A Few Quick Notes 612

-Though we can often go months and months without any real rain, for the past week or two rain has been a very regular occurrence.  For most of the past few days we've had more than one very intense rain shower, and on a few occasions we've had rather extended rainfalls lasting for hours at a time.  Not surprisingly, the ground is now absolutely drenched.  What fun.

-A few nights ago we even had enough rain that we had a little water in our basement.  While it's unfortunate that we have any water problems in our basement, I'm glad that it is only when we have either massive thawing or a substantial rain storm that we have problems.  Arguably, that water came in exactly where I hoped it wouldn't because of an epoxy patching agent that I'd used at least somewhat conclusively confirms my sense that the patch work didn't stick.

If the rain ever stops I'll have to head down and try to do some crack patching again.  Hopefully this time I'll use something that at least works for one major rainfall.

-Since the local grocery stores started carrying cherries in the past few weeks we've really upped our cherry consumption.  If I know what's best for me I should probably consider dialling it back down to under two pounds of cherries a day.

-Last night we received a last minute invitation to attend a barbecue with a few neighbours.  Aside from the sudden downpour that forced inside for about an hour, we had a great time.  Because we brought a tray of vegetables with us I finally had the excuse I needed to harvest the first green onions from our garden.  As expected, they were pretty green oniony.

-While the rain means that we haven't needed to water our garden in weeks, a little more sun would probably be good at this stage.  I guess probably shouldn't be complaining too much - basically everything seems to be growing.  The potatoes, in particular, seem to be doing well.

-This year we've also planted a garden in front of our house.  Our original plan was to plant a variety of plants that would look nice and complement each other in terms of height and style.  As the absence of sun seems to have stunted growth I'm not sure if the plan will come to fruition this year.  Of course, even if it doesn't we should at least manage to grow a few potatoes, some corn, and a few tomatoes.

A Few Quick Notes 600

-We seem to be heading into another grey and rainy prairie summer's day.  Yum.  If we're 'lucky' we may even get to have a few thundershowers and whatnot.

-I guess it's a good thing that we just installed our second rain barrel below your garage's new roof and eavestrough then?

Unfortunately, our smaller rain barrel is below the downspout that is likely to collect more rain.  Eventually we may have to try to switch these barrels around - but for the time being and as long as I am disinclined to cut up our downspout and then re-attach it to our stucco siding we may have to stick with this less-than-ideal arrangement.

-Oh, and did we mention that we're painting our house?  The process should start in earnest next week.

Maybe the new colour will help with the naming process?  Of course, I'm not entirely sure that I like the idea of naming our house something like "The Eggplant" or some other name that is entirely dependent on a house colour that may not be permanent.

I guess we could consider something like "Jellybean West"?  (For those of you not familiar with St. John's, Jellybean Row are colourful row houses in downtown St. John's.)

-I think I may have mentioned it before, but our cat seems to really like hanging out in boxes.

This shoe box seems to be Marie's favourite, though if she's in another room she'll pretty much take anything that's available.

For instance, laundry baskets are definitely a suitable stand-in.

-Despite the aforementioned risk of thundershowers the sun seems to have just found a slight crack in the cloud cover.  Of course, it's now clear how long this situation will hold.

Storm? - 2

Well, it has been a few hours since my last post and there are still no signs of snow.  On the other hand, we have had plenty of rain in the past few hours.  Given that the temperature is several degrees above freezing it seems reasonable to think that the rain, rather than snow, might continue for at least another few hours.  Furthermore, the latest warning from Environment Canada seems to suggest that rain, rather than snow, is what we should expect (though we might be on the snow/rain border).

That being said, there is still definitely a big weather system just off the coast.

Cameron: 16

Neil: 0

The 'Unseasonable' Storm - 2

The power outages seem to be spreading across the provinces quickly. The effect has likely been intensified by the fact that for some period of time the NS Power Live Outage map was not adding new outages as they were occurring. As far as I know outages are now being added as they occur.

The other big development (to go along with the return to real-time of the Live Outage map) is that our region now has both a rain and a wind warning. A little while ago we just had a rain warning (even though it was pretty windy).

