Well someday soon my friends, this ride will come to an end
But we can't just get in line again.
(Streetlight Manifesto)
"When you feel you're about spring, what you, Governor Romney, think is the checkmate moment of the debate and your debate opponent says to you 'Please. Proceed...'" - Jon Stewart
Location: Down by the bay, where the watermelons grow
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Someone bumped the switch back on. Tropical Storm Ernesto is making its way across the Windwards and a second tropical depression has formed off the coast of Africa.
“A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.” ― Coco Chanel
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." ― Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Location: Down by the bay, where the watermelons grow
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It is the first time since June 27 that any organized tropical storm system has existed in the Atlantic Ocean. More than a month without so much as a tropical depression.
Here on the West Coast, we have something in the winter time called the Pineapple Express: a combination of factors that cause us to experience storm after storm after storm until the Express begins to lose its helpers, which can take months sometimes. I thought you were alluding to some similar thing, instead of your explanation.
It is the first time since June 27 that any organized tropical storm system has existed in the Atlantic Ocean. More than a month without so much as a tropical depression.
Here on the West Coast, we have something in the winter time called the Pineapple Express: a combination of factors that cause us to experience storm after storm after storm until the Express begins to lose its helpers, which can take months sometimes. I thought you were alluding to some similar thing, instead of your explanation.
Govi, do I need to explain the west coast definition of "storm"?
Govi, do I need to explain the west coast definition of "storm"?
Don't you go making light of our winters, though they are light weight compared to snowy climates or hurricane country.
In the case of the 1981-82 winter, the 2001-2002 winter, and to a lesser extent all winters that are not drought winters, the Pineapple Express brings rain at anywhere from 1" per day (where Johnny lives) up to 8" per day (here, where we are) and then steady light rain for days after, a day or two of sunshine, then another storm, rinse and repeat for two to three months. Accompanying some of these storms will be winds ranging from 5 mph up to gusts at 35-45 mph, although the '81-'82 winter clocked long gusts up to 75 mph. That winter caused a landslide and two 24" oaks to fall on our very first house. That winter also caused a 40 mph landslide at Love Creek, the scar of which we can see from our kitchen window.
Johnny, you live in a low rainfall part of the bay area. We live in high rainfall. Here, winters are something to ignore at your peril. We've gone two weeks without power, which after 5 days, means no water, too.
However, there's this, too: years ago, we went to Edinburgh in August. Then, it rained every day for the 5 days we stayed. It was cold, but not windy. There was one rare day on which we saw the sun and enjoyed the park and the walks in the city center. It was like winter in San Francisco. The Scots build things out of unreinforced masonry and stonework in Edinburgh. All that would become so much rubble within 60-80 years in San Francisco.
Just to be clear in case anyone is confused: The weather in the bay area, Berkeley specifically but here in Oakland is close, is almost as ideal as weather can be for me. I run little warmer than most so some might prefer San Diego where it's a shade warmer but anything I saw about the weather her that sounds negative is most certainly said sarcastically!
I do think people here are weather weenies but then I grew up in the rain heavy Gulf Coast so I laugh at the rain we get here. And I spent one winter in Iowa with snow storms and REAL cold (negative temps for months) so I know that extreme. And Houston also has weeks of above 100 highs too.
But this climate is awesome.
Which of course explains why I am moving to Denver.
It is the first time since June 27 that any organized tropical storm system has existed in the Atlantic Ocean. More than a month without so much as a tropical depression.
The Paxil™ must be working.
Well, after a month or so of daily temperatures in the high 90s to 100s, it was about 72F yesterday when I went out to grill some corn on the cob. Very pleasant. Right now (4:12pm CST) it's 83F. Can't complain.
Sans and I are hoping we may have an early autumn.
P2
__________________ Genius by birth... slacker by choice. Phoenix's Rarely Updated Blog The indiscriminate use of vulgar language is the linguistic crutch for inarticulate motherfucking sons of bitches. I can figure the number of millimeters in a light year, but don't ask me to do algebra. And everything is green and submarine...
It's been threatening to rain here since yesterday. I think we'll finally get it tonight. Weather map shoes a large band of thunderstorms heading our way and the wind is starting to kick up. It was btw hot as hell here today, and the air heavy with humidity.
