Monday, May 6, 2019

Noah!

Well, we've had an interesting week or so here at Rancho Juvat. Weekend before last had "Formation School" in session at the local airport. Long time readers of the blog will know that this is an FAA requirement for Pilots to annually recertify in Formation Flying before participating in any local air shows involving, well, formation flying.

As I live about 4.31 miles as the crow AT-6 flies off the end of the local airport and in a fairly sparsely populated portion of the county, airspace above my property is frequently used for their training area.  As an aside, there is also a military low level route about a mile south of my property, where they can practice low level navigation and maneuvering.  (I like those flybys!! My neighbor's Mileage May Vary MNMMV?)

But, in any case, Friday and Saturday before last, I spent a lot of time running out side and watching people flying around.  Yes, the instructor pilot in me spent a lot of time grousing about being out of formation, pulling more lead to rejoin faster, quit overcontrolling the aircraft etc, etc, etc.  All of which was simply camouflage for a fairly intense level of envy.

What I wouldn't give for only one ride....to paraphrase Bruce Hornsby.





Given that that was taken by on my phone, they were close.

That got me through the weekend though.

Monday rolled around.  Got up about 7AM and puttered around for a 'Bit" getting ready for the day.  Turns out the day would give a pretty good vignette on retired life.

One of the winemakers had a "procedure" scheduled for 1300 at a hospital in Austin.  Since they both came and kept me company in the waiting room while Mrs J was having her procedure a couple of weeks ago (She's fine, no complications. Has her post surgery checkup this morning.  Thanks for asking.) we thought we'd go and keep him company while his wife was in the OR.

So, Mrs J asks me what time I want to leave, I did the mental arithmetic to determine TOD for a TOT of 1300.  Let's see, 2 hours drive time, plus 30 minutes for Austin Traffic Contingencies equals 1030.

"How 'bout 1030, honey?"

"Fine...That was 10 minutes ago."

"Oh!"

Time is so meaningless.

We arrived in plenty of time and the surgery, also, went well.

There was one thing that was notable about it also though.

While we were in the waiting room, word was passed that a Veteran had passed away in the hospital and that his remains would be transferred shortly to the funeral home.

Interesting.  Would have thought they'd transfer him a bit more discreetly.

However, they rolled his remains out the front door.  All available hospital employees lined the hall.  Everyone in the waiting room stood as they played "Taps" over the intercom.

For a hospital, with all its efforts to maintain cleanliness, it seemed to get very dusty there.

Woke up Thursday last, and it's an overcast kinda day.  I'm optimistic for some rain since, even though it's early May, the grass is starting to turn brownish.  Our stock ponds are dry as a bone.

Mid-afternoon, it's starting to get really dark and angry looking, so we go up and feed the horses and other "battening down" procedures. Get back to the house and Mrs J decides to refill all the hummingbird feeders.  (We're on the migration pathway for the Buzz Birds between their summer homes up in Suz's neck of the woods and their winter quarters in Guatamala or somewhere.)  We've got several feeders on the property.  About 20 of them are refueling happily. (Sugar is their fuel, mosquitoes are their food.  Given the latter, they're welcome on my property!)

In any case, we're standing on the porch when suddenly I notice there's not a buzz bird in sight.  Shortly thereafter, as in about 30 seconds later plus time to pull the phone and start recording, the weather looks like this.




We, rationally, decide to go inside.

Thirty minutes later, that particular cell moves on and we venture outside.



4 inches in 30 minutes!  I'd been Supervisor of Flying at Kadena and had a storm blow through that dumped 17 inches in 4 hours.  So this was about twice as hard/.  Moreover, Kadena was better equipped to deal with water than Central Texas.  Anyhow, there'd been a bit of hail thrown in this cell, so I thought I'd better check on the horses.

They were a bit spooked and quite wet, but I found them in their stalls, so they were at least smart enough  to go there once it started to rain.  Because access to our property requires traversing a wash between two stock ponds, I thought I'd check out what effect 4 inches had there.


The walls of the stock pond are about 12' above its lowest point, so not much to worry about.



However, we're under a severe weather warning for the next 24 hours, and more rain is forecast.

Friday rolls around and that evening we get schwacked twice about an hour apart.  First cell dumps about 2 1/4 " in about 30 minutes, Second one dumps a further 2", again in about a half hour.  So the record now stands at about 8" over the two days.

Oh...we've lost electricity several times. Never for very long, just enough to cycle electrical parts.

The following morning dawns and well...Mother Nature sure can get ugly looking, but she generally cleans up good.  Low 60's, not a cloud in the sky.  Which is a good thing as we had plans to visit MBD and SIL in Austin.

As we head out, we stop to check on the stock ponds.

