Carmichael's Position

Seriously... 78 Degrees Yesterday... Today, Notsomuch

Sure sign that Spring has arrived in Denver!  78 Degrees and sunshine followed 18 hours later with 4 inches of snow!  Heheh... Love it!

Man!... That's Gotta Smell Bad In There!

I've experienced a few semi-harrowing approaches in my hundreds of commercial flights, but, thankfully nothing like the passengers of this Airbus experienced on this blustery day!

I'm thinking there would be a particularly pungent bouquet in the air following this 8 point not-so-much-touchdown!

HT: Lex

So, You're Telling Me They Call You "Mariah?"

Cool commercial...  Hat tip to my fiend Tommy for calling attention to it via his Blog "Driving Fast, Taking Chances."  Yeah, I figured out the metaphor about 10 seconds into it, creative though.

Especially relevant considering who I work for now... yes I can help your company explore alternative energy options... Ping me at jcarmichael@nuenergen.com and visit us at www.NuEnergen.com .

The Mariah reference, for those of you born in the MTV generation, is in regard to a song from the musical "Paint Your Wagon."  One of the only Musicals a Heterosexual male can publicly claim to enjoy!  Hell, It starred Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin for God's Sake!  (Who both sang in the Movie!!!! No Seriously!!! They Did!!)

Well... That was FUN!

Or maybe not so much...

I am finally holed up in a warm comfy hotel room in the lovely town of Waterbury CT after spending almost my entire day on the freeways of Massachusetts and Connecticut... well 8 hours! anyway! (I say almost, because the first 3.5 hours of my morning were spent finalizing plans for my company's next coolest release for our customers...)

You:  "Wow John you must have traveled from one end of one state to the other..."

Me:  "Nope,... went 94 miles..."

You:  "huh?"

Me:  Allow me to illustrate...

Today after completing a software improvement  project with our developer, I needed to traverse some 140 miles from Marlborough MA to Danbury CT.  I didn't make it...

After 8 hours on my butt, no food, and one very impromptu pit stop on the not so side of the freeway, I had had enough...  Ya see, there was this Snow Storm I drove right smack into...  weird actually went from East Coast gray overcast, to... well...  A curtain of SNOW... A lot of SNOW!  In very short order! Some 9 inches in 4 hours! Here's a taste:

At 11:45 I took a photo as I was approaching the toll booth at the end of I-90 transitioning onto I-84, it had literally just begun no more than 2 minutes earlier.

This next shot was 12 minutes later:

26 minutes later...

2 hours and 11.3 miles later... seriously...

Then a few hours after sitting parked, well not really parked... every couple of minutes or so we advanced a car length or two... sometimes only a Mini Cooper length or two, I decided that my back teeth had been floating LONG ENOUGH!  And without a Gatorade bottle to spare, decided to mark some Connecticut territory and melt some ice right there on the freeway.  After all, we weren't going anywhere anytime soon.  No one blamed me!  And through the rest of my winter wonderland odyssey, I observed that I was not the only one who's bladder could be leased out as a Workout Ball!  Seven.... count 'em Seven others applied de-icing to I-84 in the course of the next hour or two.  Nope, don't know how you ladies do it!

This next photo I took looking back behind me... it was quite eerie in that I was actually the LAST person in the traffic line on the freeway... I had just cleared an icy hill that many semi's had jack-knifed on, and where many others' velocity vector was not pointing the same direction as their headlights!Somehow I finagled my way through... never once hitting the brakes or in reality nudging the gas more than the amount it would take to advance yourself in the drive-through window at McDonalds!  Oh... Did I happen to mention my Hertz rental car for this week's festivities was non other than an '07 Mustang!  Gotta just love rear wheel drive... with lotsa torque... in SNOW!  Anyway back to the pic...   after pulling up to the all too familiar eternal line of cars on the I-84 parking lot, it was some 5 minutes before I realized that I was LAST IN LINE!  I mean no one was behind me for over a 1/4 a mile (that was as far as I could see!)  That can't be good!

It was at that time... or in the next 20 minutes that I sat parked there... I made the decision to cut my trip shorter (distance-wise... it was already 6 hours longer) than planned, call the nearest Marriott and see if they had a room for yon weary traveler.

They did!  Now if my 1/4 tank of gas holds out for another 20 miles (and maybe 3 hours!)

Miracle!  About 10 more minutes passed and we the intrepid, began once again our snow laden mosey.  We cleared through another "Charlie Foxtrot" of Semi's and "See Dumbass!!! Four Wheel drive does not make you 'Captain Invincible's!" ("Captain Imbeciles" maybe...) and the plowed road lay presented before us... now mind you 20 miles per hour may not seem like much to you all sitting back reading this in Sunny San Diego... but let me tell you it was good to get the wind blow'n through my hair again... did I mention that my windshield wipers froze up on me?  So my head was out said window a couple of times knocking the frozen crap of the ol' vinyl "flick-fluncks" (can't really call then windshield wipers at that there particular moment) with the extended ice scraper/broom so thoughtfully supplied by Hertz!  Good people those Hertz guys... except for the ol' Mustang thing in the first BIG ASS Winter Storm of the season!  At least it wasn't a convertible!  Small blessings doncha know.

Alas I arrived at my recently altered hotel... and you know... the winter scene out my 6th floor, quite warm, Internet, and TV equipped room takes on a whole new peace about it once spectate'n  instead of participate'n...

Peace on Earth to all of you... I'm just happy having a little peace here in Waterbury Connecticut.

Sleep well... I know I will...

Haven't Posted Too Many Photos Lately... Here's a Dose

Been awhile since I've posted some pics... So here's a few random selections from fall here in Colorado.

