Carmichael's Position

Moving on…

I wanted to give Lex’s dedication a proper life here on my pages as the post you land on when visiting Carmichael’s Position.  It is hard to believe we were all struck with the news of our friend’s passing two weeks ago now.

In that two weeks, the rest of my world blurred a bit.  Not because of accumulated tears, though there were those… but more because life’s obligations did not let up in his passing for the rest of us.

Me, after hoisting numerous Guinness's – for strength – I had to get my act together, get all my shit in one sock and then “Move On”. 

Moving on for me involved my work obligations, which required my presence back in New York City, the “Center of the Universe” (their opinion… not necessarily mine!).  Work was good.  Fifteen meetings in 4 days is not an effort to be made by the weak or meek… Although being 10 pounds lighter and possibly five laps less around the sun might not have hurt none… I was beat by the end of the week.  It’s good to be exhausted once in awhile.  All of the meetings went well and were productive.  I like our clients, they are good, hard working people.

In the course of my daily rounds I occasionally have opportunity to work on my passion of photography.   Unfortunately, I was mostly disappointed in my efforts this time around… be it poor subject matter choice, poor composition or the occasional poor technical settings, I was not excelling at my hobby.  I did however, manage to capture a couple of images I rather like, and after posting these on my Facebook pages, others have liked them as well… I am flattered and humbled by their appreciation.

The first one I took while waiting for my train’s departure from Grand Central Station.  I had to have a long exposure due to the low light conditions in GST.  What I captured was all of the motion of the busy transportation hub, all better exemplified by the still, motionless photographer in the middle of the bustle, trying to secure a photo of his own…

And the second image from the trip, was taken on the way home after the long week.  From seat 7F of a Frontier Airlines Airbus 319, meandering along at 34,000 feet and 486kts, I looked out my window and was captivated by my view.  Through an arch created by two spent thunderheads, in the setting sunlight, a cumulus cloud was highlighted in all its grandeur.  It was fascinating and I had to take a crack at capturing it through the double plated window. Here’s my result.

 

This week following has been busy as well, always is after a trip back to NY.  Plenty of life’s daily’s to keep me busy and focused.  That’s a good thing… sure beats the alternative.

Annual Camping Trip!

My friends and I have a bit of an annual ritual… Every summer we all give up many of our daily trappings and retreat to the near wilds of Colorado for a few days of R&R, fly-fishing, steak eating, beer swilling and fire poking!

This year we spent 3 glorious days at the base of the fourteen thousand feet Colorado Collegiate Peaks along the Arkansas River.

As I’ve gained in age, wisdom, and waist size… I’ve migrated away from the more rugged style of camping, sleeping in the tent on the ground in a 1972 psychedelic sleeping bag, to mooching off of a friend of mine, ‘Scooter’- and occupying one of his two double beds in his pop-up trailer- complete with heater!  (Yeah I know it’s August, but I’ll have you know that the ambient at 3:30am was indeed registering 38 degrees!)  Odd I know coming from a guy who does not wear waders when fly-fishing in 52 degree river water!

And speaking of wading, there was indeed opportunity to do that as well in Colorado’s Arkansas River… Note I specifically did not say fishing!  Because even though I had my fly rod in hand, casting any number of feathered bug-avatars into said flowing torrent… I’m convinced there were no fish to be wrangled this year!  (My wife and Clay, who both claim to have caught something, beg to differ -- I never witnessed either acquisition so I’m still convinced it was the river and not my angling skills!)  The rest of our herd is inclined to agree with me!  Lest their angling skills be impugned as well!

But the views more than made up for my shut out!

Alas, the closing day of the long weekend was upon us all too soon, and the campsite required we yuppie nomads to vacate the wilderness… with electric hookups, flush toilets… and coin op showers… no later than 11:00am.  We departed at 10:55 for our 2 hour journey back to civilization, all of us proud in the fact that not one of us deposited a single quarter in their Shower Racket!

