"Life is lived forward, but understood backward. It is not until we are down the road and we stand on the mountain looking back through the valley that we can appreciate the terrain God has allowed us to scale.” Jill Savage

Wednesday, August 10, 2011




Today I'm going to share some information with you I've been collecting.


There is no sound to this video, but if you haven't seen this yet, it's pretty ingenious. They already have something similar to this in New York and I bet it is coming to other cities soon. I don't know if I'd like this or not - what do you think about it?

http://www.woehr.de/de/projekte/madrid_m710/index.htm



Some weather related information about the cities we live in.

Top 10 cities with
Least weather variety

Based on temperature variation, precipitation, wind, severe weather
1. San Francisco, California
2. San Diego, California
3. Los Angeles, California
4. Santa Barbara, California
5. Eureka, California
6. Long Beach, California
7. Honolulu, Hawaii
8. Santa Maria, California
9. San Luis Obispo, California
10. Kahului, Hawaii

10 hottest cities
Average annual temperature,
F
1. Key West, Florida
77.7
2. Miami, Florida
75.6
3. W Palm Beach, Florida
74.6
4. Ft. Myers, Florida
73.9
5. Yuma, Florida
73.9
6. Brownsville, Texas
73.6
7. Orlando, Florida
72.4
8. Vero Beach, Florida
72.4
9. Corpus Christi, Texas
72.1
10. Tampa, Florida
72.0








10 coldest cities

Average annual temperature, F
1. International Falls, Minnesota
36.4
2. Duluth, Minnesota
38.2
3. Caribou, Maine
38.9
4. Marquette, Michigan
39.2
5. Sault Ste Marie, Michigan
39.7
6. Fargo, North Dakota
40.5
7. Williston, North Dakota
40.8
8. Alamosa, Colorado
41.2
9. Bismarck, North Dakota
41.3
10. St. Cloud, Minnesota
41.4


I know there are other things - like the snowiest - hurricanes - tornadoes - etc., but are you living in the perfect temperature place for you? Where would you want to live - if money was no problem? I think I would take southern California - not LA, but like San Diego or around there.



Angela sent me a list of the worst drinks in America - they may taste good, but look at the calories! Have you ever had one?

1. Worst Beverage in America
Cold Stone PB&C (Gotta Have It size, 24 fl oz)
2,010 calories
131 g fat (68 g saturated)
153 g sugars
Sugar Equivalent: 30 Chewy Chips Ahoy Cookies
In terms of saturated fat, drinking this Cold Stone catastrophe is like
slurping up 68 strips of bacon. Health experts recommend capping
your saturated fat intake at about 20 grams per day, yet this
beverage packs more than three times that into a cup the size of a
Chipotle burrito. But here’s what’s worse: No regular shake at Cold
Stone, no matter what the size, has fewer than 1,000 calories. If
you must drink your ice cream, make it one of the creamery’s
“Sinless” options. Otherwise you’d better plan on buying some
bigger pants on the way home.

2. Worst Smoothie
Smoothie King Peanut Power Plus Grape (large, 40 fl oz)
1,498 calories
44 g fat (8 g saturated)
214 g sugars
Sugar Equivalent: 20 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
If Smoothie King wants someone to blame for landing this high on our
worst beverages roundup (and truth be told, its entire menu is riddled
with contenders), the chain should point the smoothie straw at
whichever executive came up with the cup-sizing structure. Sending
someone out the door with a 40-ounce cup should be a criminal offense.
Who really needs a third of a gallon of sweetened peanut butter blended
with grape juice, milk, and bananas? Sugar-and-fat-loaded smoothies
like this should be served from 12-ounce cups, not mini kegs.

3. Worst Drive-Thru Shake
McDonald’s Triple Thick Chocolate Shake (large, 32 fl oz)
1,160 calories
27 g fat (16 g saturated, 2 g trans)
168 g sugars
Sugar Equivalent: 13 McDonald’s Baked Hot Apple Pies
There are very few milk shakes in America worthy of your
hard-earned calories, but few will punish you as thoroughly as
this Mickey D’s drive-thru disaster. Not only does it have more
than half your day’s caloric and saturated fat allotment and
more sugar than you’d find in Willy Wonka’s candy lab, but
Ronald even finds a way to sneak in a full day of cholesterolspiking
trans fat. The scariest part about this drink is that it’s
most likely America’s most popular milk shake.

