Again With the "No Rest For The Wicked" Deal

I was awakened by the shaking at 0320 Sunday morning. I don't know if I thought it or said it out loud: "Wow, this is a good one!" I was expecting to be awakened at 0430, I'd set my alarm clock so I could watch the Belgian Grand Prix LIVE from Spa-Francorchamps.

I didn't even need to "rub the sleep outta my eyes" I was wide awake! I hit the internet running, and in under a minute, I had the USGS Quake Sheet up informing me of the (then) Magnitude 6.1 quake four miles south of Napa, CA.

At the Ancestral Digs, the local TV News outlets were wall-to-wall in under a half hour, while the local 24/7 News Radio Station was taking calls while their reporters got to the scene.

Twitter was on it like white on rice. I tweeted the quake at 0323...three minutes after it shook.

 

I heard from Chico Dupré in mere moments. He didn't feel it, though it was felt up to 400 miles from the epicenter...Carson City, Nevada...on the far side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range!

The radio had harrowing stories of damage and shaking, and this kept me in rapt attention until the TV Newsfeeds began. There were fires...why is it always trailer parks? Tornadoes love 'em it seems...

At 4:30AM, I changed the channel to the Formula One Pre-Race Show. The three weeks of "Summer Break" were over and the racing would resume in just under 30 minutes!

I switched up my Twitter Feed to a Formula One List...of course it was sprinkling in Pit Lane! Spa-Francorchamps is high in Belgium's Ardennes Forest, it's the longest track on the F1 calendar and it often rains up there...sometimes it'll rain on one end of the circuit while there's bright sunshine at the other end. It always makes for dramatic racing, and I expected nothing less than Broadway-Worthy Drama!

I wasn't disappointed! The rain never was a factor...it was the human side of F1 that provided the drama. The two Team AMG Mercedes teammates were on the front row. Together they have the top two spots in the Drivers' Championship.

The lights went out, the Mercs sped towards Turn One and it was ON! Points-leader and Pole-Sitter Nico Rosberg was bested by teammate Lewis Hamilton, with my guy, Red Bull Racing's Sebastion Vettel right in the mix. On lap two, Nico made his way outside Lewis and they touched! Nico's front wing clipped Lewis' rear tyre and all hell broke loose. Lewis' tyre went flat, and part of Nico's wing went flying. 

There was good racing up and down the track, the rain stayed away and the race was decided on the merits, not the luck of the draw (as is so often the case with wet races)

It was all over but the post-race chatter when I plugged back into the earthquake coverage...which I quickly grew weary of. I turned it down, reset my alarm for 8AM and shut my eyes...baseball pre-game chatter would start at 0800, and my San Francisco Giants are in a pennant race with the Los Angeles Dodgers!

More later...No Spoilers...You're Welcome!

Warm And Fuzzy

The weatherman says we might get some drizzle overnight tonight...we'll take whatever we can get! They say the wet will hold off until the Chinese New Years Parade is over, but the truth is most of this system is trending north of the Bay Area...

Friday morning felt like Spring had sprung...I didn't get out, though the temps were Spring-like, instead I spent a very generous morning LIVE streaming the San Francisco Giants #SFGLive. They were streaming from Scottsdale, AZ where Pitchers & Catchers were reporting for Spring Training. #SFGLive went a little over Four Hours! The Giants' Opening day is 44 days away.

I didn't watch much Olympic coverage, opting to luxuriate in all things Giants' Baseball. The webcast featured interviews with new and returning players and coaches, Giants beat writers, even groundskeepers. They threw in some studio features on Giants' Promotions for the coming season...everything from Bobbleheads to R2D2 stocking caps!

Hunter Pence Bobblehead Wed April 9th, giveaway

STAR WARS Day Sunday August 31st giveaway

You know Spring Training is almost magic to baseball fans...during spring training reality doesn't carry as much weight as dreams. During Spring Training, every baseball fan's team is going to the World Series!

Sure reality is still reality...players will make the team...or not. Some will be surprises, some will fall to injury, but overall Spring Training is like Springtime, a time for renewal and rebirth.  3rd Baseman Pablo 'Kung Fu Panda' Sandoval played Winter Ball in Venezuela, and worked really hard losing around 40 pounds. Back-up catcher Héctor Sánchez lost 20 or so pounds too...that will help his endurance when he starts behind the plate.

Everyone's champing at the bit to get going, lots of position players are in camp already too. Groundhog Day is behind us and baseball season is just six weeks away. That'll take care of that pesky Seasonal Affective Disorder!

As I write tonight, I'm listening to Baseball Talk on KNBR 680AM...more specifically I'm listening to Marty Lurie do his first show of Spring Training. Marty's Twitter handle is @baseballmarty Marty loves baseball, and the Giants...he has Reverence for baseball. He does KNBR's SF Giants pre- and post-game shows on weekends, and he's their Super-Substitute, sittin' in whenever they need him during baseball season. There is a LIVE Stream, and you can tune in KNBR on your smartphone with the iHeartRadio App.

As a Talk Radio listener for 35+ years, I hate SportsTalk...on talk radio, sports is like religion...nobody is persuading anybody...they're just spewing their 'doxies, and there's no genuine discussion. Marty's shows are different...yeah there's still SportsTalk Dolts that make it past the CallScreener, but for the most part it's compelling listening. Thanks Marty.

I'm off to watch some Olympics with the sound off...

Talkin' Radio

Well dear readers, I set out to put together my Wildfire Toolbox on Saturday, and despite my best intentions I got sidetracked listening to the radio traffic from the Robbers Fire over the internet. I'd totally forgotten that almost all Public Service radio services are now streamed online somewhere!

So bear with me, I'll get her done before Fire Season ends!

