Stormy

11/11/2011:  A bit windy and wet for my lunch time walk.  A lot of the fall color will be gone by tonight, a pretty good wind is blowing.

A bit different color than what I'm used to thinking of when I think "Cherry Tree"

Warm Day...

59 and sunny. Didn't need my jacket when I took my walk at noon. Saw a cute little tree, I think it is a type of maple, less than 3 ft tall. I think I have seen one like it at the Rhododendron Gardens, will have to swing by there sometime and see.

Storm system comes in late tonight/early tomorrow, bringing snow down to the 1500 ft level and a continual threat of showers here for the next week.

Partly Cloudy

and 53° F  right now.  The mountain has just its head above the clouds, and the colors of the leaves are magnificent.  And there are even roses still blooming.

And I did find a reference to the average rainfall in the month of November here, 6.57" at Seatac according to KIRO's Sam Argier.

Sunlight on my...

Sunny right now (9 AM).  Poured rain last night for a couple of hours.  A chance of rain in the forecast today but I only see widely scattered showers on radar.  about 45 degrees this morning, but the forecast high is only a couple of degrees warmer.  Can't see the mountains for the cloud banks, so don't know if they got snow; but road reports say that Stevens Pass (4000 ft) has snow and slush while Snoqualmie Pass (3000 ft) has rain.

November is rainiest month in this part of the world, guess we can look forward to more.  I seem to recall reading that we can expect 6+ inches of rain this month (but can't find the reference right now).

(Later) Went out for a walk at lunchtime.  Still can't see the mountains for the haze, but the sun is bright.  Here is a photo I took on my walk.  I don't know what kind of tree it is, but to me it appears to have purple leaves during the summer.  Right now it appears to me as a riotous blend of purples and oranges and I think it is quite nice.

Winter?

Once upon a time I used to put my weather observations on this blog.  At least it gave something new to read every day.   I am going to attempt to resume that habit.

First Frost of the season this morning, had to scrape my windshield.   Also heavy fog.  Forecast tonight is for rain here and snow in the mountains down to the 3,000 foot level, prompting a "First snow of the season" Winter Storm Warning for the Mountain Passes.

Sunset

Just had to share the beautiful sunset tonight with everyone. Don't know why, but I've just noticed that I seem to have a habit of taking pictures while driving at the speed limit, or maybe even just a little, ahem, over.

A gorgeous early fall sunset in Northern MN.

T-Storms

5 PM: Maybe thunderstorms moving into area, kinda hope so. Grass around town is starting to look kinda dried up.

7:30 PM: They all seem to be sliding up to the north of us, but maybe if the front slides east just a few more miles....

Wednesday: False Alarm so far.  Well, OK, we had a brief shower this morning.

Fall

Fall is definitely in the air.  Low temps are getting down to the 30's and the leaves are starting to change.

Rain

Looks like summer is already over.  Last week we had hot sunny days in the 80's and 90's, this week so far it has been 60's and rain.  6 PM and raining now.

Hot?

High temps today and for next few days (thru Friday) supposed to be in upper 80's low 90's.  Think I should look for a swimming hole after work.  Maybe Kom-On-In Beach?  Might be pretty crowded, dunno.  I know one thing, I ain't gonna be sitting around the house, and I don't really want to stay at my desk until it cools off.

Collage

I'm sitting in the parking lot of the Public Library waiting for dark, then I can go find a quiet place to park for the night.  All around GR are T-Storms.

Can hear the thunder from the one just to the southwest.  Think that one will miss us, but who knows what else might pop up?  Had a pretty good one last night, for a few moments I was wishing I had a houseboat instead of a Mustang.

So, I'm sitting here, reflecting over the past week.

Last nights DQ Cruise was pretty quiet.  T-Storms were in the forecast, so a lot of cars and people stayed home.  There were a couple of highlights though.

This 1969 Mustang is for sale, less than 200 miles on a new 351W crate motor.  Absolutely a gorgeous car.

And my 2006 Mustang

There were several Street/Strip cars that showed up, the blue Charger, the blue S-10, the yellow SS.  They are all getting ready to go racing at Brainerd over the 4th of July weekend.  And I found out something.  On many Wednesday nights you can race your street car at Brainerd.  cost is just $20.  Requires that the car be street legal and that you wear a Snell approved helmet.  You can run as many times as you want from 5 PM until dark for the $20.  I think I'm going to go.  I've wanted to know what this car and I can do, and this is the proper venue to explore that.  I'm hoping I can afford to go July 1st.