Besides there is something immensely satisfying to arriving home, unloading the SUV and proceeding to spend 20 minutes in the master bath shower, rinsing off the smoke smell of 200+ store bought pine logs sacrificed to the meditation god known as the “campfire”! 

I bid you all a good evening, as I hope to dream of star-filled skies, gentle breezes, and the trickle of a nearby tributary… 

Thanks again to Scooter for setting this whole decompress up!  You’re a GIANT among men in my book!

Silver Lining?

This evening could have turned out to be a real pisser…

While playing racquetball this evening at the Green Mountain Rec Center, there… as they say in the south… “Came Up a Bad Cloud!”  My playing partner Rich and I could barely hear the crack of a 100mph + racquetball against the wall over the din of Rain, Hail and Thunder outside! 

I was dreading heading to the parking lot to see how much my Z4 was to look like a Titleist… heavy sigh…

That wasn’t all… while in the midst of an extremely aggressive rally, Rich’s racquet leash snapped… yeah, he lost his grip on the racquet… let me tell you it was a very strange sensation feeling the impact on my right elbow (yeah the boney part) and seeing the ball float harmlessly over my head.  Talk about not having a clue what the hell just happened.  OW!!! THAT FRIGG’N HURTS!

So after mopping up a little blood, and taping an aspirin to it we finished our match.  For the record I won 4 games to 1 (like you doubted it…).

After packing up my gear, I was filled with a feeling of despair and dread as I walked toward the parking lot.  I expected I was going to have to pull my camera out to take pictures of a heavily cratered Beemer for the Insurance record.  Those stones were quarter sized after all.

As luck would have it… BMW must make there cars outta Teflon or something because there was not one divot in that 4 foot hood line!  WOW!  Things are looking up!

Speaking of “looking up”  I was presented with other photography opportunities.  Rather than explain… I’ll let the images do the talking (or writing in this case).

 

And there you have it… Storms don’t always bring bad things.  There is plenty of beauty in their rage!

Bit of a Light Show here at Casa De Carmichael

Monsoon season doncha know…

The air was literally charged…

Intense Sky

I was sitting in my home office when I noticed an eerie orange glow radiating outside.  I stepped outside to be greeted by a fabulously intense dusk sky!  Yep… Back in to grab the Nikon.  Wish I had a better view than just my neighborhood (very unexciting, and about as photogenic as bowling shoe!) But the sky certainly made up for it. (Not one of these is modified for color saturation… I did have to recover a bit of the underexposed areas, as I pushed as tight as I dared with the shutter speed and aperture settings whist not using a tripod—cardinal sin!— or a image stabilized lens, and shooting through a window (first 2 shots below)).

Very cool!

Question Authority

Stealing from the Liberal-Socialist-Commie mantra chanted regularly at every Anti-[insert your favorite Republican Administration here] rally… 

We need to “Question Authority” a bit more when it comes to data, and articles used to advance a cause.  In this world where everything seems presented from a political stance, including science, we need, now more than ever, a stable set of data-points.

Many may have seen this article Posted today in most Media outlets:

NOAA: June, April to June, and Year-to-Date Global Temperatures are Warmest on Record

Last month’s combined global land and ocean surface temperature made it the warmest June on record and the warmest on record averaged for any April-June and January-June periods, according to NOAA. Worldwide average land surface temperature was the warmest on record for June and the April-June period, and the second warmest on record for the year-to-date (January-June) period, behind 2007.

The monthly analysis from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, which is based on records going back to 1880, is part of the suite of climate services NOAA provides government, business and community leaders so they can make informed decisions.

It’s that last part that is truly important here… “NOAA provides government, business and community leaders so they can make informed decisions.”

All the more reason to “GET IT RIGHT!”   That is indeed a scary looking map… But, in what many will not read today, because it doesn’t meet the Mainstream Media’s filtered lens, one of the NOAA Weather Stations’ Official  Observers , Dr. Richard Keen has a bit of a problem with this report.