Same Spot as the previous picture.  The ripple in the center is caused by a pair of ducks
The grass in the foreground is flooded and about an inch below our road in and out of the property.





That pothole wasn't there before.  That water is about 6" deep, so passable.


Upstream Stock pond
The walls on that stock pond are about 18' above the lowest point.  I'd estimate there's about 6' showing.  So not much storage capacity left for any additional rain, other than the wash itself.

ANNNNNNDDDDDDD......

The forecast for Monday -Thursday is rain every day.  Based on that forecast, we went to the store yesterday and stocked up as if we wouldn't be traveling for about a week.

As they say on the Morton's Salt Label.

"When it Rains, It pours!"


Source

Maybe someone's trying to tell me something.




Oh...and those power fluctuations?  Seems to have trashed my personal account on my computer.  So,  I'll be busy for a while, restoring backups and "fixing" things. But it's not like I'm going anywhere!

46 comments:

  1. I’d imagine that shelter is an imperative for a hummingbird in a rainstorm. The relative size of raindrops vis-à-vis (vis avis?) a hummingbird’s head indicates a significant impact.

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    1. Update:

      Nah, turns out rain doesn’t really bother them that much

      https://insider.si.edu/2012/07/video-shows-how-hummingbirds-adjust-to-flight-in-heavy-rain/

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    2. I would have thought so also, but apparently not. Although they did disappear from sight. They may have gone into the carport, but it was raining hard enough that I didn't feel like walking out there to check. Plus, lightning!

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    3. Was there a video on that Smithsonian page? I think I'm still having some computer issues.

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    4. Seems to have gone MIA for me, too.

      This article has it (it’s less informative than you might hope, but they probably didn’t release all the test footage to the public)

      https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2012/07/video-how-hummingbirds-weather-storm

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    5. Thanks and it kinda makes sense now. Essentially they're changing their angle of attack and minimizing their cross section. Pretty smart actually.

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  2. It has always amazed me how much AT-6es look like SNJs. They must be a copy, or something. :)

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    1. It is amazing the similarity.

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    2. To echo one of the charters in the last video clip: " RIGHT! ".

      Paul

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    3. Well, they did have a couple painted in Navy Livery.

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  3. Ya...... Mother Nature still likes to remind us that she rules the roost but that amount in thirty minutes! Yikes!! You folks had an exciting week what with the drought relief and the aerial shenanigans.......there's no sound like that of a radial engine......sigh. Now that summer is here, hoping to catch a glimpse of Miss Mitchell, a B25J the local CAF has. The homestead is under a flight path for Holman Field in downtown St Paul so there's lots of business jets at times but every once in awhile that radial sound thunders overhead.

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    1. Of the surviving B-25 Mitchells out there, I wonder how many of them are really PBJs? PBJs got into the fight late enough that the Japanese fighter force was already beaten back, so the chances of surviving was greater that a B-25's.

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    2. As ugly as Thursday and Friday were, Saturday was lovely. It is fun watching them flying around and I'm pretty sure they knew I was there at least once. I had walked up to the barn to put hay out for the horses and a 4 ship rolled out pointed an me and flew directly over me in the middle of my field. Could be coincidence, but I choose to believe it was deliberate. Just me bein' me.

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    3. Scott, there is something to be said about being late to the fight, that's for sure.

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  4. Sigh, this post reminds me of being out at NAS Lemoore last week, the roar of a fighter jet's engines is almost as good as a big military radial engine rumbling overhead.

    'Tis the sound of freedom.

    Rancho Juvat looks like it's well hydrated right now!

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    1. Yep, Sound of Freedom is right.

      Pounded a T-post in the lowest part of the wash and painted stripes on it at 6" intervals, just in case. Been meaning to do that for a while, but couldn't get a round ToIt. (Lowes was out of stock).

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  5. We took this week off to camp with the grandkids... Oh well. Thundering right now as I speak/write.

    My dad said, when it rains like that, it was like a cow peeing on a flat rock. Up there in the Edward's Plateau, it's very similar. All that limestone under the little bit of dirt doesn't soak up much water, and it moves to the rivers really fast, and they get big, really really fast. Like a flooded parking lot... nearly 40,000 square miles of parking lot.

    I went back to school in Jan '87. That summer, there was rain up past Kerrville, and the flood near Comfort swept a church bus off a bridge. That river was flooding probably 40 miles from the rain... The opening sequence of Rescue, 911 shows some of that footage. I used to live 200 feet from the bank and a mile or so down the river from the bridge they tried to cross. The Guadalupe can rise really fast.

    Heavy rain is ALWAYS a warning.... All that water gotta go somewhere. Glad you guys are safe.

