This Was a Week for the Weather

As they like to say:  "Don't like the weather?  Wait a day."

FEBRUARY 22, THURSDAY

It was so warm (58 degrees and sunny) and nice that my buddy Frank and I ate out on his deck overlooking a channel of the Chain o' Lakes.

FEBRUARY 23, FRIDAY

Still sunny but temps dropping to 40s and lower.  Down later to 30s and we had snow.  I figure about at least an inch on the ground by Saturday morning.  Cold and blustery.

Over the weekend it started warming up until we had temps to upper 60s by Tuesday, Feb, 27.

FEBRUARY 28, WEDNESDAY,

Like, Brrrrrrr!  We got another inch of snow on ground (probably more because a lot of it melted.  Plus, we had thunder and lightning as a cold front moved in.  Eleven tornadoes reported to the south of us.

FEBRUARY 29, LEAP YEAR THURSDAY

Temp at 22 degrees this morning, but warmed up to 30s.

It is supposed to get back to the 60s by next week.

One Strange February.  --RoadWeather

Interesting Winter So Far and Adios Toby!!

January started off fine, then we had several 5 inch snowfalls and then a big 13-incher.  Unfortunately, I had problems getting the old snowblower (it's about 22 years old) started until the 13-incher, then it really had a hard time coping with all of it.  I did get some of the driveway finished before a really nice neighbor came over and finished it.  Of course, there was also those three days below zero the entire day.

Now, February has been a beaut so far.  Finally, all that snow has melted and the last several days its been 40s and even 50s today.  I was able to open up the house and get some fresh air in it.  Plus, I even had peanuts in the shell our OD (On Deck).  Not too many things finer that peanuts in the shell.

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So sorry to lose one of my all-time favorite country music stars, Toby Keith.  I have most of his CDs and even one on my Ultimate Jukebox.  Who cannot help but sing along with him on "I Love This Bar" and "Red Solo Cup."  And, of course that "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" pretty well sums up my feeling about 9/11.

I didn't find out about his death until Tuesday afternoon at Sunnyside Tavern in Johnsburg.  Someone put on a bunch of his songs and we gave him a rousing sendoff.

Sorry 'Bout That Dixie Chicks or Dixies or Whatever You're Calling Yourselves Now.  --RoadDog

Every Blooming THing: Mid-April 2023

As we shiver around here today.  Last week, we had four days with sun and temps in the 80s and higher.  This morning, woke up to about an inch of snow on the ground, snow flurries in the morning and temps in the upper 30s.  Like they say, if you don't like the weather around Chicago right now, wait a little bit.

Grass is green and I was smiling Saturday when the lawn tractor started right away.  Trees are budding out.

The Bradford pear trees are blooming big time white.  I have three of them.  The crabapples are budding out.

Plenty of twigs and limbs still to be moved from the ice storm a short time ago (we lost electricity for 17 hours).

Right now the daffodils and hyacinths are blooming and I have a lot of them.

--RoadFlower

Trying to Reason With an Ice Storm-- Part 6: How to Keep Busy When There's Nothing to Do at Home

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23

I went to Wal Mart and overheard several people talking about not having electricity and that was why they were out "shopping," also to stay warm.  Then I went to Meijer and I heard someone call to me, turned, and it was one of the couples from Midwest Breakfast Company.  Great minds must think alike.  Right?

Returning home, I walked around back to check for damage and sadly saw that one of my clump white birch trees was broken about two-thirds of the way up.  Too bad.  That is a pretty tree.  Plus, there were a lot of limbs down on both pine islands.

Like I said, this is by far the worst ice storm we've had in the thirty years living in this house.

Still no power when I got back to the house, so, what else could I do but take a nap.  I was awakened at 11:30 am when the power came back on. This means lots of resetting items that usually Liz did (and knew how to do).  But now I have to figure it out myself and remember, I'm pretty technologically challenged.  Electricity had been out 17 hours.

Then, there is that computer thing.

Actually, I somehow got it going again.  No idea how, though.

With roads in good shape, I drove over to Bulldog Ale House south of McHenry for their $2 draft beer special.  They have 32 draft beers, including domestics, imports and craft beers.  I like imports and craft beers, but not for $6 to $8, but am like a kid in a candy store at $2.  I tried quite a few different ones (No IPAs though, Yuck!!).

