Christ! It's started raining again here in the Inland Valley again!
The local TV Weathermen said this wave would miss us, and the Tahoe weatherpeople said the miniscule amount of precip would have trouble dropping any lower than Susanville...March is over...and yes, the almost miracle added to our paltry pack, but the measurements say we're at roughly 50% of "normal" now.
Mother Nature, get over it now, it's Baseball Season, OK?
The Not Quite March Miracle played hell with my fun. The False Spring had all the fruit trees blooming along with the daffodils and paperwhites here in the Inland Valley.
Around the corner from the Ancestral Digs there's a home on a corner lot, with a teensy-weensy circle driveway and mature landscaping. The little driveway makes an island with the sidewalk and curbs. There's three well trained trees on the island...two Flowering Plums and another fruit tree with white blossoms.
Ten days ago, those flowering plums burst into bloom with their lovely purple flowers. The branches weren't covered with blossoms, more like the sparse, artistic smattering of blooms in a Japanese painting. These were set off by the heavy lichen encrustation on the stout-ish limbs. Deeply textured bark with hospital green lichen colonies larger than apples breaking up the long dark branches. When I first noticed the show, I thought I've gotta get down here in the evening when the golden hour will make for some amazing photos...I'll bring my tripod and reflectors and make some awesome photos...
Cue Mother Nature...it started pouring rain the next morning, and didn't stop until every blossom on all three trees was stripped off unceremoniously and deposited right into the gutter. Life goes on...springtime is nothing if not ephemeral...
The rain will stop before the weekend, so I can move a clump of gladiolis, to make room for two rows of pea pods before putting in some more summer-y vegetables.
During Saturday's rain squalls, I watched bicycle racing LIVE from Belguim. The incredible Tour of Flanders really sparked-up my bicycle racing receptors...This weekend the Spring Classic, Paris-Roubaix will be LIVE on NBCSN (exVersus) at 6AM PDT. I may play a Fantasy Team for the one day classic.
This would be wholly three months early compared to years past...I may make a team for the Giro d'Italia, the first Grand Tour in late May/early June...
Spring is shaping up nicely...Formula One is still another 10 days away...Easter Sunday will be mostly quiet on racetracks around the world...thank God MotoGP kicks off it's season on Easter!
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Blowing Up Again
Because I'm gaining on both my BodyClock reset and this pesky cold, I was up at 7:30 Saturday morning. The forecast rain had arrived and the winds were calm. By noon, the rain was reaching my window, a pretty good trick that...sneaking under the big redwood tree that was now thrashing about enough to make me worry a little
My Twitter stream was blowing up too. Most of the Tahoe Sierra Ski Resorts were tweeting which chairlifts were "On Windhold" and the regional newspapers were tweeting Wind Reports and Warnings. By mid-afternoon, "Windhold" morphed into "Closed for the Day", and chain controls dipped all the way down to Colfax.
The last Cactus League home game for the San Francisco Giants was on television. The weather in Scottsdale was 80°F, and Scottsdale Stadium fire up the Misters for the first time this spring. (No, the Misters aren't a Blue Eyed Soul Outfit, these are real misters...tiny nozzles that make fog to help cool the grandstands. They're popular in hot, dry climates)
The Giants could have used a good tempest...they got shelled early and lost 11-2 to the Cincinnati Reds. Their final Arizona game is Sunday against the Diamondbacks in Maryvale, AZ In the Cactus League, a 30 minute drive to the opponent's park is a Road Game...Opening Day can't come soon enough!
After the game, I made chicken and snow peas for dinner, but not before I fished the patio table and umbrella out of the pool...
The Reno NWS Office posted some cool satellite images of Saturday afternoon's dust storms kicked up by the same wind that put our lawn furniture in the pool...
"Rain up to 7000' in the early morning hours quickly switching over to snow by 11am above 7500'. Snow intensity increasing greatly by 2pm, 2-3'' per hour. Winds SW strong to gale all morning into afternoon."
"Wet snowpack in the early morning hours. Punchy conditions below 7500' under the 1-2'' of new wet snow. Above 7500' 2-4'' of new snow on a more supportable melt freeze crust. As the day progressed the temps dropped and the snow increased. Very minor cracking in wind loaded terrain, new wind slabs were still developing into the afternoon. 4-6'' of new snow in protected areas, winds were moving lots of snow, visibility was very limited.
Photo: Small natural wet slab avalanche observed at 8am, north aspect, 35-40 degree slope, 7000', on the north face of Donner Peak just east of Snowshed Wall."
This season, too many seem unable to resist the siren's song. Avalanche danger out of bounds will be high to extreme Sunday. I pray the cooler heads will prevail...
Let's be careful out there people, and don't be an April Fool...Heed the Avalanche Warnings!
