Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Wow!
Wow! We got 1.3 inches of rain overnight, and there's a lot more coming. When this storm is over and the lawns dry out a little bit, I think I'll be putting away my irrigation pipes for the season...
It's raining in Paradise...
It's raining in Paradise... It started last night, got intense a couple times during the night (the noise on our steel roof woke me up!), and we're expecting the most intense part tonight and tomorrow. It's still dark here, so I can't read our rain gauge to see how much we got.
Yesterday afternoon we feasted on leftover chicken and dumpling soup, again with new dumplings. It just keeps getting better as it sits in the refrigerator! I'm looking forward to it again today – the perfect “rainy day food”...
Yesterday afternoon we feasted on leftover chicken and dumpling soup, again with new dumplings. It just keeps getting better as it sits in the refrigerator! I'm looking forward to it again today – the perfect “rainy day food”...
Plans for LEO satellite Internet network filed...
Plans for LEO satellite Internet network filed... Elon Musk's SpaceX has filed plans for a low earth orbit (LEO) network of satellites to provide broadband Internet service to the entire world. This is a key step toward bringing the plan to fruition. Funding seems to be assured, especially with Google's enormous commitment. LEO satellites are vastly superior to the geosynchronous satellites used by existing satellite-based Internet service providers, for the simple reason that they're (much) closer to Earth. This reduces the latency from awful (for the geosynchronous birds) to normal (for the LEO birds).
If Google and Musk pull this off, the world is going to suddenly get very much smaller, again...
If Google and Musk pull this off, the world is going to suddenly get very much smaller, again...
Salmon in Paradise...
I did a little research into the topic, and discovered that the salmon we have here are sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) – the same salmon found in the northern Pacific Ocean – but part of a landlocked population that never makes it to the ocean. These are called “kokanee salmon”, but are actually the identical species to the ones found in the ocean. In our case, the population is based in Porcupine Reservoir itself, and they spawn up Cinnamon Creek (and perhaps some of the smaller feeder creeks as well, but I'm not sure about that). It turns out that Porcupine Reservoir is one of just three in Utah that were stocked with a sockeye population. How Porcupine Reservoir was selected for that is something I'd like to find out.
When we got to Cinnamon Creek (after seeing some nice fall color along the way), we discovered that the trail down to the water was too rugged for Debbie to attempt on crutches. So poor Debbie waited for me in the truck while I hiked down to see what I could see. Here are some photos of what I found:
Monday, September 14, 2015
Precipitation in Paradise...
Precipitation in Paradise... Starting today, we're due to get hammered by rain for the next four days. The forecast is estimating a total of two inches, with the bulk coming tomorrow and Wednesday.
We're starting to see some fall color around us, at altitudes just a few hundred feet above the valley floor. Our backyard choke cherries are just starting to turn, the first thing to turn on our property. Debbie and I went for a drive on the road from Avon to Liberty yesterday evening, and saw quite a bit of fall color above us, and a little along the road. Some photos:
Last night we had homemade sticky rice and mangoes. The recipe we used resulted in rice that was much less sweet (and sticky) than the same dish when we've had it in restaurants. I actually liked that better, but Debbie longs for the restaurant style. We'll try that again. We didn't have fresh mangoes to put on it, so we used canned instead. They were ok, but not nearly as good as the real deal...
We're headed off for Debbie's hydrotherapy shortly. The doggies will miss their morning walk...
We're starting to see some fall color around us, at altitudes just a few hundred feet above the valley floor. Our backyard choke cherries are just starting to turn, the first thing to turn on our property. Debbie and I went for a drive on the road from Avon to Liberty yesterday evening, and saw quite a bit of fall color above us, and a little along the road. Some photos:
Last night we had homemade sticky rice and mangoes. The recipe we used resulted in rice that was much less sweet (and sticky) than the same dish when we've had it in restaurants. I actually liked that better, but Debbie longs for the restaurant style. We'll try that again. We didn't have fresh mangoes to put on it, so we used canned instead. They were ok, but not nearly as good as the real deal...