Came home and watched the Thursday TV shows (a favorite night).  Sadly, Wednesday night is also a favorite, but we all know what happened to that last night.

--RoadIce

Trying to Reason With an Ice Storm-- Part 5: Quite the Mess

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23

Sadly, when I got home (about half a mile away), the garage door didn't open so I knew the electricity was still off.  

Since I couldn't really do anything, I decided the time was good to do some shopping (in stores with electricity.)

So, drove over to Illinois Highway 31 in McHenry, a major shopping area.

This is the second winter event we've had in the last week.  Last Thursday we had about five inches of snow, now ths ice storm last night.  Both times, we got really hit along the Wisconsin-Illinois border.  The farther south you go, the less snow last week and less ice last night.  I am all in favor of sharing our good fortune with those folks.

The trees in the subdivision are still covered with thick ice and a while lot of limbs are down.  Same held true during my drive to McHenry.  Saw quite a few piles of limbs right up by the road and in several spots there were guys out clearing up the mess.  I could see a few spots where the remnants of limbs were actually on the road.

This was by far the worst ice storm I can ever remember.

--RoadIce

Trying to Reason With an Ice Storm-- Part 3: Icy Neighborhood

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2023

I walked carefully out to the truck which was parked outside. The driveway was covered in ice, but part way to the street was clear.  Also, the street did not appear to have any ice on it either.  After some tugging, I was able to get the driver door open and grabbed an ice scraper.

The ice came off in sheets, fortunately,so wasn't as bad as I anticipated.  My long time neighbor across the street walked over and said he was without electricity as well, but had used his fireplace last night and slept by it where they stayed warm.  He said he had heard we weren't getting electricity until Saturday.  I sure didn't want to hear that.  It got pretty chilly last night as it was.

(I had heard that it might be later today or perhaps even as late as Saturday for some.  I found this out on my new smart phone which, of course, being battery operated, was still usable for the internet.  Something I didn't know how to do with the old flip phone I had.)

I was happy to find the streets in out subdivision were perfect.  That is a good thing as we have some hills in the area.  I saw that some of my pine tree limbs were bent and touching the ground.  Quite a few tree limbs down on my way and even a couple trees.

Drove down the hill to US-12 (Rand Road) and saw that the Midwest Breakfast Company had electricity.

Time for some breakfast.

--RoadIce

Trying to Reason with an Ice Storm-- Part 2: All That Real Gone Electricity

Continued from March 2, 2023.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23

That was a miserable night.  No flushing toilets and I had to take a flashlight with me everytime I had to go.  All those shadows.  No washing hands afterwards either. No fun to lose electricity on well water.  The pump is electric.

I was hoping that when I woke up we'd have power again.  We didn't.  And, it was getting pretty chilly in the house.  We have natural gas, but guess what the blowers work on?  No going into the freezer or refrigerator either to make sure food keeps cold.

At daylight I could see that I have some branches down and others hanging on the pines.  It is pretty though with all the ice on everything.  Nature's doing its icing.

I was hungry so decided this would be a great time to go over to the Midwest Breakfast Company in Spring Grove and have breakfast.  It's been here for many years and Liz and I had never gotten over there to give it a try.

I was going to take the Malibu over to it, but it was in the garage and guess what the door opener works on.  Then I remembered I could just go over to the door and pull a chord and it would open.  But, guess what the lights out there work on.  And then, after I opened the door and backed out I would have to get out of the car, penguin walk on the ice back to the garage door and pull it down manually as I wasn't going to leave it open while I was gone.

So, I decided to go out to the driveway and drive the Dodge Dakota.  But, guess what that was covered in.  

--RoadFun

Trying to Reason With an Ice Storm-- Part 1

The Icestorm of Wednesday, February 22.

Starting over the weekend of Feb. 18-19, we started getting dire warnings of a likely ice storm heading our way, with the worst part supposed to hit us along the Illinois-Wisconsin border and areas north.  To the south it would be more of a rain situation.  I always take it under advisement as the weather folks are often right, but also often wrong.  I was hoping they were wrong.

However, Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 20 and 21, it was still predicted to hit Wednesday, my usual day to drive up to Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin.  I adopted a wait and see attitude.  

