Day 3432

It doesn't seem to take much to knock out our power. Lately, every time a big storm passes through, the electricity goes out. We definitely got a lot of rain today. At least the tornadoes we were warned about never materialized. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get both the fiber optic network and the pumps on the roof running again using various backup power supplies. A small gasoline generator powered the pumps and a solar powered generator took care of the WiFi and computers. When the power eventually returned, nothing important was disrupted at all.

Even though we had quite a storm today, I was still able to take both my walks and do the Saturday grocery shopping without getting wet. Accuweather's Minute-by-Minute  weather forecasting service is pretty amazing. Type in your street and zip code and you know exactly when the rain is going to start and stop within a two hour window. I knew how long it takes to walk three miles and the forecast said I was OK, so off I went. The sky looked a little menacing and I heard thunder off in the distance but the rain didn't start until five minutes after I returned. I love when technology works.

The storm had already passed when it was time for my evening walk. There must have been some high winds. Several large trees were down in the park and smaller limbs were scattered everywhere. One of the creeks feeding the lake was a rushing torrent. Even though the rain had subsided, the water level was still rising. Several piers along the shoreline were under water and the dock for a local rowing club seemed to have floated away. None of this deterred the fishermen. After a big rain fishermen are always attracted to the lake. I saw ten this evening. Are fish more likely to bite after a rain? There must be a reason for this.

There seems to be a reason for everything. I've been noticing that the wildflowers always bloom in a very specific order. The grape hyacinths seem to bloom first followed by lots of showy and evening primrose flowers. Next I'll start to see the bluebonnets. Next a variety of different daisies arrive. I see lots of cowpen daisies, shasta daisies, engelmann daisies, and blackfoot daisies on my walks. The firewheels are blooming now and I'm starting to see milkweed, coneflowers and mexican hat. There are always lots of tiny flowers like crow poison and blue eyed grass. I like to learn to identify the plants and animals I see. Jimson weed is blooming now. I learned to identify this poisonous plant a long time ago because I didn't want the dogs eating it. I learned to identify poison ivy, oak, and sumac a long time ago too.

It's still raining, but it's just a gentle shower and both pumps are working. All is well. Janet fixed chili tonight which is the perfect antidote to a dismal day. I'm recharging all my backup batteries and looking at dog pictures on my Facebook feed. I think I am ready for tomorrow.

Skippy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1970

I had to go down to Janet's former employer and get some pictures I'd loaned them many years ago. It would have been nice if they'd just bought the pictures when Janet left the company, but they couldn't be bothered. I was surprised at how well the pictures had held up over the years. They were all from a gallery show back when I thought gallery shows were important. I had printed the photos perfectly using the best archival paper. They were professionally framed and the images still seemed relevant. I looked at these large, beautiful prints as if someone else had done them. It was a little sad. I doubt that I will ever go to the trouble to show in a gallery setting again. Been there, done that. These pictures will go to the storage warehouse where they will join a lot of other stuff I don't do anymore.

I found a great new website today that provides a minute-by-minute weather forecast, telling you exactly when it is going to start and stop raining for up to two hours at a time. The forecast is remarkably acurate and very useful for a person like me. You just provide your address and zip code and you immediately start getting messages like "rain will begin in seventeen minutes." You know exactly when the rain will begin, how much rain to expect, and when the rain will end. This is perfect when you need to find a little dry window of time to walk the dogs. I've been using the website to schedule our dog walks for several days now, and so far it's been right every time.

I'm so disgusted with food particles in my mouth that I'm going to start drinking smoothies instead. If I remember correctly, a banana, one egg, a few strawberries, some milk, and a little ice cream makes a pretty good milkshake. I used to make this concoction in a blender all the time because I was too lazy to cook. Now that we have a Vitamix, it ought to taste even better. It seems like the dentist could have given me a little rubber plug to put in the empty wisdom tooth socket before I ate, but I guess that's not the way it is done. I must have had an unusually large tooth, because it left behind a very large hole in my jaw. Maybe a tasty smoothie will help.

May must be the month for major website overhauls. My updates have gotten more complicated this month. I'm not complaining, because it's nice to have the work, but today's update was a bit confusing. I'm still not sure if I did the right thing. We'll see if anyone complains. That's often the only way I know if I've achieved my goal. It doesn't help that a lot of my clients are still using Internet Explorer. A lot of people never upgrade their browser or empty their browser cache. They're still seeing things that officially don't even exist anymore.

It looks like there are still tornado warnings in tomorrow's weather forecast. Whatever happened to April showers bring May flowers? We do have plenty of flowers, but there's been way too much rain. If this was an ordinary May, I wouldn't even need that minute-by-minute weather forecast website.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day