North Pole Weather

Snow stake around noon, November 22, 2010

I live in North Pole. Not at the North Pole, but a suburb of Fairbanks, Alaska. This time of year it’s normally dark except for a few hours around noon, and reliably below freezing.

Not this year.

It’s not only above freezing, it’s raining, and expected to keep raining through tomorrow. Of course the ground is well cold-soaked, and there are ten inches of snow on the ground, so the roads are–to put it mildly–treacherous. Like people can’t stand up, let alone cars. My paved patio has about a quarter inch of clear, wet ice. Schools are closed. A friend’s dog couldn’t stand up.

Of course it won’t get warm enough to melt anything, so we’ll have ice on the roads until it wears off (takes several weeks on the heavily traveled roads, until spring on the side roads.)

Living as I do on a gravel road, with gravel large enough to poke through most ice, I thought I could drive the tenth of a mile to the mailbox and at least check my mail. Ha! The car, an all-wheel drive with Blizzak tires, felt like it was floating all the way, and when I touched the brakes, the anti-lock system engaged at once (without slowing the car.) I didn’t even try the paved road.

I surely hope it cools off by Wednesday.

Follow-me (Homecoming Glossary)

FOLLOW-ME: #scifi A person teleporting himself normally brings along anything he is touching (such as clothing) unless deliberately leaving it behind. (A person could, for instance, teleport into or out of an isolation suit.) For massive objects, a “follow-me” circuit will link the object to a small receiver carried by the teleporter, as well as providing the extra energy needed for the teleport of the object.

Teleportation, Mechanical (Homecoming Glossary)

TELEPORTATION, MECHANICAL: #scifi A mechanical “jump” from one point to another. Mechanical teleports are generally carried out either in jump-gates or applied to a vehicle of some sort, such as a jump-van, as being teleported and realizing it is upsetting to most people not accustomed to the process.

Anchor (Homecoming Glossary)

ANCHOR: #scifi Long-distance teleportation requires a very precise set of coordinates and a great deal of work if one is going to a new location, and the range covered is limited. If a fellow telepath is located near the point aimed for, it is possible to arrange a “two-ended” teleport which greatly reduces the energy needed. The telepath at the destination is referred to as an anchor, and the process is called anchoring.

Teleportation (Homecoming Glossary)

TELEPORTATION, ESPER: #scifi Traveling or moving an object between two points without going through intermediate points using mind power alone or boosted by a mental link to an external source of power.

Chip Balancing (Homecoming Glossary)

CHIP BALANCING: #scifi No information storage device is perfect, and the spare chips for jump-ship control must periodically be checked against the main chips to be sure the information is identical. This procedure is known as “balancing” and must be performed regularly during a multi-jump journey.

Check-in Button (Homecoming Glossary)

CHECK-IN BUTTON: A device, usually a button to be pushed, sending confirmation that a signal has been received by the person for whom it is intended. Starships use them for individual check-ins after an emergency.

Flagging (Homecoming Glossary)

FLAGGING: #scifi Placing a FTL beacon at a jump point. Transportation between flagged jump points is relatively easy and jumps of up to fifty light years are not uncommon. Finding an unflagged jump point, necessary for exploration, is a slow, difficult process.

Jump Point (Homecoming Glossary)

JUMP POINT: A point in space from when a mechanical teleport is possible to another such point.