Well, they were right on with their predictions.  We did have an ice storm and it was the worst I can remember having in the 30 years we've lived in Spring Grove, Illinois.  By the time I would have left for Donovan's at 1:30 pm, there was a thick coating of ice on all the trees and bushes.  Staying put now.

Really hoping we don't lose power.  At 6:15, the lights flickered and then ten monutes later, flickered and went out for good.  Of course, dumb old me had not put any flashlights nearby, so had to grope for some.  Finally found one and was in business.

But, now what.  I can't do anything without electricity and Wednesdays are one of my favorite TV days.  No TV, no radio, no stereo, no nothing.

Might just as well go to sleep.

--RoadIcedOut

JSS: As Crummy As It Gets-- Beer Nuggets-- Burning-- Wrigley Field Tonight

JSS--  Just Some Stuff

1.  AS CRUMMY AS IT GETS--  Today set a new low in regards to crummy weather days we've been having so far this spring.  It was 32 degrees at 9 am with a forecast high of 48 (but I'm thinking we didn't make it).  Plus rain, overcast, windy and lots of cold in the air which the wind blew right through you.  But, we have a teaser coming though.  Supposedly it will be 80 degrees come Monday.

2.  BEER NUGGETS--  Last night we went to Bricks 'N Ivy here in Spring Grove, Illinois, and enjoyed the half price appetizers and pitchers of beer.  They have a new menu item and it is one of our favorites, something called beer nuggets which are fried dough.  Couldn't beat a basket of it for $3.50.  We also had half price wings ($8 for 12).  But, I can remember when a wing special was just 25 cents.

3.  BURNING--  We get to burn yard waste on the weekends during April and May.  The problem with that is that we haven't had a weekend which did not have rain or howling winds.  Come on guys.

4.  WRIGLEY FIELD TONIGHT--  The White Sox travel to Wrigley Field tonight to play the Chicago Cubs in our Crosstown Classic.  It is a battle of two 9-13 teams.  I am sure glad that I am not out there because of (see #1).

--RoadCold

THINGS YOU'D LIKE TO SAY:  What am I?   Flypaper for freaks?

JSS: Ukraine Flag-- Come On Weather!! -- Inflation Gets Personal-- Sad Sox, Sad Hawks & Sad Bulls

JSS--  Just Some Stuff

1.  UKRAINE FLAG

I saw a Ukraine flag in the Jewel parking lot earlier today.  Come on Ukraine.  It is amazing what they are accomplishing against such overwhelming odds.

2.  COME ON WEATHER!!

No breaks from the weather  After a wonderful weekend with temps in the lower 80s, we now have 44 degree weather with a strong wind blowing the cold on us.  Is there going to be a spring?  Freeze warnings for tonight!!  

3.  INFLATION GETS PERSONAL 

Today at our local breakfast spot, we were getting ready to order from the specials list when a waitress ran over and quickly gathered the specials pages and replaced them with another one.  We saw that the new one was $1 more for everything.  Ouch!!

4.  SAD SOX, SAD HAWKS & SAD BULLS

Rough time to be pulling for Chicago teams.  The Sox are in the middle of a seven game losing streak and the only thing happening more often is the loss of players to injury.  Seems like a new one every day.

The Blackhawks can't end the season soon enough.  And, I remember when they won their 3rd Stanley Cup in five years back in 2015 that they were talking about a Blackhawk Dynasty.  Little did we know we were seeing the end of it.

At least the Bulls showed the first improvement since those wonderful 1990s and made the playoffs this year, but will most likely be eliminated tomorrow.

--RoadDog

March Coming in Like a Gas Gouge: Gas Gouge!! Sunnyside, Legion, Band, Stuck's and Karaoke

FRIDAY, MARCH 4

Gas prices are going nuts around here.  Yesterday I got gas for $3.60 in Wisconsin.  It was $4 at Rock Corner on Il-173 by the Wisconsin border.  Today, gas in Spring Grove and Johnsburg was $4.10.  And, we know the problem is the GRBs from Big Oil out to make a profit from the crisis.

We went to Sunnyside in Johnsburg.