By all early indications, Fire Season 2012 is gonna be a rough one. Two seasons ago I wrote about Wet Winters and Summer Fire Seasons: "Monday Extra: Fire Weather Redux". With last Winter's wimpy water production, we're surely looking at the flip side of the fire season coin.

We certainly seem to be coming into the meat of fire season earlier that usual...though it could be that in the Twitter Age more news reaches us faster depending on our interests and how well tailored one's Twitter "follow list" is. Still there's an awful lot of fires in California and The West right now. I've already heard the "extreme fire behavior" meme from the fires near Reno, NV and from the Waldo Canyon Fire outside of Colorado Springs, CO

So what's the best way to keep abreast of Fire News and information in your area? In a word, Radio. I've been a radio junkie since I can remember. Born in the early 50s, radio was my information superhighway growing up. My love of baseball can be tied directly to radio, because in those days one listened to the game...televised baseball was rare until World Series time.

Growing up a San Francisco Giants fan I was blessed to listen to the best announcing team in the business, Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons. Does "Tell it Bye Bye Baby!" ring a bell? That was Russ Hodges' signature home run call. "The Shot Heard 'Round The World" was Hodges' call too. It's the October 3, 1951 tie-breaker game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. When Giants' outfielder Bobby Thompson hit a three run walk off homer to beat the Dodgers, Hodges screamed "The Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant,..."


Broadcast Radio AM/FM: That's radio to most people, or music radio. AM News radio is the easiest place to start your search for meaningful Fire News. Most News/Talk Stations will go wall to wall fire coverage if there's a fire in their service area. Most stations have a website where you can stream their signal. This is really handy if you want to keep tabs on a fire near distant friends and family. An internet search with the Town's name and Radio in the search field will yield results a-plenty. Notice I didn't say "Google It"...Ixquick It, I say!

Ixquick is like Google in that it's a metasearch engine just like Google, but Ixquick doesn't record your IP Address which saves on future popup clutter, and your cookie counts.

Television: I spent more time than I'd like to admit watching the Waldo Canyon Fire online when Colorado Springs was in danger. Same search strategy...Town and TV. Two Colorado Springs TV Stations streamed LIVE around the clock during the worst part of the firestorm. When things calmed down enough for evacuees to begin returning to their homes, the stations continued with the LIVE online streaming after they returned to "regular programing" on the air.

NOAA Weather Radio: The National Weather Service broadcasts 24/7 over VHF radio stations. Forecasts, local observations and warnings are all on the menu. Small inexpensive receivers are available. The 2-way radios in my snowcat has a dedicated channel to listen to NOAA Weather Radio. Each station across the country is linked to the nearest NWS Forecast Office. On My Mountain, the service is priceless during big storm periods.

When there's Fire Weather, the WX Radio will let you know. If there's an active fire in the area, fire info may be broadcast as well. (WX is a radio abbreviation for weather)

There's a whole "Other World" of radio out there. We're talking 2-way radio. Everyone's heard of "Ham Radio" Ham is sorta short for Amateur Radio. Hobbyists around the world play with radios and related technology. In America Ham Radio is making a comeback now that the Morse Code Requirements have been eliminated.

Business Radio: On My Mountain 2-way radio is essential. Each groomer has a multi-channel 2-way radio, all the management carry handi-talkies, ski patrollers all carry 2-ways, and most departments have a base station radio at their HQ. Every ski resort works this way.

Public Safety Radio: Police, Sheriffs, CHP, College Police Depts and Fire Departments all use 2-way radios. CalFire, US Forest Service, Municipal FDs and even Volunteer FDs are all on the air.

Scanner Radios: So how do you listen to the Firefighting Agencies and the Law Enforcement radios?  Get yourself a Police Scanner! These radios scan banks of preset frequencies that you key into the radio's memory. The scanner runs through the freq. list over and over until it finds an active signal and stops to monitor the signal until the traffic ends..then it resumes scanning. If you don't know what freqs to monitor, scanners also have a search scan function to help you find the active freqs in your area.

Scanners are handy in Wintertime when you live in snow country too. I monitor CalTrans snowplows, Truckee Police, Town of Truckee snow removal, CHP, local ski resorts and Search and Rescue during storm periods.

Scanners come in handheld, mobile and base station configurations. I have a handheld, and I bring it along when I go out to the Reno Air Races, or the racetrack to listen to the drivers talk to their crews. A scanner really adds texture to the action, and there are vendors at most big-time motorsports events where you can rent a pre-programed scanner for the day or weekend. Vendors usually offer a print out of all the weekend team/car freqs for free.

There's much more on scanner radios at DXing.com They cost anywhere from $50 to $5000 depending on how many bells and whistles you're willing to pay for. I have an AOR AR-2700 that I bought new in 1996. I'm sure it didn't cost much more than $100. I have a power supply that it mounts on at the DaveCave so it's like a base station. I have a nice discone antenna on a mast that plugs into the scanner when you take the "rubber duckie" antenna off. I monitored the Russian MIR space station on the 2 Meter Ham Band with this setup.

If you're unlucky enough to have a fire chase you from your home, the handheld scanner would be worth it's weight in gold. If you don't want another noisy gadget in the house, you can listen to scanner traffic on the internet.

Internet scanning will kick off the next installment of the CorduroyPlanet Wildfire Toolbox

Blowin' In The Wind

Thank God! Those "triple digit temperatures" from mid-week are just a memory. I'm reminded of them when I walk by a mirror and see my bright redneck! I missed a few spots with the sunscreen spray...fortunately it's only colorful...not painful.

I'm pretty much religious about safety glasses, ear plugs, sunscreen and sports helmets...

