Saturday, June 4, 2011
Fever Dream
Me: HAL, close the Storm Door please.
HAL 9000: I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Good Morning
I guess I needed all eight hours last night. It was about 0100 when I actually closed my eyes. My alarm went off at 0600 and I woke up, tuned in the Armstrong & Getty Radio Show and fell back asleep two seconds later. At 0930 I finally woke up for good.
To say I'm tired of the rainy weather would just be more beating a dead horse, but I'm not physically tired...heck I haven't done any real physical work in weeks. I think I'm psychically worn out and in need of a long duration Solar Recharge. There's a syndrome like SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) caused by lingering Winters that overstay their welcome. Once I'm fully rested and recharged, thinking of a snappy moniker for the malady will be child's play...now I've got molasses on the brain. That's gonna be a problem until it warms up...
I remember the last time Winter hung on for dear life. I was standing in the checkout line at the grocery store. It was mid-May and it was snowing again. Everyone in the line was downcast...all looking at their shoes not at the other shoppers. At the time I thought: "Jeez, If Spring doesn't start soon, it's gonna be a huge Public Health problem".
Same thing this year...I wanna play in the garden...not in the mud.
To say I'm tired of the rainy weather would just be more beating a dead horse, but I'm not physically tired...heck I haven't done any real physical work in weeks. I think I'm psychically worn out and in need of a long duration Solar Recharge. There's a syndrome like SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) caused by lingering Winters that overstay their welcome. Once I'm fully rested and recharged, thinking of a snappy moniker for the malady will be child's play...now I've got molasses on the brain. That's gonna be a problem until it warms up...
I remember the last time Winter hung on for dear life. I was standing in the checkout line at the grocery store. It was mid-May and it was snowing again. Everyone in the line was downcast...all looking at their shoes not at the other shoppers. At the time I thought: "Jeez, If Spring doesn't start soon, it's gonna be a huge Public Health problem".
Same thing this year...I wanna play in the garden...not in the mud.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Weird
Today is the first day of Hurricane Season 2011
As I write, it's snowing up on Donner Summit 7100ft, and the weatherman says another winter-style storm will scud down from the Gulf of Alaska just in time for the weekend.
This afternoon I heard a news bulletin on the radio...two tornadoes touched down Wednesday in Springfield Massachusetts!
Intrigued, I turned on the Tube and there was a radar image on the air from KCRA3 in Sacramento with Severe Weather emblazoned across the bottom of the screen! The map showed a severe thunderstorm over Citrus Heights one of the many towns in Metropolitan Sacramento.
I fired up the internet and clicked on the Sacramento forecast and clicked through to the Watches/Warnings Page and a Tornado Warning had just expired at 4PM! The NWS cited penny-sized hail while KCRA3 was hyping quarter-sized hailstones as possible.
I toured the High Sierra webcams and it's sticking up at pass level. The Reno AFD confirmed my worst fears...more on the way...
At 11PM the weather readers promised showers for the rest of the week, with that new storm still on track for the weekend.
On the bright side, the SF Giants came from behind to tie it up in the 9th and won it in the 11th!
As I write, it's snowing up on Donner Summit 7100ft, and the weatherman says another winter-style storm will scud down from the Gulf of Alaska just in time for the weekend.
This afternoon I heard a news bulletin on the radio...two tornadoes touched down Wednesday in Springfield Massachusetts!
Intrigued, I turned on the Tube and there was a radar image on the air from KCRA3 in Sacramento with Severe Weather emblazoned across the bottom of the screen! The map showed a severe thunderstorm over Citrus Heights one of the many towns in Metropolitan Sacramento.
I fired up the internet and clicked on the Sacramento forecast and clicked through to the Watches/Warnings Page and a Tornado Warning had just expired at 4PM! The NWS cited penny-sized hail while KCRA3 was hyping quarter-sized hailstones as possible.
At 11PM the weather readers promised showers for the rest of the week, with that new storm still on track for the weekend.
On the bright side, the SF Giants came from behind to tie it up in the 9th and won it in the 11th!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Cabin Fever
Let me up! What did I ever do to you, Mother Nature?
I stayed inside all day Sunday save for a quick sortie to the Farmer's Market for an in vain search for some vine-ripe heirloom tomatoes. Two great races, a stock car race to ignore, and a horrible baseball game.
High drama, intense action and the rarefied atmosphere of Monte Carlo was the algebra of excess at the Monaco Grand Prix. Without a doubt, the most exciting Formula One race I've seen in years. Lots of passing (which is nearly impossible on the tight streets of Monte Carlo), hammer and tong racing for the lead, and tire wear/strategy that turned the volume up to the proverbial Eleven!