SATURDAY, MARCH 5

Well, the temps hit mid 60s.  Helps take the edge off the Gas Gouge.  I went to the Fox Lake American Legion in the afternoon and enjoyed watching the duo called the Hunnymooners from 3 to 6 p.m.  Then met Kevin and Kelly at Stucky's in Johnsburg for dinner and karaoke, not to mention the $1 draft beer pints.  Who'd have figured gas would cost four times a gallon than beers?

SUNDAY, MARCH 6

We went to Stucky's for the NASCAR race.  We aren't NASCAR fans, especially with the Bubba, but, it is a fun party there and every time there is a caution flag that is good for somebody.

--RoadDog

Even in Winter: From Cold to Warm, Woodstock Willie, Sunnyside, Stucky's, Karaoke, the the McHenry Legion

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18

Well, it's winter here in the Midwest, so no surprise of about an inch of new snow on the ground this morning, high of 12 degrees and the wind just blew that cold through you.  Come on Woodstock Willie (our local groundhog prognosticator) who said it was going to be an early spring back on Feb. 2.

We went to Sunnyside in Johnsburg.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19

Still cold, but at least the wind died down.  

Went to Stucky's in Johnsburg, ate dinner and did some karaoke.

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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20

Hey, temp in the upper 40s!!  Has spring arrived?  We were going to go to Cullom Knoll by McHenry, but it was way too crowded.  Went to the McHenry American Legion and watched the Daytona 500.  Enjoyed talking with folks as this is a "Cheers" kind of place.  Unfortunately they will be closing for a week or so while they do a whole lot of renovating.  One thing they'll do is make the  bar bigger as it only seats ten right now.

--RoadDog

Those Who Left Us in 2021-- Part 5: Scott, Tutt and Powell

SEPTEMBER

WILLARD SCOTT, 87

The beloved TV weatherman who charmed viewers on NBC's "Today" show with his cheerful personality.  Died September 4.

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OCTOBER

RONNIE TUTT, 83

A legendary drummer who spent years playing alongside Elvis Presley and teamed up with other stars ranging from Johnny Cash to Stevie Nicks.  Died October 14.

COLIN POWELL, 84

The trailblazing soldier and diplomat who had sterling reputation of service to Republican and Democrat presidents.  It is too bad he never ran for president himself.  I definitely would have voted for him.  Died October 18.

--RoadDog

JSS: Crazy Weather-- Yellowstone, 1883-- the Drive's A to Z-- The Big Guy Up the Middle

JSS--  Just Some Stuff

1.  CRAZY WEATHER--   We certainly have been having some crazy weather around here.  Yesterday we had thunder, lightning, rain and snow.  There was quite a bit of snow on the ground.  Then yesterday, we got 3-4 inches of very slippery snow.

2.  YELLOWSTONE, 1883--  This past Sunday I was able to watch some episodes of Yellowstone and 1883 on TV.  Both are very good, but all that good acting is kind of negated by the overuse of the f___ word.  Come on, get a thesaurus and expand your language base.

3.  THE DRIVE'S A TO Z--  The Drive, 97.1 FM, is now up to the letter "I" in their annual end-of-the-year A to Z.  They are playing 2,000+ songs.  They aren't sure when they'll end, but for sure sometime after the start of the new year.  It streams.

4.  THE BIG GUY UP THE MIDDLE--  Last night, O enjoyed watching the Minnesota-West Virginia bowl game, when the Gophers put in offensive lineman 380 pound, six foot 4 inch Daniel Faalele in  the backfield to run a play.  You never saw a team call a time out that fast as the Mountaineers did.  It didn't help as he crashed right through the line like there was nothing there.

The commentators mentioned when the Bears did that with our Refrigerator Perry back in the 80s.  It sure reminded me of him.

--RoadDog

THINGS YOU'D LIKE TO SAY:  Ahh ... I see the screw-up fairy has visited us again.

JSS: A to Z Continues-- Snowblower Started-- Snow-- Didn't 'Woke' But Found My Gloves, Boots and Knit Hat

JSS--  Just Some Stuff.

1.  A TO Z CONTINUES

The Drive's Rock A to Z continues and is up to the letter "L" right now with Peter Frampton's "Lines On My Face: playing.  They are thinking it might end on Monday, Jan.5, at this time.  Great music done alphabetically.  It streams at www.wdrv.com.  Give it a listen.  "Listen to Her Heart" by Tom Petty right now.  "Listen to the Music"--  Doobie Brothers.  "Listen to What the Man Said"--  Paul McCartney & Wings.

