hours is a good place to start) and then > connect the dots. > For those with deep pockets and a fondness for gadgets, Casio (and > others) sell digital watches incorporating a recording > * For guidelines in interpreting such changes, see, for example, > pp. 57-58 in Jeff Renner's _Northwest Marine Weather_. (And, yes, > Renner's a "professional meterologist." His is expert counsel. Faint > hearts take comfort.) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I'm grumpy. Back when the snow was flying, I ordered an AT Xception Tour paddle. The only vendor in eastern Canada is 150km away. I sent two email messages and followed with live voice confirmation to ensure they understood I wanted the variable length version with a specific length range. Last Friday before the Georgian Bay SK Symposium, I called to enquire about the status of the order. After hearing much shuffling of paper on their end of the phone, they gave me the "You ordered a paddle from us?" routine. They said they would follow up on Monday. Monday they told me the paddle arrived on Friday. Today I get up earlier than I should have (Amie won't let me out without some advance on the progress of the basement renovations), painted till I ran out of paint and took off to get the paddle. I'd agreed to pick it up rather than have it delivered, since I don't trust the boobs in the delivery companies. Besides, Amie's from that town and we could go lay flowers on her Mum's grave, visit old sites and friends etc, on the way. I get to the store, track down the salesdroid and wait. He hands me the paddle. It is clearly _too_ long. Special order - six+ weeks, wrong size. Come on - AT only makes _one_ product! How can they screw it up? I know the store got the order right - but why didn't the droid _check_ the product before dragging me 150km? This is a CAN$650 ($750 with taxes!) order FCOL! Am I missing something? (besides the paddle - now I hope I get one before September :-( ) Mike (who is of the opinion that the current "economic boom" is making shareholders rich in large part by reducing to the minimum anything resembling service in companies. Wanna here about my battle w/ the car company after they broke something while servicing it? Or how we got a refund from a retailer by calling the cops and charging credit card fraud etc. etc. etc... sigh. At least my GPS is still dry!) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>Come on - AT only > makes _one_ product> Am I missing something? (besides the paddle - now I hope I get one before > September :-( ) > I bought mine through Southwest Kayaks (Ed Gillette), special ordered at 231 cm. It took less than a week and was perfect. It is the best paddle by far that I have, and I have 5 or 6 of all types. Jerry *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Gerald Foodman wrote: > >Come on - AT only > > makes _one_ product> Am I missing something? (besides the paddle - now I > hope I get one before > > September :-( ) > > > I bought mine through Southwest Kayaks (Ed Gillette), special ordered at 231 > cm. It took less than a week and was perfect. It is the best paddle by far > that I have, and I have 5 or 6 of all types. > Jerry I don't doubt it's a good paddle. I haven't cancelled the order, but I'm just frustrated. Having played with it in the store, it's all the more frustrating that I can't paddle with it _today_ as I had planned (all week - daydreaming beats workin'). He's put a rush on the order, so hopefully I'll get it soon. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Hi Michael, > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net > [mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net]On Behalf Of Michael Daly > > I'm grumpy. > > Back when the snow was flying, I ordered an AT Xception Tour paddle. > The only vendor in eastern Canada is 150km away. I sent two email > messages and followed with live voice confirmation to ensure they > understood I wanted the variable length version with a specific > length range. > <SNIP> I'm very sorry to hear that you had an unpleasant experience with your paddle purchase. I know how frustrating it is to lay out lots of cash and have the order fouled. Sometimes companies drop the ball, sometimes staff members screw up orders, sometimes vendors ship the wrong product, mistakes happen. I hope the store was incredibly apologetic. They should have caught the length mistake when the paddle was received and before you were notified. If you are unable to get good service from this company, go mail order. I'm sure there are lots of folks on this list that would be happy to share names of good mail order retailers with superior service. > I get to the store, track down the salesdroid and wait. Maybe part of the problem you are having with service is related to the way you interact with the sales/ customer service people. Unless I misunderstand and you were really dealing with a droid rather than a human. (wow I've only been out of retail 9 months and they've automated) You see, one of the things that I have noticed with staff/ customer relations over the years is once the staff is treated like a droid the customer stops being seen as a customer and becomes the jerk that ordered the paddle. I always tried to teach staff to treat each customer exactly the way they wanted to be treated-acknowledge that the customer is upset, because you would be too. Do what you can to rectify the situation, discount the paddle throw in free shipping on the re-ordered correct paddle, give them a loaner, etc. > Am I missing something? (besides the paddle - now I hope I get one before > September :-( ) I think so, you made it a point of referring to another human twice in this post as a droid, Something sub-human. I think you are probably missing a lot of wonderful opportunities with your downward view on others. Your post