4. Worst Hot Chocolate
Starbucks White Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream
(venti, 20 fl oz)
520 calories
16 g fat (11 g saturated)
75 g sugars
Sugar Equivalent: 9 Strawberry Rice Krispie Treats
See that stack of Rice Krispie Treats? It’s just three treats shy of
two full boxes. Unless you were a contestant on Fear Factor—
and there was a sizeable monetary prize on the line—you’d
never even consider noshing down that much sugar at once. But
here’s what’s interesting: While that stack is the sugar
counterpart to this atrocity from Starbucks, it still has 40 percent
less saturated fat. Makes us wonder what’s going on in the hot
chocolate. Stick to beverages with single-flavor profiles instead of
pile-on recipes like this and you’ll fare better every time.

5. Worst Mocha
Starbucks Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha with Whipped Cream (venti, 20 fl oz)
660 calories
22 g fat (15 g saturated)
95 g sugars
Sugar Equivalent: 8½ scoops Edy’s Slow Churned Rich
and Creamy Coffee Ice Cream
Hopefully this will dispel any lingering fragments of the
“health halo” that still exists in coffee shops—that misguided
belief that espresso-based beverages can’t do much
damage. In this 20-ounce cup, Starbucks manages to pack
in more calories and saturated fat than two slices of deepdish
sausage and pepperoni pizza from Domino’s. That
makes it the equivalent of dinner and dessert disguised as a
cup of coffee. If you want a treat, look to Starbucks’ supply
of sugar-free syrups; if you want a caffeine buzz, stick to the
regular joe, an Americano, or a cappuccino.

Okay I have been guilty of getting the hot chocolate at Star Bucks!



Good habits are as easy to form as bad ones. - Tim McCarver




Have you heard anything interesting lately to tell me?

x_3cba1fd

26 comments:

Remington said...

Great information! AND being really close to the second coldest city doesn't surprise me AT ALL! Thanks for sharing this -- I loved it!

jp@A Green Ridge said...

I've seen this video a few times and think it is just a matter of time before our grandkids have such things at their disposal! It is so cool!...:)JP

TexWisGirl said...

folks aren't patient enough to use a multi-parker system. :)

Patti said...

I knew Hawaii had the perfect year-round climate. The problem with living in Hawaii, though (for me), is the isolation of being so far away from other US cities. That is already one of the things I struggle with with living in the Northwest. Portland and Seattle are the nearest major cities, and they are 10 hours away. Whereas anywhere back East, you can pretty much be in any number of major metropolitan areas within 2 or 3 hours. I like that.

As far as where I would like to live...any Florida city. I can do Orlando (did it for years), but I would prefer one of the coastal cities, as I'm an ocean freak.

I hope you are having a lovely day.

Love,
Patti

Granny Annie said...

Ditto TexWisGirl. We gotta have fast everything so how could we wait patiently for our vehicle to appear?

Give me San Diego for the weather and for the grandkids that live there:)

The Brown Recluse (TBR) said...

Somehow, good habits sure seem a lot harder to form! lol

I have to tell you, some of that information is hard to digest...pun (almost) intended. We don't have a Starbucks, but I'd probably try that hot chocolate. I'll stay away from McD's triple chocolate shake.

The Boston Lady said...

I certainly believe Orlando is one of the top 10 hottest cities to live in that's why I hope to one day move to SoCal. And to be near my children. But they just have the best weather there!

Love the car parking video! Very similar to the large boatyards we have around here. We used to have a small lot in downtown Orlando that did a similar thing on a small scale, but I think the larger cities could really benefit from this - probably very expensive!

What do I have to tell you? Hmmmmm. Well for three mornings in a row we have woken up to Seattle-like weather that has lasted throughout the days. Unusual for a place that is usually very sunny in the summer until about 3pm when we get our afternoon thunderstorm. It's kind of a nice change. Ann

Linda @ A La Carte said...

The parking video is so cool. I agree it won't be long til that is available here. I saw something like that on Amazing Race in Japan I think. hugs, Linda

Ginny Hartzler said...

I cannot believe there is a parking place like the one in the video!! Even in New York...it must be very expensive to use! I just finished reading about those drinks a few days ago. McDonalds shakes being the worst for you, but whenever I try one, it tastes awful! The last vanilla I got was actually orange! The best tasting is Chick-Fil-A. They even put whipped cream and a cherry on top, and offer small or large.

Knitty said...

A parking structure like that might be necessary in congested cities like New York, but there is a lot of dead space around the vehicles necessary for the mechanics of the operation. This would not be an inexpensive operation.

I don't think my area is perfect weather wise, but it is such a good fit for so many other reasons, I can tolerate the weather days that I don't like. My sons live nearby, shopping is convenient, and living close to a lake means that there is less traffic here than in cities west of us where drivers are headed in all possible directions. Go too far east here and you're going to get wet!