We're headed off for Debbie's hydrotherapy shortly. The doggies will miss their morning walk...
The origins of Scrabble...
The origins of Scrabble... All new to me. My family is amongst the addicted, as are many of our friends...
New Pluto photos are pouring in...
When I was a young boy (in the early '60s), first learning about and getting interested in astronomy, we knew almost nothing at all about Pluto. The very best telescopic photographs of it showed basically a smeared dot. No telescope existed that could collect enough light from Pluto for even the most basic spectroscopic study. We knew almost nothing about it. Now we are about to have vast amounts of data on the chemical composition of Pluto and its atmosphere, its magnetic field, its gravitational field, and high resolution photographs of its surface. That's a lot of progress within one human lifetime...
Sunday, September 13, 2015
A drug that cures your Hillary problems...
Morning in Paradise...
Morning in Paradise... We had a lovely day yesterday. We went grocery shopping, and then went to the Aggie's Creamery (part of the Utah State University) and got an ice cream cone. Sugar cones with one scoop of chocolate and one scoop of espresso chip. They were brains-fall-out good. Several locals have recommended the creamery to us, but this was the first time we'd actually made it there. Dang, that was good!
Which reminds me... The Crumb Brothers that we so mourned when they went out of business six months ago has been resurrected! A buyer was found, most of the old employees rehired, and the reopening is just a week away. Woo hoo!
After returning from shopping and ice cream eating, Debbie and I made chicken and dumpling soup. We modified a recipe we'd tried last week – adding mushrooms – and the result was a huge success. We gorged ourselves on it in the afternoon, and put five one-meal containers in the refrigerator.
This morning, the boys (Miki and Race) and I did our usual morning walk. It was slightly overcast, but nice and cool. For some reason we saw very few hawks today, which is kind of weird. The dogs got terrifically excited at one point, but I never saw the reason why. Most likely they smelled something enticing; perhaps a raccoon or a woodchuck.
Just a little while ago, I reheated a container of chicken and dumpling soup for my lunch. I made some more dumpling batter and dropped it in the pot, as there are never enough dumplings :) As usual, the soup was even better the second day...
Which reminds me... The Crumb Brothers that we so mourned when they went out of business six months ago has been resurrected! A buyer was found, most of the old employees rehired, and the reopening is just a week away. Woo hoo!
After returning from shopping and ice cream eating, Debbie and I made chicken and dumpling soup. We modified a recipe we'd tried last week – adding mushrooms – and the result was a huge success. We gorged ourselves on it in the afternoon, and put five one-meal containers in the refrigerator.
Just a little while ago, I reheated a container of chicken and dumpling soup for my lunch. I made some more dumpling batter and dropped it in the pot, as there are never enough dumplings :) As usual, the soup was even better the second day...
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Gold King mine blowout...
This incident hits home for us, as this is an area we know well. Watching the video, I recognize the impacted area; we've visited it often. It's infuriating to think that the government is responsible for this – and I can't help but fear the results of the inevitably inept and corrupt health care bureaucrats after a few years of ObamaCare...
Morning in Paradise...
Morning in Paradise... We slept in a bit this morning, as we had nothing scheduled for early in the day. We had our tea and coffee in the morning twilight; by the time we finished it was civil dawn. The Wasatch mountains to our east cause our dawns to be highly variable by season – as the point where the sun rises over the mountains moves north and south during the year, the height of the mountains change. Right now, from our home, the southward movement of the rising point means that the sun is now starting to rise through a notch – and the sunlight hits us a little earlier each day, instead of later as you might expect when winter approaches.
As Miki, Race, and I walked this morning, we got to see this phenomenon first hand. We started walking uphill, due east. To our right (south) we could see sunlit fields in the distance (and some of the photos below show this). These are fields that already see the sun through the bottom of that notch. As the sun rose, the edge of the notch's shadow moved swiftly toward us. In the space of five minutes of walking, the shadow moved about a mile toward us – until we were suddenly brightly lit by direct sunlight. At that point we had some very long shadows, as you can see in one of the photos below.
