Rain - Rain fell here yesterday! We have had no significant rain since the first week of December! In the News - They walk among us! Enjoy - Relax and enjoy these images and videos!
Unfortunately, it is dry today and there is but a 40% chance of rain. For tomorrow through next weekend, there is no rain in sight!
I am not a cold-weather person, and I have been enjoying the 60s and 70s weather. We desperately need rain, however!
The local rivers, streams, and lakes are seriously in need of water!
Traditionally, this area is a lush recreational wonderland that offers excellent boating, swimming, fishing, and other water-based diversions. There is precious little water remaining in these places now, and the tourism—along with farmers and ranchers, of course—are suffering greatly from the water shortage!
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Rain, In the News, and Enjoy
Friday, January 24, 2014
Weird Weather, In the News, and Enjoy
Weird Weather - I received an email from my friend, Chris, at 6:09 AM this morning. He detailed the weather he is "enjoying" in Michigan: In the News - They walk among us! Enjoy - Relax and enjoy these images and videos!
WOW! I pray for my friend's welfare during this period of extreme weather!
Here at that time, it was 55°! It is forecast to be in the mid 70s this afternoon!
A mere 25 miles from here, in Chico, it was 37°!
California needs water. It does not, however need as much as other areas are receiving!
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
The Weather, In the News, and Enjoy
The Weather - If I could choose only one word to describe our weather, I would choose the word "COLD"! To many, our 27° morning might seem relatively comfortable and deem me a whiner. The truth is, I detest cold weather. I offer no apologies for this abhorrence. In the News - They walk among us! Enjoy - Relax and enjoy these images and videos!
Laura took this image on her way home from work yesterday. She exhibited safe driving by stopping on the side of the roadway to take this beautiful photograph with her Motorola smartphone.
Not far from here, two adults and four young children were lost in even colder weather (19°!) for two days. The local news reported they were found and taken to the hospital. A doctor pronounced them to be in good health and said they would make a full recovery soon.
Surely, the prayers of many were instrumental in this rescue!
A dear friend related to me yesterday that snow is falling with abandon—as it has been for several days—and temperatures are setting records. I pray for his safety, certainly, yet I simply cannot imagine living in such conditions!
I shall, most likely, shiver until Spring arrives!
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
Let It Rain and Gun Control
Let It Rain - I realize that water levels are becoming dangerously low in lakes, rivers, streams, and creeks, and we need rain and snow. I really enjoy warm, dry, sunny weather, however. Tomorrow is forecast to be very warm, with temperatures reaching into the low 80s! Thursday, however, rain and wind are forecast, and highs are predicted to be in the high 50s to low 60s! When the rain comes, it will be welcomed by many. I shall long for the return of the sun. I am being selfish, however, and I fully admit it.
There is a dramatic diversity among these legislative proposals: It is patently obvious that little or no harmony of opinion exists between the states. This fact leads many to propose that federal legislation should set gun-regulating standards. Many, contrarily, argue that individual state legislation reflects the will of the people and that gun-regulating laws should necessarily be state-based in order to ensure that the will of the people is satisfied.
Let it rain!
States are proposing gun-regulating legislation:
In my opinion, there should be no new gun regulation—neither by the federal government nor by individual states. I recommend that the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution should be strictly followed and that any proposed legislation that would in any way restrict the God-given right to own and bear arms should not be allowed.
The Old Testament teaches that the morality of self-defense is not only presumed—the act of self-defense is permitted and even mandated by key Biblical figures. Jesus' disciples carried swords, and Jesus even said in some contexts the unarmed should arm themselves.
The right to bear arms predates the Bill of Rights; the Second Amendment was based partially on the right to bear arms in English common-law and was influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689. This right is an auxiliary right, supporting the natural rights of self-defense, resistance to oppression, and the civic duty to act in concert in defense of the state.
It all seems so simple: By restricting the constitutional right of citizens to self defense by limiting their access to firearms significantly limits the capability of citizens to protect themselves against personal attack, terrorism, and tyranny.
The concept of "gun control" is, in fact, ill advised, at best, and highly dangerous, at worst: When the availability of firearms is restricted by legislation, it is only the law-abiding citizen who is affected—since criminals pay no mind to gun laws. After all, they are purposed to commit crimes, and it is patently inane to imagine a bank robber, for example, is going to be concerned with the legality of the firearm he acquires to facilitate his perpetration of criminal activity. After all, he has already committed himself to a life of crime, so it makes no sense whatever to imagine he will selectively obey some laws while ignoring others!
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Blenders, the Weather, and Pirates
Blenders - Our new Hamilton Beach 56221 Smoothie Smart Blender arrived yesterday. It is a beauty. The build quality is very high, and the ease of cleaning is an unexpected bonus. Time was not on our side last evening, and we did not have an opportunity to press it into service. We shall do so this evening. I thoroughly cleaned it upon arriving at our home yesterday, and Laura assembled it this morning. I am eager to enjoy output from this fine unit! The Weather - The weather continues to amaze weatherpeople everywhere. Temperatures in Northern California average 9° and higher above previous record high temperatures for this time of year. Today, it was 52° at 5:45 AM, and it is forecast to be 80°+ this afternoon! It is overcast presently, but this will soon change. The cloud cover will pass, and the sun will blaze down upon us by mid-morning. Pirates - Here is the cutest pirate you will ever see!
