Heh

Mr. Ramirez:

Emergencies, like beauty, are in the eye of the beholder.  That said, Obama has been lookin' particularly stupid of late.

―:☺:―

I know this is gettin' old, Gentle Reader, and I know for a fact you prolly don't give a big rat's ass about MY weather.  But there's this:

Full disclosure:  I chose the reporting location that always overstates the case for effect.  This station is usually above the reported temp at Cannon Airplane Patch by five degrees or so, but this time it's at least ten.  Our real temp at 1200 hrs was 101 degrees with five percent relative humidity.  These triple digit temps are beginning to get a bit old but it beats the HELL outta this shit.

Just a Couple o' Thangs

Kitty Update:  (I KNOW.  I said I wouldn't, but I sometimes lie misspeak.)   I think something terrible happened to the four kittens that hang around El Casa Móvil de Pennington.  Mama Cat was acting very distraught last evening during After Dinner Whiskey Hour, meowing ceaselessly and repeatedly making wide circles around the entire area, with nary a kitten in sight.  That's a shame, if true, coz the kittens have been a never-ending source of entertainment this past week.  Mama Cat has been bringing birds for the kitties to devour every night for the past few (and LOTS of 'em, Mama Cat bein' quite the accomplished huntress; no dumpster soup kitchen for HER) and watching those going-ons have been supremely entertaining... even if the neighbor's yard looks like the aftermath of an explosion in a pillow factory.  We're talkin' a LOT of dead bird carcasses.  

It's middling strange I should feel so bad about this, given the cat-hating image I have to uphold.  Old Age has had the strangest effect on me.

Weather Update:  The Weather Deity At Hand is smiling upon us as our winds haven't picked up and our awning is deployed.  But it IS hot!

I see the forecast has been updated to reflect more misery is upon us for the foreseeable future.  We're also gonna set a record high today, but I suppose this is what I get for bein' an Anthropomorphic Global Warming Climate Change Denier.  Somewhere Algore is laughing his considerable ass off.

Update, 1350 hrs:  Do they LIE?

I think mebbe.

Feel Free To Disregard...

... coz all I'm gonna do is bitch.  About the usual, too.  We're just in from a routine visit with our favorite dental hygienist followed by a re-supply trip out to Wally-World, the visit with the Lovely Victoria bein' the better part of that excursion.   For it is miserable outdoors, Gentle Reader:

I can handle the heat... that ain't no Big Deal... but I have issues with the wind (as you well know).  We're right on the cusp of the safety zone where my awning is concerned and we have chosen to leave it furled, discretion being the better part of valor and all that.  I hope the wind dies down by tomorrow, coz I hate to think of the impact direct sun will have on El Casa Móvil de Pennington when the temp is 106.  That could get brutal.

Happy Summer

The solstice occurs at 1716 hrs GMT today... which is 1016 hrs here on the beautiful High Plains of New Mexico... and that means summer is officially here.  Yays! And all that.  Today is also the longest day of the year in terms of available sunlight.  It's all downhill after today in that particular space (heh.  space... geddit?).

Today looks like it would be a perfect day to do something other than spend it in a shop watching The Green Hornet get a new top and having the slightly torn upholstery on her driver's seat repaired, but that's exactly what I'm gonna do.  At least it's only gonna be warm... 88 is the forecast high... as opposed to hot, like it's been the last few days.  It's also supposed to be relatively calm, too.  Thank The Deity At Hand for small big-ass favors! 

Just For the Record

Note the wind.  That is all.

Dang

From the NWS in ABQ:

West to southwest winds will increase today across New Mexico and moreso on Sunday. Sustained speeds on Sunday will range from 20 to 35 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. These winds are in response to an upper level system that will track across the central rockies. The strongest winds each day will be located over the west central and Southwest Mountains as well as areas along and east of the Central Mountain chain.

The unseasonably strong winds will combine with  critically dry and very warm to hot conditions across the region. Even some near record warmth may occur throughout the southeast plains on Sunday. Extreme fire weather conditions will develop statewide today and linger into the evening hours... then redevelop and potentially be more dangerous on Sunday. The threat may persist into Monday for the eastern plains of New Mexico where windy conditions are likely again.

This shit is gettin' OLD.  It's way beyond "old" but I don't have words at my command to express just how annoying and obnoxious this situation really is.

―:☺:―

Meanwhile... in Boston:

There were over a million people at the parade, according to what I read at the usual (hockey) source.

Somewhat Out of the Ordinary

Here it is... just after 0900 hrs as we type... and we're workin' on our last cup after returning home from a re-supply mission out to Wally-World.  There are a couple o' few reasons we caught the early bus today, first and foremost among them is we went down early last evening.  More importantly, though, is the fact it's gonna be HOT today and we don't relish the thought of going shopping in the mid-afternoon heat.  Especially when it looks like this:

Which is better than yesterday's forecast, which predicted a high of 105.  Aiiieee!  I wilt in that sorta heat.  But... 103?  105?  Precious lil difference there.  Hot is hot...