A little later the "Ladies and Gentlemen Start(ed) Their Engines" at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 100th running of the Indy 500. Aside from the production screw-ups during the pre-race hoopla (I always look forward to hearing Jim Nabors sing "Back Home Again In Indiana") the race was a welcome throw-back to the days before American Open Wheel Racing's split between CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) and the Indy Racing League (IRL) Double-file restarts combined with a fairly decent three wide start, recalled Indy's Glory Years. Not a lot of crashes...certainly no serious ones...
A Cinderella Story was just waiting to happen as a Rookie was leading the 500 into the last corner of the last lap...only to be dashed when he passed a slower backmarker and got "up into the gray" and slid into the wall! The second place car passed the hapless skidding rookie for the lead down the home straight, and the rookie slid across the finish line in second. Man oh man!
So far, so good...
Monday was blustery and wet come newspaper retrieval time. I busied myself with editing and burning DVDs of the Monaco GP and more of the AMGEN ToC stages for BajaBabe and my collection. There was a Grand Am race and AMA motorcycle road racing on TV too. I tuned in the Grand Am, but it seemed awfully tame compared to Sunday's socko fare. When I tuned in the AMA races, to my horror they were contesting the road race in the rain!
Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City is only a few years old, and a good track. Monday it was like rubbing salt in an open wound! Just a light drizzle, but there was a fair amount of standing water on the racing surface. Lots of riders were losing the front end and skidding off into the mud. Those who could restart were muddy from head to toe and their bikes dripped mud for half a lap as they tiptoed around.
That was enough...I couldn't take it and tuned out. I took refuge in a trip to the local hardware store. I needed to use my 15% Off coupon before they closed at 6PM. I picked up a sprinkler timer and called it a day.
I set my alarm for 0315 so I could view a "double pass" of the International Space Station followed by the Space Shuttle Endeavour. I got up and looked outside...no stars, just total overcast...sigh...back to the rack...
I'd intended to do a big shopping trip Tuesday morning, but it was raining when I fetched the paper. I busied myself getting a package of DVDs ready to mail to ChicoDupre.
I finally headed out about 1PM...it was still raining lightly. Post Office, then out to COSTCO for a tank of gas. Jeez, everybody and their uncle was in line to the pumps...more than I've ever seen there. I figured everyone else was fighting the Post Holiday Cabin Fever...I hate it when I'm right sometimes.
After filling up, I found the parking lot mired in Gridlock...no way was I going in the warehouse today. The rain really picked up...I didn't want to be on the roads anymore. I bagged the rest of my errands, and stopped at the Safeway for a few things on my way home to the Ancestral Digs...Giants lost in the 9th...blecchh...
High drama, intense action and the rarefied atmosphere of Monte Carlo was the algebra of excess at the Monaco Grand Prix. Without a doubt, the most exciting Formula One race I've seen in years. Lots of passing (which is nearly impossible on the tight streets of Monte Carlo), hammer and tong racing for the lead, and tire wear/strategy that turned the volume up to the proverbial Eleven!
A little later the "Ladies and Gentlemen Start(ed) Their Engines" at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 100th running of the Indy 500. Aside from the production screw-ups during the pre-race hoopla (I always look forward to hearing Jim Nabors sing "Back Home Again In Indiana") the race was a welcome throw-back to the days before American Open Wheel Racing's split between CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) and the Indy Racing League (IRL) Double-file restarts combined with a fairly decent three wide start, recalled Indy's Glory Years. Not a lot of crashes...certainly no serious ones...
A Cinderella Story was just waiting to happen as a Rookie was leading the 500 into the last corner of the last lap...only to be dashed when he passed a slower backmarker and got "up into the gray" and slid into the wall! The second place car passed the hapless skidding rookie for the lead down the home straight, and the rookie slid across the finish line in second. Man oh man!
So far, so good...
Monday was blustery and wet come newspaper retrieval time. I busied myself with editing and burning DVDs of the Monaco GP and more of the AMGEN ToC stages for BajaBabe and my collection. There was a Grand Am race and AMA motorcycle road racing on TV too. I tuned in the Grand Am, but it seemed awfully tame compared to Sunday's socko fare. When I tuned in the AMA races, to my horror they were contesting the road race in the rain!
Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City is only a few years old, and a good track. Monday it was like rubbing salt in an open wound! Just a light drizzle, but there was a fair amount of standing water on the racing surface. Lots of riders were losing the front end and skidding off into the mud. Those who could restart were muddy from head to toe and their bikes dripped mud for half a lap as they tiptoed around.
That was enough...I couldn't take it and tuned out. I took refuge in a trip to the local hardware store. I needed to use my 15% Off coupon before they closed at 6PM. I picked up a sprinkler timer and called it a day.
I set my alarm for 0315 so I could view a "double pass" of the International Space Station followed by the Space Shuttle Endeavour. I got up and looked outside...no stars, just total overcast...sigh...back to the rack...
I'd intended to do a big shopping trip Tuesday morning, but it was raining when I fetched the paper. I busied myself getting a package of DVDs ready to mail to ChicoDupre.
