Winning?

It's not what you think...I enjoy the Charlie Sheen show as much as the next single guy, but the title is not an homage to the Torpedoed Truther.

I was feeling pretty good today...rested up from a week of motoring all over California chasing the AMGEN Tour of California and simultaneously trying to stay an hour ahead of the lingering winter, it's snowfall, and the resultant chain controls.

I did some shopping this morning...catching the last day of grocery store sales for those staple items here at the Ancestral Digs. This afternoon I headed out to the HomeDepot for some irrigation timers, seed starter mix, and On Sale 5" vegetable and herb starts...I totally wiffed...struck out...failed...lead down the garden path by the lying HomeDepot Website that claimed my Local HomeDepot Store had 17 of the timers I need in stock...Imagine my surprise when they had a different timer with a different part number that I had not researched. No seed starter mix and the On Sale Starts were Sold Out...zero, zip, zilch...nada...

Deflated, I gave up for the day...tomorrow I'll go back to the manufacturer's website, download the Operator's Manual and compare...these things are kinda complex, and I need them to be. I need close control over fifteen unique sprinkler or soaker hose runs, with a rain sensor so I won't water when it rains.

After dinner I settled in to watch the Giants' game...they lost. Not the end of the world, but I was getting used to their dramatic, come from behind, walk-off wins...hey, Torture is exciting when it ends with a "W" Yeah...you win some, you lose some...life goes on...

Then the sky fell on me! I tuned in KCRA3's 11 O'clock News and the satellite images were disturbing! There's a big, classic Winter Storm wound up in the Gulf of Alaska that's coming to California Wednesday evening. It's forecast to be just a glancing blow...NWS Monterey says showers in the North Bay Area, and the Reno Office says showers in the morning, picking up in the afternoon, with ridge gusts 80-100MPH! Snow level 7500-8000ft...Jesus!

You know, Squaw Valley recorded three feet of snow since the AMGEN Stage 2 start was moved downhill to Nevada City from Squaw last Monday May 16th. Gentlemen...Start...Your...Snowplows!

That reminds me, rain did play it's hand at Indianapolis last weekend. Pole Day wasn't impacted, but Sunday, or "Bump Day" did have a couple of Rain Delays that upped the blood pressure of the yet-to-qualify teams, and broke a few hearts of those who couldn't get onto the track before time ran out.

This weekend, Memorial Day Weekend has returned to normal, that is two of the greatest spectacles in motorsports will be contested on the same day as they have for 50 years until some fools "had a better idea" last season...

At 0430 PDT Sunday May 29th, the fun begins in Monte Carlo, where the Formula One cars run through the city streets of the tiny Principality to the delight of the assembled glitterati (fresh from Cannes Film Festival) I looked, Grandstand seats start at $450USD and I quit looking when half way down the list of grandstands the tix were up to $1450USD! And I thought $89 was steep for a Giants' Game! (Thanks BajaBabe!) I didn't check on the Yacht Mooring Fees..."If you have to ask, you can't afford it" goes the old saw...

At 0900, the ABC-TV coverage of the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 begins...weather permitting...OK, I checked the Indy AFD...things could get a little bumpy for the next few days. Saturday looks like lingering thundershowers, but Sunday looks decent for the 500. Sister K and her Hubby may be in town...I'll be ready to make a batch of Homemade Ice Cream in case they can make it down.

In years past, I hosted an intimate "Ice Cream Social" on Indy 500 Day, but all my gearhead racefan friend are scattered across all four point of the compass today...sigh...

Epic Swells Again

Grab Bag for Geeks
I'll keep this short...think of it as a BonusBlog this week. It's just that the Buzz about the "Epic Swells like 1969" keeps showing up in my Twitter Feed. Maybe these Dudes will get some sleep tonight, but somehow I doubt it...

The Santa Cruz Sentinel weighed in with some news: "Surfers will decide if contest will get the green light Friday" It's kinda nice to see democracy on the rise somewhere these days.

Well the cold got here! Atop the SF/Monterey NWS' Homepage is a red banner that says: LOW SNOW LEVELS MONDAY! The Weatherman on the KPIX 11 O'clock News said snow down to 500ft Monday...That'll do it for the last of the Vine Ripe Tomatoes at the Local Farmer's Market.

Frosty Dawn
The SF/Monterey NWS wasn't kidding. Their full page of weather warnings was bound to get it right, even if you chalk it up to the Shotgun Effect...that many Warnings, Watches and Advisories are bound to find a few targets...

There's frost on the pumpkin here in the Inland Valley Sunday morning. Hanging in bed while the house warmed up, I surfed for Weathergeek data. It looks like the Surf Contest Dudes got some sacktime after all, there's a quiet calm over in their Cyber-Neighborhood this morning.

Filling the Toolbox
Without any new intel from the Surf World, I did some snooping around their websites. It turns out that Surfers, Skiers, Snowboarders, Groomers, Boaters and Fishermen all work or play in similar milieus. As such, the Surfer's Wing of the Weathersphere sports some truly comprehensive Weather Websites. Think of them as Sports/Weather/Buoy/Webcam Aggregators...sort of a "one page fits all" deal. I bookmarked Stormsurf because it's got all the features I want, whether I'm working, traveling, or fishing.