Thursday, February 07, 2013
Weirdness in the News and Stupid Criminals
Weirdness in the News and Stupid Criminals - Sometimes it is best not to begin the day reading the news. Today is one of those days!
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
Windows 8 , Cold Weather, and Guitars
Windows 8 - A client bought a new Hewlett-Packard laptop yesterday and bemoaned that Windows 8 had no Start menu or shell. I recommended that he install the free shell application, Classic Shell—available at www.classicshell.net.
Cold Weather - It is not particularly cold this morning: It is 43° currently (8:15 AM) and forecast to be in the low 60s this afternoon. This weekend, however, forecasts are for lows of 24° to 26°. YIKES! That is COLD!
Laura took her Fender Special Edition Telecaster to work with her this morning. It is a beautiful guitar. Under my tutelage, Laura is learning to play. She has learned to tune her guitar and has mastered several chords. She will be a good student.
Here is my guitar--a Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro.
Soon, we shall be making music together. I like that prospect a good deal!
Friday, December 07, 2012
National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day - National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, which is observed annually on December 7, is to remember and honor all those who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. On August 23, 1994, United States Congress designated December 7 of each year as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day is also referred to as Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day or Pearl Harbor Day. It is a tradition to fly the Flag of the United States at half-staff until sunset in honor of dead patriots.
On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941 America's naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was attacked by the forces of the Empire of Japan. More than 2,400 Americans were killed, and more than 1,100 were wounded. The attack sank four U.S. Navy battleships and damaged four more. It also damaged or sank three cruisers, three destroyers, one minelayer and damaged 188 aircraft.
The day after the attack, the United States declared war on Japan and entered World War II. President Franklin Roosevelt, in a speech to Congress, stated that the bombing of Pearl Harbor is "a date which will live in infamy."
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
This is "light showers?" - Each weekday morning, I slither into the dining room and watch the news on a small LCD HDTV that sits on the dining room table. I watch the news generally from 5 AM until 8 AM. The local news has the time slot of 5:30 AM until 7 AM. This morning, the weatherperson—Rob Blair—forecast "light showers" for today. I was fully prepared for light showers when I exited my house and encountered heavy rain!
When I reached my office at 7:45 AM, this is the view I saw when I peered at the CATCam preview on my desktop. It is wet out there, and it is getting wetter!
While changing the configuration of one of my domain (calif-tech.com) email accounts, I discovered an email account that I had set up around five years ago on my domain server and did not subsequently configure in Outlook 2010! I added this account to Outlook 2010 and was presented with the notification that 13,xxx messages were downloading!!!
Since I had never used this account, I felt it safe to assume the messages there were of no concern.
I immediately closed Outlook 2010 and engaged Mail2Web. I used this free service to delete all 13,xxx messages. Whew! Now, I
If you are not familiar with Mail2Web, allow me to introduce you to it. It is a free resource that can be very useful.
Mail2Web (www.mail2web.com) will access any email account by simply supplying the username and password for the account. It requires no configuration whatever, and it is fast and free! Mail2Web can be very useful if one wishes to access an email account from a borrowed or public computer.
Mail2Web also offers paid services that provide a variety of email solutions. It is a resource that I highly recommend.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
The Weather - The weatherpeople were correct when they predicted rain for today. It is very wet outside!
Current forecasts indicate several storms will drop as much as 13 inches of rain in this area! (Northern California) Rain is predicted through the weekend—with the heaviest rainfall expected on Thursday. Fortunately, temperatures are expected to be relatively warm— with lows in the range of 48° to 50° and highs of 55° to 60°. Wind advisories predict winds to be 10 to 30 MPH. Wind gusts are expected to reach 35 to 40 MPH.
Flooding is not expected to be an issue here in Corning, but the outlying areas may well suffer flooding. Flooding is uncommon here, but it does happen. If memory serves me correctly, it has been around 10 years since last there was flooding in this area. Flooding within the city limits of Corning takes place when the rainfall exceeds the capability of the sewer system. It is advisable to be prepared, and several locations are producing and providing sandbags.
When I see reporting on television of the devastating flooding that has taken place in other areas, I thank God that we are fortunate to live in an area that suffers very little from weather conditions.
I then ask myself why people chose to live where weather poses a significant and predictable threat. I would move elsewhere.
Where do the hummers go when the weather is bad?
Addiction Counselor Charged with Murder in DUI - I stared at this headline—imagining that the pressures involved with counseling people suffering from addictions had taken a toll upon this person and "driven him to drink," as it were. I was completely unprepared for the story behind the headline!
The convertible the addiction counselor was driving hit the victim so hard that it knocked him out of his shoes and lodged him in the windshield. As he lay dying on the hood, police said, the counselor drove another two miles—until other motorists swarmed her car at a traffic light and grabbed her keys.
The counselor was charged with DUI and murder. She had a blood alcohol content of over twice the legal limit. She had a history of drug addiction and criminal activity. She was convicted of first-degree burglary in 1989 and a month later of having narcotics while in custody. In 1994, she was convicted on one count of burglary and given nine years in prison.
This story particularly saddened me—not simply because of the tragic, unnecessary death of the victim—but because someone with such a history of drug addiction and criminal activity would be placed in the position of counselor to addicts. This seems so absurd to me that I simply cannot imagine the vetting process under which such a person would be found acceptable for such a position.
I followed the story online and determined that such appointments are commonplace.
Why???????