Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Gas
On our trip to Duluth yesterday I was interested to note that the gas prices in GR were 3.559, but when we left Itasca County they were at 3.499 all the way to and in Duluth. This morning on my way to work I note that some stations are at 3.559, one was at 3.529, and one was at 3.499. We'll see what happens this afternoon, I need to fill up Vger.
Fall again
Wow, a lot has gone on since my last post, but I will focus on weather and Fall color in this post.
1.75 inches of rain 9/26-9/27.
On Friday afternoon, I happened to drive by Hale Lake (behind the Forest Lake Restaurant. I had to stop and take some photos from the Fishing Pier.
Took a drive Saturday afternoon to look at colors. Started in GR, drove out the Great River Road to Jacobson, took 65 north to 169, and back to GR. Here are a few photos from that trip.
On the River Road, there are actually 2 tractors, (plus one out of the picture) and a couple of old rakes. Yard art, very rusty.
As you drive into Jacobson on the River Road you cross the Mississippi River. This is looking downriver.
This is looking upriver.
Driving North up Highway 65 we stopped at the Boat Landing on Hart Lake.
This last is a panorama view of Hart Lake with the setting sun behind me. This photo was stitched by the camera as I took the photo.
We continued up Hwy 65 to Swan Lake. This is looking toward the sunset across Swan Lake.
Coming past Bovey/Coleraine on Hwy 169.
Coming into Grand Rapids on Hwy 169
Monday morning at the Hospital, the sun is rising up over the building behind me.
Drove to Duluth for an Expo on Monday, the drive was beautiful; but shortly after I took these last photos the sky started clouding over and then became foggy and the photos didn't turn out. This morning I suspect we are at or close to peak color, but it was too dark from the cloud cover to get any decent photos.
1.75 inches of rain 9/26-9/27.
On Friday afternoon, I happened to drive by Hale Lake (behind the Forest Lake Restaurant. I had to stop and take some photos from the Fishing Pier.
Took a drive Saturday afternoon to look at colors. Started in GR, drove out the Great River Road to Jacobson, took 65 north to 169, and back to GR. Here are a few photos from that trip.
On the River Road, there are actually 2 tractors, (plus one out of the picture) and a couple of old rakes. Yard art, very rusty.
As you drive into Jacobson on the River Road you cross the Mississippi River. This is looking downriver.
This is looking upriver.
Driving North up Highway 65 we stopped at the Boat Landing on Hart Lake.
This last is a panorama view of Hart Lake with the setting sun behind me. This photo was stitched by the camera as I took the photo.
We continued up Hwy 65 to Swan Lake. This is looking toward the sunset across Swan Lake.
Coming past Bovey/Coleraine on Hwy 169.
Coming into Grand Rapids on Hwy 169
Monday morning at the Hospital, the sun is rising up over the building behind me.
Drove to Duluth for an Expo on Monday, the drive was beautiful; but shortly after I took these last photos the sky started clouding over and then became foggy and the photos didn't turn out. This morning I suspect we are at or close to peak color, but it was too dark from the cloud cover to get any decent photos.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Gas
Gas this morning is at 3.559. I knew, I filled up last night. Can't win, it feels like I usually fill up just before the price drops or just after the price rises.
More Fall
Got some more Fall pics last couple of days to share. These are on the way home from work on Cty 71 and Cty 434. As you can see, it's beautiful, clear weather. This morning, it's warm and humid with some massive T-Storms up towards the Canadian border, had a tornado warning at 5:30AM near Bigfork.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Fall is Here
according to the calendar, according to the weather, and according to the foliage. And people wonder why I moved here from SoCal. These pictures are from my drive in to work this morning.
On Highway 2:
On 10th St SE:
On the driveway at work:
How many people are blessed with a commute that looks like this? Granted, it will look a lot different in 5 months.
Had quite a series of T-Storms roll thru yesterday beginning about 5 AM thru about 8 PM last night, left about 1-3/8 inches of rain in my gauge. As the the photos show, the sky was clear and bright this morning.
The daylight is changing rapidly also. Just a few weeks ago (it seems) sunset was at 9:30 PM, tonight it's at 7:06 PM. Tomorrows daylight will be 3m 21s shorter than today.