And then there's this...

Vancouver residents awoke Thursday to the aftermath of the city's worst riot in decades, facing a massive cleanup and questions about how the mob fury came to be unleashed after the Canucks lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final to the Boston Bruins.

City crews and glass repair companies were still working to repair the smashed windows of about a dozen businesses targeted by rioters and looters in the downtown core as the sun rose over the city early Thursday morning.

That's just a gotdamned shame.  There's much more at the link.

Hot!

But not as hot... or miserable... as other places in these United States.  Hot enough, though.  Witness:

Didja catch the "feels like 91" bit?  The heat index in the miserable parts of the country usually adds five, six, or even ten degrees to the air temperature.  Not here, which is a bennie of the six percent relative humidity.  Yes, Gentle Reader... that's SIX percent.  There's no mold around here...

―:☺:―

Speakin' o' "hot" or would that be "hawt?"  Today is The Second Mrs. Pennington's birthday, in which she celebrates completing 55 trips around the sun.  Here's an excerpt from the "Happy Happy" message I sent her today...

But... Happy Birthday.  You've aged well, far above your female peers... at least the ones I know.  That said, you'll always be 19 in my mind's eye, Paula.  Life was VERY good when you smiled at me like that.

Just to keep ya from chasin' all around EIP... here's the linked picture:

Just 19 and she had the world by the ass, even at that tender age.  She had ME by the ass, as well... but leave us not go there.  And didn't she have the most pinchable cheeks?

Russian Roulette

That would be our game today, played between our awning and the ever-present wind.  Regarde:

My awning is supposedly safe up to and including 20-sumthin' mph winds.  You'll note from the graphic above that Cannon Airplane Patch is reporting wind gusts of 31 mph, which is in my awning's Red Zone.  Yet it is still down, shading El 'Muerto en el Agua' Casa Móvil de Pennington from Ol' Sol's harsh glare.  And it IS harsh, indeed.

Summer isn't due to be upon us for another two weeks but it certainly feels like summer outdoors at the moment, seasonal definitions and the Farmer's Almanac be damned.  It's not all that bad, actually.  Those warm breezes mitigate the mid-90 degree temps and it's actually quite comfortable outdoors.  I shall be goin' back outside with the second installment of today's Happy Hour immediately after puttin' this post up, mainly coz we need to keep an eye on the winds and be able to react (i.e., furl the awning) if things get TOO breezy.

Hey! Guess What?

The wind died down to a manageable level... for a while, at least.  And it's relatively cool (a balmy 84 degrees), too!  Here's what we look like at the moment...

The only thing that's missin' is ME, and I shall be out under the awning with beer in hand very shortly.

Oh, Just STOP Already!

I'm beginning to think about leaving P-Ville.  This wind is getting on my very last nerve.

Bitch, Bitch, Bitch

And we're bitchin' about The Usual.  Regarde:

Let's just say 94 degrees with 20+ mph winds is a lot like standing in front of God's Own Blow Dryer.  Sayin' "but it's a DRY heat," while true, doesn't do a damned thing to mitigate the impact of direct sun on the side of El Casa Móvil De Pennington.  It goes without sayin' the wind is too high to put my awning down, so we must live with direct sun.  Is my AC workin' overtime?  Why, yes... yes it IS.  It might could be even worse tomorrow, as the forecast is for 101 degrees.  I hope the wind dies down by then.

We were out in this krep a lil earlier, doing a remove and replace operation to fit the Lovely Miss Zukiko with her new stored energy device.  We accomplished that mission but aborted the wash and polish operation that was to follow, given my hair was well and truly dry enough.  Well, sorta, if'n ya don't count the sweat.  I know: TMI.

So now we're indoors... relaxing bein' punished with one of those Punishers I went on about last month and taking long deep swigs from a glass full of smooth and creamy Fransizkaner to take the punishing bite away from the lips.  I'm not the sorta guy who is into anything even remotely resembling BDSM, with the possible exceptions of Thai food, New Mexico chiles, and these Punishers, all three of which hurt SO good.

And so it goes.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

Five For Fighting...

There are a lot of reasons to like this song... not the least of which is the group's hockey-derived name (heh)... but I particularly like the sentiments expressed herein.  OTOH, I'm left thinkin' that I can only WISH I had a hundred years to live.  Reality is something other than this and reality is quite the bitch.  But we shall live for the moment, eh?