I was chatting this morning with a new Facebook friend who lives in the California foothills, the Robbers Fire is burning some seven miles southwest of her place, as the crow flies. I watched some reports on the fire on Friday night's local 11 O'clock News. Evacuations and road closures were in effect, and a few hundred homes are threatened.

This morning, I made a point of watching the Trainwreck News stream for a Robbers Fire Update. There's good news! Though humidity is still very, very low, the temperature trending down for the next several days. Plus the wind direction has turned away from inhabited areas and the smoke is blowing away from the foothill towns now. The CalFire website has the latest details on the firefight...The Devil you say...I hope it's not an omen...the Robbers Fire is Incident #666!

I took a look the the Reno AFD. There's some of the Monsoonal moisture scudding up the eastern side of the Sierras, and afternoon thunderstorms and those troublesome outflow winds are likely south of Interstate 80. Fortunately these aren't widespread enough to meet Red Flag Warning criteria.

It occurs to me that a Wildland Fire Toolbox would come in handy going forward. I'll work on that and post it here so my Foothill and Sierra Nevada friends can keep tabs on wildfires near them or their friends.

When I'm a the DaveCave and there's a wildfire nearby I fire up my Police Scanner. Unless the fire is in my neighborhood, you can't hear the fire crews on the air, but you hear dispatch, the aircraft and their controllers, and the remaining Fire Lookouts. During Fire Season listening to the Forest Service's 8AM Radio Report is very instructional and includes a detailed Fire Weather Forecast for the area.

It still goes without saying, let's be fire safe out there!

Father's Day Blast Again

While watching Matt Cain's perfect game with the San Francisco Giants the other night, I wished my Dad was still here to watch it too...he would have eaten it up! I miss him, especially when it comes to our team, the San Francisco Giants.

Last year, my Father's Day Blast said it all:

Father's Day Blast
I'm not a father, I'm still a son, though my Dad's been gone for a few years now.

It's mid morning on Father's Day and I'm just now writing today's blog. On the docket for today are some To-Do List items that totally are Dad-Centric.

I'm still working on Dad's Roses. Fighting Rose Black Spot Fungus, and installing automated irrigation. Dad didn't really grow his green thumb until I was out of the house and making my own way. I always get a chuckle at how soon after I moved out Dad began to eliminate the lawns around the Ancestral Digs. Back when my precious "free time" was spent mowing those lawns, and I wasn't smart enough to suggest that the lawns be downsized. Who knew teenagers didn't know everything?

After lunch I have to call back to the Port of Sonoma Bait Shop for some intel on the new boat ramp we want to launch the FV SturgeUrge from Monday. The San Pablo Bay sturgeon are on the chew, and we'd like to get in on that action. Then I'll put all the pieces together on the extra fuel tank for the FV SturgeUrge. After lunch, I'll watch game three of the Bay Bridge Series with my SF Giants vs the Oakland A's

All these thing I owe to Dad...my love of fishing and baseball, my handyman talents, green thumbs...all of it. Though our paths through these passions were totally divergent, at the times when I'm lucky enough to indulge these passions, I know it's with my Dad's blessings and nurturing that I'm out there pursuing happiness via these things he gave me.

You know, SturgeUrge and I are a little slow on the uptake this season San Francisco Bay Fishing-wise. When we do get on the Bay to chase the tasty California Halibut, the waters we ply in search of our tasty quarry are the very same waters that my Dad spent many afternoons deck-handing on a commercial salmon fishing boat.

Back in the late 30's Dad would ditch high school after lunch and crew for a salmon long liner on San Francisco and San Pablo Bays. His job was to cut up big sardines for bait, hook the chunks, and feed the baited hooks over the side as the skipper slowly motored north from the Tiburon Peninsula up into San Pablo Bay off China Camp. When the whole mile or so of long line was set, the two of them would eat lunch and then motor back to the beginning of the line and retrieve it with any salmon who fell for their ruse. I guess they made two sets before they called it a day.

Seventy years later Dad's son is out fishing on the same waters, though I've yet to hook a salmon in those waters! Commercial salmon fishing is outlawed inside the Bay now, and has been my whole life. Halibut are still fished commercially by a few die hard trollers on the Bay.

Sport fishing is still alive and well on the Bay thankfully, and every time I'm out there I marvel on how successful our cleanup of the Bay has been. When I was a kid, fishing off the Berkeley Pier with my Dad and SisterSweetly, the Bay was an open sewer...literally...we never kept a fish for the table...today it's called "Catch and Release", back in the day it was "Good Hygiene"

Today after 40+ years of environmentally sound stewardship, San Francisco Bay is a lot more like a Wildlife Reserve than a cesspool. I'm always amazed by the sweet smell and the abundance of life. In the past few years, Harbor Porpoises have been returning to the bay waters in numbers large enough to study.

In his way my Dad helped clean up the Bay. Dad was a civil engineer. His company designed many of the sewage treatment plants around San Francisco Bay that cleaned up the sewage that used to flow untreated into the Bay.

Thanks Dad! Happy Father's Day!

USS Iowa Update

The Big Stick sails today at 11AM. SturgeUrge and I will be on the water for the occasion.

I'll post photos here Saturday evening.

Nap Time

It's after 2AM...I'm pretty much wide awake...it's my own damn fault...

I was up at 6AM and fell back asleep before 6:30AM.

I woke up again and stayed up at 8AM.

The Giants pregame started at 8:30AM on the radio...9AM on TV.

It was a pretty good game...then it got tough...and the Giants won it in the 9th on an Angel Pagan three run homer.

That's when my trouble started...my nap was a good hour long...

I woke up in time to make red snapper picata with rice and a zucchini mushroom medley.

Now I can't get to sleep...

It's not helping to read some really geeky Formula One technical blogs...there's still some grousing about the Bahrain GP, too...