Gas is still at 3.599. Got the '89 Horizon back last Saturday, cost me almost $400 to get the 4 struts installed, 2 new tires, and alignment. Goes down the road very nicely now, it's a pleasure to drive.
Makes me want to get going on the '83 Horizon, which needs a ton of work. Discovered the other day when getting it ready for winter that the front wheel hub bearings are loose and noisy. I'm pretty sure they were replaced back in the mid 90's, and it hasn't had a lot of miles since.
On Highway 2:
On 10th St SE:
On the driveway at work:
How many people are blessed with a commute that looks like this? Granted, it will look a lot different in 5 months.
Had quite a series of T-Storms roll thru yesterday beginning about 5 AM thru about 8 PM last night, left about 1-3/8 inches of rain in my gauge. As the the photos show, the sky was clear and bright this morning.
The daylight is changing rapidly also. Just a few weeks ago (it seems) sunset was at 9:30 PM, tonight it's at 7:06 PM. Tomorrows daylight will be 3m 21s shorter than today.
Gas is still at 3.599. Got the '89 Horizon back last Saturday, cost me almost $400 to get the 4 struts installed, 2 new tires, and alignment. Goes down the road very nicely now, it's a pleasure to drive.
Makes me want to get going on the '83 Horizon, which needs a ton of work. Discovered the other day when getting it ready for winter that the front wheel hub bearings are loose and noisy. I'm pretty sure they were replaced back in the mid 90's, and it hasn't had a lot of miles since.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Today's update
Gas is at 3.599 this morning in GR. It's about 50 degrees this morning. Yesterday got to about 75 degrees, very nice, what little I saw of it. Working today, but only supposed to get into mid 60's.
Horizon is still at Warba Tire, the mechanic fought rust all day yesterday and it was finally ready for alignment about 4:30 PM. He'll align it this morning and he's hoping to have it done by noon (I'm sure he wants to collect his money and go home).
Horizon is still at Warba Tire, the mechanic fought rust all day yesterday and it was finally ready for alignment about 4:30 PM. He'll align it this morning and he's hoping to have it done by noon (I'm sure he wants to collect his money and go home).
Friday, September 19, 2008
Hierarchy of Management
This has been posted on the server room wall here (and at the old building) for years, I'm sure it goes back to at least the late 80's. If anyone knows where it comes from I'd be glad to post an attribution.
The President
Leaps tall building in a single bound
Is more powerful than a locomotive
Is faster than a speeding bullet
Walks on water
Gives policy to God
The General Manager
Leaps short buildings in a single bound
Is more powerful than a switch engine
Is just as fast as a speeding bullet
Walks on water if the sea is calm
Talks with God
The Director
Leaps short building with a running start and favorable wind
Is almost as powerful as a switch engine
Is faster than a speeding BB
Walks on water in an indoor swimming pool
Talks with God if special request is approved
The Comptroller
Barely clears a quonset hut
Loses tug of war with a locomotive
Can fire a speeding bullet
Swims fairly well
Is occasionally addressed by God
The Group Manager
Makes high mark on wall when trying to leap tall building
Recognizes locomotive two out of three times
Sometimes handles gun without inflicting self injury
Treads water
Prays a lot
The Engineer
Climbs the walls continually
Rides the rails
Plays Russian Roulette
Walks on thin ice
Talks to animals
The Technician
Runs into tall buildings
Is run over by locomotive
Is not issued live ammunition
Can stay afloat with life jacket
Talks to walls
The Secretary
Lifts building and walks under it
Kicks locomotive off the tracks
Catches speeding bullets in teeth and eats them
Freezes water with a single glance
Is God
Hierarchy of Management
The President
Leaps tall building in a single bound
Is more powerful than a locomotive
Is faster than a speeding bullet
Walks on water
Gives policy to God
The General Manager
Leaps short buildings in a single bound
Is more powerful than a switch engine
Is just as fast as a speeding bullet
Walks on water if the sea is calm
Talks with God
The Director
Leaps short building with a running start and favorable wind
Is almost as powerful as a switch engine
Is faster than a speeding BB
Walks on water in an indoor swimming pool
Talks with God if special request is approved
