Yet again, an “emergency hack” is needed, the result of too many thises and thats and too few hours. Not to mention not enough sleep.
Fortunately, for just such an emergency, I’ve been saving these really excellent pictures of a hawk.
Monthly Archives: September 2015
Backwards Fall Foliage Starts In SoCal
Fall may not officially start until Tuesday, but it’s not too early to be seeing some of the traditional, colorful foliage that marks the season.
While in most of the real world that means green leaves turning red and gold, Southern California isn’t actually part of the real world (and there are days when we’re not even all that “real world adjacent”) so things happen a little differently here. There are some imported deciduous trees that do the normal green –> red and gold thing, but the native plants sometimes do it backwards. (Well, okay, the “native” plants are probably also imported, but they’re imported from some dry, desolate, desert location to Southern California, which despite all of the irrigation is a dry, desolate, and desert location.)
Contrary to the pattern of having leaves die and fall off, the holly bushes in our front yard start growing at this time of year, pushing out new leaves all over the place. What makes it colorful and somewhat lovely is that the new leaves are all a much paler shade of green, sometimes almost yellow or white, while the existing leaves are a dark, dark green. As the new leaves mature, they darken, but since they’re pushed out at different times by different branches, you end up with a wonderful spread of shades of green. Then, on close examination, you see some of the very young leaves, which are just opening up, showing a pinkish or purplish color.
Look, but don’t touch! Those points are sharp, the bane of my existence when it comes time to put Christmas lights on them.
Filed under Castle Willett, Flowers, Photography
Stay On Your Toes ‘Round Here
I was just finishing up and heading off to bed, but I see you’re sitting there patiently, waiting for my daily words of wisdom. (Assuming, of course, that by “words of wisdom” we all know that we mean “whatever drivel, nonsense, drool, and the occasional picture come out of my face.”)
It’s been a couple of long, long days – still trying to get caught up on some of routine stuff for my CAF gig that got put off onto the back burner while I was in Vermont for two weeks, then Indiana for a week, and that was after another trip to North Carolina for a week and a week in DC for the NASA Social. And then there was our airshow, which had a ton of follow-up work to make the Is cross and the Ts dot. The monthly staff meeting is tomorrow and I don’t want to look stupid (or, at least, no more stupid than usual) so we’re burning through pages and pages of the “to-do” list.
And all the while, here you’ve been, reading, maybe watching a ballgame or television show (the new shows don’t start until next week, so other than sports there’s not a lot on right now – I would strongly recommend you stay away from the news, it’s nothing but political drivel and “someone died!”), wondering if I had forgotten today.
Nope. I didn’t forget.
Let’s act like Felix, and pull out my magical bag of tricks…
Hey, look what’s coming up in just three months (more or less), which means that I get to start decorating in two months (more or less)!
I’ll bet you didn’t see THAT coming, did you?
You have to stay on your toes ’round here. Don’t get complacent. Bob and weave, bob and weave! Serpentine!!
Filed under CAF, Castle Willett, Christmas Lights, Photography
Steel Rising (Part Four)
Five weeks ago we started raising the steel for our hangar expansion out at the CAF SoCal location in Camarillo. Three weeks ago and last week I gave updates.
It’s looking like a hangar. A really BIG hangar. Here the two large doors (they’ll be on the right) head out onto our ramp.
Down at this end the door will head out the opposite way, onto the EAA’s ramp.
(As always, click to enlarge to get the full panorama.) Starting the interior work (plumbing, electrical, etc) next week, maybe? We’re almost there!
Filed under CAF, Flying, Panorama, Photography
Waiting For Her Mom
While I spent my day discussing moral outrage (look for me using @momdude56 on Twitter, hashtag #IStandWithAhmed) and trying desperately to avoid having anything to do with the Republican debates, Jessie had much more basic demands on her time. With The Long-Suffering Wife out getting her nails done after work, Jessie has to sit out on the lawn and wait for her car to come around the corner.