Despite my guilty fast food pleasures, I have not had any of the drinks mentioned and none even appeal to me.

Sweet Tea said...

NO! NOT.FOR.ME!

There is such thing as being too techy and that's one of them, IMO. With all the bells & whistles needed for such a thing all it takes is for one glitz and you've got a major MESS!!

We're having our 37th day @ 100+, thought for sure we'd be among the hottest. We weren't.

Journeyin' Lady... said...

Well, I can cover most of these! Monterey, CA. our home base and where we lived since 1987, is near San Francisco and has that climate,(and is my favorite place in the country!) I grew up in North Dakota right between those cities, I've traveled to almost all of the hottest. . .and in the hottest time of the year!

Ann said...

I think the parking thing is rather cool. I can't imagine how expensive it would be though

Nancy said...

You are loaded with information today.....as far the parking garage goes I think it's a great idea for cities. I just can't see people waiting that long to get their car.....

North Carolina wasn't on any of the list so I don't know what that means.....I guess with the ocean to the mountains we have a little of it all......

Thanks for all the god info.....

Jeanie said...

We didn't make any of your lists, but the Boulder, CO area where I live is pretty great weather wise if you like a place with a change of seasons. Big snow storms come our way but are usually gone soon followed by sunny days in the 50s and 60s.
Thank goodness my Starbucks addiction is a 90 calorie skinny vanilla latte.

Betty said...

I know parking in NYC is very expensive due to lack of space, but I don't think that kind of technology will bring the cost down.

If I could live anywhere it wouldn't be here. Too much heat and humidity! And I want four seasons! We lived in Virginia Beach and that was a great place to live, but people tell me it's changed since we left in 1980. I liked it because the winters weren't too long and the summers weren't too long. Does that make sense? I thought the winters in NJ seemed to go on forever, but the summers here do the same thing. Virginia Beach was a happy medium. However, I love elevation and would like to live by a mountain...like eastern TN or western NC. Of course, I'd also like to be near a big city, but still live in the country. I've always liked New England, but then you get the long winters, but if I could live in a cute little old house with a wood burning stove...

Buttercup said...

You may have saved me a million calories. Having just gotten back from San Diego -- 75 degrees and no humidity -- I keep thinking I need to move there. It was lovely.
Thanks so much for your prayers, sweet friend!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Interesting parking garage... That will probably be our future....

I would hate to live somewhere with no season changes... My choice is in the mountains somewhere (Smokies, Ozarks, etc.)... I love all four seasons --just like we have here in TN.

Glad I have never drunk any of those beverages before... I had no idea that MacDonald's shakes were that full of calories.. AND--they are not even that good... ha
Hugs,
Betsy

Angela said...

I do love my 4 seasons living in West Virginia! I don't think I could live somewhere where it doesn't snow at least once a year. I love seeing the Fall leaves too. I'd like for the temperatures to be in the low 70's more than 1 day! lol I don't like temperatures in the 90's much at all especially if there is a lot of humidity with it.

Hugs,
Angela

betty said...

loved these facts, Sandie, especially the ones about the worst drinks; I have to say, I do like McDonad's chocolate shakes, haven't had one in years, but they were good! (didn't realize how many calories!)

I have to say where I'm living in the San Diego weather, it has been so pleasant. Today it was a high of 72 degrees! I had to put a sweatshirt on in the evening as there was a chill in the air.

hope you are well!

betty

Bev said...

Video was very interesting... can't imagine what would happen though if there were mechanical problems... or power outage?

Dogmom Diva said...

Sandie, egads! on those drinks..I usually have a latte at the coffee places, will pass on the ones you listed..holy carp!

I would pick San Diego, it has nearly perfect year round weather...

Thanks for stopping by my blog, you are right, the golden years are sometimes not that golden but we keep on plugging along!

Barb

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

Well, I'm glad I don't live in one of the hottest or coldest cities! I love right where I live - we chose it intentionally when we moved here from Houston. However, if I had to live in an actual city, I loved San Francisco when I visited there so much.

I'm so sorry the pb bars didn't turn out right. I forgot to list the sweetened condensed milk on the recipe initially - JP told me about it and I fixed it, but it is probably my fault they didn't turn out!

Kim@stuffcould.... said...

Wow you have a lot of info here :)

Catherine said...

I think I would be scared to get caught in that parking complex!! Very creative though.

I think I am glad we don't have Cold Stone beverages here!!! ;)

xo catherine

Tanna said...

I'm with you, Sandie... San Diego area. Or Big Sur. But, the cost of living there will never allow that! Happy Friday! blessings ~ tanna