The Comptroller
Barely clears a quonset hut
Loses tug of war with a locomotive
Can fire a speeding bullet
Swims fairly well
Is occasionally addressed by God
The Group Manager
Makes high mark on wall when trying to leap tall building
Recognizes locomotive two out of three times
Sometimes handles gun without inflicting self injury
Treads water
Prays a lot
The Engineer
Climbs the walls continually
Rides the rails
Plays Russian Roulette
Walks on thin ice
Talks to animals
The Technician
Runs into tall buildings
Is run over by locomotive
Is not issued live ammunition
Can stay afloat with life jacket
Talks to walls
The Secretary
Lifts building and walks under it
Kicks locomotive off the tracks
Catches speeding bullets in teeth and eats them
Freezes water with a single glance
Is God
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Frost
The temps in our area are unpredictable. All three thermo displays on the way to work said 45 degrees, but at home there was a belt of frost between about 4 feet and 6 feet off the ground. Really weird, I know, but there was. No frost on the ground, but there was frost on my patio tomato and fuschia that I had hung back outside yesterday morning. I turned the sprinkler in the garden on and brought my hanging plants back in the kitchen, we'll see.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Cold
Pretty bad cold started last Thursday, finally starting to feel alive today, still a bit of chest congestion. Missed a bit of life for a few days.
Looks like Hurricane Ike did a a bit of damage down south extending up into the Midwest but not this far north. We've had a couple of storm systems pass thru in the last week, about an inch of rain total. Frost a couple of nights, but we've kept 85% of the garden alive by running the sprinkler in the early morning hours or all night.
Because of Ike, gas prices in GR shot up to 3.919 over the weekend, then dropped to 3.899 Monday, then to 3.749, then 3.699. I need to fill Vger, we'll see what it is tomorrow morning.
The missing parts from Rock Auto showed up Thursday. I made an appointment for Friday at Warba Tire to get the shocks and struts installed, two tires and an alignment. Should make the '89 Horizon a much better drive.
Looks like Hurricane Ike did a a bit of damage down south extending up into the Midwest but not this far north. We've had a couple of storm systems pass thru in the last week, about an inch of rain total. Frost a couple of nights, but we've kept 85% of the garden alive by running the sprinkler in the early morning hours or all night.
Because of Ike, gas prices in GR shot up to 3.919 over the weekend, then dropped to 3.899 Monday, then to 3.749, then 3.699. I need to fill Vger, we'll see what it is tomorrow morning.
The missing parts from Rock Auto showed up Thursday. I made an appointment for Friday at Warba Tire to get the shocks and struts installed, two tires and an alignment. Should make the '89 Horizon a much better drive.
Monday, September 8, 2008
9/8/2008 Gas Prices
- Date GR Bemidji Hibbing DOE Nymex Crude
- 9/8 3.649 3.579 3.569 106.33
- 9/3 3.699 3.619 109.35
- 9/1 3.699 3.639 115.46
- 8/26 3.579 3.579 116.27
I'm trying to reformat things to make it easier to read and find things.
Rock Auto
Just received word that Rock Auto will (finally) be shipping me the missing parts from my order. No word as to when, yet.
Sand Blasting
Sunday we went over to a friends shop to do some sand blasting. Matt has some white-spoke rims for the 65 Ford that a previous owner had (very badly) painted black from a rattle-can and they were pretty rusty. I had a couple of rims for the Horizon and a few for the Caravan that had some light rusty spots that I wanted to see if I could clean up. We brought 200 pounds of sand (crystals about the same as 100 grit sandpaper) with us.
First Matt tried the siphon feed setup. After finishing the first bag and not the first rim we stepped back to rethink the problem. While thinking, I pulled out my two Horizon rims and blasted the rust off of them, which took another 1/2 bag of sand. A large part of the problem with the white spoke rims was that the black paint had an almost rubbery texture, I could get under it with my pocket knife and peel it and pull off large chunks, but the sand just seemed to bounce off of it (just a thought, wonder if they used undercoating spray?). So, we hit the rim with a wire wheel on an angle grinder which burned off a lot of the black paint and took off some of the loose rust.