Hopefully the event that Jeannette and I are hoping to attend later this afternoon won't be adversely effected by the weather. As it is, I know of at least one local event that has been cancelled because of the weather.

Today was a wet one

So it turned out that the forecast regarding rain wasn't too far off. Today was a wet one. I even saw some field flooding in some places.

Oh, and I finished my comps today. What a bummer to have to deal with them on the wettest day of the year, but at least they are over.

Slowly ramping up

It seems as though after something of a slow start the storm is finally starting to ramp up a little. The rain is no longer as intermittent or as inclined to fall straight (some is now being blown sideways onto our windows). Of course, even with this ramp up we are still a long ways away from anything approaching a serious storm, but I guess we are at least heading in the right direction.

Since my last update Jeannette and I gathered up a few emergency supplies and placed them on the kitchen table. Amazingly, I was able to rustle up about four flashlights, a dozen or so tea lights, batteries, and a hand crank operated flashlight/radio combo. Hopefully we won't need to use any of these things.

Oh, and we have also mentally prepared ourselves in case we need to heat up canned foods with candles. I have even been thinking about I could rig things up efficiently.

I really hope we don't have to go without power tonight. That would be a real bummer. And as I have to drive in to Halifax tomorrow I really hope that the roads aren't in particularly rough condition tomorrow.

Fortunately, at least for me, it looks as though the storm system may be veering towards Newfoundland.

I guess we will just have to wait to see if this is actually what is going to happen or if we will be hit with the full force of this system.

I think I hear something

I think I just heard the first few raindrops of the forecast deluge. I guess now we just have to sit back and watch as the rain falls and determine if what we end up getting was worth the rainfall warning. At least as far as I am concerned this process of weather observation will add a little levity to my night of studying.

Transparent hype or watery reality?

It seems that a heavy rainfall is being forecast for much of Nova Scotia and adjacent regions. I have also seen that at least two municipalities (Halifax and Wolfville) have go so far as to warn their residents to take precautions in anticipation of the rainfall.

I really hope I don't need to tap into my non-existant storm back-up kit. That would be a real bummer.

Of course given the weather forecasting track record in this part of the world one might reasonably think that this weather warning might be a little over blown.

I guess I will have to wait and see if the predicted heavy rainfalls do arrive this afternoon or if this was all for nought.

(My secret inside suspicion, based on the satellite imagery) is that there may be something to these warnings, though I will have to wait to see bad it will actually be.)

A Few Quick Notes 519

-At the moment is experiencing an intermittently heavy rainfall. The only good news is that it is not too cold, actually it is almost 10 degrees outside.

-I am gathering that today is the day we 'spring forward,' but I have absolutely no idea what time it is right now. I feel that clocks in our apartment might be displaying three different hours. The worst part is that it is surely the latest of the three times.

-Last night we were able to watch Gushue play Stoughton in the first play-off game of this year's brier. Of course this means that we were able to see the measure for 1 in the tenth and Gushue horrible shot in 11 to set Stoughton up for the win. Bummer.

-Yesterday I finally made it to the library to pick up my prize for placing third in the library video contest. As some of you have guessed, the bracelet flash drive that I mentioned yesterday was part of the prize, the rest of the prize was a re-usable cloth bag. Of course, while we were picking up my prize Jeannette and I entered a raffle and Jeannette ended up winning the same two items and a $15 credit that can be used towards things like photocopying or on-campus food.

-I think I am now 3 for 14 in this year's RUTRTW contest. Yesterday's 0 for 3 run didn't do much to help my record.

Clarity or confusion changing to confusion

The following is the current Environment Canada forecast for Halifax:

Snow or rain changing to rain and ending this evening then cloudy periods. 30 percent chance of flurries overnight. Rainfall amount 5 to 10 mm except snowfall amount 2 cm inland. Wind southeast 40 km/h gusting to 70 becoming southwest 20 then increasing to 40 gusting to 70 late this evening. Temperature rising to plus 5 this evening then falling.

Is it just me, or does this make next to no sense? I am inclined to think that the person in charge of writing these things isn't too concerned about providing the public with a comprehensible forecast.

At least the snow is gone

So it seems that most of what is coming down right now must be rain as there is much less snow on the ground than there was an hour or two ago. So much for our impending snowfall.