Yes, she had been fed dinner (by me). Yes, she had been taken outside (by me) whenever she needed to all day. Yes, she had gotten treats (from me) whenever she begged. Yes, she had dry food (which I gave her) if she was still hungry. Yes, her water bowls had been refilled all day (by me).
But I’m not “mom.” So we’ll just sit here and wait.
Filed under Dogs, Moral Outrage
In Between Storm Bands
There are places in the Los Angeles metro area that got more rain today than they’ve ever gotten in the entire month of September.
That doesn’t mean that it was a gully-washer today, more that we rarely get significant rain in September. It rained pretty steadily for a few hours, cleared a bit, got a few more scattered showers, and now we’re down to lingering bits of mist and light rain here and there over all of SoCal. (For reference for those of you not familiar with the area, the “metro Southern California / Los Angeles / San Diego / Ventura / Riverside / San Bernardino” area is about 42,000 square miles, roughly the size of Ohio or Tennessee.)
There was the usual panic and bazillion accidents on the freeway. (The video would be so much less funny if it weren’t about 90% true.) However, for the most part it didn’t have any huge effect on us. Maybe that time in Vermont and Indiana got us re-acclimated to actual Earth weather.
Out at the hangar, the rain caused a delay in the paving work out on the ramp, but otherwise it looked lovely as the morning band of storms moved northward and the afternoon band of storms hadn’t yet moved in from off the ocean.
“Lake Camarillo” it’s not (maybe an inch deep in spots), but the reflection is pretty.
The next band coming in from the south.
The morning clouds departing to the north.
This is the kind of day when (if I were current and had a plane available) it would have been lovely to go flying for a while. For one thing, there were very few other planes out there, so no waiting for your turn in the traffic pattern!
With the clouds at about 4,000 feet (the tallest peak you can see in the mountains waaaaaaay in the background on the second picture are 3,300 feet tall) there’s plenty of room to scoot around in VFR conditions underneath during the break between storms. Just don’t wander off too far and get caught when the next line of clouds move in!
Filed under CAF, Flying, Photography, Weather
A Question For The GroupMind
Along the back wall of our yard we planted a row of trees in order to give us some privacy from the neighbors, and vice versa. I think they’re some sort of ficus tree, but I’m obviously no expert on plants.
Nor am I an expert (or even very good) at keeping plants alive – I have a powerful “black thumb” when it comes to the care and feeding of foliage. But despite that, these trees had thrived and were bushy and full, to the point where high on my yardwork to-do list was to tie up some of the branches for support because they were bowing down into the yard instead of growing upward. Just before we went to Indiana at the beginning of this month that was starting to be an issue.
Then we got back from Indiana.
About half of the leaves were gone, all on the ground, with whole branch systems on all of the trees being stripped. It was extremely noticeable, as in the first time I glanced out in the backyard after we got home there was a “WTF!!” moment. Now, a week later, probably 90% of the leaves are gone.
Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing? Does anyone know what might be going on? Are these plants goners all of a sudden, or is there something I should be doing?
When they were first planted, probably ten years ago or more, there was a hard freeze one winter night. All of the leaves turned black and fell off over the next couple of weeks and I figured they were dead. But they all came back strong and have grown like crazy since then.
Nothing changed in their watering or other environment, other than a real hot spell that hit while we were in Indiana, temps above 100°F for several days. But that’s not so unusual around here, it happens a couple of times a year and it’s never been a problem before.
I don’t see how it could be something in the soil or water, since all of the other plants and trees in the area are still doing fine. In addition, there are three more of these same trees over on the other side of the yard (planted at the same time, also thriving) which are showing the same symptoms, although not quite as severely. The other trees have probably lost a third of their leaves so far, but they’re going down the same path as these.
The information I’ve found online talks mainly about indoor ficus trees, and says this sort of thing happens with under watering, over watering, or changes in the interior environment. I don’t see anything about the outdoor use of these trees, or if they’re a separate breed of plant.
My one thought was that it could be a disease or insects, but I don’t see any sign of that. Plus, again, none of the other plants (of other species) nearby show any problems. The leaves aren’t shriveled or changing color, they’re just falling off while looking perfectly healthy.