Then my friend dug out his pressure blaster. He hasn't used it in a few years because he felt that his siphon blaster did a better job. After cleaning the tank, fittings, hoses and valves of caked material we commenced blasting with the remaining 50 pounds of sand. It took a bit of trial and error, but we finally determined the best settings on the three valves, and Matt almost finished the first rim. The pressure blaster seemed to Matt and I to cut much more efficiently.
We think that we know what to do now to finish up the rest of the rims:
We've got a couple of weeks before I can buy 600-700 pounds more sand, that will give us time to work the remaining 9 rims over with the wire wheel. I'm still hoping we can get it done before it gets too cold to paint the rims, although we might be pushing it.
First Matt tried the siphon feed setup. After finishing the first bag and not the first rim we stepped back to rethink the problem. While thinking, I pulled out my two Horizon rims and blasted the rust off of them, which took another 1/2 bag of sand. A large part of the problem with the white spoke rims was that the black paint had an almost rubbery texture, I could get under it with my pocket knife and peel it and pull off large chunks, but the sand just seemed to bounce off of it (just a thought, wonder if they used undercoating spray?). So, we hit the rim with a wire wheel on an angle grinder which burned off a lot of the black paint and took off some of the loose rust.
Then my friend dug out his pressure blaster. He hasn't used it in a few years because he felt that his siphon blaster did a better job. After cleaning the tank, fittings, hoses and valves of caked material we commenced blasting with the remaining 50 pounds of sand. It took a bit of trial and error, but we finally determined the best settings on the three valves, and Matt almost finished the first rim. The pressure blaster seemed to Matt and I to cut much more efficiently.
We think that we know what to do now to finish up the rest of the rims:
- Go over them with the wire wheel on the angle grinder.
- Get a better hood/eye protection.
- Get coveralls.
- Sandblast using the pressure blaster.
- Bring 75 pounds of sand per rim.
We've got a couple of weeks before I can buy 600-700 pounds more sand, that will give us time to work the remaining 9 rims over with the wire wheel. I'm still hoping we can get it done before it gets too cold to paint the rims, although we might be pushing it.
'89 Horizon
Filled the '89 Horizon this morning, second fill on the new tank. Got 29 mpg, not as good as I hoped. Still, we now know that we should be able to get about 350 miles on a tank of gas. I am also pretty certain that there is an oil leak, probably as Matt says from the rear of the valve cover gasket, since I smell oil buring on the exhaust.
Gas still at 3.649 this morning.
Frost on windshield this morning; first this year although official low was 40 degrees F. Hopefully, running the sprinkler all night will have protected the garden, but I'm a little worried about whether or not my fuschia made it. Guess I'll find out tonight when I get home.
Gas still at 3.649 this morning.
Frost on windshield this morning; first this year although official low was 40 degrees F. Hopefully, running the sprinkler all night will have protected the garden, but I'm a little worried about whether or not my fuschia made it. Guess I'll find out tonight when I get home.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Chrome Install
As I feared, when I tried to install Google Chrome at home over my dialup connection I had a problem. After 3 hours of the installer working away, it finally gave me an error message that pretty much translated as "screw you, I can't download the file in a timely manner". I did some more searching and discovered that others had the same issue and had discovered a "stand alone" installer, "Chrome_Install.exe" I found it on Google's website here. That file took just a bit over one hour to download, I ran it and here I am, using Chrome right now. And now that I have the full installer, It will be much easier and faster to install it on the other 3 PC's I use here at home.
Since I see that many others are having similar problems, and since I see that quite a few of the bugs I have seen publicly reported have to do with the installer, I have high hopes that these errors will be fixed in the next release. I hope.
The main Chrome dev site with bug reports is at http://code.google.com/p/chromium/.
Since I see that many others are having similar problems, and since I see that quite a few of the bugs I have seen publicly reported have to do with the installer, I have high hopes that these errors will be fixed in the next release. I hope.