Above... 2 views from my "Guest Bedroom" window.  Below... a view of the National League Colorado Rockies Rally in Downtown Denver from my former offices.

And a few of Sunsets...

 

Hey Al! You Catch'n this? Or is this Information a Bit too... Well... INCONVENIENT?

NASA Sees Arctic Ocean Circulation Do an About-Face
11.13.07

PASADENA, Calif. – A team of NASA and university scientists has detected an ongoing reversal in Arctic Ocean circulation triggered by atmospheric circulation changes that vary on decade-long time scales. The results suggest not all the large changes seen in Arctic climate in recent years are a result of long-term trends associated with global warming.

Yep, from the same NASA you claim as an independent scientific resource.

Reporting in Geophysical Research Letters, the authors attribute the reversal to a weakened Arctic Oscillation, a major atmospheric circulation pattern in the northern hemisphere. The weakening reduced the salinity of the upper ocean near the North Pole, decreasing its weight and changing its circulation.

"Our study confirms many changes seen in upper Arctic Ocean circulation in the 1990s were mostly decadal in nature, rather than trends caused by global warming," said Morison.

"While some 1990s climate trends, such as declines in Arctic sea ice extent, have continued, these results suggest at least for the 'wet' part of the Arctic -- the Arctic Ocean -- circulation reverted to conditions like those prevalent before the 1990s," he added.

Ok folks watch and learn as the Global Warming Extremists take to the airwaves discrediting where they can.  Remember, MAN! is at fault!  100% ALWAYS!!!! 

Why? Because if the gross affect of Global Warming is due to forces outside man's influence or creation... well then there pretty much is no need for a "CAUSE" now is there?  And what do causes gain?  Notoriety and MONEY!  Without cause, both go away. Back to the commune with you now...

Denver's First Snow 2007!

Yep it was 76 degrees yesterday!  Woke up this morning and... well... it sure ain't 76 now!  

We're only anticipating a couple or three inches today, and it will probably all be gone by tomorrow... but the mountains are rumored to have received 10-16"!!!  Whooo hooooo!  Wax up those skis baby!

Denver Lightning

Prior to leaving the office on Friday, we had a bit of a thunder storm hit the Denver metro area.  I managed to grab a couple of decent photos from my office window of some of the lightning. 

That's the Hyatt getting pounded on! 

Enjoy... 

Wow, a Little Bit of Hail Here in Denver Today!

Now that's a storm!

About 1:30 this afternoon we had a bit of a hail storm blow through the Denver Metro:  Here's a few Pics and a Video of our "White May 29th"

Imagine my surprise!

I seriously want a job where I can be wrong 83% of the time and still keep my position!  Just like Denver Weather Forecasters!

Today's forecast for the Denver Metro was for chance of rain showers POSSIBLY with some snow flakes mixed in later tonight (that's "tonight" tonight... Thursday night... not last night).

Well this morning I rose a bit later than my norm, sleep felt like the proper priority after the month I've been having.  I none the less rose still in a bit of a snooze stupor, padded off to the bathroom for my morning ritual (s-cubed... left off the third "s" this morning).  The blinds on the bathroom window were down as is the usual to prevent blinding my opportunistically voyeuristic neighbors... I'm pretty sure it ain't me they're interested in.  Hope not anyway...  So back to the point, I still have not seen the conditions externally.

I complete the morning ritual, drag a comb through my hair, get dressed, grab my shoes and head out to the living room to sit on the couch whilst I put them on.  Once, butt firmly plopped on couch I glance up, out my window for the first time this morning...

Heheh... hheeheeheh..... Ha... Haaha... haaeaaahahahah... and start laughing my butt off!  There's 5 inches of snow growing rapidly on my shrubs!  Don't that just figure!  Better be gone by moving day this Saturday!

Looks like someone else didn't quite plan on this...

Welcome to Spring in the Rockies!  Our morning radio newscaster even coined the phrase "Sprinter" conjoining Spring and Winter.

A Break in the Gloom

Finally the snow lifted today. Providing for a beautiful dusk.

I saw this opportunity, and thought I'd try to see if I could frame a good Moon shot.  I also wanted to see the resulting focal ability of the 12x optical zoom of my new Cannon S3IS.  Not bad actually.  Moon actually looks really good in the full size image.  Click here to see what I mean... BUT ONLY FOR HIGH SPEED... BIG FILE!

Blue skies!  Dirty window!

Don't adjust your monitor or try to scrub the smudge off... again this pic was taken through my dirty window.

Local squirrel, I've got about 5 that run around the yard, unless the cats are out.  Then they REALLY RUN through the yard!

Full series is here [Link]

More Scenes of Winter here in Denver

Not much to do with 27 total inches of snow on the ground outside.  So I took new camera in hand a headed out to see if I could find some interesting subjects to photograph.  Actually a friend of mine motivated me by offering up a challenge last night to, by 5pm today to submit a photo that captures the winter nature we are faced with here in Denver today.  I accepted of course.

I still think he won between us.  But he was kind enough to call it a draw, (his preference was the dog photo below).  Anyway here's a few scenes for your viewing pleasure. 

Above:  Was a "Guard Dog" for a local used car lot.  I played fetch with this vicious beast for 10 minutes.  She was a sweetheart! 

What I wish the snow would do... Stop! 

Liked the color contrast.  But the Auto focus caught the tree instead of the hydrant.  (I'll have to pay attention to that in the future). 

And then finally, I liked the contrast here too.

More here if your so inclined... http://jcas.smugmug.com/gallery/2286959