Anyone around to try and banter to get 5 chat blocks for a hat>? Need back and forth to generate the trigger I believe.

@geoffc good afternoon

@RoryAlsop Hey ho.

I see we are in very different time zones. Morning here.

@geoffc Are you well

Ready of the holiday break?

Yes, very much so. Not getting much time off but doing half days to make it more fun.

@geoffc I'm central Scotland, so currently GMT or UTC0

@geoffc I'm officially on holiday, but on call kin case of catastrophe

No jokes, must not make Scottish jokes.

Currently waiting nervously for my daughter to return home from Wisconsin via Chicago and London. The weather in Wisconsin has meant her flight to Chicago has been cancelled, so all a bit worried for her

I know it's par for the course for that part of the world in winter (I've seen Home Alone, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles) but we are hoping to see her for Christmas

@geoffc most Scottish jokes are great :-)

@RoryAlsop Mike Meyers, SNL is a classic one. Won't repeat here. But its crap!

@geoffc Surely his line was, "If it's not Scottish, it's crap"

Haha P-t-A is a great one. Big storm coming this weekend to my neighbourhood.

@RoryAlsop I said I would not repeat it. At least not in its entirety. You are welcome as you see fit.

@geoffc lol

Yeah, we always whine about the weather in Britain, but we don't have bad weather compared to anywhere else on the planet. It doesn't get very cold, or hot, or stormy, have big floods or droughts, no tornadoes or hurricanes. It's just middle of the road

My friend lives in BUffalo, which is sucker punched by lake effect snow. If the wind is from the north, they get dumped on, as cold air crosses Lake Ontario and then dumps it on the land. If the wind is from the west, they get the moist air from Lake Erie. If the wind is from the east, they still get some Lake Ontario snow. They got 6 feet the other week.

My friend in the north end of buffalo only got 1-2 feet.

This year it got down to -10C at my house, with a couple of inches of snow. That's the coldest in 12 years.

Only place worse is London, Ontario. Wedged between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Snow from almost all directions.

In 2010 I think we got 2 feet of snow - which was a freak. 6 feet must be amazing (for skiers etc, not for driving to work)

@geoffc Yeah, I have a couple of friends from there - they laugh at our snow

Coldest I remember is 2003 polar vortex, I biked to work, and to my run group every day of it, -20C was the warm part. -30 and -40C were the low points. I ran outdoors 4 days in that.

Biked every day of it. That was cold weather.

At the weekend we tried to go swim in the loch up the hill from us, but the ice was so thick we couldn't get through it with hammers or axes. Someone opened up a plunge pool the next day with ice saws, but we ended up just swimming in the sea, which at this time of year is 7C, so not as exciting

Go back and star some of my comments on launches in the last few days. Apparently that is another possible chapeau.

Perhaps 8 of them.

I swim in the ocean, usually into October though this year, was end of September for me. Ironically I ran out of daylight in the afternoons to bike home from the ocean after work.

Not into THAT cold swimming.

@rory Saw your profile says

@ror

@RoryAlsop Saw your profile says you would love to get to orbit. As would I. What did you think of Tim Dodd getting selected for dearMoon? Very cool!

@geoffc It's awesome. So I am the son of a fighter pilot/antarctic explorer and grew up with that exploratory mind. But I'm over 50, overweight, wear glasses - it isn't going to happen.

My elder two kids wanted to be fighter pilots as well, but are both too tall. They fly gliders though, so still enjoying the air

Great, unpowered controlled fall to the ground. Wonderful. I am happy with NO jumping off a perfectly servicable mountain.

Douglas Adams was correct on how to fly. Jump at the ground and miss.

@RoryAlsop Thanks, that worked for Chatterbox. Now a few more celestial bodies for Verified.

@geoffc On my son's 16th, I was at a party as his godmother's house at the foot of a hill. The tow launch was from the flat top of the hill - Hamish took off and immediately looped the glider over us. Mildly concerning :-)

twitter.com/i/status/1605637210644000769

To your comment about gliders.... These people are nuts. I wish them success in life.

@geoffc wingsuiting and base jumping are a step too far for me

@RoryAlsop I have no fear of heights. I have a fear of hitting the ground at terminal velocity (or even lower speeds)

Wingsuiting, seems slightly insane. Literally for the birds?

@geoffc I do have a fear of heights - so climbing makes me spike on adrenaline. But flying is removed from that dangerous bit (for almost all except the start and end of the flight) so no fear, you see :-)

Great, so insteaf of a Mars landers 7 minutes of terror you get the last few seconds of terror.

I like sailing boats. Or waterskiing. I get the feel of speed, but the impact with the water, is slow enough not to hurt in most cases.

I should note, small boats. 12-18 footers. Anything longer and you are disconnected from the waters surface. I like when you hit a minor lull, you get soaked.

Thanks chapeau mission achieved. Appreciate it.

@geoffc no worries :-)

@geoffc sailing and surfing I love - very similar to gliding, in using the energy of the medium

I do like speedboats and jetskis but water hurts when you hit it hard

I'd love to try a foiling dinghy - they are fast!

But more generally, I'll race anything with wings, sails or an engine :-)