More in depth news reports on the CA/NV fireball are trickling in too...pieces of the meteorite landed on California's Mother Lode...it seems somebody drove over pieces of the meteorite in a park parking lot...

That's it...I'm going to stream some radio podcasts and turn the lights and TV down...

Schizophrenic

"Nobody multitasks like Americans", I heard myself say Friday evening at our table in our favorite local Chinese restaurant. Our waiter was taking our orders, as we were catching up with our dining companions...and being Americans, we somehow had our just-off-the-boat waiter's head spinning.

He's going to make a fine American it turns out...he has patience...these days you need lots of patience in America.

As always, dinner was great! Yan's chefs know their way around a wok. They have a special way with vegetables...the Garlic Asparagus and Dry Cooked Beans especially stand out.

We dined at 6PM, right in the middle of the Giants' game from New York City, which is why I found myself multitasking later at 1AM Saturday morning, and why I'm writing today's CorduroyPlanet more than 12 hours later than I usually post it.

After we finished dinner and settled the check, I grabbed the car and pulled it to Yan's front door, with the game on the radio. Pulling onto the main drag, Kruk & Kuip announced that the Giants had just come back to tie it in the 10th inning. So much for after dinner conversation.

The Giants won it, thanks to their new bullpen/closer by committee. Ball Game!

So at 12:30, CSNBA replayed the game. I'd watched the first four innings before we left for dinner, and wanted to see how the G-Men got in and out of trouble during dinner...

Small problem...at 1AM, LIVE all the way from Bahrain's Sakhir Circuit, SpeedTV was streaming Formula One's Practice 3

This is how I ended up multitasking in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

Protests in Bahrain have neither subsided, nor ramped up since F1 arrived in the Island Kingdom.

I'd watched both P1 and P2 Friday morning, and today's images were very different. The air looked exactly like Shanghai's polluted air last weekend...gray and dark.

I tweeted some questions to SpeedTV's Pit Reporter Will Buxton and to the Pirelli Tyre PR Team who were actively tweeting news from trackside:

@WillBuxton How's that sandy air at Sakhir, Will? It looks like Shanghai Smog. Can you feel it on your skin? Is it playin' hell w/ grip?

@Pirelli_Media  #F1 What's the forecast for winds at Sakhir? There's enough sand in the air now that it looks like Shanghai Smog #Traction?

 It was the residual dust from morning sand storms that swept across the desert island that is Bahrain. As each practice I watched went on, what looked like a groove of tire rubber was laid down on the track, only to disappear by the beginning of the next session.

It turns out that the groove was not in fact rubbering in per se, but the cars were blowing the sand dust off the track, only to have the winds blow in a new coating of dust before the next track session.

@WillBuxton replied: "Yeah its pretty heavy air today. Sandstorms this morning. Will be playing havoc out there."

@Pirelli_Media replied too, much more personally by Twitter DM (Direct Message): "Winds are hard to forecast but it looks like the sand will clear by lunch time."

All the while, the Giants replay was passing by on the TV. I tore myself away from the cars on the dusty track and watched every pitch of the Giants' turnaround and win, before watching the waning minutes of P3.

When F1 wrapped up, I was just an hour and a half from Qualifying, and wide awake...thanks adrenaline! I made a snack and set about reading up on P3 minutia and set the DVR to watch Qualifying lest I fall asleep before the pole was decided...

Well, I made it to Q1, but zonked out midway through Q2...

I watched all three rounds of Qualifying this afternoon...after the Giants came from behind to tie the Mets and lose it all in the 9th inning!

NYC Weatherfolks say Sunday's Giants-Mets game should be rained out, oddly the WeatherUnderground.com  forecast for Bahrain's Sakir Circuit says 40% chance of rain for Sunday morning's (our time) Grand Prix.

Yes, I'm setting the DVR, and no I don't think it'll rain. Wind and dust are something else all together...

Money's Worth

I figure I got about five bucks-worth from my $1 MegaMillions lottery ticket. It was a fine afternoon here in the Inland Valley. Partly sunny, I hit the local liquor emporium for the tix, avoiding any line whatsoever, drove thru TacoBell while listening to Dennis Miller on the radio, and I realized it's been a whole week since I've been out of the house.

Even the grocery store cooperated! I parked right out front and grabbed everything on my list...finding a checkout stand with no line even...I drove back to the Ancestral Digs feeling like a jewel thief who's just pulled off the perfect crime.

I grabbed a quick catnap before the ballgame, and read a lot of snark on Twitter.

I didn't win...I, and by I, I mean the lotto computer, picked only one number that didn't pay.

You know I'm a glass half full guy, so I take solace knowing that the take-home jackpot would have only been $400 Million, heck, the Federal Government blows through that size bankroll in about 25 minutes!

The rain returns Saturday, but the weatherman promises it'll be outta here by Sunday afternoon. It'll be good to keep resting up! The IndyCars ace this weekend...on a natural terrain road course. There's a bicycle racing "Spring Classic" on the tube LIVE Sunday morning, The Tour of Flanders.

Yep, Spring is bustin' out all over...

Scratch Fishing

In fishing lingo, a "scratch bite" translates into "slow fishing". Golf has the "scratch golfer", whatever that means...I'm not a golfer, in fact I always say: "I've lost more friends to golf than heroin" Golf is addictive in my estimation.

Even appliance sellers have "scratch and dent" sales...me? I'm still "blessed" with that scratchy throat...grrr...I woke up at six this morning and tuned in my favorite radio chuckleheads, and promptly went back to sleep. I woke at 9AM and phoned SturgeUrge to say I couldn't make it today, and went back to sleep until 1:30PM

The weather is building in Friday night, and showers are forecast for Saturday and Sunday. It won't be any trouble scratching out some recuperation time this weekend...In fact, it's less than an hour until the San Francisco Giants vs Texas Rangers game is on TV. The Giants faced off against the Rangers in the 2010 World Series, though now that we're in Spring Training's Doldrums, I don't expect their history to have any effect tonight. I find baseball very comforting...I'll be all bundled up, under the covers, too.