This time of being by myself has given me lots of opportunity to explore my psyche.  I haven't learned much yet, except that the peace and quiet are restful to a point but I miss some excitement in my life.  And that "restful" does not equate to getting enough rest; I'm exhausted all the time.  But I must do what I must do.

I was working on the podiatrists laptop this week, and took the opportunity to ask him about my feet.  I've been trying to do a bit of walking, but the foot and ankle and leg pain are just killing me.  And I LIKE to walk.  I've walked at least 10 miles in the last 5 days.

To make a long story short, I made an appointment to see the podiatrist.  My feet show definite signs of a problem, and he knows he can help me surmount the problem.  Isn't for a couple of weeks though.  Basically, my feet have lost their "spring", so the muscles, joints, and tendons of my ankles and legs are getting all the shock.  And adding padding (which is what I've been doing) isn't going to help.

T-Storms are moving, think I will also. Buenos Noches.

As Usual

I'm way behind. My last post on 1/30 stated that gas prices hadn't changed, later that morning gas jumped to 1.949, where it still is this morning.

Over the weekend we saw temps in the low 40's on Saturday, while Sunday made it into the mid 20's. Right now it is -20F. No wind at all, but still rather cold.

New "Blazer" Page

I've decided to copy all my posts on the Blazer into a new page and then put all updates on the Blazer in that page.

-20°F this morning. High today is supposed to be about 10°F, low tonight about 7°F, high tomorrow about 25°F. Maybe I can get some outside work done tomorrow.

Gas is STILL at 1.899. Hard to believe it has been stable for this long.

Gotta run to a meeting. When the electrician arrived to hook up the two new racks we made a discovery: Although the spec sheets we got from the vendors say each rack should draw about 35-40 amps, the UPS packages in the racks are rated at 100 amps. At 40 amps each rack plus the existing servers we would have maxed out our 100 amp panel. Under normal circumstances the racks may only draw 40 amps, but we can't wire for that, we need to wire for max load. If we do not then we will for sure blow the main breaker and take down the entire server farm the first time we attempt to draw full load. So, we need to add two new 100 amp panels. In the next two working days. Not likely, the electrician needs to order the panels. So, it looks like we will need to re-schedule Tuesdays planned arrival of the GE and EMC and Quantum implementation teams.

Cold - and busy

Don't have much time, but if I don't get some of this down I will forget it.

On Sun 1/11 gas in GR was 1.949, in Bemidji it was 1.799. Yesterday 1/12 in GR gas dropped to 1.899.

Last Wednesday 1/7 I changed the oil (as I mentioned I was planning in the last post) to Wal-Mart SuperTech 5w-30. Having the oil filter remotely mounted on the fenderwell is very nice. I need to get a coffee can to add to my toolbox to put under the filter when I change it. The oil oil was very thick. Oil pressure went waay down with the new oil.

On Saturday 1/10 I changed the oil and filter again. It was very black (as expected). I put in Wal-Mart SuperTech 5w-30 Synthetic this time. Oil pressure is still very low. At cold start oil pressure is about 50 PSI. At warm idle, maybe 5 PSI. At highway speeds warm it runs about 20 PSI. I'm guessing that the engine probably needs bearings, need to investigate further.

I'm planning on changing the oil again, probably next payday. Since it doesn't appear to be using any oil yet I will most likely go to either Mobil1 0w-30 or Valvoline 5w-30 synthetic and see what happens.

I changed the temp sending unit on Saturday also. The temp gage still fluctuates wildly. I need to get an OBD scan tool hooked up and see what the computer is actually seeing.

Found two wires chopped and looped around one of the thermostat housing bolts when I changed the thermostat. Had to chop the wires off, the nuts and wires and stud were too corroded to remove properly. I put a crimp on lug on the wires and grounded it on another bolt. I need to get a wiring diagram and find out what those wires are for and where they are supposed to go.

Picked up an AC Compressor pulley bypass at O'Reilly's. It's a Dorman part. Unbolted the seized up compressor, bolt the idler pulley in (it's a LOT harder than it sounds!). Put the new Serpentine belt on. Much quieter, and looking at the old belt I note that I was NOT seeing the worst parts of it. It was missing some serious chunks.