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    1. Yeah, the Pedernales was about a foot below the bridge on the highway near our house. And the water does rise fast, yet there always seems to be some twit with a "Hold my Beer" complex that tries to cross. But...that mindset usually results in a bit of gene pool cleansing.

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  6. Before Willow Grove was closed we got a lot of overhead traffic and it always made me smile, as you said, other folk's mileage might differ. And I'm still envious of my wife because she got to see a B-2 in flight and I never have.

    Our 1.5 inches of rain on the weekend looks kinda insignificant by comparison.

    Formation flying. 'Cause it isn't risky enough to go up in the air in some crazy contraption of moving parts, let's fly really close together and change direction.
    As I've said before, no matter what smart aleck comments I've made about watch size and arm waving, (and will make in the future) those who pilot the aircraft have my respect.

    Re: The hospital and the veteran. How weird it is that the pollen, yeah, pollen, in Philly is hitting me as I read your post.
    And another attack as I type this.

    Good post, thank you.


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    1. Thanks, John. I guess it's a point of view thing. I never thought of formation flying as anything more than a way to get a few aircraft to somewhere at the same time. But...if you're not doing it day in and day out, it might be wise to practice it once in a while. Besides, I get to watch.

      And critique. ;-)

      Yeah, I thought episode at the hospital was a class act. As my Navy Friends might say "Bravo Zulu, Ascension Seton"

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  7. Well thank you for feeding our hummers are they fly through your neck of the woods. They arrived safely here on Sunday, and only buzzed the guys out working in the front yard twice before the message was delivered and I got my lazy butt in gear and made up their juice and got it out. I was just saying on Friday I thought they might be showing up soon.

    Rain!! Wow!! Don't even want to THINK the word as Sat and Sun were the first 2 days in over a week we have had any sunshine. Like at all. Every place ya step it squishes if you are off concrete around here. We are supposed to get more rain today, but what we really need is a week of dry and sunny. But, at least it isn't SNOW!!!

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    1. Proud to serve as an en-route gas station, Suz. Mrs J and I like to sit on the front porch, with an adult libation, and watch them fly around. A lot of air to air maneuvering going on, so a little like the old days for me. Mrs J just likes to watch and keep track of different species.

      Roger that on "not Snow>"

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  8. It appears we’re in transition here, but the mountains are still getting rain and there were flurries up on Donner last night.
    The concern now is the 140% snowpack will melt too fast and overwhelm the stream banks.
    We drove down to SF Saturday, to a reunion, and observed that the hills are still mostly green.
    The only aircraft we saw were commercial from SFO, noisy but boring.

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    1. Yeah, that could be "interesting" when that snow begins to melt. Hope you're not in a low area.

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  9. Have you ever thought about wandering over to the school and offering to kibitz for free? Might be fun to annoy the young people...

    Watched a show on hummingbirds a while ago. Weird, but they've actually tripled their areas of operations in the last 50 years. Climate change or helpful humans or maybe the lack of polar bears or something (my guess is on human help...)

    Rain. Had 3" yesterday. Nice heavy boomers, a quick drenching then a lingering pour. During the day. Best time. Even got to put the raincoat on the dog (which he hates but tolerates) for his morning walk, and he escaped during a dry moment later. Grass went from parched crunchy to green soft in just a few hours, and all the mole tunnels filled with water so walking on the ground is somewhat hazardous as the tunnels collapse (sometimes it is good to have size 13 triple-wide feet.)

    About the hospital. It is good to see that the treatment of our veterans has improved from the '70s. I had grown up in military intensive areas, never being far away from one base or another till I moved to Gainesville. It was a bit of a shock to see actual anti-military and anti-vet sentiments at work up here once I opened my eyes. That changed pretty much for the better, though near the UF campus it still gets a little Austin-ish… On the other hand, if I want pro-mil sentiment, I can always go down to Ocala, where they are very conservative, very pro-military and have about 1 gun store for every 3 churches (well, it seems so. Not so much in G-ville, gun stores are few and far between..)

    And... sitting on the porch, dry, watching and listening to the rain, lightning and thunder. Something I miss from moving out of the old house. You and Mrs. J are living in heaven.

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    1. Well....That would certainly imprint "Old Fart" on my forehead much like Teal'c from Stargate SG-1.

      Yeah, I was pretty impressed with that ceremony. I didn't see if there was family there, but there were easily 50 folks in hospital attire along the walls. And Austin is well...Austin, so that alone made it stand out a bit more.

      As for sitting on the porch during a storm, I do enjoy that, at least until the flashes and the booms start to occur almost simultaneously.

