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Central Square snow shoveler is hard core
By adamg on Thu, 01/02/2014 - 2:23pm
Meredith captured a snow shoveler hard at work in Central Square this afternoon.
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Comments
Heart attack waiting to happen
Health officials warn that exertion/exercise in winter is especially hard on the heart. Much higher blood pressure levels occur, theorized as being due to thickening of the blood from cold extremities. That man has some insulation, but still looks foolhardy.
Sorta right
But it's not thickening of the blood. If that happens, well Mark, you got a major problem.
Blood pressure goes up because of a physiological response of blood moving away from the extremities and capillaries. Same volume of blood in a smaller space equals higher blood pressure.
That said, I’m sure vigorous exercise tends to postpone the effect since you need to get rid of excessive heat. A guy of this size and padding is probably good as long as he keeps his activity level up.
Just not a good idea to start when already cold.
OK, better explanation
BP rises from surface/extremity capillaries responding to cold by constricting.
Not really
Not really - for one thing, the snow is currently very light and fluffy, and not at all deep, as is obvious from the photo. Also, that shovel is clearly designed to just shove the snow into piles - one would be very hard put to lift a shovelful of snow with that handle design, and it's lifting over-heavy shovels full of snow that puts one most at risk of a heart attack or back injury.
Human snow plow
Thanks to Cambridge for making sidewalks as wide as roads. He needs a plow blade to clear all that snow.
I know, right?
Think how much easier our lives would be if we got rid of sidewalks altogether!
fossil fool
Sidewalks should be WIDER than roads to discourage car usage.
Mark... Most sidewalks in
Mark... Most sidewalks in Cambridge are not that wide. Those that are actually wider, they tend to have quite a high volume amount of people. These comments are why some people want an ignore button just for you.
History for you
That section of Mass Ave got probably the first "road diet" in Massachusetts, narrowing the road from 4 lanes to 2 plus the occasional turn lane. It was an anti-transportation move by the city and predated bike lanes, hence making the area too narrow for safe biking and one of the most dangerous for cycling in the state. Walking is what humanity had prior to the development of transportation (horse-drawn or motorized), thus the move was anti-transportation.
Nobody cares, Marrkkkkkk
Those sidewalks are wide because the local businesses thrive on foot traffic. Also, because the people who live there, work there, and shop and recreate there WANTED THEM THAT WAY.
If you don't like it DON'T DRIVE THERE. If you can't seem to drive a straight line in your own lane DON'T DRIVE.
Nobody gives a shit about your ability to drive through an area as if it were a freeway and feeel the g-forces ... Please use I-93 if you want lane miles.
This.
This.
Also, how's that "ignore" function coming, Adam?
Why do I get the feeling that someday
there will be a small fire at Markkk's house. Not too bad a fire, but more than likely it will happen when Markkk is at work and when the cops and fire people get there, they will be shocked to find dozens of bicycles chained up in his basement. Some bearing the scars of years of torture.
Cambridge wanted to inflict high-rises too
What the road narrowing mostly did was gentrify the area, forcing out people of color from the neighborhood. Yay for progressive Cambridge! Gone are lots of Indian restaurants, replaced by bars and a Starbucks. Oh, and after the sidewalk widening, its still a state hotspot for pedestrian accidents. So much for road narrowing making anything safer there. Fail. I do avoid visiting or spending any money in Cambridge - so many other places have what I want and need at lower cost, less hassle, and less attitude.
Stick to your day job, mmmmkay?
Seems you understand about as much about human physiology as you do about traffic management. Which is to say, a dangerously small and highly dated amount.
All relative
In Germany this would be considered very healthy, but a lot of Germans firmly believe that drinking ice cold beverages on a hot day will give you a heart attack.
A longtime character
I knew this guy 40 years ago when we both volunteered at the MIT radio station. He was a character then and I guess he still is today. And a few years ago I saw another photo of him in the local newspaper, shoveling snow at the same location (in front of the Middle East), looking exactly the same as this picture. I'll omit his name to protect the innocent...
It's Mad Dog!
I have no idea of his real name, but his nome de plume at another event where he volunteers is "Mad Dog". Got to give it to him - weather proves no obstacle.
The photo is current
The photo is current. Note the new take-out window at the newly renovated McDonald's.
Yes...
Yes, this photo is current. But the Cambridge Chronicle ran another photo of my friend, in exactly the same attire, pose, and location, many years ago. He's a sweet guy, actually quite intelligent, wouldn't hurt a flea, but loves to shock others by doing unusual things.
It's The Dog!
Woof! Oh, and thanks for the dead squirrel.
Good health or bad health
Hands down best pic of the Tom Menino blizzard so far. Jim Cantore should interview him for the Weather Channel, that would show the pansies in the rest of this country what stock we are made from up here.
Adorable!
.
Harvard
needs to implement a dress code for its students.
Students?
I'm betting that he's a professor at Harvard or (more likely) MIT.