Still.  We're in for a refill and we're enjoying our first al fresco Happy Hour in quite a long time, as the wind finally ceased and desisted after WELL over a week of huffin' and puffin' and attempting to blow our house down.  We ARE taking advantage as a result of the temporary becalming, for t'is the nicest of nice days here on The High Plains of New Mexico.  Witness:

Yup.  Life is GOOD and now it's back outside to continue as we've begun: there's lotsa Newcastle Brown Ale in the fridge and Drew Estate Red Eyes in the humidor.

It's Not Global WARMING That Bothers Me...

... it's the gotdamned Global BLOWING.  Yes, yet another rant about wind.  I'm just in from retrieving the day's mail (more about which below) and it was quite the slog up to the mail kiosk and back.  This is what we look like at the moment (or 53 moments ago, according to WX Underground):

The troops in my shop used to joke about making me carry my tool box everywhere I went so I wouldn't get blown off the top of the mountain, back in my young radar days... mainly coz I've always been light in the ass.  I could have used some ballast today, srsly.  I think the wind in the above WX report is very understated... it feels more like 40 mph continuous wind with 50 mph gusts.  And it's hot, too.  But it's a dry heat.  Heh.

―:☺:―

About the mail...   Our humidor is a lil bit fatter now, seein' as how we received a resupply shipment from Cigar.com in today's mail.  We opted for three copies of this sampler this time around:

Coffee Infused Sampler
Sample the finest coffee-infused smokes all hailing from the Drew Estate factory, the authorities on cigar infusion. Includes 8 cigars, two each of Isla del Sol, Tabak Especial Cafe con Leche, Tabak Especial Red Eye, and Tabak Especial. A Starbucks selection at a Dunkin' Donuts price!

We've smoked three of the four varieties listed above (we love 'em, too) and we're burning the previously unknown-to-us Isla del Sol as we speak.  I'm about a third of the way through the cigar and I'm fairly well impressed.  It's not quite as strong as the others in this sampler but it IS pleasing.  And here's what we're drinking along with our cigar:

Yup.  This takes the sting out of being forced to remain indoors.  Kinda-sorta.

Broadening Our Horizons XXII

We've been laboring under an oh-so-rare internet outage for the last hour or so and that has cramped our style, to say the VERY least.  But, Hey!  These things happen.  In the meantime we've been enjoying a Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Ale, 2011 edition.  And this beer, Gentle Reader, is meaty, beaty, big and bouncy... to say the VERY least (again).

Given the stout ABV of this beer (9.60%) I'm thinkin' we'll do only one before moving on to sumthin' a lil less potent.  But it IS most tasty!  Our cigar today is a Cuba Libre One, in the Churchill size.  Most excellent.

―:☺:―

I don't have a helluva lot more today, other than to mention the Osama killin' has taken up most of my time.  Details continue to come out in dribs and drabs but we'll prolly never know exactly what went down in any great detail.  I suppose that's as it should be, but still... Enquiring Minds™ wanna know, eh? 

And then there's the weather.  We had a rather severe cold snap over the last 48 hours... including a freeze... which necessitated us breakin' out the electric heater and runnnin' it nearly full time over the last couple o' days.  But that's in our immediate past and today is just a brilliant sorta day: 69 degrees and gentle breezes out of the west.  It doesn't get much better than this, Gentle Reader.

Hey! Guess What?

The wind abated.  It didn't stop, but it's down to what the Ol' Man useta call a "Dull Roar," meaning a constant speed of 15 mph with gusts of 20.  So... we have our awning down and are taking Happy Hour on the verandah today, for the first time in I-don't-remember-when.  Srsly.  I really cannot remember the last afternoon we spent outside with book, beer, and cigar.  But let's not complain, let's simply enjoy.

We look a LOT like this today...

Only with different glasses.

To Whom It May Concern...

Thank you.  A thousand thank-yous!  You turned off the wind machine and we are MOST grateful... so much so that we shall have our second beer in your honor today, whoever you are.  This is what the WX guys out at Cannon Airplane Patch say our current conditions look like:

But they LIE, coz it's as close to dead still as it gets around here... AND it's cool.  There's no need for the awning today; we shall sit and read on the verandah in direct sun.  And we'll love it.

Speakin' of love... imagined, in this case... we picked up our eye-meds at the Cannon pharmacy earlier this afternoon and indulged in a lil snappy repartee with a young female Master Sergeant who was working behind the counter.  The good sergeant had THE most fetching manner about her, including sparkly dark eyes and a melodious and lilting laugh.  They sure don't make MSgts like they used to... and I'm thinkin' that's a GOOD thing in this particular case.  The lady made my day. 

An Anniversary; An Unserious Person; The Wind Doesn't Blow, It Sucks; and (Wait For It) Hockey

Twenty-five years ago today, from the (other) usual source...

