McVeighing In How I Really Feel

This has been a strange winter. One day it’s cold, the next it feels like spring is right around the corner. This weekend was cold. Real cold. Friday night, my family decided to brave the elements and go out to dinner. We’re adventurous like that. We were able to pack into one car and we hit the road.

Cars these days are amazing. Upon entering some of them, you feel like an astronaut boarding a spaceship. Screens bigger than my computer, heated everything, Bluetooth, hotspots, you name it. Heck, they can even drive themselves

By Sean McVeigh

now. Well, one of the not so novel features, that’s been around for a while, is cars can tell us the temperature. I recently learned that it is not actually a thermometer but rather a thermistor. The difference being a thermistor relies on metal semi-conductors rather than mercury in a thermometer. But that is very much beside the point and sounds like something that should be in Facts You Probably Don’t Need.

On this blistery Friday night, the car had a temperature reading of 16 degrees. Being the astute ob- server that I am, I opined on how cold that was. In response to my canny comment, I received what I would consider to be the universal retort: “Yeah, but the real feel is more like X.”

Before I continue, let me preface with saying that I am usually among the first to spit out that reflexive remark. So, who am I to throw stones? I would also like to say that I have not studied the alchemy-adjacent field of meteorology in its entirety, but I am a fan of Mike Woods’ work. But as St. Augustine said, “Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.”

In short, I think “RealFeel” temperature is horse pucky! There should only be one temperature. Wherever you are, whatever the thermometer (or thermistor, I guess) reads, that is the temperature. Why does it have to be more complicated than that? How can it be more complicated than that? “Well, what about the wind chill, Sean?” What about it?! If I am standing on the beach holding a thermometer and there is a nasty south wind whipping in my face, why wouldn’t that thermometer read the same temperature that I am feeling? Is that not the real feel? No, it’s the temperature!

I apologize to meteorologists everywhere, but I think you have the easiest job out there. I guess apologies aren’t really in order. More so congratulations. Very rarely can you be wrong. Throw any sort of qualifier in the mix with your prediction and voila, you’re covered.

The whole idea of “RealFeel” just seems made up to me. Maybe there is some very scientific explanation behind it but in my five minutes of intensive and extensive research I came up with mostly definitions along these lines: “The RealFeel Temperature is an index that describes what the temperature really feels like.” You don’t say? Can we all just stop making things up. Keep it simple, will ya? This weekend is supposed to be much nicer than last. Get out there and enjoy it. I hear it might hit 50 degrees and who knows what it will really feel like?!

Happy Valentine’s Day to all our readers and advertisers! We sure do love you all! If you are going to buy your sweetheart balloons this year, please make sure that they are not Chinese spy balloons. *****

Please keep Father Jim Cunningham of St. Francis de Sales in your thoughts and prayers. He is currently in the hospital at New York Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center. If you have O+ blood and would like to consider becoming a living kidney donor, please visit: https://columbiasurgery.org/ kidney-transplant *****

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced this week that effective tomorrow, February 10, the Covid-19 vaccination will be- come optional for current and prospective city employees. The decision is being made as 96% of city employees are already vaccinated. This leaves big questions about the almost 2,000 city workers who were fired from their positions as a result of refusing to get the jab. As of now, City Hall has announced that these jobs will not be given back and that they must be reapplied for.

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We have received word that The Animal Hospital of the Rockaways’ building on Beach Channel Drive will no longer be empty. Good news for pet owners! Dr. Simon plans on reopening the hospital in the same location!

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Local A train straphangers are in for a treat! The MTA is unveiling new, state-of-the-art subway cars and the A/C lines are going to be the first to get a taste of them. The new cars will include, among other things, wider doors for an easier boarding process, more informative digital displays, and security cameras on every car. The MTA has ordered nearly 1,200 of these new trains and hope to have the first of them in service by the end of the year. *****

This week, we received a beautiful essay from Isabella Donovan, a 16-year-old high school student. It is a wonderful description of her memories spending the summers in Rockaway. Please check it out on page 28. *****

The Graybeards Dinner Dance was once again a huge success. This year’s winner of the PotA-Gold took home a whopping $300,000! Congratulations to the winner and the Graybeards, who we know will be able to do a lot of good with their share of the winnings. There’s always next year, folks, but remember, you have to be in it, to win it! *****

If you have no plans for a Valentine’s celebration, get out on Saturday morning, February 11, and join the Rockaway Track Club & Healy’s for their Valentine’s Day

Half Marathon or 5K run. Bring your Valentine, or if you don’t have one, who knows, you may just meet yours on the boardwalk or at Healy’s after! *****

Just a reminder that this month’s Community Board 14 meeting will be on Wednesday, February 15 and not the usual Tuesday due to Valentine’s Day. *****

Rockaway might have some competition this year. Manhattan’s first beach is planned to open this summer along the Hudson River, just north of West 12th St., in the Meatpacking District. There is one major catch here, though. There will be no swimming or wading allowed. Another beach is planned to be opened along the East River in Williamsburg. This beach, which is projected to be opened in five years, will include swimming and wading. For those wondering why the city would build these beaches: officials say that the water in New York Harbor is the cleanest it has been in 100 years!