My Twitter stream was blowing up too. Most of the Tahoe Sierra Ski Resorts were tweeting which chairlifts were "On Windhold" and the regional newspapers were tweeting Wind Reports and Warnings. By mid-afternoon, "Windhold" morphed into "Closed for the Day", and chain controls dipped all the way down to Colfax.
The last Cactus League home game for the San Francisco Giants was on television. The weather in Scottsdale was 80°F, and Scottsdale Stadium fire up the Misters for the first time this spring. (No, the Misters aren't a Blue Eyed Soul Outfit, these are real misters...tiny nozzles that make fog to help cool the grandstands. They're popular in hot, dry climates)
The Giants could have used a good tempest...they got shelled early and lost 11-2 to the Cincinnati Reds. Their final Arizona game is Sunday against the Diamondbacks in Maryvale, AZ In the Cactus League, a 30 minute drive to the opponent's park is a Road Game...Opening Day can't come soon enough!
After the game, I made chicken and snow peas for dinner, but not before I fished the patio table and umbrella out of the pool...
The Reno NWS Office posted some cool satellite images of Saturday afternoon's dust storms kicked up by the same wind that put our lawn furniture in the pool...
 |
| As Seen From Space! |
Chain controls have moved up to Nyack, but the real treacherous conditions will be in the Sierra Tahoe Backcountry Sunday. The Sierra Avalanche Center has observations from around the Basin Saturday that should be fair warning...Here's the lowdown on Donner Summit:
"Rain up to 7000' in the early morning hours quickly switching over to snow by 11am above 7500'. Snow intensity increasing greatly by 2pm, 2-3'' per hour. Winds SW strong to gale all morning into afternoon."
"Wet snowpack in the early morning hours. Punchy conditions below 7500' under the 1-2'' of new wet snow. Above 7500' 2-4'' of new snow on a more supportable melt freeze crust. As the day progressed the temps dropped and the snow increased. Very minor cracking in wind loaded terrain, new wind slabs were still developing into the afternoon. 4-6'' of new snow in protected areas, winds were moving lots of snow, visibility was very limited.
Photo: Small natural wet slab avalanche observed at 8am, north aspect, 35-40 degree slope, 7000', on the north face of Donner Peak just east of Snowshed Wall."
This season, too many seem unable to resist the siren's song. Avalanche danger out of bounds will be high to extreme Sunday. I pray the cooler heads will prevail...
Let's be careful out there people, and don't be an April Fool...Heed the Avalanche Warnings!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
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...
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...
Friday, March 30, 2012
Lookin' Up
Remember our old friend AR1429, the active sunspot region that kicked out a series of M-Class solar flares, or Coronal Mass Ejections in early March?
Well the view from NASA's SDO satellite shows the region is still kicking up it's heels on the farside of the Sun. AR1429 which will come around the Sun's limb after two weeks traversing the farside, has kicked out a couple of C-Class flares showing the region's ongoing activity.
I'm still trying to see the Northern Lights for the first time. Perhaps AR1429 will deliver.
The night skies have been busy over the past couple of weeks, but the show has been obscured by this year's Miracle March cloudy regime. Jupiter, the Moon, and Venus aligned this week above the clouds...
Later this spring there's two big deal astronomical events that truly are events of a lifetime.
On May 20, 2012 there's an Annular Eclipse who's path of totality comes right over Truckee! Then on June 6th, Venus will transit the Sun in a six hour event which can be seen across North America, and won't be seen again until 2117!
Looking ahead only five years to August 21st, 2017, the United States will be blessed with the Real Deal, a genuine Total Solar Eclipse! This time the path of totality favors friends of CorduroyPlanet, BajaBabe and KirkVallus
Seeing any of these events is like hitting the lottery which reminds me of another factoid from today's background static...
The big Mega-Millions lotto jackpot for Friday night's drawing is over a half a billion dollars...that's $640 Million bucks. This Mega-Millions Game is the redheaded stepchild to PowerBall, the other multi-state game of chance. California threw in with Mega-Millions, while neighboring Nevada doesn't have any lotteries...they have plenty of gambling to tax already.
The lure of millions has caused a traffic "situation" west of Reno, NV on Interstate 80. The Reno paper has the deets. I don't normally play Mega-Millions, but a buck buys a ticket and more than a dollar's worth of fantasy when we're talking real money, so I'll pick up a ticket before Friday's draw...
Well the view from NASA's SDO satellite shows the region is still kicking up it's heels on the farside of the Sun. AR1429 which will come around the Sun's limb after two weeks traversing the farside, has kicked out a couple of C-Class flares showing the region's ongoing activity.
I'm still trying to see the Northern Lights for the first time. Perhaps AR1429 will deliver.