The main Chrome dev site with bug reports is at http://code.google.com/p/chromium/.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Google Chrome
I like Google Chrome a lot, but there are a couple of changes I would like to see:
Things I have seen other people request and why I don't think they may be such a good idea:
Things i really like:
- Installer: Like most thing Google, you download an installer app that then downloads and installs the application. I think the app needs to be self-contained or that at least there should be an option to do an "off-line" download. I'm still using dial-up at home, and it is MUCH more efficient for me to download the app at work and then copy it to my home PC and install it. That did eventually happen with the Google Toolbar, so I have high hopes it will happen for Google Chrome.
- Google Chrome needs to be portable or have a portable version. I think that where Google Chrome will really shine is when I can have it on my USB drive, plug it into any Internet-connected PC, and access my apps thru it. And keep my personal data on my USB drive.
Things I have seen other people request and why I don't think they may be such a good idea:
- I have seen others whining about the lack of Firefox Plugin support and how they miss their plugins. Most of these plugins are (IMHO) things that would clutter up the "App-Front-End" feel of Google Chrome. As long as I can have Jvm support and support for things like pdf's and flash and other "web standard" apps then I'm happy. If I want toys I can always use Firefox or IE. I want to use Google Chrome for my online apps.
- I have seen others whining about the lack of support for the Google Toolbar. I just can't understand that one, when you can navigate and search from the one place why add a second item to clutter up the interface? And, it's not like the way IE is setup with the "Search From The Address Bar" option that I always turn off because it is sooo obtrusive. M$ doesn't know how to do search; Google does and has come up with my answer 100% so far in searching from the nav bar.
Things i really like:
- Searching from the nav bar.
- The way I can control password saving.
- The way Google Chrome handles downloads.
- The uncluttered interface.
- The useful error messages.
Dreary
Raining and 50 degrees when I went out at noon. I also noted that gas was down to 3.649; a little better but still not enough considering that oil prices continue to slide downward.
Not happy with Rock Auto
Occasional showers forecast all weekend, so maybe it's a good thing that the rest of my order from Rock Auto won't show up today. I asked them a couple of days ago what the chances were of getting those items here by the weekend, and they basically told me that they could cancel the order and then I could re-order them. Maybe I should have done that, I could then have O'Reilly's get them for me, I would have gotten them the next day and for less then what Rock Auto wanted to charge me for next day shipping.
I'm thinking that I will only order from Rock Auto when O'Reilly's doesn't have something on hand and if O'Reilly's can't get it next day. I'm a bit disappointed with the Customer Service at Rock Auto. I recognize that Rock Auto is in uncharted territory with their business model, but it's still not good service to argue that you shipped something when the shipping records clearly show that the product was not shipped. And then to argue about it for 3 days before finally deciding to ship the product and not expediting the shipment or doing SOMETHING to compensate the customer is just not the way to do business, especially in this competitive climate. Especially when every order I have placed with them has had some kind of screwup involved. Granted, none were this big, but still. I still think that Rock Auto has the BEST parts catalog and the BEST parts selection, but they need to work a bit to get some better customer service.
I'm thinking that I will only order from Rock Auto when O'Reilly's doesn't have something on hand and if O'Reilly's can't get it next day. I'm a bit disappointed with the Customer Service at Rock Auto. I recognize that Rock Auto is in uncharted territory with their business model, but it's still not good service to argue that you shipped something when the shipping records clearly show that the product was not shipped. And then to argue about it for 3 days before finally deciding to ship the product and not expediting the shipment or doing SOMETHING to compensate the customer is just not the way to do business, especially in this competitive climate. Especially when every order I have placed with them has had some kind of screwup involved. Granted, none were this big, but still. I still think that Rock Auto has the BEST parts catalog and the BEST parts selection, but they need to work a bit to get some better customer service.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Grand Rapids Rip-Off
Date Gas Prices GR Bemidji DOE Nymex Crude
9/3 3.699 3.619 109.35
9/1 3.699 3.639 115.46
8/26 3.579 3.579 116.27
This graph shows the average price of gas in the state of MN and the price of Crude according to GasBuddy.com. If that doesn't show that GR is getting ripped off I don't know what does. Not that there is a lot we can do about it, it's not worth it to drive to Bemidji or Brainerd or Duluth to save $.05/gallon, but it sure pisses me off that these people can do it and get away with it year after year after year. Someone up here is raking in the dough, and it's coming off of my skin. Wish WalMart would open a station here. I probably wouldn't buy gas from them, but at least it would force a change in the paradigm.