Things have taken a turn for the worse...

...I can't tell if it is raining or snowing. Unfortunately, much of the available evidence seems to be suggesting the former rather than the latter.

A Few Quick Notes 482

-Though I don't know that it actually rained today, it was certainly almost as wet as though it was raining. Unfortunately, this condition of proto-rain (the drops weren't quite large enough for me to feel comfortable calling it rain) was just about as wet as rain and certainly as unpleasant.

-I had a series of student society meetings today. Just after noon I had to attend a departmental level student society meeting to amend a constitution. Fortunately we were able to deal with these changes in about an hour. Later this evening, after my three hour seminar, I had to attend the monthly university-wide grad student society meeting. Fortunately, this meeting was also only about an hour.

-The seminar I attended this afternoon was the second last such seminar I will have to attend before I head home for Christmas. Actually, there is a chance I will miss the seminar I am scheduled to attend on Monday so that I can attend a Ph.D defense.

-This evening I encountered the really neat do-it-yourself animation site Xtranormal. Using this site one can crank out quick one or two person animations in no time. Though I will probably be foolish to waste my time playing around with this site in the coming days, I haven't yet produced any web-filler yet.

-I am incredibly tired. Hopefully I will be able to get some sleep tonight so that I can crank out a good day of work tomorrow.

Weather update

She's raining in Halifax. Thought you'd want to know.



[Embedded video]

A Few Quick Notes 471

-We are presently in the midst of a multi-day rainfall. While this has encouraged me to stay inside a little more than I would have otherwise, it really hasn't been too bad. Though I keep expecting heavy rain we have mostly just had relatively light rainfall with periods of heavy misting.

-Though it didn't feel like it, officially we received 53 mm of rain yesterday. Having the forecast and the weather station at the airport instead of in town leads to something of a disconnect between the forecast and reality, as we saw yesterday. I suspect that today's continued rainfall warning, which is this now suggesting "Additional rainfall amounts of 50 to 80 mm are expected," is also likely reflective of the geographic particularity.

-Last night, because we wanted to take advantage of a Video Difference free rental coupon, Jeannette and I rented Mystery Team, a new independent comedy from the US that I first heard about in an interview on The Sound of Young America. Though there were a few moments of somewhat cruder than necessary humor, on the whole the movie was quite enjoyable and funny.

-My SSHRC application has been chewing up some of my time of late, though maybe not as much as it should be. Anyway, I have now completed a second draft. Hopefully with just a few more revisions my application will be ready to submit.

-Last night I prepared beef ribs. Did they ever not turn out. Not only did there seem to be even less meat than on pork ribs, they seemed much fattier and less tasty. I think that in the future I will be giving these a skip. This is a bit of a bummer as I really like beef and was hoping to find a new cut of beef to enjoy.

-I spent much of yesterday studying/reading and plan on spending much of today engaged in similar activities. Actually, because I have been doing stuff like this I have had to dramatically cut down on the number of naps I am taking. I haven't taken so few naps since my junior high days.

Still waiting

While we have had some rain today, we have had nothing approaching levels that would require a warning of any kind. And while the warning hasn't yet been removed, it is worth noting that the forecast for today has been revised to "Rain at times heavy. Amount 15 mm," a drop of 10 mm from this morning's forecast.

Not surprisingly, the rainfall amount include in the rainfall warning, "Rainfall amounts in excess of 50 millimeters are expected," has not been changed. I guess this makes sense, the 15 mm forecast for today and the 40 mm forecast for tonight come much closer to 50 mm than did the earlier forecast that suggested 25 mm today and 40 mm tonight.

Whichever volume of rainfall we eventually receive I am sure that it will be significantly different than whatever any of these forecasts have suggested that it will be.

Consistency

As I mentioned in a recent post, Halifax is presently subject to an Environment Canada rainfall warning. What is notable about the forecast is the lack of consistency of the volume of rain that has been predicted.

In the warning proper it is stated that "Rainfall amounts in excess of 50 millimeters are expected." In the regular Environment Canada forecast a slightly different picture is given and it is suggested that there will be "Rain at times heavy. Amount 25 mm" today.