“NOAA’s calculation of the global temperature is based on their analysis of departures at 2000 or so grid points.  One of those points included my weather station at Coal Creek Canyon, Colorado, a location with no UHI or other troublesome influences.  The NOAA map of June anomalies for the US, based on an unknown selection of stations, has Coal Creek sitting on the +4F contour.”

“The Coal Creek record is long enough to calculate 30-year normals, and June 2010 comes in at +1.0F above normal.”

That’s 3 degrees less than the NOAA estimate for the same location, which is the difference between June being in the top 3 or being in the middle third.  Now, this is simply a spot check of one of NOAA’s 2000 grid points, but it leads to the question of how far off are the other grid points?

Dr. Richard Keen

That’s a spot check from a guy who’s data they are supposed to be using!  There is an immediate integrity problem with this data.  But, I’m sure you won’t be hearing this voice from the wilderness on CNN.

On a related note: 

Joe D’Aleo, meterologist and co-founder of The Weather Channel, says,

“…too many of the weather stations NOAA uses are in warmer urban areas.

"The only reliable data set right now is satellite," D'Aleo says.

He says NASA satellite data shows the average temperature in June was 0.43 degrees higher than normal. NOAA says it was 1.22 degrees higher.”

Hmmm almost a 300% difference (error) in the data. who do we believe?  I guess the answer lies in what party you’re registered with. 

Scientific method where are you when we need you?

Denver, the fickle weather capitol of the nation.

Yesterday = 92 degrees and sun

Tomorrow? = 57 degrees and rain

Today?  Done come up a bad cloud!  My buddy Derek and I were IM-ing today when he abruptly types HOLY SH!T!  It’s hailing here!  LOUDLY!  Golf ball size! 

Now, Derek is about 6 miles to my West-Northwest and the prevailing direction of weather is from West to East here in Denver, so I was concerned it was headed my way.  Turned out it passed just to my north… thank goodness cuz that was a black cloud that kept producing hail.

Fortunately it all missed me… now where did I put my sweatshirts?

Evening Photos

On the lighter side… I stepped out to get some fresh air tonight… y’know took the Nikon for a walk…

That’s about all this evening…

Talk of the Town Today

Here in Denver the prime topic of discussion this morning is once again we have received an accumulation of snow in May! 

This is really not that uncommon, I have lived here in the Denver area for almost 12 years, and in 4 of those years (now 5) we have experienced accumulative snow in May.  Three of those storms have happened within 4 days of my birthday on May 23rd.  So I don’t think many of us are surprised by this storm, but I do find it funny how the discussion is always the same when it happens.  Facebook entries are latent with “I’m so sick of winter”, “Enough is Enough! it’s Spring for God’s sake,”  “It’s MAY 12th!”… add nauseam. 

I don’t begrudge anyone their gripe, Facebook and similar outlets are an obvious choice for bitching like this, and yeah I too yesterday was a bit frustrated at not being able (or desirous) to play our first round of the season in our Golf League. But … in the words of one of my New York Clients, “Waddyagunnado? Its da weathah.”

Enjoy what’s given to us.

Let the Thunderstorms Begin!

It is spring here in the Rockies, which means the trees are beginning to leaf, the birds are incessantly chirping in hopes mom and dad return with a morsel, we have likely not seen the end of snowfall… and the afternoon thunderstorms begin to blow up in earnest.

The above image was taken this evening looking South from Green Mountain overlooking Littleton, Colorado.  That big thunderhead on the left is hovering over Castle Rock, Larkspur, and Colorado Springs.  (Clicking on the image will deliver you to the full size panoramic… careful, it’s a big’n not for the faint of download speeds.  Does anyone still have dial-up out there?) {link}

To give some perspective, the hills on the horizon straight out are approximately 65 miles away.  The hills on the right of the image are the most Eastern element of the Rocky Mountains.  That very first ridge is know locally as the “Hogback,” where the earth was literally heaved vertically as the peaks to the West rose to over 14,000 feet.  Everything in this image is over a mile high in altitude, I live pretty much straight out (slightly left of center) in that next line of residential neighborhoods (at around 6,000 ft.).