The night skies have been busy over the past couple of weeks, but the show has been obscured by this year's Miracle March cloudy regime. Jupiter, the Moon, and Venus aligned this week above the clouds...
Later this spring there's two big deal astronomical events that truly are events of a lifetime.
On May 20, 2012 there's an Annular Eclipse who's path of totality comes right over Truckee! Then on June 6th, Venus will transit the Sun in a six hour event which can be seen across North America, and won't be seen again until 2117!
Looking ahead only five years to August 21st, 2017, the United States will be blessed with the Real Deal, a genuine Total Solar Eclipse! This time the path of totality favors friends of CorduroyPlanet, BajaBabe and KirkVallus
The big Mega-Millions lotto jackpot for Friday night's drawing is over a half a billion dollars...that's $640 Million bucks. This Mega-Millions Game is the redheaded stepchild to PowerBall, the other multi-state game of chance. California threw in with Mega-Millions, while neighboring Nevada doesn't have any lotteries...they have plenty of gambling to tax already.
The lure of millions has caused a traffic "situation" west of Reno, NV on Interstate 80. The Reno paper has the deets. I don't normally play Mega-Millions, but a buck buys a ticket and more than a dollar's worth of fantasy when we're talking real money, so I'll pick up a ticket before Friday's draw...
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Comeback Trail
OK, I'm gettin' this cold whipped now. Fever's definitely broke and is behind me. Nose dried up, just some productive coughing left to do.
Unexpected plus:
All the extra sacktime, plus listening to the audio of the Supreme Court arguments on Obamacare, kept me up 'till 6AM the other morning...what to do? I lounged in bed listening to Armstrong and Getty until 10AM, then napped until 2PM.
I'm late getting this post written because I couldn't keep my eyes open past 1AM last night! Today I woke up at 0530. Could be just the set-up for my final BodyClock reset...fingers crossed...
The Pacific Battleship Center announced that the USS Iowa would be open weekends for five more weeks before the ship's planned move south. I'll try to thread in a visit between rainstorms.
Unexpected plus:
All the extra sacktime, plus listening to the audio of the Supreme Court arguments on Obamacare, kept me up 'till 6AM the other morning...what to do? I lounged in bed listening to Armstrong and Getty until 10AM, then napped until 2PM.
I'm late getting this post written because I couldn't keep my eyes open past 1AM last night! Today I woke up at 0530. Could be just the set-up for my final BodyClock reset...fingers crossed...
The Pacific Battleship Center announced that the USS Iowa would be open weekends for five more weeks before the ship's planned move south. I'll try to thread in a visit between rainstorms.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Knocked Out!
That's what this cold did this weekend. It knocked me out...Late Saturday night I played fast and loose with bedtime to watch the rain-delayed Malaysian Grand Prix (and was rewarded with a bang-up race). I went to sleep at 4AM...and slept right through IndyCar's opener from St Petersberg, FL, and the NASCAR race from SoCal.
Darn thing is, now I'm sleeping from 2AM to 2PM in round numbers...the weather isn't helping either...a new March Miracle is tryin' to get born. Sunday (or was it Monday?) it rained more than 8 inches up in Marin county. I think we got 2-3 inches in the Inland Valley from that wave, and another inch or two today. Rain Wednesday, and more for the weekend.
It's been tough being sick and trying not to infect the rest of the family. Sister K started a new job Monday, and I wanted to cook dinner so she wouldn't have to, but I didn't dare to until Tuesday. I did a baked chicken dish with rice. I announced that dinner was ready, but everyone has to serve themselves, 'cause I don't want to give you my cold...oh, and there's salad in the refrigerator...
SturgeUrge phoned and we caught up. Salmon season opens April 7th, and we haven't been crab fishing since before Thanksgiving. This week's rains should flush the crab out of the bays, and back into our evil clutches!
We're trying to get a trip to Richmond in to tour the USS Iowa, but dodging these rainstorms makes it tough to visit the battleship because it's only open Saturdays and Sundays. They're painting the Iowa now, and servicing the hull and decks before she moves south to Los Angeles Harbor.
Darn thing is, now I'm sleeping from 2AM to 2PM in round numbers...the weather isn't helping either...a new March Miracle is tryin' to get born. Sunday (or was it Monday?) it rained more than 8 inches up in Marin county. I think we got 2-3 inches in the Inland Valley from that wave, and another inch or two today. Rain Wednesday, and more for the weekend.
It's been tough being sick and trying not to infect the rest of the family. Sister K started a new job Monday, and I wanted to cook dinner so she wouldn't have to, but I didn't dare to until Tuesday. I did a baked chicken dish with rice. I announced that dinner was ready, but everyone has to serve themselves, 'cause I don't want to give you my cold...oh, and there's salad in the refrigerator...
