.. is in our forecast! We shall see how it plays out.
This is the storm that chose to be coy over a week ago, it retrograded further off the coast instead of ending our hot spell. This time for sure -?
A reboot of granitix.blogspot, with a fresh outlook. Hope it sticks!
.. is in our forecast! We shall see how it plays out.
This is the storm that chose to be coy over a week ago, it retrograded further off the coast instead of ending our hot spell. This time for sure -?
In
two weeks we may be running on flashy new 5g gear!
Or, if the signal
doesn't quite match our coverage map.. nice try.
Fingers crossed!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Test Drive Success!
We
are able to capture a decent 5G signal from our hill-top, and a
mobile-carrier switch to T-mobile is under way. Their Magenta plan does more for us at the same price we're paying now, and adding internet this way
will save us quite a bit. The risk is out there for signal clogging in
bad weather or too many trees, but for now we're giving it a shot!
Today has already overshot the forecast by several degrees. Thankfully the west continues to receive shallow west winds and should hang in the 70s all week. We're in the 90s and could be hotter through at least Tuesday, then slowly cool off through the weekend. Forecasts are a bit lower then they had been - but we'll still be feeling it, Portland especially more than us. Somehow we'll manage.
Sure looks nice over there!
First the Classic version, then Alpha, Delta, Omicron. And now the O-variants.
Many news stories about BA.4 and BA.5 taking over caseloads - and now stories of a throwback, BA.2.75 with massive mutations from an earlier variant!
No more coordinated national mandates, no more direct reports of home-test results unlike tests made within the health-care system (fragmented as even that is) - so increases are mere blips on the Omicron-peak-scaled charts and unreported cases are a mere guess. Hospital visits are no longer at crisis levels at least, as so many are on 3rd and 4th injections. I just received my fourth before a gathering that caught my best buddy and his wife with three weeks of Covid lousiness (variant: unknown).
The upper graphic from ourworldindata.org shows the USA percentage of the original COVID virus and its variants over time. It does not deal with the variants within each variant, so Omicron still rules whether BA.4, BA.5 or BA.2.75Once upon a time I had a daily record of cases and deaths for the US, and my state and county. Then small governments stopped giving daily reports so I moved to 5-day points; my chart and a 4-period moving average are at the bottom of the graphic. No doubt the 5-day spacing includes weekends now and then, leading to a pronounced zigzag; I put a 4-period average on the data (darkest line) to make trends clearer. Our current cases are around Delta-outbreak levels (fall 2021), which were frightening until Omicron 1.0 came on the scene.
After nearly three years we've all been desensitized by the relentlessness and the scale of this pandemic, and the political spins that have made science just another variable in our rhetoric. No wonder fatigue is a symptom of the pandemic - even not catching the virus in this environment is exhausting!
In the meantime, the President and Congress have been stymied by the parity in the Senate and the bitterness of 21st-century partisanship. Add in big-time inflation that is rather independent of economics (supply issues still rule), a war in Ukraine and the impact of sanctions on Russia, various amounts of chaos elsewhere (e.g. the UK now choosing another prime minister) and the result is a bitter brew. It's a no-win situation for anyone, but blame is an irresistible sport in today's chaotic climate.
We'll deal with the topic of climate another time..
My worksheet calculates weather on a July-June period. Most folks around these parts actually do Sep-Aug.. praps I should make a shift? In any case, I can do a 12-month report now and assume that the next week will be dry; if it isn't true it is quite close.
Our Jul-Jun total right now is 92¼ inches. That's absurdly higher than our almost-58" normal based on the new 30-year recent average, but it is not the highest - that still belongs to 2016-17 at 94 inches. The previous 30-year average (1981-2010) was 63.7 inches, so our expectations were lowered but then shattered by all the moisture. Sep-Jun featured only one month below average, and that was a 94% March. Five months were over 10.5", not bad when the wettest month should be 9.06" (November). June is at 188% of normal as of the 24th; the week could end with drizzle or some light showers, so it could creep up a bit more.
My somewhat clever swap of K-mount macro lenses has put me in a curious spot. My K-s2 will be far happier in its current (sick-solenoid) state with the Sigma 50/2.8 lens - but it also plays in the μ43 kit. In fact my Olympus 30/3.5 has two new competitors: the 50/2.8 as is, and a speed-boosted 36/2! The latter does add glass though, so optically it may have an effect that makes a difference.. but either way the sigma has a speed advantage.
Another good point: the Olympus can actually work at 1.25x macro! You won't get much light on the subject at that working distance though, so that 'advantage' needs to be evaluated as well.
We will check back soon with some results! :√)
OK, some things are easily learned!