2.  SNOWBLOWER STARTED

Always a scary thing this time of the year.  Will the snowblower start after sitting idle (and without gas/oil mixture with the two-stroke engine).  I found out the hard way about ten years ago that you HAD BETTER run the mixture out or getting it started the next season is not going to be easy.

Yesterday, it would not start.  Last night we got 3-4 inches of heavy snow.  Just a short time ago, it started on first pull.  Yea for me.

3.  SNOW

Like I said, the imminent arrival of forecast snow got me to moving on the snowblower project yesterday.  We've been fortunate so far this winter season and only had about an inch in one snowfall.  Last year we had two snowfalls of 5-6 inchers before December:  one on Halloween and one on Veterans Day.

We ended up with 3-4 inches of snow.

4.  DIDN'T "WOKE" BUT FOUND MY GLOVES, BOOTS AND KNIT HAT

Another tradition this time of the year is finding out where I put my knit hat, gloves and snow boots.   You tend to forget over the spring, summer and fall.  I have plenty of those hats and gloves because of many purchases in the past, but for some reason, they can still find a place to hide come search time.

But, this year I found one pair of gloves and one knit hat within a reasonable time.

--RoadDog

STUDENT TEST GUESSES:  The Pyramids are a range of mountains between France and Spain.

The $3800 Six Mile Auto Trip Nov. 10, the Next Day

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 11

And that is considering that since March 16, I haven't driven further than 25 miles from home.  With this virus, it is just no fun to drive anywhere.  We even dropped plans to join family in Savannah, Georgia, this coming Thursday for Thanksgiving.  We had that in the plans for a year and a half.

That storm, as bad as it was, was over in about an hour.

Anyway, the next day, I walked out by the car and saw the garage floor was very wet under the front of the car(perhaps, I thought, from all the rain we had) but there was nothing by the back tires.

I looked at the front of the 2011 Malibu and could see the license plate and holder were a bit bent and he bumper under it was dented as well.  Then I saw a piece of wood jammed in there, but I couldn't loosen it. (Nor could I get the hood up after I pulled the inside lever to do it.  I couldn't find the latch in the engine.)

I started the car, and it started right up.  Backed it out of the garage and drove around a couple blocks.  It ran well.  No warning lights came on either.

Parked it on the driveway which was dry, figuring I would see if it was still leaking.  I went out a few hours later and the driveway was covered with some sort of liquid.

I called our Chevy dealer to have it towed in the next day.

Watch Out for Them Motivating Big Tree Branches.--RoadWreck

POINTS TO PONDER:  Why do we press harder on the remote when we know the batteries are getting weak?

The $3800 Six Mile Auto Trip Last Tuesday-- Part 1: One Helluva Storm

We had had an almost unbelievable streak of warm weather for almost seven days in early November, so we had been taking advantage of it.  

However, Tuesday, November 10, it was supposed to end and in a big fashion with storms rolling through and really big winds.  Of course, that was the sky-is-falling weather forecasters so it was something you had to see.

We were down in Johnsburg sitting outside enjoying a late lunch (wow, sitting outside comfortably with just a sweatshirt and short pants in November here in the Midwest.  Wow!!) and then it began looking like the weather folks might be right.  Some really bad-looking black clouds were rolling in from the west and the wind was picking up.  (We were sitting outside because of the virus and no dining inside.)

Around 4:15, a big blast of wind and a smattering of raindrops hit, sending customers chasing after chairs, tables and umbrellas and then we and others decided it was time to hightail home.  We got to the car just ahead of a downpour.

Driving north on Johnsburg Road, we could see the rain coming down horizontally.  Trees were bending over alarmingly.  The pavement was becoming slippery.  We stopped at Ringwood Road for the sign, proceeded through the intersection and about a quarter mile north, I saw a large tree branch blown down and start across the road.  This was maybe a hundred feet in front of us.

Slammed on the brakes, but had to let up when I started skidding.  The branch was sliding across the road, but enough in it so that we were going to hit it.  We did.