9/3 3.699 3.619 109.35
9/1 3.699 3.639 115.46
8/26 3.579 3.579 116.27
This graph shows the average price of gas in the state of MN and the price of Crude according to GasBuddy.com. If that doesn't show that GR is getting ripped off I don't know what does. Not that there is a lot we can do about it, it's not worth it to drive to Bemidji or Brainerd or Duluth to save $.05/gallon, but it sure pisses me off that these people can do it and get away with it year after year after year. Someone up here is raking in the dough, and it's coming off of my skin. Wish WalMart would open a station here. I probably wouldn't buy gas from them, but at least it would force a change in the paradigm.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Chrome is OK
The weather has certainly changed. A bit less than 1/4 inch of rain from the system yesterday, but temps are 20+ degrees cooler. Gonna have to find my jacket.
So far, I must say that I like Google Chrome. Far fewer bells and whistle's, but it does 98% of what I want with minimal mouse work. In general, it uses much less RAM than even Firefox, until you get a few tabs open. Because Chrome opens each tab in a new process, there is a memory price to pay, but when you close each tab the memory is immediately released to pool, and a rogue in one tab won't have any affect on the other tabs. I like that. I like that a lot! God knows how many times I have been editing something in one tab in Firefox only to have something crash in another tab and lose all my work.
Some folks are griping about the memory cost, but I don't think they see the point. Chrome is MORE than just a browser. Chrome is a front end to email and word processing and calendaring and blogging and spreadsheets and all those other online apps. Think back to the days of Windows 3.11 or Win9x when crashing one app would bring down the entire PC. Now look at Vista where I can crash several windows and not affect the work in other windows. Same thing here. I can crash the app in one tab of Chrome and it won't affect the apps in the other tabs.
Chrome is not just a browser, it intends to be the next step beyond the browser. I've been playing with G.ho.st. Very useful, but I think that Chrome takes that concept a step further. I don't have to login to a virtual machine on the web, I just open Chrome and I have all my virtual apps at my fingertips.
I like it.
So far, I must say that I like Google Chrome. Far fewer bells and whistle's, but it does 98% of what I want with minimal mouse work. In general, it uses much less RAM than even Firefox, until you get a few tabs open. Because Chrome opens each tab in a new process, there is a memory price to pay, but when you close each tab the memory is immediately released to pool, and a rogue in one tab won't have any affect on the other tabs. I like that. I like that a lot! God knows how many times I have been editing something in one tab in Firefox only to have something crash in another tab and lose all my work.
Some folks are griping about the memory cost, but I don't think they see the point. Chrome is MORE than just a browser. Chrome is a front end to email and word processing and calendaring and blogging and spreadsheets and all those other online apps. Think back to the days of Windows 3.11 or Win9x when crashing one app would bring down the entire PC. Now look at Vista where I can crash several windows and not affect the work in other windows. Same thing here. I can crash the app in one tab of Chrome and it won't affect the apps in the other tabs.
Chrome is not just a browser, it intends to be the next step beyond the browser. I've been playing with G.ho.st. Very useful, but I think that Chrome takes that concept a step further. I don't have to login to a virtual machine on the web, I just open Chrome and I have all my virtual apps at my fingertips.
I like it.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Autumn on the way
Trying to dl Chrome right now, not happening.
Happened to look at the NWS Weather, noticed that the outside temp is at 59!! That's 11 degrees cooler than when I came in this morning. Must be some good t-storms going thru I would think, but I don't know because I'm well insulated in my cave.
EDIT: The reason it wasn't downloading was not Google's fault. The ISP for our business network just converted from Smart Filter to WebSense. Even though I'm a top-level user, there are still sites blocked to me. I can understand why a porn site would be blocked from me, but Google Gears???!!! Aw well, just have to deal with it, and deal with it I did. It ain't possible to block a determined geek.
