It’s easy to be critical of the havoc a little snow creates in warm climate cities. However, there is really no way for them to adequately prepare for such an event.
Places like Maryland have a budget for handling snow, and the question is only about projecting how much of the budget to commit, based on forcasts. The state government merely taps into private contractors to augment snow removal. I doubt that Louisiana has the chemicals, road clearing expertise, or the necessary equipment. In recent years, our state started to pre-treats the roads the day before with a solution.
I recently faced the dilemma of buying new tires. The choice is buying summer tires that should not be used below 40° which is a no brainer, all weather tires that work marginally on snow and ice, all weather tires with a snow rating, or specific tires for snow and ice, which will not last on clear pavements. The decision isn’t all that complicated. A place that has lots of snow can skew toward snow rated tires, and places like Florida can easily favor the summer rated tire - here, it’s a matter of figuring out when and how you plan to drive. For me. It’s a sedan or a 4X truck. Tires match my use.
Then it comes down to driver experience. Unless people in a summer environment go to a parking lot with a layer of motor oil deposited on it, they will not have much opportunity to enhance the ability to handle snow and ice. My advice is go out and find a snow covered parking lot today and practice.
I’m curious if the grocery stores in Louisiana stock snow shovels in the check out area, the way they add that commodity here starting in November.
Well there is no perfect place to live. All places have problems, and we deal with those that our areas have. Go somewhere else and the problems may change, but you still have to play the hand you are dealt. All we can do is exchange problems but we can’t avoid them all.
Here, cold, wind and snow are simply expected. But I can smile and know that even in high winds, the ocean is NOT going to come into my living room. So I just buy a good coat, and snow times and enough food and supplies to stay here for 2-3 months if I have to. (in 3 winters I have had to) I can ski out, but some winters I have no other choice --------- because driving out is simply NOT going to happen.
And I do understand the severity of the problems down there. Getting caught by winter and not being prepared is NOT a joke and NOT funny at all. People die from such conditions so it’s no funnier then a tornado or hurricane or a wild fire or an earth quake.
It’s not that bad,just something different. Going to take a walk on the levee of Lake Pontchatrain and soak it in. In other words the beauty and the experience far, far, outweigh any inconvenience. It is stunningly beautiful.
I guess it’s reassuring to contemplate the possibility that its a sign that global warming is abating. Maybe Louisiana can increase its snow removal budget and rely less on air conditioning. Better days ahead. Just think - white Christmases!
I grew up in western Michigan and dealt with lake effect snow and cold, so when Uncle Sam sent me here to North Carolina I kind of laughed at how a “dusting” would shut things down. However, after a couple of times, I realized that the area was not equipped with the resources to deal with it, and it was just better to wait it out at home.
You were at the field where it happened. There is a lot about the Battle of New Zorleans that a lot of people do not know. There were a lot of things going on. Jean Lafitte was instrumental, without him Jackson stood no chance and the history of the United State would have been changed. Johnny Horton has a lot to learn.
It was neither neat or uncomplicated, it was very messy and very complicated with very severe consequences. One of the foibles of American history that made America possible.
“in there shoes,” fought by a very disparate group while the lorded gentry slept with American AND British flags in their basements.
Jean Lafitte simply took the most rewarding offer. The choice between $30k, a captaincy in the British Navy, and amnesty from prosecution, or amnesty, as well as a market to freely sell his pirated goods. And amnesty from prosecition. Jackson benefitted from a guide who knew the terrain and logistics.
The Battle of New Orleans was inconsequential to the disposition of the War of 1812, in that the treaty of Ghent was signed on Christmas eve of 1814, and the Battle occureed on 8 January 1815.
What was significant is thst the combined forces could claim defeat of crack British infanty units (the thin red line), most notably the 93rd Regiment of Foot, Southern Highlanders. They had the pipes, and long after that battle, when the people of New Orleans heard the pipes, they got the urge to kill anything that needed killin’.
Now the Brits are our friends. And Canada has applied for US statehood, have mercy!
You are just inherently wrong on this. After speaking to one of the most exhaustive researchers of Jean Lafitte, this is what happened. The British sent an excursion force to Barataria to bribe Jean Lafitte with the offer you mentioned not to fight with them but to just stay out of the battle. Jean Lafitte did not fire on them, let them land and acted friendly toward their offer. After they left, Jean Lafitte immediately sent a messenger to the governor of Louisiana to inform him of the British offer and offer to fight for the American side for the same conditions you mentioned. The Governor convened his war Cabinet to discuss the offer and a young Naval Captain convinced the Governor Jean Lafitte was a traitor and to not accept his offer. Then the Naval Officer organized an attack flotilla and sailed to Barataria and on their arrival Jean Lafitte believed they were friendly and did not stop them or fire upon them. The flotilla then opened fire on the Barataria Community with cannon and landed an attack force destroying the encampment, killing I believe 75 and chasing the remaining into the swamp. This researcher after tracing this Naval Captain’s travels believes he was a traitor and was working for the British. Andrew Jackson arrived in New Orleans to organize a defense woefully under supplied and short handed and Jean Lafitte offered to meet with him. Jackson accepted and upon meeting Jean Lafitte was impressed by his character and accepted his offer to fight for them for the same conditions mentioned before. Lafitte went back to his men and told them of the offer and they asked why, the American Navy attacked them and killed their friends and Jean Lafitte told them because America offered the only hope for people like them. So the men went along and Jean Lafitte opened his warehouse to the Americans for supplies, especially flints which the Americans had none and Jean Lafitte helped Jackson design the defenses a key element of which was to extend the earthen barrier all the way to the impassable swamp so they could not be flanked. The rest as they say, is history.
I agree with your description of the events leading up to the alliance and won’t argue that my explanation might be inherently wrong.
The attack on the Barataria laird led to animosity between Lafitte and the Governor, but I plead ignorance about the actual negotiations wiith the Brits and Jackson. It’s what I interpreted from reading popular history. At least we agree on the important point, that Lafitte had critical knowledge about the local terrain, and that he provided material support to Jackson, instead of siding with Britian.
The first paragraph in my 2nd post is factual in every detail - the battle occured 15 days after an agreement between the signatory combatants, which means the outcome changed nothing other than a loss of life and bragging rights for a fledgling nation.
I believe the victory significant, because it was won against British crack troop, including the 93rd Regiment, which is a fierce Scotish Highland unit. However, I’ve seen historic accounts refer to the 93rd as The Black Watch. In 1814, the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment of Foot, bore that distinction for the color of their tartans, and the history of thaxt Regiment does not include New Orleans. It would be grand bragging rights to claim they bested the infamous 42nd Regiment, which may be a trivial point, but that claim is possibly a misunderstanding from lumping troops in kilt under the same moniker.
The only inherently wrong part of the 2nd post is the last paragraph, and the implication that the residents of New Orleand were driven to mischief at the sound of the pipes. The noise of pipes isn’t substantially different than a squeeze box, except for pitch. Don’t get me wrong, both instruments can be appealing.