The car continued going with no problems and we drove the last couple miles to home.  Parked in the garage and we could see no damage.

Hopefully, we wouldn't have any damage, but would have to wait until the next day to take a look in the daylight.

That Was Too Close.  The Heart Was Racing.  --RoadSmash

THINGS TO PONDER:  If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2.

No More Boating For Us-- Part 4: The Boat Took A Beating

From August 17, 2019.

That poor first boat, the Imperial, took a beating, not only as we were learning how to drive it and tie up at piers, but also we had two rather bad storms that hit it hard.

We first kept it by Neptune's Cove on Fox Lake (where I deejayed) and when they sold the place, we moved to the nearby Golden Nugget (later Costello's).  We were in a sheltered channel at Neptune's, but out on the lake at the second place.

The first beating the boat took resulted in its sinking during a storm that had a F-1 category tornado that came across Nippersink Lake.  Liz had the boat out that day (I was deejaying at the Puppet Bar), but fortunately was tied  up at Leisure Point on that lake when it hit.  So they were inside.  As the storm passed the Puppet Bar the windows seemed to move inward and the wind did blow hard.

When it lightened up enough to see outside at Leisure Point (today it is El Puerto), Liz could only see the top of the windshield.  She plopped a hundred dollar bill on the bar and said that drinks were on her for anybody that would get the boat out of the water.  A bunch of guys jumped up, ran out to the water, got in and eventually got the boat up onto land.

Money Well Spent.  What Some Guyd Won't Do for Drinkin' Money.   --RoadDog

We Had a Very Windy and Hard-Hitting Storm on Monday, Even a Tornado

In just a few minutes I will be going outside to pick up some more twigs and branches from Monday's storm.  I have been doing this for the last few days as I sure had a lot of them.  There was even one medium sized branch that came down.

But our neighbors in the subdivision here in Spring Grove had more damage.  My neighbor to the west lost about half of his Bradford pear tree, but they have notoriously weak wood.  As a matter of fact, I used to have three of them, but just one remains now after wind storms.

Drive down any street in the subdivision and there are lots of bundles of branches sitting out by the street.

Monday's storm raced west to east across Illinois at about 70 miles per hour and packed winds of up to 100 miles.  We even had an EF-1 tornado touch down in the northeast corner of Spring Grove and run along the ground 3.5 miles before ending up in Wisconsin.  That would be a touchdown about four miles from us.

Wednesday, when we drove to Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, we saw lots of downed trees, even more so as we neared the Wisconsin border.

I was at Walgreens when it started raining and I just got home before it hit and got wet trying to put away stuff that would blow over or away.  The trees were really bending over for what we could see in the driving sheets of rain that we had.

--RoadDog

FOX HUNTING:  What is the name of Peter and Jason's sister in the comic strip "Fox Trot?"


"Paige"

JSS: Winter Arrives Early-- Halloween Decorations-- Even Cold in Myrtle Beach-- How About That Wall MR. PRESIDENT?

JSS--  Just Some Stuff.

1.  WINTER ARRIVES EARLY--   It definitely has arrived early.  We had 5 inches of snow on Halloween and another 5 inches  yesterday.  And today, temps never much got past 20 degrees all day.

2.  HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS-- Unfortunately, I had taken down the Halloween outside decorations but not brought them inside.  Now they are covered with snow.  I'll have to wait for a warm up.  I sure hope it gets a bit warmer.

3.  EVEN COLD IN MYRTLE BEACH--  I usually listen to WVCO, 94.9 the Surf in North Myrtle Beach most mornings and they are talking of temperatures below freezing and wind chill tomorrow of around 20 degrees.  So, I don't feel so bad.

4.  HOW ABOUT THAT WALL, MR. PRESIDENT?--  I know our president would like to build a wall along our border with Mexico.  But I have a better idea for a wall.  Let's build it where an even bigger problem exists, and that would be along our northern border.

Now, don't get me wrong, I like Canadians, BUT I sure don't like THEIR WEATHER!!!  I think they should keep their weather on their own side of the wall and quit sending it to us.

Come On, Mr. President.  Build That Wall.  --RoadWall

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DID YOU KNOW:  The symbol on the "pound" key (#) is called an octothorpe.

Don't octothorpe me.