Of course, the general inconsistency has been further been compounded by a local news outlet who happen to be claiming that rain "up to 75 millimetres [is] possible by day’s end." The best part of this story is that the only individuals quoted as sources are employees of Environment Canada.

What bothers me about all of this is that it must be easier to come up with one number than three? How can we have a national forecaster that seems to be coming up with three, seemingly, unrelated forecasts?

A Few Quick Notes 470

-While we are presently only dealing with light drizzle, Halifax is bracing for something of a rain storm tonight and tomorrow. Sadly, as much as I would like Environment Canada to continue their streak of incorrect forecasts, I think that they may be on to something in this case, though I don't know if it will be as bad as they think it will be.

-On Tuesday Jeannette and I played an intramural Ultimate game against the MBA team. Though I think I played relatively well (I scored three of our four points) we managed to lose by a pretty fair margin.

-On Wednesday Jeannette and I, along with a few of our friends, signed up for an indoor Ultimate league for the winter. Hopefully we will soon find out to which teams we have been assigned.

-I attended a very enjoyable talk this afternoon on the subject of John Wendell Holmes, a famous Canadian diplomat and author (not to be confused with porn star John C. Holmes).

-I feel as though I had a few other things to say that are now escaping me, I guess that is fine as I really should be getting back to work.

A Few Quick Notes 468

-We had another grey and overcast day in Halifax today. At points, much to my chagrin, it was raining somewhat consistently.

-I made a monstrously large batch of bean soup this evening. Though the soup may not be having a particularly beneficial impact on my digestive system, it was pretty tasty.

-We played our final fall league Ultimate game on Wednesday. The game was played in some of the heaviest rain of the year. Amazingly, the rain, though heavy, was relatively warm. Though the game was played in less than ideal conditions it wasn't too bad a game.

-Today, for the first time in my life, I submitted a letter to the editor to the Globe and Mail. I suspect that my letter won't be published but I am glad submitted a letter that pointed out a rather glaring factual error (the suggestion that Harold Innis was alive in 1969).

-Jeannette and I are presently watching the modern classic Groundhog Day. I am allowing myself a few minutes of relaxation after a long day of TA related responsibilities. For those of you who are interested, Stephen Tobolowsky, the actor who played Ned Ryerson, released a series of stories on the making of the film.

Arizona - Day 4

Wow, what a day. Things started with us being awoken in the middle of the night by a alarm that was sounding in Grand Canyon Park. We were then re-awoken by a similar incident later in the night. It turned out that in both cases these were false alarms, though we didn't know it at the time.

In the morning, at 6:00 AM, when we eventually got up to prepare for our mule ride we learned that it was still raining and that there were tornado warnings. From this point on I didn't have a good feeling about our prospective mule ride.

After breakfast and a little messing about we made our way to the mule ride headquarters to begin the sign in process. After some more messing about we were all ready to go (we had to buy some straw hats and tie our other belongings down) we made our way to the stable. Within moments of arriving at the stable we were told that because of tornado warnings the mule ride would be cancelled. Despite my objections we re-scheduled the mule ride for the afternoon.

This meant that we had to hang around in the morning, even though it was rainy, cold, and wet. We eventually decided that driving to some of the lookouts might be the best use of our time. When we eventually made it to our final destination we discovered that parts of the park had recently been hit by a substantial hail storm (when we arrived many places had about an inch of hail on the ground). Obviously, the conditions convinced us that visiting the lookout wasn't as good an idea as visiting the canteen to pick up a warm beverage.

When we eventually made it back to the mule headquarters we learned that the afternoon trip had also been cancelled. After a little more Grand Canyon touring, which was occasionally made spectacular by clear skies, we moved one and started to head south.

While traveling south to Flagstaff we encountered the beautiful Painted Desert, a nearby canyon which was adjacent to the Little Colorado river, a trading post/community named Cameron, a volcano, and, finally, Flagstaff. As soon as we reached Flagstaff we continued on to Williams, which is where we are now.

Williams seems to be a strange combination of tourist shops, motels, and restaurants. They also have a train station and a grocery store. I am not sure if there is much else there (aside from Route 66).

Anyway, tomorrow should take us to Sedona and, eventually, Phoenix. Hopefully we will finally be able to shake the rain and grey skies.