Month: January 2005

  • Is it my imagination, or has the Volcano Cam "moved" closer to the volcano?  I would swear it used to be farther away. 

  • It is utterly astonishing how the national weather forecasts, such as those by The Weather Channel, differ from the local variety.


    Last night Don was telling me that according to the weather guy on channel 8, it'll be chilly today, tomorrow, and Wednesday, then warm up towards the weekend, but there's a chance of what's known as a "MacFarland Signature" the following week, meaning polar air will drop straight down from Canada.  There's also a slight possibility of winter precipitation, though it's too soon to tell.


    Still, TWC provides an extended forecast, which calls for 60's and 50's as the highs from Thursday of this week through Wednesday of next week (as far out as the forecast goes).  Nary a hint of a cold front.


    Its short term forecast is not reflecting the winter storm watch which has just been issued for the area for tomorrow night, either.


    It's been interesting, comparing our local forecasts to the nationals.  So far the latter have played catch-up all winter long, never "seeing" the cold until after the local forecasters have predicted it.


    Presumably there must be "tweaking" that's done by the local forecasters, taking into account varying factors which aren't plugged into the national weather computers.


    OTOH, once the cold or inclement weather appears on the national predictions, you know there really IS a pretty fair chance of it occurring.


    All in all, though, those extended forecasts are a joke.  I think it'd be interesting to print out the one from TWC and compare it to what the weather turns out to be.

  • Mondays are Brianna Days around here (I watch her while Jessica works the lunch shift at the downtown Chili's), and her Gran thought she looked too delicious   :


     



    Unlike her Uncle Charles, she has no problem at all with being photographed. 


     

  • I'm on the email list for the Wal-Mart Wire, and it's simply amazing how cheap electronics are becoming.


    A 4.1 mp digital camera for $179.  I recall spending $400 or so on a 2 mp camera five years ago for Kirstin and Matt, hoping they'd take scads of pix of the upcoming baby (our Bethie) and email 'em around. 


    That never worked out. 


    A scanner/copier/printer combo for $79.  A 7" portable DVD player for $149.  A DVD recorder for $160.  Not a DVD player, which now can be had for $40 or so, but a DVD recorder.  A 15" laptop computer for $798.


    I recall when calculators were first invented (yes, that's how old I am...it's depressing).  They were generally larger than most of 'em now, and went for at least a couple of hundred dollars.  Now I've bought 'em for a buck, and they're occasionally freebies.


    Dmitry's hoping the price of Nintendo Gamecubes fall soon, as he's trying to save toward one.  There's some gadget one can attach to it which permits the playing of Gameboy Advance games on the TV. 


    Wouldn't be a bit surprised if it happens.

  • Today is my mother's birthday . . . happy birthday, Mom! 

    This evening there was a party for her, at which my sister, Jeanne's, idea for a gift from the four siblings was shown to have been a stellar one:



    Is it?  Could it be?  She didn't ask for one, but oh, how she wanted one . . . !



    It was.  A fancy, ultraslim monitor. 

    Amazing how fast the boys got it hooked up! 

     
    Jessica chilling out with a glass o' bubbly.      Bethie and Kirsten doing girl stuff.



    Dmitry and Benjamin having a moment together.



    New mom-to-be Jill, talking to Dad



    Jonathan's birthday was celebrated tonight, as well . . . here he is opening his cards.



    Benjamin and Bethie pigging out on cake and peppermint ice cream.

     

    My sister-in-law, Mary, managed to accomplish what I hadn't been able to do . . . get Dmitry to play backgammon, one of my favorite games.



    Uncle Jonathan inducting his nephew into the world of computers.

    It was a lovely party! 

  • Here is something I hate.


    Hate as in loathe.  Hate as in detest.  Hate as in abhor.  Hate as in abominate. 


    It is my considered opinion that those phone mazes wherein one responds verbally are simply ghastly.  One must e-nun-cee-ate very clearly, and even then half the time it doesn't understand what you're saying.  And the more "natural" they've tried to make it, the more annoying it is.  "I'm sorry...I didn't quite catch that.  Could you repeat it for me?"


    Ugh. 

  • The Kloesel kids have been over a couple of times this week:



    That's the ball Charles had just tossed to them.  As you can tell by the Blizzard cups, there is benefit to having a Dairy Queen only a block away....their Mama springs for goodies. 



    Here's my Bryson bunny!  Isn't he precious? 



    The two boys, Benjamin and Bryson, fooling around.

  • Today it dawned on me to try taking a photo of a photo, essentially...IOW, I took a couple of flashless photos of Alex on his graduation DVD:




    Okay, the quality isn't grand, but they're not too bad.  Does anyone know if there's a way to get proper stills off a DVD, though?

  • There's an article at MSNBC this morning which has fueled my anxiety to hop in the car and head west to one of my favorite places . . . New Mexico.


    New Mexico is a vastly underrated state, IMO. 


    Only trouble with the article's suggested itinerary is the baffling omission of Ruidoso.  Why go to Lincoln and skip Ruidoso, when it's only a hour or so away? 


    However, I was pleased to read the praise given to my favorite spot in one of my favorite states:  White Sands National Monument.  If you've never been there, you really ought to try to go if you ever find yourself within driving distance.

  • For heaven's sake, scoot over to Seashull's to read her post from
    today:  http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=seashull