All my reminiscing over the Winter of 1969 made me track down my Local Newspaper's "Sierra Storm King" I've enjoyed Mark McLaughlin's historical weather passions for many years, and I'm eagerly awaiting his new book on Tahoe Sierra Winter Sports History: "Longboards to Olympics" Mark is publishing his latest just in time for the 50th Anniversary of the 1960 Winter Olympics, and the 60th of Squaw Valley USA.

Mark's Website made my Weather Bookmarks, too. I'm starting to think he'll have plenty to write about, now that El Niño is coming back to town!

Do you feel the Buzz in the air yet? I'm buzzin' because Winter 2009/2010 could be Epic!

Epic Swells Like 1969

Weekend Wonders
I'm giving Grooming 101 a rest for the weekend...besides weekends are for play! I'm playing with the new iPod, setting up accounts, importing contacts and bookmarks, and generally enjoying a GeeWhiz experience. As Captain Jack Aubrey quipped in Patrick O'Brian's "Master and Commander": "What a fascinating, Modern World we live in"

While fiddling with my Tweetdeck application, I received a Retweet from @Mavericks_Surf touting "Epic Surf Expected like 1969"

My mind raced immediately into WayBack Mode...1969 was an Epic Winter in the High Sierra. One of the largest snowfall winters on record, 1969 is indelibly etched in my memory because the huge front window-wall of the then new Gold Coast Lodge at Squaw Valley USA, caved in under the deep drifts of a huge storm period. I remember it vividly because the event happened just a few weeks after I made my first unchaperoned overnight ski trip with my older cousin Gary in his sweet 1955 Chevy Nomad Station Wagon!

It was a memorable trip...my first non-Boy Scout overnight...and we stayed in the 1960 Winter Olympics' Athlete Quarters. Squaw still basked in the glow of The Games in 1969...the buzz of the Winter Games seemed palpable to me, and the skiing was fabulous! I was just seventeen and very impressionable...

Back in the here and now, my mind finished it flights of fancy, and I clicked the link...it lead to a FoxTV station in Honolulu, Hawaii. Dangerous swell is headed for Hawaii and ultimately the California Coast...it's associated storminess will be around almost all week. Darn it, getting back to reality made me take a quick look around the Weathersphere to see if next week might look like 1969.

It's gonna be cold, that's for sure! Reno's AFD from 03:29 Saturday said:
THE ABOVE MENTIONED SYSTEM WILL BE A REINFORCING SHOT OF COLD AIR
THAT WILL HELP TO PLUNGE TEMPERATURES 15-20 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL
MONDAY INTO TUESDAY...POSSIBLE LASTING INTO THE THE LONG TERM
PERIOD.

Looking good Snowmaking-wise, though this weekends frontal push won't bring much snow to the Tahoe Sierra...most of the snow showers are tapped to occur South of Lake Tahoe. This first Cold Front will open the Storm Door, and just like a Real Sierra Winter, another storm will come through every other day all next week! Hurray! I climb back into my BR350 Friday night.

I talked with the Boss for a while Friday afternoon, he told me there was more snowmaking going on than I could see from the Mountain's webcams...they had trouble with Temperature Inversions inhibiting their progress last week, but the approaching front had things mixing up enough to banish the inversions, and allow some bountiful snowmaking shifts. Boo-yah!

Surfing Buoys
Never one to get hung up on reality on a weekend, I toured my Buoy Bookmarks to see if any sign of the approaching "Epic Swells like 1969" were getting noticed by the Buoy Network...Nope, it's still too early. The Maverick Surfer guys are really wound-up, though...they're Twittering up a storm! (Sorry) Lot's of 50FT! Tweets, God bless 'em...

Taking a jaunt outside, the skies here at the Ancestral Digs looked decidedly threatening...heavy weather looking clouds in gray and darker gray greeted me while I fetched the newspaper from the driveway. Now four hours hence, the skies are blue over the Inland Valley, but there's a slight chill in the air.

Errands Completed
I spent the afternoon away from the Weather Frenzy…I can report however, that Holiday Shopping Frenzy is in Full Effect.

Driving out to the Berkeley Flatlands to gather some arts & crafts supplies, I was amazed at just how filthy the air out there was! It must have been wood smoke from Bay Area fireplaces hanging over the Basin…there wasn’t a wisp of breeze anywhere today.

Jacking back into the CyberStream, I see the Mavericks Contest is still on a roiling boil. Those Surfer Dudes aren’t going to sleep tonight! They missed the opportunity for their Contest last season, so they’re Totally Stoked by the Big Swell Forecast…God love ‘em…even if they don’t have a Weather Page on any of the Mavericks Websites.

I’m still trying to track down those Nebulous Surfer Dude Forecasters who said: " weather forecasters are saying there's going to be at least 30 Major Storms come through Northern California's Coast between now and March 31st..."

I’ll admit it, I’ve got the Storm Door Buzz goin’ on, too. Getting back in my tractor again will be like a warm comfortable Homecoming…kinda cozy even. I'm Stoked, too!