Happened to look at the NWS Weather, noticed that the outside temp is at 59!! That's 11 degrees cooler than when I came in this morning. Must be some good t-storms going thru I would think, but I don't know because I'm well insulated in my cave.
EDIT: The reason it wasn't downloading was not Google's fault. The ISP for our business network just converted from Smart Filter to WebSense. Even though I'm a top-level user, there are still sites blocked to me. I can understand why a porn site would be blocked from me, but Google Gears???!!! Aw well, just have to deal with it, and deal with it I did. It ain't possible to block a determined geek.
Chrome
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fresh-take-on-browser.html
I can hardly wait to try it. 11AM PDT, that's 1 PM CDT. Today. I can hardly wait. Hopefully, Google should have enough bandwidth to handle the load if this is half as exciting as I think it is.
I can hardly wait to try it. 11AM PDT, that's 1 PM CDT. Today. I can hardly wait. Hopefully, Google should have enough bandwidth to handle the load if this is half as exciting as I think it is.
Labor Day
Found a great tool for tracking tropical storms:
http://stormadvisory.org/map/atlantic.
On the way home from Bemidji yesterday we had to detour around a fire off of Hwy 2 between GR and Blackberry. Looks like it burned a couple of acres in what is normally a pond. This year has been so dry that most ponds have dried up. Immediately after leaving the detour we saw a tanker drop a load on the fire; it's been years (30?) since I've seen that happen. There were several crews on the fire; with 35+ mph winds and extremely dry conditions yesterday any fire could have easily turned into a real disaster.
Fortunately, none did that I'm aware of. Yesterday we were afraid that the fire had jumped the highway, but this morning I saw no evidence of that, although it was raining hard so I may have missed it.
Interesting to note that gas in Bemidji was anywhere from 3.599 to 3.639 while all GR stations are at 3.699. And, the price of a barrel of oil dropped over the weekend from $115 to (right now this morning) $108.
Raining pretty good right now. Yesterdays high was about 90, todays high is supposed to be in the upper 60's although it was 70 on my way to work. Tomorrows high is supposed to be 63.
Picnicked at Diamond Point Park in Bemidji yesterday. I didn't realize it had a swimming beach, but next time we picnic there I will plan on some swimming. Although it was very nice at the park with the breeze and the lake, it was still very warm. I was afraid that the park was going to be crowded since it is right next to BSU, but it wasn't. There were quite a few students there, but there were plenty of tables available. The Park was remodeled last summer, the tables are good and they have some very nice cooking grates. I only cooked a dozen burgers, but there was room on the grill for more.
http://stormadvisory.org/map/atlantic.
On the way home from Bemidji yesterday we had to detour around a fire off of Hwy 2 between GR and Blackberry. Looks like it burned a couple of acres in what is normally a pond. This year has been so dry that most ponds have dried up. Immediately after leaving the detour we saw a tanker drop a load on the fire; it's been years (30?) since I've seen that happen. There were several crews on the fire; with 35+ mph winds and extremely dry conditions yesterday any fire could have easily turned into a real disaster.
Fortunately, none did that I'm aware of. Yesterday we were afraid that the fire had jumped the highway, but this morning I saw no evidence of that, although it was raining hard so I may have missed it.
Interesting to note that gas in Bemidji was anywhere from 3.599 to 3.639 while all GR stations are at 3.699. And, the price of a barrel of oil dropped over the weekend from $115 to (right now this morning) $108.
Raining pretty good right now. Yesterdays high was about 90, todays high is supposed to be in the upper 60's although it was 70 on my way to work. Tomorrows high is supposed to be 63.
Picnicked at Diamond Point Park in Bemidji yesterday. I didn't realize it had a swimming beach, but next time we picnic there I will plan on some swimming. Although it was very nice at the park with the breeze and the lake, it was still very warm. I was afraid that the park was going to be crowded since it is right next to BSU, but it wasn't. There were quite a few students there, but there were plenty of tables available. The Park was remodeled last summer, the tables are good and they have some very nice cooking grates. I only cooked a dozen burgers, but there was room on the grill for more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)