 A 48th Tactical Fighter Wing F-111F aircraft takes off to participate in an air strike on Libya. (photo: Wikipedia & US Air Force)

Remembering Operation Eldorado Canyon: (Ed: link to The Wiki added) Twenty-five years ago on April 15, Air Force and Navy strike aircraft dealt a blow to Libyan dictator Muammar' Qaddafi's arrogance and overt support of terrorism. While a force of F-111s from RAF Lakenheath, Britain, (taking off on April 14, 1986) struck targets in Tripoli, including Qaddafi's headquarters, Navy strike aircraft from the Sixth Fleet pounded sites in Benghazi. A host of USAF and Navy platforms supported the mission, which President Reagan ordered after a string of deadly terrorist attacks were traced back to Qaddafi's regime. The raid came at a cost. Capt. Paul F. Lorence and Capt. Fernando L. Ribas-Dominicci were killed when their F-111 went down, presumably to hostile fire. Noted Air Force author Walter Boyne, in his March 1999 Air Force Magazine article on the raid, said the mission pushed USAF crews and aircraft "to the absolute limits of their capability. Yet they prevailed, destroying key targets and shocking Qaddafi." Fast forward 25 years. Air Force aircraft are once again flying over Libya to deal with his misdeeds, this time against his own people.

RIP, Captains Lorence and Ribas-Dominicci.

―:☺:―

Today's Toon of Note:  

From the usual source, of course.  Choosing today's toon was harder than it normally is, coz there's much goodness on the deficit/budget brouhaha at the link.

―:☺:―

The wind machine is still cranked up, to my great dismay.  Things are supposed to get better in this space later on today and that's great good news, seein' as how I have to get my old ass out to Cannon Airplane Patch to refill my meds in anticipation of next week's final eye surgery installment.  We have been counting the days... two weeks can be a VERY long time!

―:☺:―

Here's your briefest of brief hockey updates...  The playoffs are NOT disappointing us hockey fans.  Well, some of us hockey fans.  I'd wager Flyers and Bruins followers aren't all that happy about the outcome in Game One, Round One but I was certainly pleased... those games were great, compelling examples of the sport.  The games in the Eastern Conference seem to be defensive duels with the Hot Goalie O' The Moment (read as: Lundqvist, Miller, and Price) taking center stage.  All three of the top seeds in the East struggled in the first game, with only the Caps prevailing... and they had to go deep into OT to win.  Oh yeah... the Flightless Birds won, too.  For what THAT'S worth.

It ain't so close out West, what with the Canucks dominating Chicago in the first game (that game was NEVER close), San Jose beating El-Eh (that game WAS close; watch out, Sharks), the Beloved Wings winning easily, and Nashville systematically plucking the Ducks.

I'm not gonna make any predictions this year, mainly coz I suck at predictions (check my April archives in past years for proof in this space; it's embarrassing).  I do have my hopes, though, and those hopes go like this:  Chicago wins in seven, El-Eh wins in seven, the Beloved Wings sweep the Feral Dogs, and the Dicks... err, Ducks... win in seven.  Yes, I AM out of touch with reality, why do you ask?  Never forget that '60s truism: reality is for people who can't handle drugs.

As for the East... who really cares?

Bitch, Bitch, Bitch

Stop, already!

A High Wind Warning remains in effect until 8 PM MDT this evening.

* Location... the east Central Plains... including the Interstate 40 corridor.

* Winds... west winds will gradually shift out of the northwest at 35 to 45 mph with gusts around 60 mph.

* Timing... wind speeds will continue to strengthen through mid day then remain strong through the afternoon. Speeds will then weaken below hazardous levels a few hours after sunset.

* Visibility... blowing dust will drop visibility below 1 mile at times in dust prone locations.

* Local impacts... winds of this magnitude can cause property damage and could down a few trees and power lines. Secure loose objects like lawn furniture. Dangerous Crosswinds will develop on north to south and northeast to southwest oriented roads.

Lately it seems like it's one day out and the next day in, all because of this gotdamned wind!

I suppose I should go outside and secure the chairs before they end up over in Amarillo.  I hate this shit.

Finally!

As in: someone finally found the switch and turned that infernal wind machine OFF.  We're just in from the day's errands and today is as pretty a day as we've seen in these parts in a month or at least it feels that way.  Note:

It goes without sayin' that we WILL be taking today's Happy Hour outdoors on the verandah.  And we've decided to kick off gin & tonic season in honor of this perfect day.  Ain't this purty!

Our soundtrack today?  Why... the Gin Blossoms, of course.

Full disclosure:  we are entirely free of gin blossoms, in the medical sense.  As of this moment, anyhoo... there bein' no guarantees on the future.

Now, if you'll excuse me, Gentle Reader, the Great Outdoors (heh) is calling.