I thought it might be critters (raccoons, deer, short giraffes) but none of the leaves appear to be eaten.
So, I’m stumped. Maybe it’s just “a thing” and they’ll all grow back and be healthy if I just leave them alone. Maybe I need to find a saw and cut them down now to avoid the rush later. Maybe they’ve been poisoned by something in the soil or water that only affects them.
Any suggestions or wisdom to share?
Filed under Castle Willett, Paul
I Had A Thought, But
I distinctly remember earlier today having a cool thought for some topic or subject to write about. I remember thinking, “Yeah, that would be a good one for later on today!”
But now it’s time to write and I haven’t a clue what it was.
There are days when I worry about losing my memory due to some disease or simply because I’m getting older. Someone knowledgeable that I mentioned this to told me not to worry, it’s just a matter of being mildly absent minded, not Alzheimer’s.
Maybe. I’ve always been terrible with names. I’ve had to just get used to the embarrassment of asking for the name of someone who I’ve met several times and really should know. Somehow “I’d like you to meet that guy from the hangar who works on the Fairchild and drives the cool old Corvette” isn’t quite up to snuff when you’re trying to make proper introductions.
One of the saddest stories (and movie) that I’ve ever read was “Flowers For Algernon” by Daniel Keyes. (“Charly” with Cliff Robertson winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for movie fans.) For Charlie Gordon to know what’s happening to himself at the end but be unable to stop it is terrible. Even more so is the way, once all is said and done, that he doesn’t remember and doesn’t care – but all of the people who love him do.
There’s a tough one for you – if you have no choice but to lose your memories and personality, would you rather not know about it (or care) or would you rather know and somewhere still be “you,” even if “you” was trapped and unable to let anyone know?
I guess in a nutshell, there’s “Flowers For Algernon” versus “Locked In” by John Scalzi.
I think I would go with the latter, “Locked In” premise. It’s that whole, stupid, core kernel of eternal optimism that I can’t seem to beat into submission, but if you’re still “you” in some say, maybe you can figure something out or something will change to where things get better.
Stupid core kernel of eternal optimism!
And what’s up with this whole “deja vu” thing? I don’t experience it often, but it hit earlier today and was just spooky.
Or maybe I just thought that I had a good idea for today’s post, but it was really the “front end” of a deja vu experience and some day I’ll get to the “back end” and remember what the idea was. Sort of like it pops into the future through a wormhole in the space-time continuum that goes through my brain.
I hope it wasn’t important.
Filed under Health, Science Fiction
New Desktop Art
When you feel like you’re standing at Ground Zero with all the bad karma in the world targeting your tired ass — MOVE!
Even if it’s just a tiny bit. Baby steps, if necessary.
While driving back from the hangar today my brain tried to cheer me up (stupid brain!) by reminding me of a few favorite memes, Internet affirmations if you will. Believing that The Muse was trying to tell me something, I pulled them together and merged them together in Photoshop for a new computer desktop.
Courtesy of Chuck Wendig’s excellent terribleminds site, some anonymous bit of wisdom that I keep close to my heart, and Frank Herbert, let’s see if this reminds me to be awesome. (I keep forgetting.)
If You Can’t Say Anything Nice – September 11
Adulting sucks sometimes.
One of the things involved with being responsible and mature is self-restraint. Discretion = better part of valor. Not screaming and “losing it” when you’re really frustrated and ready to punch a wall. Don’t send that email that lets everyone know how pissed off you are. Stay calm. EGBOK = Everything’s Going To Be OK.
Just an observation.
And, no, this doesn’t have anything (or at least, not much) with that significant anniversary today. It doesn’t help, I’m sure, but my plate seems to be full to overflowing even without that.
As children all of us were taught, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” I’m sure that was a key piece in preparing for that responsible adult crap in our future.
Isn’t this a nice, calm picture of a beach?
Filed under Paul, Photography, Travel
We Love The Stars Too Fondly 