Saturday, May 14, 2011

Auto Pilot? Redux

Well, isn't this an interesting kettle of fish? Geek readers will have heard about Google's Blogger Service going offline Wednesday evening for 20.5 Hours. It began with a scheduled Maintenance Outage and something went wrong causing corrupted files and a prolonged loss of functionality. Millions of Blogs were affected, and many still suffer missing entries.

I happened to be composing at the time and my first draft of "Auto Pilot?" disappeared into the ether. At the time I was just pissed, but once I rewrote my blog my displeasure turned to disappointment. Surely the lost blog had something the rewrite lacked. Well stranger things have happened...tonight the "Lost Auto Pilot" returned to the Blogger Radar Screen. I was fixing to write tomorrow's piece and there it was in my queue of posts!

So please indulge me while I hang my soiled laundry out where everyone can see it, stains and all. I've italicized the original "Lost Blog" and inserted it paragraph for paragraph to see if indeed my first take was better than the redux. The non-italic paragraphs in quotes are the redux.


Am I running on Auto Pilot? Running on Empty? I can't tell yet.

"Am I running on Auto Pilot? Running on Empty? I can't tell yet".


Wednesday was a semi-lazy day around the Ancestral Digs until we ran to the other side of the county to pick up some live dungeness crabs at the Inland Valley's newest Asian Grocery Store.

"Wednesday was a semi-lazy day around the Ancestral Digs until we ran to the other side of the county to pick up some live dungeness crabs at the Inland Valley's newest Asian Grocery Store."


Wednesday morning, I called SturgeUrge at work and suggested that he invite BajaBabe and myself over for dinner, and that we'd bring dinner...live crab, a tossed green salad, fresh raspberries, a bottle of bubbly, and a loaf of San Francisco Sourdough. "Sounds like a plan, see you at 7PM" Urge replied.

"Wednesday morning, I phoned SturgeUrge at work and told him he should invite BajaBabe and me over for dinner. "We'll bring dinner" I said..."live dungees, a tossed green salad, fresh raspberries, a bottle of bubbly, and a loaf of San Francisco Sourdough". "Sounds good Urge replied", 'be there at seven'"



Out at the Asian Grocery, the crab tank was nearly empty. The fish monger warned me that most of the crab were missing some legs...I told him I wanted three crabs...preferably with two claws, and he delivered. I don't know if the crabbers are still fishing, or if the grocery was just waiting on the next delivery, but I felt a little like a vulture shopping at the amputation ward...just sayin'...

"We rolled out to the county's newest Asian Grocery to pick up the crab, and the crab tank was nearly empty. The fish monger warned me that many of the crab were missing legs. I told him that was OK as long as they had two claws. He served up three of the survivors, and we were on our way. I must admit I felt a little weird...like a vulture shopping the amputee ward maybe?" 


At the SturgeUrge Compound, Urge made quick work of putting together a fine repast. Steamed crab with all the fixins...which means with as little extra jazz as possible! The crab was delicious, the stories engaging and towards the end of dinner we tuned in the Giants game.


"Anyway, Urge made quick work of putting dinner together. Steamed crab, a nice homemade balsamic vinaigrette, and as always an eye pleasing presentation. The conversation was lively and the dinner delicious. Near the end we turned on the Giants game, they were leading in the 6th inning.
We said good night before the game ended...it was after all a work night for Urge!"

We skedaddled before the game was over...it was a work night for SturgeUrge after all...I watched the 9th inning back at the Ancestral Digs, the Giants won their 5th straight and are now tied for first place in the NL West.


I was so tired, I didn't pen a CorduroyPlanet blog before I fell asleep. I did however check the Reno AFD to see if there was any more confidence in the weekend forecast. Not so much last night, but the morning run seemed to be going our way...at least a little. They are calling for snow showers and low snow levels Saturday into Sunday.

"I watched the game winning out back at the Ancestral Digs and fell asleep before I could pen today's CorduroyPlanet blog. The Giants have now won six in a row, and are tied with Colorado for First Place! I did scan the Reno AFD to see if the model runs were giving them more or less confidence in the weekend forecast for the bicycle race. Last night, they were still saying snow down to lake level."


For the bicycle race, there might be a little trouble for Sunday's Stage One...especially on Brockway Summit, though the AMGEN Tour of California organizers say they're ready for snow. Monday's Stage 2 that goes right thru my bailiwick looks OK as of this hour.


"This morning that snow has become showers, though the AMGEN Tour of California organizers say they're ready for snow. If anything there's a greater likelihood of the weather impacting Stage One over Brockway Summit Sunday than the Stage 2 climb over Old Highway 40's Lincoln Highway climb over Donner Summit, where BajaBabe and I will be spectating.

Well, it's still four days 'till Stage 2...with any luck, the whole shebang will track north! Doesn't really matter either way, I just want to watch the best in the world ride over my favorite bit of mountain asphalt! I'm especially looking forward to seeing Luxemburger Andy Schleck, my pick to win this July's Tour de France."

Well, memory isn't all it's cracked up to be...I find the differences subtle at best...though after reading through both versions a few times, I like the redux better than the original (save for the paragraph where I used "skedaddle")

Please feel free to leave a comment, snarky or not. Let me know what you think...I'll return to my usual ways tomorrow...unless I hear otherwise from you all.

What of the AMGEN and the Weather Forecast, you ask? The Organizers and their Municipal partners in the area held a press conference Friday and announced another Presser on Saturday morning when they believe they'll have a better handle on the Sunday forecast, a good enough handle to give the Go/No Go Call. I'll be watching online and adjust our departure to Truckee accordingly.

Forecast Model Runs from both the Reno and Sacramento NWS Offices are in agreement. Three inches at Lake Level and six inches over the Passes Sunday morning. That's enough snowfall for chain controls to go up on Interstate 80. The Organizers say a postponement is possible...Stay tuned Folks!

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