The Squamidian Report – Nov. 19 / 16
Issue #756
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Unbelievably, we actually saw the super moon and some stars through an
unexpected hole in the relentless over cast. Its not like it was a nice
day at all, it had been quite rainy but for some unexplained reason the
clouds parted in time to let us watch the moon rise above the high
ridge to the east of us. As the moon was rising the clouds would move
back in, then move out again but that was ok. Unfortunately from a
viewing point of view, that ridge to the east is so high that by the
time the moon cleared it, it was late enough that the sky was totally
dark making taking any pictures difficult. There was way too much
contrast between a moon that is brighter than usual and the dark
background for pictures to turn out. So, we didn't bother trying. The
best pictures of a moon are always when it is at or near the horizon
and not yet fully dark, so that the foreground can be seen as a
comparison. Once it is up in the sky there is nothing to compare it to,
its just there.
The term 'super moon' is a bit of an exaggeration because its really
just the normal moon being viewed from about 50,000k closer in its
orbit than where it averages. Being a bit closer does make it quit a
bit brighter from a visual point of view as there is relatively more
surface area to reflect sunlight. And again, thats 'relatively' because
the actual size of the moon obviously hasn't changed. Like all orbits,
the moon's is not a circle, its elliptic, at times its closer than
average and at times further away. Two weeks ago it was quite a bit
further away. The Earth's orbit is elliptic too, which effects weather
and temperatures and so on. The moon has no weather of its own to be
effected by an elliptic orbit but it does effect things on Earth, most
notably the tides. A closer moon means more gravitational pull meaning
higher tides, called King Tides. When those things happen around here
the water in the ditches down in town runs backward until the tides
drop and the ditches can again empty into the Sound. Thats why there is
often flooding down on the flood plain during times that heavy rains
coincide with King Tides. Thats why we live way up here above the
valley. Just seemed to make sense to us.
The same break pattern in the weather that let us see that moon has
meant that while it has rained every day for the last month and a half,
it has not rain ALL day on each day. At times we get a bit of a break.
The sun may or may not make an appearance but it can be fairly nice
out. At those times we can look up and if the clouds are high enough we
can see lots of fresh snow on the mountains. Thats always nice. At
other times, if we are getting a break during the morning before the
daily wind picks up there is an opportunity to take the little RC
airplane down to the ball field and do a bit of RC flying. There had
been quite a long period where there was no flying because it was
either too rainy or too windy. And don't forget, when a little RC plane
only weighs a few ounces it doesn't take much more than a very gentle
breeze to be way to windy for flying. A breeze you can barely notice
will toss an RC around like a dry leaf. However, it never takes too
long to get back into the grove. I tend to be a bit rusty for the first
few minutes until my fingers get the feel of the controller again and
then it smooths out. I enjoy doing figure eights as tight as possible,
and doing landings followed by takeoffs, in real flying that would be
called touch and go's. The thing is, I like to make it look realistic.
RC planes can do things that a real plane could not do because they
aren't 'real'. They can weigh almost nothing, can have a power to
weight ratio that can't be remotely matched by a real plane, and can
withstand G forces that would instantly snap the wings of a real plane.
So I like to fly in such a way that it does indeed look 'real'. I think
thats where I get my enjoyment, making it look real or authentic, well,
a shrunk down version of real including climb rates, proper turns and
nice landing. But thats just me and the way I am.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Welcome to a lovely November! We’ve been
having another beautiful month for it being so late in the fall! The
weather here in KW at least has been just superb for a fall month.