Haven't fixed the doors or hinges yet. The hinge pin press from Eastwood arrived yesterday, the hinge spring compressor from Eastwood should arrive tomorrow. So, maybe this weekend.

Got to do something about the doors. We had -30°F this morning.  Drivers door was frozen shut.  Other doors were locked, and the key wouldn't go in the keyhole.  I've kept Vger plugged in, so I drove it this morning.  It's -18°F right now.  Hope to thaw the door enough to find out how it starts tomorrow morning.

Cold Tonight?

The forecast is for -21°F, with windchills around -35°. The block heater on Vger seemed to work great last night (0°F).

Today has been a day of frustration. I'm trying to do the EOY for our Great Plains installation, and it's not going well at all.

Up to (and including) version 8, upgrades were simple. But, M$ was still using the old programming that they bought. With Version 9, they made the break with the old Great Plains and made it more of a M$ program, including using the Windows Installer. Before v9, everything was controlled by .ini, .set, and .dic files. In v9, in addition to using these files there are also many many Registry entries.

Well, to make a long story short, something on the Server in the Windows Installer is broken. Something in the Registry. As usual, M$ suggestion is to re-install Windows. On a server. That is a Domain Controller. That is a DHCP server. That hosts all the SQL databases for the company.

Well, I've been going to demote the server to a member for quite a while, and there is a plan to move most of the databases to new hardware that has just started arriving today. But, the updates to GP must be done before the first payroll of 2009 can be processed (taxes), so now the problems cannot be pushed back any longer.

So, guess what I will be doing New Years Eve and Day? Building a server and restoring databases to it. Just what I've always wanted to do. Got to have it done by Friday morning so that reports that need to be run at the beginning of 2009 can be run before the first Payroll.

yep. A marathon session. yippee.

Merry Christmas!

Too confused/busy to blog the last few days.  I managed to get off early on Christmas Eve and took Christmas Day and Friday off.  I was actually carrying the Master Pager for the group and only got one page the entire weekend, and the problem was solved before I could return the call; so "work" was not the problem.

We'll start on 12/21, when we finally setup the (fake) Christmas Tree.

I think the picture is much prettier with the flash turned off:

Then we move to Christmas Eve, We had a couple of snow storms and some very cold weather, so on Christmas Eve (and Day) the roads were very icy. Driving past the neighbors house I noticed an eagle sitting in the tree looking out over the road and field beyond.

On Christmas Day the roads were still very icy, but the scenery was beautiful.

Spent most of Christmas Day in Bemidji with the kids.  This was Phillip's first Christmas.  I really remember very little about my childhood, but I do remember that I loved Legos (still do, actually).  I have a set of Legos that were always at my grandparents, if you look thru the "Slides" you can find at least one photo of me playing with them.  One of the first gifts I gave our kids was Legos, and I decided that would be my first Christmas Present for Phillip, start his collection of Legos.  I got him a simple Duplo set to get started with.

Phillip played with Matt and Evolena a bit, he's getting quite the winning smile now.

Matt made up some more burned plaque; Jon got a Dragon and Patty a Mermaid, that face each other.

Evan got a plaque also, the Lord's Prayer - in Finnish.

Evolena also got a plaque of a Dragon

On Friday we took it (more or less) easy. On Saturday Matt and I (and a couple of helpers) went over to Jim's and installed a frost plug block heater in Vger. Haven't had to use it - yet. Tomorrow night we have a forecast for -20, so I'll get to test it then.

Went bowling Sunday with the neighbor's; I figure it's the first time in nearly 20 years I've tried to roll a ball at some pins. I did manage an 86 with a strike and a couple of spares and several gutter balls.

When we got home from Bowling I found Bear under the Christmas Tree

Gas in GR went to 1.659 on Friday, I believe Bemidji was at 1.629 on Christmas Day.

Until Later!

20-Dec

Getting a bit behind.

Gas dropped to 1.679 12/19 in GR, at the same time gas in Bemidji was 1.659. Closest it's been for some time.