The game should be over before the Malaysian GP P3 streams at 10PM (Spring Training games never go extra innings, and do end in ties from time to time)

Madison Bumgarner 22, starts for the Giants against the Rangers

I've set the DVR to watch Qualifying after midnight...I should be sleeping soundly by then...

The Malaysian Grand Prix airs LIVE Sunday morning at 12:30AM on SpeedTV

IndyCar racing begins Sunday on the streets of St Petersburg, Florida

Looks like I'll have plenty of distractions to keep me in bed and outta the rain!

This afternoon I saw an interesting story in Truckee's fishwrap of record: "Crawfish Harvesting Nears for Lake Tahoe" I'm wondering how crawdads contribute to algae blooms...It seems counter-intuitive to me. Crawfish are bottom dwellers who feed on other invertebrates and all matter of dead stuff that would otherwise decay, increasing the fertilizer available to algae.

I wonder...are crawdads introduced to Lake Tahoe? Whenever we go camping and trout fishing in Sierra lakes, I always bring my crawfish traps. We usually catch a meal or two's worth, and they're especially yummy when you catch 'em yourself!

Crawfish don't appear on DFG's "California Aquatic Invasive Species Management Plan" hit list. I'm gonna keep an eye out for the crawfish/algae bloom nexus...

Play Ball!

Hazy Daze

I'm still in a haze I guess... 

Big winds all night, they even blew my DSL offline for a few minutes! 

A little bit of snow whitened up the neighborhood in the morning. 

News of another avalanche victim in the Tahoe Sierra broke via Twitter over the weekend and made the local press on Monday. Poaching doesn't pay...

One of my favorite Rock n' Roll guitarists, Ronnie Montrose passed away Saturday . RIP Ronnie... Ronnie's 1978 "Open Fire" album has what I consider to be the best version of "Town Without Pity" ever recorded. YouTube has a good version from Midnight Special in 1978, and a 1991 show.

On life's lighter side, The Giants are at Spring Training and walloped the LA Dodgers today. This game was not on TV or radio. 

Monday's game was on television, and it was great to hear Giants' golden throated announcers, Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper doing play-by-play again. For my money, they're the best announcing team the Giants have had in my lifetime...that includes Hall Of Famers, Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons (who called the Giants when they went to their first World Series as the San Francisco Giants in 1962) 

In spring training, the score isn't important. Pitchers usually pitch 30 or less pitches, and games are nine innings...even if the score is tied. The idea is to get everyone, returning stars and prospects alike some playing time in a game situation...without hurting anyone.

In the morning I'll shovel the driveway yet again. I may churn up a batch of ice cream while the driveway melts...

Sleepin' In

Damn, I didn't mean to sleep in...I awoke to my alarm at 8:15. I wanted to listen to Farmer Fred's Garden Show on the radio. I fell back asleep after 20 minutes or so...crap. I was gonna call in, too...

Fred's guest was Debbie Arrington, garden writer for the Sacramento Bee, the subject was roses.

I need some advice about automated irrigation for Dad's roses.

I had another question for Debbie about a column she wrote in October 2009.

I was listening to her on Farmer Fred's show and she'd written a column about the Mavericks' Surf Contest WeatherDudes. They were forecasting "30 Major Winter Storms to hit Central California" I remember the chill that ran down my back when I heard that! I wrote a blog about it: "Thoughts On The Beach" Sadly, the link to Arrington's original column is broken now.

I've always wanted to know if the Surf WeatherDudes nailed that forecast or not. Looking back at the 2009/2010 season, I think we were a little shy of the 30 storms they promised. Perhaps we did get all 30, and they've paled in memory after the pounding we took during the 2012-2011 season?

Anyway that was gonna be my second question...

My Take-Away Lesson? I better get to work on my BodyClock Reset!

Pick Up Sticks

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...

Well, my traditional Christmas observance has passed...making corduroy on My Mountain as Santa makes his rounds...as always it was a quiet night...enlivened only by the miracle that Jobs made, the iPod.

Radio is dominated by Christmas music on Christmas Eve and Christmas Night. I like a little blast of Yuletide Tunes, but eight hours two nights in a row kills the mood, don't you think?

After a little carol time, I tuned into the Tinfoil Hat Set's fave show, Coast to Coast AM (Art Bell's old show)...not much to hold my interest there, so I deployed the iPod.

I listened to a nice album of Frank Sinatra covers "Dear Mr Sinatra" by John Pizzarelli with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, and Steely Dan's 2003 studio gem "Everything Must Go" before catching up on some podcasts of my favorite radio shows.

There's one thing about podcasts...there's no news at the top and bottom of the hour...if there is still news that wasn't edited out, it's old enough not to be news anymore. After two nights and two days of this I end up a little news-starved...even during Christmas news happens, and I'm nothing if not a junky for news.

There's Phobos/Grunt news, it began to trickle out again on the Winter Solstice a couple of days before Christmas. At the time, I posted my Quick Phobos/Grunt Update 5. Universe Today fills in some more blanks and covers the possible recovery of the Planetary Society's Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment (LIFE)

Should Phobos/Grunt's debris land in Afghanistan as USSTRATCOM predicts, finding the intact LIFE experiment would be a small victory...the little package is designed to survive the heat of reentry, and sustain a 4000G impact, so a miracle is theoretically possible.