exemplifies what I think is one of the biggest problems I see in society (not just retail) today. We have stopped looking at each other as humans. Oh, he's just a salesdroid, not really worthy of respect, she's fat ignore her, those kids are black, they're probably in a gang and selling drugs. I would suggest that you try treating the sales staff the way you like to be treated and you may find they respond in kind. That is, if you stop seeing them as droids, they are likely to stop seeing you as the bonehead that ordered the paddle, and my guess is that everyone will be better served. Rob Cookson "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" Benjamin Franklin *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Rob Cookson wrote: > Hi Michael, > > Back when the snow was flying, I ordered an AT Xception Tour paddle. > > The only vendor in eastern Canada is 150km away. I sent two email > > messages and followed with live voice confirmation to ensure they > > understood I wanted the variable length version with a specific > > length range. > > > > <SNIP> > > I'm very sorry to hear that you had an unpleasant experience with your > paddle purchase. I know how frustrating it is to lay out lots of cash and > have the order fouled. > > Sometimes companies drop the ball, sometimes staff members screw up orders, > sometimes vendors ship the wrong product, mistakes happen. I hope the store > was incredibly apologetic. They should have caught the length mistake when > the paddle was received and before you were notified. [and] >> I get to the store, track down the salesdroid and wait. >Maybe part of the problem you are having with service is related to the way >you interact with the sales/ customer service people. Well, you (and Bruce) may be assuming that my attitute toward the sales person preceded the event. Rather, it followed. You see, the shop in question, which has a tremendous reputation (primarily among the WW crowd), prides itself in having staff that are paddlers as well as sales staff. They sell high end and I expected a "high-end" result. That perhaps colours my after-the-fact representation of the gent. He wasn't apologetic. In fact, once the problem was discovered, he was generally non-communicative. I was prompting him to respond to the situation. I think it's a reasonable expentation that in such a situation, the sales staff should be proactive. Two mistakes were made - wrong product shipped (producer) and order not checked (retailer). If it had been a shop down the street, I wouldn't have been so ticked off. But I had to drive 300 km ( 180 miles ) round trip. He knew I had to come a long way; he should have been more careful. Part of my frustration, in fact perhaps the larger part, comes from the fact that this isn't a one-off event, but rather another in a long string of events. Both Amie and I have had nothing but problems with _every_ big ticket purchase in the last year. Service is history (and Amie and I are both in service industries, I as a computer consultant and she as a customer sales rep in a big company). Spreadsheets show service as a cost, not a profit. Hence in these greedy times, service goes. > If you are unable to > get good service from this company, go mail order. I'm sure there are lots > of folks on this list that would be happy to share names of good mail order > retailers with superior service. > But that means I can't support the local shops that provide for specialty sports. I could have ordered it from the producer's web site. I chose to deal with the (almost) local dealer. I may need that guy in the future and want him around. The demise of specialty shops has been accelerating in the last decade. There is now only _one_ high-end xc ski shop in Toronto (pop 3 million) and two in the 'burbs (both branches of one store). One formerly good shop is now only into high-end sports fashion and the teenie-bopper sales staff are only good for taking the credit card. What do you expect with the minimum wage approach to doing business. There are two shops downtown that sell kayaks and gear. One has mediocre kayak selection, though their accessories are good. The staff varies from good to indifferent and I don't recommend the place to novices. The second had a big re-org a few years ago. I used to paddle with and take lessons from their staff. Those people are all gone now, working for outfitters or stores in other cities. Now staff that replaced them are in the teenie-bopper min wage crowd. They don't paddle and don't know the products as well as they should. I no longer feel that they can provide good service. The big box stores are putting the small retailers out of business and forcing them to cut corners to compete. They end up being no better and we all suffer. Yesterday's episode was an "Oh no, more of the same" thing for me. I'll agree that my post here was somewhat overdone. My apologies. I should have waited till today until posting (if at all). If you're a kayak retailer - try to stay focused on the customer, not the shareholder. Shareholders are easily replaced. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Hi Michael and All, > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net > [mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net]On Behalf Of Michael Daly > >>>Michael Daly Wrote: > > >> I get to the store, track down the salesdroid and wait. >>Rob Cookson wrote: > >Maybe part of the problem you are having with service is related > to the way > >you interact with the sales/ customer service people. > > Well, you (and Bruce) may be assuming that my attitute toward the > sales person > preceded the event. Rather, it followed. Nope doesn't matter to me one way or the other. >You see, the shop in > question, which > has a tremendous reputation (primarily among the WW crowd), > prides itself in > having staff that are paddlers as well as sales staff. They sell > high end and > I expected a "high-end" result. That perhaps colours my after-the-fact > representation of the gent. That's understandable. > > He wasn't apologetic. He should have been. .In fact, once the problem was discovered, he was > generally non-communicative. I was prompting him to respond to the > situation. I think it's a reasonable expentation that in such a > situation, > the sales staff should be proactive. Yup, I agree, and stated that in my earlier post. > > Two mistakes were made - wrong product shipped (producer) and order > not checked (retailer). If it had been a shop down the street, I > wouldn't have > been so ticked off. But I had to drive 300 km ( 180 miles ) > round trip. He > knew I had to come a long way; he should have been more careful. The retailer only had control of the receiving and notification of the paddle. Their receiver should have checked that this was the proper product before you were notified. > > Part of my frustration, in fact perhaps the larger part, comes > from the fact > that this isn't a one-off event, but rather another in a long > string of events. > Both Amie and I have had nothing but problems with _every_ big ticket > purchase in the last year. Unrelated to the staff member you were dealing with. Not his problem. >Service is history (and Amie and I are both > in service industries, I as a computer consultant and she as a customer > sales rep in a big company). Spreadsheets show service as a cost, not > a profit. Hence in these greedy times, service goes. Not in my part of the US. Where things are competitive service is a big deal. When I was a retail buyer service definately influenced my purchases. I definately sold on service, not on discount. > > > > If you are unable to > > get good service from this company, go mail order. I'm sure > there are lots > > of folks on this list that would be happy to share names of > good mail order > > retailers with superior service. > > > > But that means I can't support the local shops that provide for specialty > sports. I could have ordered it from the producer's web site. I chose > to deal with the (almost) local dealer. I may need that guy in the future > and want him around. Do you really? If they treat you as poorly as you say, they don't deserve to prosper. If you really want to help this retailer write them a detailed letter explaining how poor you think the service is. Help him improve or help him fail either will benefit the consumer. Helping him prosper when providing shoddy service only harms the consumer. > > The demise of specialty shops has been accelerating in the last decade. > There is now only _one_ high-end xc ski shop in Toronto (pop 3 million) > and two in the 'burbs (both branches of one store). One formerly good > shop is now only into high-end sports fashion and the teenie-bopper sales > staff are only good for taking the credit card. What do you expect with > the minimum wage approach to doing business. Then don't do business with them. > > There are two shops downtown that sell kayaks and gear. One has > mediocre kayak selection, though their accessories are good. The staff > varies from good to indifferent and I don't recommend the place to > novices. The second had a big re-org a few years ago. I used to > paddle with and take lessons from their staff. Those people are all gone > now, working for outfitters or stores in other cities. Now staff that > replaced them are in the teenie-bopper min wage crowd. They don't > paddle and don't know the products as well as they should. I no > longer feel that they can provide good service. Tell the manager, tell the owner. Tell them why you used to buy there and why you stopped. When I was in retail I was all ears to this stuff. > > The big box stores are putting the small retailers out of > business and forcing > them to cut corners to compete. They end up being no better and we all > suffer. Not exactly. The consumers decide who stays and who goes. Right now the consumers are voting with their wallets and they are voting big box and internet. > > Yesterday's episode was an "Oh no, more of the same" thing for > me. I'll agree > that my post here was somewhat overdone. My apologies. I should have > waited till today until posting (if at all). The only part of your post I had a problem with was calling the staff droids. I wouldn't have been offended (and wasn't really offended anyway, just had a point to make) if you had said that the sales person was rude or unhelpful or whatever. It was the dehumanizing element that bothered me. It's very easy to justify unusual treatment of people once we have dehumanized them. I doubt you would have called the sales person a droid to his or her face precisely because you would have been confronted with the fact that you were addressing a human. Anyway enough preaching from me. Hope things work out with your paddle. Rob Cookson "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" Benjamin Franklin *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 5/21/00 3:54:54 PM !!!First Boot!!!, rob_cookson_at_mindspring.com writes: << > Am I missing something? (besides the paddle - now I hope I get one before > September :-( ) I think so, you made it a point of referring to another human twice in this post as a droid, Something subhuman. I think you are probably missing a lot of wonderful opportunities with your downward view on others. >> Rob, You forgot the delivery boob. I am certain that if the "salesdroid" and the "delivery boob" knew of Mr. Mike's post, they would treat him with the respect and courtesy that his comments warrant. Oh, this is the Internet, perhaps that will read them. Bruce McC (retailer and former UPS driver) WEO *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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