On the way back from Bemidji about 6:30 12/19 we passed a fresh accident scene. Found out this morning that a semi load of OSB tried to pass a pickup truck just east of Bena, the semi lost control on the very icy highway, side-swiped the pickup, spun, and flipped. The pickup went off the road, the driver was apparently uninjured, the semi looked like it had been wadded up and thrown into the trees, wheels on the tractor were up and the cab was flattened down nearly to the engine; the trailer was bent and twisted with OSB flung over the surrounding area. The driver of the semi was flown to St Luke's in Duluth with broken ribs and a punctured lung. Very lucky. We were about 15 minutes behind the accident, emergency vehicles passed us maybe a mile before the scene. We had to wait while they cleared the highway of debris, then, while they were still waiting for Luke's One to arrive, they allowed traffic thru.

Just about 1-1/2 weeks ago, a couple of miles further east on Highway 2, a VW Jetta suddenly swerved out into an oncoming lumber truck. The driver of the Jetta was dead at the scene, both vehicles were destroyed by fire. The semi driver had minor injuries. The roads were clear and dry at the time, there was no other traffic, and no-one alive today knows why the Jetta suddenly swerved into the oncoming traffic.

Picked up a block heater the other day, O'Reilly's was surpried that they actually received all 3 that they ordered. Still have not decided how or where or when to install the heater.

It's starting to snow again. 4-6 inches forecast for today, 8 to 16 inches forecast over the weekend. I'm afraid we won't be going very far this weekend.

16 Dec More Colder?

We showed -30°F this morning, by 11AM it had warmed up to -20°F. Neither Vger nor the Red Horizon wanted to start. Finally got Vger to start about 11, Matt got the Horizon to start after he got home from school about 3 PM using ether. Currently -6°F now at 7 PM, I think today’s Hi was about -5°F.

Need to look to be certain, but apparently Vger, the Horizon, and Stripez do not have block heaters. Hard to believe. I think that Vger might have a heater but no cord, but the heater goes on the rear side of the engine in the center frost plug, which means that it is very difficult to reach. We will need to check that tonight when we get home. Tonight’s low is supposed to be -14°F, which is a lot better. The Horizon may still have trouble starting though.

I went shopping for block heaters. Apparently, by noon today everyone was out of stock. NAPA, Car Quest, O’Reilly’s, L&M are all out. No frost plug heaters, no magnetic heaters. There are a couple of tank heaters out there. O’Reilly’s has ordered 3 frost plug heaters, but my parts guy says they will be lucky to get 1. I’m going to try to get there when the doors open and grab one, $20. Won’t get to install it until Saturday, if then. Not sure which car will get it. Vger is going to be retired when Stripez is complete, but right now Stripez is buried in a snow drift. Probably, the heater will go in the Horizon. As long as we have at least one car that will start at -30° it will be OK, we can work around that.

With the school closings Monday and the generally very poor road conditions, work was pretty quiet. But today things were jumping, and when I tried to dial in the best I could get was an occasional 19.2 Kbps working between mostly 17 Kbps. Was very glad to get Vger running and get to my desk.

To get an idea how cold it was, here is a picture of the inside of the front door this morning. Yes, that is frost on the screws, striker plate, and lock knob. In the heated (68F) entry way.

After the Blizzard

I guess for us technically it wasn't a blizzard.  I believe that the technical requirement for a blizzard includes "visibility less than 1/4 mile".  I think that visibility was less than 1/4 mile for several brief periods, and it was less than 1/2 mile for most of Sunday.

Right now it is -11°F; NWS says that the wind chill is -36°F.  We have an honest 1' of snow, and 2' drifts in the yard including right in front of both cars, so we will need to dig thru those before we can even think about going somewhere. I think once the drifts are gone that Vger can get thru the driveway, but more work will be required to get the Horizon down the driveway. Still haven’t got the plow tractor running yet.

Not going to make it to my desk today; instead I will be working from home over dial-up. Ah, the pain.

12-Dec Colder

The thermometer at home said -20°F, the NWS says -10°F.  I was shivering too much to read the thermometers in town.

Ran ourselves out of propane at home; not sure how.  I'm sure the gauge read 30% last Friday, but it is empty now.  Might have something to do with all the house cleaning and traffic thru the house all week.

Vendors have been sending "Customer Appreciation" gifts of fancy chocolates all week, I'm eating myself sick.

When I call my UniCel phone I get a message that service has been suspended.  All the cell phones owned by the hospital say that when you call them.

Gas in GR is still at 1.699.  We'll be going to Bemidji tonight, see what it is there.