On the eastern slopes of the Wellsville mountains, to our west, we could see big swaths of fall color, especially the reds of the oaks. It seems a bit early for that, but the locals tell me that the onset of fall color varies as much as six weeks.
We saw lots of birds this morning. The hawks are still hanging around the barley fields, waiting for the low-IQ voles to poke their heads up and volunteer to be hawk breakfast. At the most distant point of our walk, we flushed a group of grouse. I didn't recognize the species. There were perhaps 10 adult birds and 7 or 8 juveniles. As we walked downhill past a row of weeds at the edge of an alfalfa field, I spotted a bright red bird, roughly sparrow-sized, 100' or so in front of me. I couldn't see any details about it, and it was only visible to me for about 5 seconds, so I have no idea what it was. I don't know any red birds here, so it has to be something new to me.
Some photos from today's walk:
As Miki, Race, and I walked this morning, we got to see this phenomenon first hand. We started walking uphill, due east. To our right (south) we could see sunlit fields in the distance (and some of the photos below show this). These are fields that already see the sun through the bottom of that notch. As the sun rose, the edge of the notch's shadow moved swiftly toward us. In the space of five minutes of walking, the shadow moved about a mile toward us – until we were suddenly brightly lit by direct sunlight. At that point we had some very long shadows, as you can see in one of the photos below.
On the eastern slopes of the Wellsville mountains, to our west, we could see big swaths of fall color, especially the reds of the oaks. It seems a bit early for that, but the locals tell me that the onset of fall color varies as much as six weeks.
We saw lots of birds this morning. The hawks are still hanging around the barley fields, waiting for the low-IQ voles to poke their heads up and volunteer to be hawk breakfast. At the most distant point of our walk, we flushed a group of grouse. I didn't recognize the species. There were perhaps 10 adult birds and 7 or 8 juveniles. As we walked downhill past a row of weeds at the edge of an alfalfa field, I spotted a bright red bird, roughly sparrow-sized, 100' or so in front of me. I couldn't see any details about it, and it was only visible to me for about 5 seconds, so I have no idea what it was. I don't know any red birds here, so it has to be something new to me.
Some photos from today's walk:
Friday, September 11, 2015
Another crazy person...
Another person reacting to...
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Dawn has some much better photos...
Modules are coming in Java 9...
Modules are coming in Java 9 ... read all about it!
When I initially started programming in Java, almost 20 years ago, I made a long list of the “missing features” the language had. I lost that list a long time ago, but modules were one of those missing features. Each version of Java has added at least one of the things I had on that list, and with Java 9's modules (assuming they make the final cut), I can't think of any more things I had on that original list that are missing. But ... now I'd make a new and different list, and there are plenty more things I wish Java had. Probably the the top thing on my new list would be a way to access raw network packets. I can dream, can't I?
When I initially started programming in Java, almost 20 years ago, I made a long list of the “missing features” the language had. I lost that list a long time ago, but modules were one of those missing features. Each version of Java has added at least one of the things I had on that list, and with Java 9's modules (assuming they make the final cut), I can't think of any more things I had on that original list that are missing. But ... now I'd make a new and different list, and there are plenty more things I wish Java had. Probably the the top thing on my new list would be a way to access raw network packets. I can dream, can't I?
Memristors for sale...
Another day, another hydrotherapy session...
Another day, another hydrotherapy session ... and Debbie continues to do well on them. The therapist today told her that it was time for her to start easing back into “regular” physical therapy, where she's bearing her full weight on her (formerly broken, and much-abused) knee. That means he sees progress – great!
We celebrated by going out to Herm's for breakfast. With both had their southwest steak and eggs: steak marinated, rare, and delicious; an avocado half, salsa fresca, and eggs poached in circles cut from bell peppers. Instead of potatoes, we got fruit cups: blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, orange, and peach. Yum!
We celebrated by going out to Herm's for breakfast. With both had their southwest steak and eggs: steak marinated, rare, and delicious; an avocado half, salsa fresca, and eggs poached in circles cut from bell peppers. Instead of potatoes, we got fruit cups: blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, orange, and peach. Yum!
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
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