Speaking of impacting space debris, there's more on the Siberian fellow who's roof was penetrated by falling parts of Roscosmos' latest launch failure. After escaping with his life because he was out of his easy chair hauling in an armful of firewood, the homeowner fixed the roof himself while authorities wrangled over exactly who would repair the damage.

A Russian Proton rocket had troubles on the launch pad Monday. Fortunately the launch was aborted and the spacecraft is in for repair before it's rescheduled launch.

In my neighborhood, several Lake Tahoe Basin towns flirted with record high afternoon temperatures for Boxing Day. Truckee missed tying the 1976 record of 56°F by a single degree. South Lake Tahoe tied their 1976 record, and Reno will be flirting with record highs Friday and Saturday. Still no relief in sight on the snowfall front...sigh...

The Locals are getting restless and starting to talk. The Sierra Storm King weighs in, and the Sacramento Bee wonders, "Where's the Sierra Snow?"

Sadly, pioneering Surf Swell Forecaster and founding genius of Surfline.com, Sean Collins passed away Monday in Southern California...Godspeed to a true meteo-pioneer.

Joyeux Noël à tous.

In what I hope isn't a new Christmas ritual, I was awakened by little Randy's screams of "I can't put my arms  down" over and over. I realized that "A Christmas Story" was blaring away on the Tube. "You'll shoot your eye out kid"...the newest Christmas Classic Movie is 28 years old already!

Tonight, I'll be able to avoid another less desirable Christmas Tradition...the 24 hours of Christmas Music on every radio station. Thanks to the late Steve Jobs, I'll be listening to podcasts from my favorite radio shows instead!

Another longstanding Christmas Tradition just occurred to me...like I have for almost every Christmas Eve throughout the past three decades, I'll be up on My Mountain grinding around in my BR350, while Santa is out indulging in millions of servings of milk and cookies.

Now! Air Line, now! Water, now Ratnik and Snow Fan.
On! Tiller, On! Pumphouse, On! Snomax and Bison.
Now Dash away! Dash away! Dash away all.

Best wishes for a Merry Christmas to one and all!

1000 Words

I earned it this morning...it's the nature of the beast known as snowmaking.

My Mountain is open in Limited Operation due to Mother Nature's intransigence. We're running half our chairs, and two dozen trails...all on manmade snow. This is no small miracle as the weather keeping our winter storm systems at bay has also brought a pattern of temperature inversions that have made snowmaking impossible many nights...hence our limited acreage.

It's Christmas Week, so 1000 skiers and snowboarders were on My Mountain Monday...when I was logging the Grooming Updates this morning, ticket sales were 20% ahead of Monday's numbers at the same time...word is getting out, we've got good conditions...all things considered.

All those sliders confined to such limited acreage, do take a toll on our snowpack...throw in some East Winds, and a little of that snowpack escapes into the sky or into the trees where my fleet of BR350s and Bisons, and BisonXs can't retrieve it...enter Snowmaking!

Of all two dozen of our currently open trails, only two are soldiering on without nightly snowmaking. Thanks to aggressive "Summer Grooming", these trails are golf course smooth, so a good 6-8 inches of snowmaking get them in opening shape, and they stay decent as the skier traffic doesn't find any obstacles as it scrapes away our pricy piste. One groomer can groom all of these acres, plus ancillary projects in under three hours.

Over the rest of the trails, snowmaking holds sway. Weather permitting, tons of water is turned to snow, that when the planets align, falls right onto the myriad obstacles...this is a good thing!

Most of the time however, Mother Nature isn't exactly a team player, so that snow must be moved from where it falls to where it's most needed. All these machinations take time...we pray for 24/7 snowmaking conditions, but of late...were lucky to get 12 hours in. This sets up a game of Groomer's Chicken...for lack of a more refined term.

Having the mountain meticulously groomed when the lifts open at 9AM sharp, always means a little juggling to get it right. When we're making snow to cover bare ground and rocks on open trails, you want to keep the guns and fans running until the last possible second.We routinely run late enough that we sacrifice any "margin of error"...if we a machine breaks down, we're screwed.

Last night I pushed it to the limit...two minutes over the limit it turns out...when I run the crew this close to the deadline, especially during a Holiday Week, the 2-way radio comes alive with my call number...or worse, my name, as Operations starts quizzing me and reminding me of the impending deadline. This always begins 10 minutes before opening. As the deadline gets nearer, I become sort of a Morning Zoo-style DJ who can't shut up over the precious airwaves as I almost end up narrating our egress from the piste...As my crew moves down the mountain, I'm telling Operations our position, which lifts they can open safely, and out ETA to safe cover...whew!

Do 1000 words fly back and forth during our rumble to safe cover? Some mornings...Easy!

Take a look at this, it's easily worth 1000 words:

Tale Of The Tape, from Reno's NWS Office

I'm guessing I've written ten thousand words about it this fall. The forecast says this will be "The Same Old Story" until the New Year

Falling Back On History

I just watched the 10 O'clock News, and the 11 O'clock news, and both weathermen looked weary. They both said we'd get some showers Thursday, but they were displaying zero enthusiasm when it came to actual amounts of measurable precipitation. KCRA3's Mark Finan did say "Maybe a tenth of an inch"

I won't lie...this is starting to get to me...though it's been colder this week, temps are still favoring snowmaking only 15-16 hour of the day. So it's one of those good news/bad news things...Yes, we're making snow...no, we're not getting anywhere fast...just a long slow slog...

I've been watching it all happen of course. Thanks to the miracle of webcams and the internet, I've been keeping an eye on it from the cozy comfort of the DaveCave as I putter about straightening up the place in preparation for when I finally do get back to work.

