Weather Spot

No it's not raining polka dots.

I have officially become a weather spotter. I am now part of the San Diego National Weather Service's team of weather buffs who report unusual and/or notable weather occurrences.

Now you may be asking what on earth someone with no formal education in the atmospheric sciences is doing assisting the weather service upon which you depend to make your weekend plans. Well, good as the guys at the NWS are, predicting the weather is not an exact science. True it is much better than it used to be, but most weather models predict the weather for large regions, not the microclimates that are unique to southern California. Few places in the country have as varied a climate as San Diego, from 110 deserts to 70 beaches ... all in the space of 60 miles.

The folks up in the Rancho Bernardo NWS offices need the weather spotting team to report significant events, particularly in the turbulent summer monsoon season when thunderstorms can cause very localized areas of severe weather. The NEXRAD Doppler radar in poway is an awesome piece of machinery, but it has difficulty observing conditions near our local mountains. When the weather turns ugly, the spotter network may be activated to report on significant conditions such as flash flooding, hail, winds, etc.

Yes, I am a huge weather geek. 'Nuf said.

Aerospace History

Let it be known that history was made earlier today. The first privately funded manned space flight, and the pilot, Mike Melville, became the first person certified as a civilian astronaut. Not everyday does a company not associated with a governmental agency accomplish such an important milestone in humankind quest to further themselves, both physically and metaphorically. For several months I have been following this effort of Burt Rutan and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who put forth $20M of his own money to fund the project. I couldn't dream of the government accomplishing as much with a fraction of Scaled Composites budget. My hat is truly off to those guys and gals.

The next step is to try for the $10 Million Ansari X-prize. The winning team will send 3 people (or the equivalent weight) above 62 miles and return them safely to earth, then repeat the feat within 2 weeks. Obviously the cost of any such attempt will far exceed the prize sum, but the implications and future earnings of winning this competition would be enormous.

To Mike Melville, Burt Rutan, Paul Allen and all of the staff at Scaled Composites, my hat is off to you. A job well done.

Fun Weekend Ahead

This weekend looks to be a level of fun I haven't had in quite a while. Time was my best friend and brother would throw a good party a couple times a summer, but we have slacked for a few years.

NOT THIS YEAR! We are throwing another Hawaiian themed bash, with an expected 50-75 people. What better way to kick off summer (El Sol better cooperate, but it looks like it might be on the cool side). The pool will be filled with revelers and the BBQ will be blowin' up (well, not literaly, I mean .. you know what I mean). Hopefully it will be incident free, but if it's not you'll find out on Monday.

Oh, you have got to be kidding me. We just got handed here at work instructions for what to do in an earthquake, including safety supplies to keep on hand and what to do if we are in a theater, stadium, shopping mall or driving. Sometimes this safety committee just has WAY too much time on their hands. AND we need to post it next to our phone so that we can review it while we are in an earthquake. Umm ... I will not be reading a piece of paper in an earthquake, that clearly the best way to get hit in the head with a falling light. Any native californian (me) or people who have lived here for more than a year should know what to do in an earthquake anyways.

TTYL!

The End of The World

As most of you know, at least in the San Diego area, we had an earthquake here on Tuesday afternoon.

Now, I have lived in San Diego my entire life and while a 5.3 is a moderate quake ... FOR GOODNESS SAKES PEOPLE, it wasn't that strong! Everyone in my office started freaking out and wondering if the building was going to collapse. I thought it more than absurd that people would actually run towards the windows during the shaking, I know if glass break that's where I would want to be. jeesh.

Earthquakes manifest themselves in a variety of ways. Some are rollers, some are shakers and some are sharp jolts, like this one was. It occurred on a fault just off shore from Imperial Beach. There are a multitude of smaller faults in the San Diego Area, with the Rose Canyon fault the largest known (which by the way is responsible for the Canyon between Clairemont and La Jolla that I-5 runs down). The well know San Andreas fault faults passes well to our east and is capable of 9.0+ quakes. The Rose Canyon fault is estimated to produce a quake of magnitude 7.0 max, which is still an extremely powerful quake. Every 1.0 increase in magnitude is a 10x increase in strength.

A large, damaging quake is going to happen sooner or later, but this wasn't it. So enjoy the momentary excitement, the break in the monotony, and move on. But for goodness sakes stop fretting over this. If I hear one more 'there could be a bigger one coming!' I'm gonna scream. When the 'Big One' hits you aren't going to be able to do a damn thing about it. So pick up the pina colada and make sure the burgers don't burn on the BBQ. Enjoy the summer!

Democrats and Republicans

I am so sick and tired of hear Democrats bash Republicans and vice versa just for being a Democrat or a Republlican. Can no one of either party carry on a useful debate over differences of opinion on the ISSUES? Can't each party member think indepentently, putting aside the party talking points and get down to a usefull dicussion of the issues in a CALM and RATIONAL manner.

I classify myself as a republican as my views on meaningful issues fall more right than left of the middle. But I also think that there are many democrat based ideas that have merit. Listening to liberal or conservative talk radio infuriates me. I recall the times when I was a child and the ideas of a kid were rejected outright because they were not a member of 'our' club, rather a rival 'club'. And the eventual capitulation of the ostracised so as to not feel left out.

Why the hell can't politicians and voters alike explain there views on important topics as THEY see them, not as the most influential (coercive?) members of their respective parties do. The weeks party talking points can be gleaned by just 15 minutes of Rush's show, or the headlines on the New York Times. Disgusting.

I am going to vote for Garfield.

Wonder what his views of IRAQ are?

Good grief.

The Jist of My Blog

Often I am reprimanded by friends and family for providing answers to questions either with too much information or with excessive verbosity. Well, here is my chance to say exactly as much as I want to, sans criticism.

My inagural topic?

Water.

Most bottled water, frequently advertised ad naseaum, is positioned as premium, pure, luxury. And priced accordingly. Why in the world would people submit to this lunacy ... it's water for goodness sakes! Most of the major brands (Dasani, Aquafina) are little more than tap water, modestly purified. Don't get me wrong, I like tap water. It's what I drink at home and guess what .... .it's free, or the better part of. $1 for a 16oz bottle is criminal, more so for the people who drink it than the people who bottle it.

Listen, I will pay for water in a bottle when out and about, but you better believe it will be for something like spring or mineral water ... something I can't get from a nearby drinking fountain or soda fountain. I like the taste of spring water and I know that for the same price as 'bottled from a municiple source', spring water actually has SOME cost associated with it. The 90% profit companies make off their misrepresented water might as well be blood money.

If you drink Aquafina or Dasani, please don't consider my rant against you personally ... you are under the influence of some MBA clutching marketing team and are as powerless to resist as were it Dracula himself peddling the stuff.

Please, just grab a glass, turn on the tap and save a buck.

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