I finally headed out about 1PM...it was still raining lightly. Post Office, then out to COSTCO for a tank of gas. Jeez, everybody and their uncle was in line to the pumps...more than I've ever seen there. I figured everyone else was fighting the Post Holiday Cabin Fever...I hate it when I'm right sometimes.
After filling up, I found the parking lot mired in Gridlock...no way was I going in the warehouse today. The rain really picked up...I didn't want to be on the roads anymore. I bagged the rest of my errands, and stopped at the Safeway for a few things on my way home to the Ancestral Digs...Giants lost in the 9th...blecchh...
Sunday, May 29, 2011
I'll Keep It Short Today
I'm hearing from all across the West today...I'm not the only one who's grousing about this damn lingering Winter...
A Facebook friend from Bozeman Montana said:"Feels like an early fall"
From a teacher friend in Grass Valley up in California's Mother Lode:
"It is 62 degrees in our house, it is raining cold outside, and I have asked Steve to build a fire...I feel so sorry for all the souls who left Friday morning to claim their camping spot up in the high country ...."
Jeweler was first out of the gate with: "Would like to know where the sun is shining??"Jeweler went on to say: "Actual snow at my house. Not very pleased"
Here at the Ancestral Digs, a light rain (or more correctly in BayAreaSpeak) a heavy drizzle set in around 5PM. My mother saw the silver lining..."it's good for everyone's gardens"...me I'm hoping the soil will warm soon...warm enough for zucchini, tomatoes, melons, corn and peppers...um...Summer Vegetables!
Chain controls went up over Donner Summit somewhere around 5:20PM. The webcams were showing accumulated snow by then, too.
I spent most of the morning editing all the AMGEN coverage I captured on my DVRs and burning them to DVD so I'll have room for this weekend's motorsports overload...Monaco Grand Prix for the Formula One crowd, and the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. The forecast for Indy is good, and the weather's perfect in Monte Carlo too.
The bicycle racers were talking about the Tahoe snow until the last day of the race...AMGEN Organizers have already announced the Start City for next year's AMGEN...Santa Rosa (where it snows, what...once every 40 years?!)
Uggghh...I just looked at the webcams (7:39PM)...snow is sticking down in Truckee now, 4-5 inches at Pass Level, and the 3PM Reno AFD says the cold front is stalled on a Susanville/Gerlach line so the snow will pile up until Sunday morning.
Chain controls were down to Nyack for a while, but are back up at Kingvale, and East down to Hirschdale. The webcams over the Summit show some spun-out cars east of Soda Springs, and gridlock Eastbound at Kingvale...could be that the road's closed due to spin-outs and accidents, but the news hasn't been posted online yet.
It's gonna be humid and 90°F Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the rich, famous, and beautiful will need SPF30 in Monte Carlo.
Sister K caught a cold and won't be coming to town, so I'm going to forgo the homemade ice cream until another weekend...
A Facebook friend from Bozeman Montana said:"Feels like an early fall"
From a teacher friend in Grass Valley up in California's Mother Lode:
"It is 62 degrees in our house, it is raining cold outside, and I have asked Steve to build a fire...I feel so sorry for all the souls who left Friday morning to claim their camping spot up in the high country ...."
Jeweler was first out of the gate with: "Would like to know where the sun is shining??"Jeweler went on to say: "Actual snow at my house. Not very pleased"
Here at the Ancestral Digs, a light rain (or more correctly in BayAreaSpeak) a heavy drizzle set in around 5PM. My mother saw the silver lining..."it's good for everyone's gardens"...me I'm hoping the soil will warm soon...warm enough for zucchini, tomatoes, melons, corn and peppers...um...Summer Vegetables!
Chain controls went up over Donner Summit somewhere around 5:20PM. The webcams were showing accumulated snow by then, too.
I spent most of the morning editing all the AMGEN coverage I captured on my DVRs and burning them to DVD so I'll have room for this weekend's motorsports overload...Monaco Grand Prix for the Formula One crowd, and the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. The forecast for Indy is good, and the weather's perfect in Monte Carlo too.
The bicycle racers were talking about the Tahoe snow until the last day of the race...AMGEN Organizers have already announced the Start City for next year's AMGEN...Santa Rosa (where it snows, what...once every 40 years?!)
Uggghh...I just looked at the webcams (7:39PM)...snow is sticking down in Truckee now, 4-5 inches at Pass Level, and the 3PM Reno AFD says the cold front is stalled on a Susanville/Gerlach line so the snow will pile up until Sunday morning.
Chain controls were down to Nyack for a while, but are back up at Kingvale, and East down to Hirschdale. The webcams over the Summit show some spun-out cars east of Soda Springs, and gridlock Eastbound at Kingvale...could be that the road's closed due to spin-outs and accidents, but the news hasn't been posted online yet.
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