Fortunately, I've been entertained, or rather cheered up by @RosiesWWII Twitter stream. She's started a Facebook page now for those not on Twitter. As I suspected she would, Rosie is introducing us to all the players in her life and neighborhood along with events from the war. As I think about it, I'm grateful...after all Rosie has undertaken a four plus year long project. That's quite the commitment. Love of history can motivate much.

I looked it up, this is CorduroyPlanet's 635th installment since I began back in August 2009. Amazingly, I've rarely had a hard time finding something that I needed to say, though today I didn't have one thing that excited me...I just put it in gear, and well, here we are...

Now that I think about it, it reminds me of those Russian nesting dolls with several layers like an onion...this commitment. Twitter...140 characters whenever events dictate. Since I've been tweeting, I've gained a new respect for brevity. 140 characters (spaces count against the 140) isn't much to declare a pithy thought...say pose a question and answer it.

@CorduroyPlanet started using Twitter three months after I began the blog. In the beginning, I used Twitter like I use the radio...I listen. Save for the 2-Way Radio in my snowcat, I never broadcast. I didn't really start tweeting for quite a while. Still, I mostly only tweet the link to each blog, and even there I'm not exactly clockwork...the rest of my tweets are baseball and satellite stuff...yeah, blowhard city...I made CorduroyPlanet's Facebook page about a month after I started the blog.

@RosiesWWII did the onion/layer thing the opposite way. Twitter, then Facebook, and now her blog Rosalind Sinclair where she fleshes out her tweets, posts photos, and videos.

Yeah, I guess I really had nothing tonight...would it hurt you to like Rosie's Facebook page, follow her on Twitter, or bookmark her blog?

Too many more of these slow weeks, and I might have nothing to say more often! Rosie's world could be your fall-back position...sorta pick up my slack, so to speak...OK?

Thanks for hanging in there today!

That Old Familiar Tune

The alarm went off at 0600...I tuned in the Armstrong&Getty Show on the radio and promptly drifted back to sleep only to wake up for real at 0830. As I began to resolve my surroundings, I began to hear that old familiar sound of tire chain shod tires whirring down the Interstate. That warm rhythmic tune is comforting to me when there's no loose links beating on fenders or suspension parts.

I tuned in the Train Wreck News and snow levels had fallen as forecast overnight. The News was preoccupied with a workplace shooting and manhunt from the Silicon Valley, so I muted the sound and got up to take a look-see.

It was barely snowing, a few flakes were floating down, but Tuesday's rain had soaked everything thoroughly, so there wasn't much accumulation yet.

I fell back into bed, pulled up the comforter and luxuriated in the first winter snow...such as it was. Around 11AM, I noticed the silence coming from the freeway and clicked on CalTrans' chain control site...chain controls lifted. I clicked on some webcams and saw about 10 inches at the base of My Mountain!


The phone rang, it was the Boss. We caught up and he said they had 11 inches of Sierra Cement at the base level. He said our new snowcat would be delivered in November, and that they wouldn't start snowmaking until November 1st. My Old Faithful BR350 is staying for one more season, too. Everything is on course for a good season, nobody quit over the Summer, and the whole crew is returning.

We're getting together in two weeks...time for a haircut I guess...

I looked at the Reno AFD. It's gonna be showers and possible thunder showers until Thursday, and then it warms up and dries out again. We still have to tally Indian Summer before Daylight Savings Time ends!

Unplugged

What is it with our so called Elite Media?

I'm passing the time waiting for the AT&T Tech to call about my DSL problem. I watched the Train Wreck News on TV until 10AM...then switched to FoxNews and it was wall to wall with 9/11 remembrances. Believe me, I still walk around with a heavy heart from that day, but so much "celebrating" reminds me of how far from united we've become...besides I'm up for a happy time while waiting. I don't feel the need to swim in the Maudlin Straits this weekend...or any other weekend for that manner.

I switched over to The History Channel...WTF? They were at it too! Not 9/11 stuff, but a count-down show on the Top Ten Threats to Earth! Each one graphically illustrated in vivid living color and dread.

I'm going to give up on the TV and switch to iTunes (I don't think I can trust the radio either)...KFBK's Outdoor Show should have downloaded by now!

The Modem/Router hangin' with the baking stuff. Too much lightshow for me!

He Shoots-He Scores!
The AT&T Tech was here, DSL wouldn't drop out while she was here, but she did hear static on AT&T's line. The line guys will fix it Monday, and I don't need to be here! She said I'll most likely pick up some more speed once the line is cleared up!

Lazy Dazy

I'm being a slug today...I'm feeling just a little weary...I went to bed early Friday night, too. Between the Tour de France and Formula One's European Swing, I've messed with my BodyClock a little too much for the last month or so.

In the Winter, there's plenty of thrills and adrenaline to be had that help make up for shaving hours off of one's sleep schedule. In the Dog Days, stayin' up late and gettin' up early are rewarded with hot afternoons that offer only sweaty naps as relief.

The other afternoon I was driving my Mom to an appointment in the next town over. We got behind the local fire truck for a couple of miles on the two lane road.

We came up on some CableTV contractors doing some trunk cable work. The had two snorkel trucks blocking the eastbound lane, and a worker at each end of their show to give traffic the stop-palm and the wave-around...we idled four a couple of minutes before it was westbound's turn to go...I inhaled deep when I caught the wafting diesel fumes of the firemen's rig.

I was surprised that a wave of longing and nostalgia came over me! The smell of diesel exhaust is very comforting to me...and it's becoming more rare even in winter thanks to modern computer controlled diesel engines. Even at idle the new Cats run pretty clean. I liken the smell to the smell of jets at the airport...

While I'm lazing about I have one eye on the TV...the NHRA drag racers are up at Sonoma County's Sears Point Raceway. ESPN2 is showing eliminations for Sunday's races. They're going fast today, and the weather has cooled a little...the better to make horsepower with...