$6000 later to fix my upper balcony and install a new door, and water is still leaking into my living room. Water was dripping on the couch, from the living room ceiling. Not from the window like it used to do. Went upstairs to the bedroom over it, and there was water creeping into the room from the balcony door - under the threshold which was the problem they supposedly corrected when they put in the new door, and did work on the balcony itself. Who knows how much water is even in the ceiling now that didn't make it out? Thankfully the storm passed over quickly.
I am pissed.
Apparently it must be only when the rain is at a certain angle because it's the first time it's happened since we had it repaired, which is at least 6 months ago, probably more. And we've had much worse storms than what just passed through.
Guess the contractor will be hearing an earful from me tomorrow :/
This morning, after being awake for several hours (I'm home sick), I go in the kitchen and there's a puddle in the middle of the kitchen floor!
WTF?
There must have been a hell o'water in the ceiling that traveled overnight to the low point of the 1st floor (kitchen it seems) and made it's way out of one of the overhead recessed lights.
Called the contractor and he came over within 15 minutes or so with his guys (they like me a lot thankfully). They went to have a look at the upstairs balcony door and basically, the problem is that it would be so much better to have a storm door up there but, there's no way to put one up there due to the way the house is constructed. And with the way the rain was driving right against the door last night, apparently there was a very small area under the threshold that needed more caulking than they had put down originally.
So, they will come back in a few hours to give everything more time to dry out (it's very nice out today), and recaulk the threshold. They also need to come back another day and put on a final protective coat onto the balcony (it hadn't been done yet but also has nothing to do with what happened).
Luckily, the ceiling in the living room is fine, but the kitchen one will need to be touched up around the light (actually two of them, we noticed it probably happened before to another one but the water never made it to the floor). They said wait a week to be safe that the drywall is completely dry. We have extra paint here so that won't be a problem for us.
If I had the money, I'd love to be able to put a canopy over that door, it would help somewhat to keep rain from driving against it, but that's a wishlist kind of thing at this point.
BTW I couldn't even ream out the contractor. Turns out he had been going through treatments for cancer for the last few months :O Yikes.
I guess it could have been worse. I'm glad I was home to notice it at least and be here to speak with them. I always prefer it be me dealing with the contractors personally, since I'm the owner of the house.
Oh well glad he is a good guy and feel so bad for him. Do you think there is more water in the ceiling? What about poking a small hole where the leak came from to let it dry out before repairing and or letting anymore water out if any?
hmm You could probably make a decent canopy over the door way and that way it is custom to the size you want. You can always sew a waterproof sunbrella material if you make a frame or find one used? I would sew it for you if possible.
Tell you what.
When I can afford to have metal rods drilled into my stucco home, I will have you make me the canopy lol.
Seriously. My house, is constructed of terracotta block. Nobody in my area had ever seen anything like it here. It's not a common form of construction around here at all, certainly not anymore. When we had cable installed, the guy had to go get a special auger to get the cable through the house! Putting something as small as the mailbox on was a huge task. And, all the interior walls are hand done textured plaster. Old, 97 year old plaster :O If we poke a hole in the living room ceiling, that's the end of it. There is no way to repair that without re-doing the whole ceiling. You just can't match it.
Anyway - they figured out what the source of the problem was - someone forgot to nail down part of the threshold from the inside duh. Someone being the roofer's assistant I'm sure. Kid, literally. Good kid, but not experienced. They are pretty sure that whatever was in there is out now or it would have continued to leak - plus the ceiling has dried up now.
Like I said it could be worse. I need my money for my freaking backsplash right now - not to fix more roof issues :P
This user laughed so hard that they peed a little:
This past July has been officially confirmed to be the hottest July in US recorded history.
One weekend we went camping when it was 106 and 107. Another weekend, it was only in the mid-nineties, but it was also humid and our spot had NO SHADE.
However, our new pop-up camper has AC. We learned that under conditions listed above, you can survive in it, but only if you DON'T get on the end beds during the day.
I'm talking survive, not be cool. But it means we can survive. If I get too hot for too long, I get sick. So having the AC has opened up the possibility to even go camping under such conditions.