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    2. I find that the flash and boom occurring simultaneously imparts the ability of teleportation to me. Been known to teleport up to 10 feet through a closed door when God's own cannonade goes off right next to me. So far teleportation does not also include dropping of ballast at the same time...

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    3. I have teleported myself on occasion also. Most of the time, the adult recreational libation makes it intact, occasionally, it becomes part of my attire. (I'm assuming that was how you were defining ballast and not some thing a bit more sophomoric and poopy.)

      And, Sarge, if I know Beans....There went the thread! :-)

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    4. Heh.

      As Tormund Giantsbane said after the great Battle of Winterfell, "Which one of you cowards sh!t my pants?"

      There ya go Beansie, take it away...

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    5. Much like a Zeppelin, I work on liquid, not solid, ballast.

      You sick sick people...

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  10. Unless it is flooding, I'm always happy to see water. Think of the aquifer.

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  11. Yeah, looking at the rivers though I'm not sure how much makes it back into the aquifer. But I guess it's the cycle thing. The storms come from the Gulf of Mexico (in my Case) carrying the water. Dumps it around me. That which doesn't soak in makes it to the Pedernales which runs into the Colorado which runs into the Gulf. Right about now, I humming this. Sorry.

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    1. Speaking of Disney earworms, Peter Hollens and Alex G cover that song and more.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfvehnyCQKU


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    2. Good Gravy! Talk about Cultural appropriation! I'm sending that and Disney Inc. over to the International Society of Social Justice Warriors for action. ;-)

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    3. "...International Society of Social Justice Warriors for action." The ISSJW, I like that ( not them ). How soon will that be in the acronyms page? Huh, Sarge, huh, huh?

      Paul

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    4. Well, since a word's meaning is fungible these days, one has to find a way to describe communists without offending their feewings!

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    5. Dead is a good way to describe them. Dead and they don't have any feelings....

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    6. "Today soon enough?" One hour and twenty-seven minutes? What took you so long? :)

      Paul

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    7. OldAFSarge: You do understand that the 1:27 is based on the time hacks of my comment/question and your comment telling me/us that you had taken care of the issue.

      Paul

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  12. So THAT'S where all of our rain has gone. The Pacific Northwest has been rather dry of late. Nice days, but dry. We could use some of the water y'all have been getting. I hope you don't get more rain to the point that it causes major ( or even Lt. Col. ) problems.

    Thanks for the post.
    Paul L. Quandt

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    1. Made it through today with no rain and the stock pond is about a foot below the road, so we may be ok. Then again...

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  13. seems like lots of rain all over - the rivers in Indiana were all swollen right after Easter and in a couple of cases over their banks and across the back roads I was hoping to use. So quickly went to the route of plan B. On the drive down to TX, through MO and AR, all those rivers were also full and in many cases over their banks. The grasses in the ranches in south central TX were lush, saw lots of well fed cattle.
    I think I have mentioned my fondness for Texas storms before - always liked the experience as long as it didn't get too crazy. 'Crazy' meaning damaging. Spent part of this last Friday night east of Bastrop in Giddings, had some spectacular storms come through. Vantage point was under the hotel entrance canopy, think the rate of rain was similar to what you had. Also got a couple of 'levitation moments' when it seemed like the thunder came before the lightning (yeah, I know that's impossible given speed of light and sound).
    Hummingbirds are very cool - we used to have feeders in our backyard in Dallas. One time, my mom was standing right outside of the carport, and one of the little buggers flew right up to her face and hovered there while trying to figure out if her red lipstick was a new type of flower. She said that being fanned by that Ruby Throat was awesome. ... we took the kids to the Fossil Rim Wildlife Park back when they were young, and the feeders at the cafe were almost clogged with hummers. Was very entertaining to watch a gaggle of them jockey for position.
    Our place on the NC coast is right on the flight path of MCAS New River, so it is often noisy in that wonderful way, provided by just about every type of USMC rotary aircraft. We have a square deck on our roof that I have been tempted to decorate with a big "H" to see if I could lure one of them into landing and then find a way to hide it - finders keepers, right?
    Thanks for telling us about the respect from the hospital. Glad to hear about it. On a related note, I saw recently where a whole bunch of folks in TX have been showing up to funerals of veterans who did not have any family to attend. Really great to see that too.

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  14. Both my kids went to A&M, so have traversed Bastrop many times. The Dripping Springs to Bastrop section of the trip was always officially "Not Fun". I think that section of road was where many of last weeks Cooperation vs. Competition post was generated.

    Yeah, Ft Hood had one of those recently, and I think more than a thousand people showed up. Most reasurring to see that some, maybe most, people still "get" it. Hope springs eternal.

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  15. A lot of Rain, by itself, does not a hurricane make. https://youtu.be/QDFK40UMotc

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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