SturgeUrge phoned and we caught up. Salmon season opens April 7th, and we haven't been crab fishing since before Thanksgiving. This week's rains should flush the crab out of the bays, and back into our evil clutches!
 |
| Looking south from Richmond berth. Click for larger view. |
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Blowin' Up
It's official...Sports Television ♥s Twitter.
It began at the Daytona 500 back in February. Granted, the 500 that usually runs about four hours lasted more than 37 hours, what with all the rain delays, and that late race Red Flag for cleanup of Juan Pablo Montoya's spectacular spin into the jet dryer that resulted in a river of fire cascading down the 31° banking across the track.
Every decent explosion needs a catalyst or trigger. Twitter's sports trigger was pulled by NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski who snapped a photo with his iPhone of the fire from the seat of his #2 Penske Racing Miller Lite Dodge, and Tweeted it. It went viral, and the announcers filled the time with a lot of talk about Twitter. I blogged about it here and here.
Fast forward to this weekend and SpeedTV's Formula One coverage of the Malaysian Grand Prix...
Right out of the box, SpeedTV's talking heads have been touting Twitter alongside their broadcast product this season. During Saturday morning's Qualifying Show, the #SPEEDF1 hashtag was used enough to become a Trending Topic on Twitter. Even as a Twitter user this surprised me. A half billion people worldwide watch F1 on television, but it never occurred to me that millions of them might be on Twitter.
College basketball's March Madness is the big sports story of the month. I don't follow b-ball, college or NBA, but I'm sure it's powered by Twitter now. (I have seen some March Madness hashtags, and probably missed uncounted others...how many of my readers know the names of college cagers?)
I guess Twitter is a natural sidebar to info/data-rich sporting events like motor racing and baseball, in fact I signed up on Twitter to follow Lance Armstrong when he made his Tour de France comeback attempt in 2009. Armstrong's tweets were his attempt to reach his fans and supporters directly, without the often hostile filter of the European Cyclopress.
3:31AM Update:
Malaysia didn't disappoint. Rain fell hard 10 minutes before the start. The race was red flagged on Lap 9, and the rain delay ran an hour. The rest of the race has been a bang-up delight! My favorite kind of race...Starts in the wet...dries during the race...but rain threatens throughout, complicating strategy.
Not much happening on Twitter...too much happening on track!
WOW! That was a helluva race! hot damn! Oh look...29 tweets I've ignored during the final 6 laps!
Two outta three on the podium are beaming like they stole the Crown Jewels...and they did!
So, I'm down with 18 more races like this one!
It began at the Daytona 500 back in February. Granted, the 500 that usually runs about four hours lasted more than 37 hours, what with all the rain delays, and that late race Red Flag for cleanup of Juan Pablo Montoya's spectacular spin into the jet dryer that resulted in a river of fire cascading down the 31° banking across the track.
Every decent explosion needs a catalyst or trigger. Twitter's sports trigger was pulled by NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski who snapped a photo with his iPhone of the fire from the seat of his #2 Penske Racing Miller Lite Dodge, and Tweeted it. It went viral, and the announcers filled the time with a lot of talk about Twitter. I blogged about it here and here.
 |
| The Twitpic™ that launched 100K followers |
Right out of the box, SpeedTV's talking heads have been touting Twitter alongside their broadcast product this season. During Saturday morning's Qualifying Show, the #SPEEDF1 hashtag was used enough to become a Trending Topic on Twitter. Even as a Twitter user this surprised me. A half billion people worldwide watch F1 on television, but it never occurred to me that millions of them might be on Twitter.
College basketball's March Madness is the big sports story of the month. I don't follow b-ball, college or NBA, but I'm sure it's powered by Twitter now. (I have seen some March Madness hashtags, and probably missed uncounted others...how many of my readers know the names of college cagers?)
I guess Twitter is a natural sidebar to info/data-rich sporting events like motor racing and baseball, in fact I signed up on Twitter to follow Lance Armstrong when he made his Tour de France comeback attempt in 2009. Armstrong's tweets were his attempt to reach his fans and supporters directly, without the often hostile filter of the European Cyclopress.
3:31AM Update:
Malaysia didn't disappoint. Rain fell hard 10 minutes before the start. The race was red flagged on Lap 9, and the rain delay ran an hour. The rest of the race has been a bang-up delight! My favorite kind of race...Starts in the wet...dries during the race...but rain threatens throughout, complicating strategy.
 |
| The McLarens lead the race before the Red Flag |
WOW! That was a helluva race! hot damn! Oh look...29 tweets I've ignored during the final 6 laps!
Two outta three on the podium are beaming like they stole the Crown Jewels...and they did!
So, I'm down with 18 more races like this one!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)