I don't think so . . . but usually, it is not going to be that hot. I mean, 107! And the non-shady spot on that mid-nineties (well, 98) day - we have never gotten a non-shady spot before. It was even the only non-shady spot in the park.
I learned, though, that there really is a big difference between 107 and 97. (Unless you're not in the shade for the 97.) The 107 weekend, the humidity was low. Still, I would not recommend it.
And I haven't even mentioned the god-awful thunderstorms, which you think would cool things down, but don't. I ride those out either in the truck, or if it gets too bad, in the comfort station.
My husband laughs at me for being such a wienie. But in this one place that we were going to - I knew from finding an RV couple's journal blog online - had suffered falling trees and damaged RV's in such a storm just two weeks before we went.
It was looking bad one afternoon (this was in the no-shade spot), and the camp hostess came driving by to tell us to keep an eye on it, and then go to the comfort station if it got worse.
It was easy for her to tell me that, since I was ALREADY in the truck, and she just had to yell through the window. (We need a wienie icon.)
She also said to get the awning down - a task my husband hates to do; but since she said it and not me, he did.
Then as things grew worse, we went to the comfort station. There were a few people there in their vehicles. Me, didn't take me long to go INTO it, leaving hubby in the truck with the dog.
After a while the storm dies down, and he sticks his head in and calls, "Is there a wienie in here?"
haha
So we're driving back to the site and WOAH there is a downed tree. I say, "Uh . . ." He says, "I'm going through." There was just enough room for the truck to go UNDER the tree.
After a bit, the hostess lady comes around again and tells us not to leave the site until the guys are done removing the tree.
Husband wonders how long that will take. I say, not long - according to the blog couple who camped here two weeks ago. And sure enough, it was removed within an hour.
I must say, I have some crack research skilz.
Last edited by Cocoanut Koala; 08-08-2012 at 10:41 PM.
Location: Down by the bay, where the watermelons grow
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The Perseid meteor shower is peaking over tonight and tomorrow night! I was out watching for about 30 minutes and saw 11 or so; I woulda seen more, but the high humidity and neighborhood lights have made it hazy. I'll try again later.
Try looking for them after 11PM local, radiating from the constellation Perseus, at that time low on the northeast horizon. You can see them IN any part of the sky, but their direction of travel will always be away from wherever Perseus is in the night sky.
The reason is that it just so happens Perseus at this moment is "dead ahead" in the direction the Earth is traveling through space as it moves through a cloud of cometary debris. We move through this particular cloud every August.
Of course really the best time to watch is around 3 or 4 in the morning when Perseus is up a bit in the sky. If you're up that late (or early), you'll see Jupiter nice and bright near the crescent Moon in the eastern sky. Wait another hour and you'll see Venus coming up, making a line with Jupiter and the Moon.
Location: Down by the bay, where the watermelons grow
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Last year there was so much water in the Mississippi River that it was bubbling up through the soil outside the levees.
This year? So little water that in Missouri the river is actually closed to traffic in some places - its not deep enough and wide enough for barges to pass both ways. What the heck?
And now it's worse. The lack of force of rushing water into the Gulf has allowed a wedge of salt water to creep up the river, crawling along the bottom. Higher salinity has been measured as far north as New Orleans. And closer to the Gulf, the wedge of brine is so thick that the fresh water intakes for many places down there are pumping it in, leading to drinking water danger alerts.
MIAMI (AP) - Forecasters say Tropical Storm Isaac has formed in the Atlantic with a track that could possibly take it toward Florida where the Republican National Convention will be held next week.
Storm warnings have been issued Tuesday across a swath of islands in the Caribbean including Martinique, Guadeloupe and St. Martin.
It is too soon to say what exact path the storm will take. But some computer models show it headed toward Cuba and then Florida. Others have it making a sharp northern turn in the next couple days near Puerto Rico and then into the open Atlantic.
The National Hurricane Center says Isaac has maximum sustained winds near 40 (64 kph) but is expected to strengthen.
The storm is about 500 miles (804 kilometers) east of Guadeloupe and is moving west near 17 mph (28 kph).
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