We’ve been experiencing double-digit temperatures for the most part
almost every day. The first day of November was actually in the 20’s
but since that day we haven’t quite been so lucky! However, with the
sun shining most days and the lack of rainfall foremost in my mind
we’ve had a really good month so far. This weekend is forecast to be
the start of a cold snap and that may just spell an end to our lucky
streak. That’s ok with me but only because of our nice weather so far
this fall. I guess we can’t expect to be granted many more warm days
this late in the year so it’s “be happy with what we’ve gotten so far!”
and “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth!” Or some such nonsense as
that! I think they call those “old adages” or pieces of advice my
mother used to spew out my way when I was complaining about something
as a youth. She was right in most cases but I never thought I’d be
repeating her words so often as an adult! LOL! As the old German saying
goes, “Ve git too soon oldt unt too late schmart!” or something like
that!
We had some really great weather all
this past week and it really paid off. Carole mentioned early in the
week that it might not be a bad idea to get outside and put our
Christmas decorations up while the weather was so nice. She was right
so on Tuesday I started by climbing up to the mezzanine in the
garage and bringing all 12 large “Rubbermaid” tubs filled with our
decorations down to floor level. Carole and I checked through them so
she could decide what to use and what not to use this year on the
exterior of the house. Most years we were used to putting up the
decorations on either a cold or cold and snowy day and it was not a
nice experience. This year the sun shone on our backs as we hung the
wreaths on the outside doors and gates of the fence on either side of
the house. We also have two large wicker balls on chains that contain
sparkly mini lights that we hang over the two railings of our front
porch. They hang in place of the two ferns we have there in the summer
time. We also have net lighting that goes over the three shrubs in
front of the porch. I get to string all the electrical cords as
inconspicuously as possible to power the lighting that adorns the
house. I have a huge wreath that gets mounted at the peak of the front
wall of the garage, between the doors. The power that also lights the
light fixture between the garage doors lights it. It’s kinda fun to
figure out how to string all the extension cords that run all this
stuff. It’s also handy to have an electrician in the family as well in
case I run into a problem. Of course after 18 years of almost the
identical routine I think I’ve got things down pretty well! We also
have six wreaths and little red candlelights that get placed in all of
the upper floor windows of the bedrooms. Once they are all in place,
the switch can be thrown in the front hallway to send the needed juice
to all the lighting on the outside of the house. Being plugged into
receptacles directly below each window individually lights the candles
in the upper floor windows. We got lucky with the weather as I said to
have two sunny and warm days to spend outside completing the decorating
of the house on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was actually quite an
enjoyable two days and for a change, I didn’t have to risk my neck by
climbing on the roof to put up outdoor lights! We decided a few years
ago not to bother with the eves trough strings of lights because it was
just too slippery most years to be climbing on the roof to install
them! This year would have been a perfect year to put them up with the
weather as nice as it was but I’m just as happy without that task in
the lineup! Carole is happy with the look of the house decorated as it
is, so like they say, “Happy wife, Happy life!” and the job is
completed for another year. Oops, almost forgot, this process has to be
reversed once Christmas is over so stay tuned folks, there’s more to
come!
The next step is to decorate the inside of the
house for the season but that is a much less hectic task now that we
have a “pre lit” Christmas tree. The inside decorations are a project
that Carole likes to do so I only have to get involved if there’s
something she wants my help with. Most times I just stay out of the way
and admire the outcome. Of course I’m the one that erects the “pre lit”
tree and as you can imagine it takes great technical skill to properly
stick the trunk of the bottom half of the tree into the stand properly
as well as inserting the upper half of the tree trunk into the lower
half, not to mention that the plug on the lights must be inserted into
the wall socket properly as well! We found a very cool extension cord
last year at the Dollar Store that has a floor switch in it. That means
all I have to do is plug that cord into the wall and then plug the tree
lights into the other end of that cord. Once that circuit is complete,
my last task is to step on the switch to turn the tree lights on!
Amazing eh? LOL!
Don’t worry, I won’t bore you all with a detailed story on erecting the
tree when it happens! Even I can’t drag that 20-minute project out into
a complete issue of The Ontarion Report! LOL!
Well, that’s about it for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next time in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now … Greg
PS: Something To Think About
Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads!
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Have a good one..
the doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.
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