I have my other eye on my laptop...I'm keeping an eye on Twitter and Tumblr for SF Giants' trade news and rumors. MLB's trade deadline is 4PM Sunday afternoon, and "Rumor Control" is running off the rails as the deadline approaches...the Giants still need a catcher who is good with the bat until Buster Posey comes back from his injuries next season.

Twitter really has stepped up it's game this year...some tweeter who's name escapes me tweeted that "Twitter has democratized the delivery of The News" Sportswriters on twitter are especially chatty I've found...with a high percentage of amateur comedians...democratic schmemocratic...snickers are snickers...snort...snort...snark...snark...

I may not know comedy, but I know when comedy sprains it's ankle!

That's it...it's time for the Giants Warm-Up on the radio...stay tuned, as they say...

Weekend Wrapup

Baseball in America,  and bicycle racing plus Formula One in Europe, speak July like nothing else to me. I'm enjoying another lazy Saturday. I didn't even try to get up at 0330 to follow today's big Pyrenean Stage 14, opting instead to set the alarm to catch the final climb to Plateau de Beille.

Three times the TdF has finished atop the Plateau de Beille, and all three times the winner that day went on to win the Tour. Marco Pantani (1998), Lance Armstrong (2002) and Alberto Contador (2007) all stood atop the podium in Paris after their triumphs on the Plateau de Beille.

It turns out I was psychic, there were no fireworks in the Pyrénées today. Getting my beauty sleep was priceless.

Remembering a theme from earlier this week, there was a bear sighting along the Tour de France route in the second week of Le Tour.

OK, I'm kinda in a goofy mood today.

I found myself listening to Sports Talk Radio today...well, SF Giants Talk Radio really...I can't stand sports Talk Radio...everybody who calls in are religious in their fandom, so it's not a real conversation, but serial speechifying...and talk radio's Number One Sin...it's boring!

So, how come I was listening today? Lazy...mostly...I didn't have the motivation to hunt around for something to listen to...Saturdays in Summertime can be a talk radio wasteland...so many hosts and shows take their vacations in July...programming changes happen mid-summer too.

Normally I'd be listening to the Kim Komando Show. "America's Digital Goddess" does three hours of computer and tech talk, but the station I hear her on in the Inland Valley has another pay-as-they-go Investment Show on in Kim's time slot now. I listened to a couple of TdF Podcasts before the Giants Pre-Game Talkfest aired.

So why Giants Talk? Well, the Giants have been playing very satisfying ball, they've been a ton of fun to watch, and they're on a four game winning streak. Plus I missed 'em during the All Star Break.

Last night's game in San Diego was good...I didn't notice so many Giants fans in opponents' parks last year...last night you could hear them chanting in the first inning! Here-We-Go Gi-ants Here-We-Go! Later in the game you could hear the Cody-Cody-Cody chant for outfielder Cody Ross as he stood in the batter's box. That's got to be a little demoralizing for the Home Team...

Pablo Sandoval's hitting streak ended at 22 last night, though his at bats were productive. His first at bat he hit a sacrifice fly to drive in a run. In his last at bat, they pitched around him for three balls and no strikes before intentionally walking him. Boy oh boy, you could really hear the Giants' fans booing big time!

I remembered how the Giants fans at home would hang rubber chickens on the outfield wall every time opposing pitchers walked Barry Bonds intentionally. I looked it up, not only did Bonds hit the most home runs in baseball history, he's the all-time career leader in walks, too with 2558 BB's.

In tonight's game at Petco Park, you can hear the Giants fans again...only this time they were booing Giants' starter, Barry Zito who gave up 8 runs on 7 hits (including 2 HR's) and 4 walks in 3.2 innings. Not so fun to watch...it's 11-2 in the 8th now...no joy in Mudville...

Before the gab and game, I was fortunate to catch that most rare 1943 Cary Grant movie, "Mr Lucky" on TV.

Grant, playing against type, is a grifter and cad who makes the luminous Laraine Day his mark for a swindle...swindling charity funds from Day's Refugee Charity Drive. (This movie was made during World War Two, and Grant's portrayal was wicked and smarmy...and a gamble for Grant)  Grant's Joe Adams / Joe Bascopolous is a fully realized sociopath, cold and amoral. In the end, love conquers all, but it is a very uncomfortable journey.

"Mr Lucky" has been on my wishlist forever, but I gather that there isn't a good DVD transfer on the market yet...today's copy was really scratched, and in need of restoration. I don't know if Cary Grant's Estate is wild about this role, Grant's only A-hole on film. I'd love a total restoration ala the 50th Anniversary Edition of Alfred Hitchcock's brilliant collaboration with Grant, "North By Northwest" The Blu-ray NXNW restoration is absolutely beautiful!

I guess I've had Cary Grant on my mind all week...I want to see "Father Goose" again too.

In "Father Goose" Grant wears his role like a comfortable old t-shirt, but mostly I want to hear tipsy Leslie Caron slur: "You think I'm a Picture Straightener, Mr Eckland" in frustration again! "Father Goose" is a warm, good hearted comedy set in  WW2's Pacific Theater. "Father Goose" is warm, optimistic, and confident, made almost 20 years after the war ended. It debuted in 1964 before the Vietnam War turned Hollywood cynical and anti-war.

In contrast to "Father Goose", "Mr Lucky" was filmed when the outcome of the war was still unknown and unknowable, you can feel the undercurrents of desperation and uncertainty throughout the movie, and it makes Grant's character seem much more abhorrent and icy. The satisfying ending comes well after the war ends, after Day's character pines away the war years and beyond, and after Grant's character makes amends for the duration and more. 

They truly don't make movies like that anymore. Beautifully rendered in Black & White, and true to the heart and mind.