Lazy Friday

I'm slacking for the second night in a row...all that sun and salt air on San Francisco Bay can take it out of a man!

There's too many distractions this month, that's for sure...

The Tour de France has moved into the mountains, and as always the Alps didn't disappoint! NBCSN's LIVE TV coverage started at 3:30AM on the West Coast, and I found some European LIVE streams online. Many are even in English! My fantasy TdF team is cellar dwelling again...

The video blogs about Sunday's British Grand Prix have posted. More new bits for most of the cars, and a fantastic race on the track...a dry track after record rains for the rest of the F1 weekend. I find it totally amazing how little wings at the front of the sidepods, and the shape of the bodywork can help steer the open, up-firing exhaust down to the car's floor, between the rear tires, and out through the diffuser to increase rear downforce.

I looked at the USS Iowa's Facebook Page, and it's a treasure trove! Lots of interesting comments from Opening Weekend Visitors as well as Iowa Veterans. From my tradesman's point of view, USS Iowa Volunteer, Acting USS Iowa Electrician and Gunners Mate, James Baca's comments are most appreciated! There's a link to a good LA Times Story on the battlewagon posted there too.

I'll be making the trip south to visit Iowa once the new decks are finished, and more of the ship is open to tours...another year or two. The Pacific Battleship Center says that 95% of the ship will be on display by 2015

As you can see, I'm awash in my Sea of Joy...but I'm more than a little concerned about Fire Season, especially in the West. It's cooled off plenty since SturgeUrge and I baked out on San Francisco Bay Wednesday...a good thing for the firefighters battling the Robbers Fire between Foresthill and Colfax.

Even with temps trending downward for the coming week, winds are up again...so let's be careful out there everybody!