August. I've almost waxed poetical about how much I dislike this month. The very first August I was blogging, 2010, I did a post evoking the movie "The Chronicles of Riddick" and the planet Crematoria, where a big chunk of the movie plays out. I've reposted chunks of that, links to it and referenced the ill-named planet rather often.
Similarly, since about 2014, I've been running a short piece based on a graphic NOAA publishes (or used to; can't get to my old bookmark tonight!) of the statistical day of the warmest temperature of the year. The way I read this, July 26 - 31 are our warmest of the year. Not even in August, but hard to tell apart without instrumentation.
Whether that's the hottest week of the year or not, the conclusion I've used for years still holds:
And that's what life here is like for August plus or minus a week or two. Stay out of the sun. Do your outdoor activities near sunrise or sunset. Don't expose bare skin to the sun any longer than necessary - and even then, use sunscreen if you need to be out when the sun is intense, say from 10 AM to 4 PM. SPF 3 million is adequate. Without air conditioning and mosquito control, a technological civilization could not exist here.
The next five days are looking to be worse than usual.
Why? Two main reasons. The first one is this, "potential tropical cyclone four" which has been gathering headlines and attention for about a week, and is now transiting over Cuba.
By this National Hurricane Center prediction, we won't be getting a tropical storm. That will stay off the west coast of the state. While I don't know exactly where any of them are, I think Borepatch, Divemedic and McThag, are all inside the white part of the cone Sunday. I'm sure they all should be fine. All of us been through this many times before.
The predictions up to this point have done some weird things and a storm that close bears watching closely for weird things. At this point my local NWS forecast office is showing us getting winds at 20 with gusts to 30 on Sunday. (I'm just south of Cape Canaveral, that bump on the east coast). I'll be watching this tomorrow because the last time I could take my tower and antennas down will be in the late afternoon when the storm is over Key West. The only thing worse than taking that down Saturday afternoon is not taking it down if I really should.
The other is that back in May, I got a reminder from "the system" that I'm due for a routine colonoscopy. The appointment, made well in advance, is for Tuesday. Those of you who have been through this know that the worst part of it is the night before, which is Monday night. With luck, the storm will stay on that track and be centered somewhere near the Georgia/South Carolina border. With bad luck, I'll be having to be working outside while the storm is clearing out - or stalled too close for comfort. Bad luck could mean not being able to put the tower back up for days.
The last time I went through this, I found that some car seat belts would prevent "liftoff" off the toilet seat and the troublesome, messy aspects of uncontrolled flight around the bathroom. The hardware is still bolted to the floor in the bathroom, I just need to remove a nut, put down the belt, and tighten the nut back down. One on each side of the toilet. It's a five minute job but can save hours of cleaning.
FDA Approves New Blood Test For Colon Cancer | ZeroHedge
ReplyDeletehttps://www.zerohedge.com/medical/fda-approves-new-blood-test-colon-cancer
and if it comes back questionable (which many do), you still have the colonoscopy to look forward to
DeleteI still think it's the prep that's the real haemorrhoid
"I still think it's the prep that's the real haemorrhoid"
DeleteAbsolutely! It's just that my inner 4th grader can't resist joking about it. Yeah. There are no seat belts in the bathroom. Thrust to weight ratio never goes over 1.
As of this morning, the storm forecast has shifted west a bit. Good for me, but it stays over water longer which might make it stronger by the time it hits land.
New test will be a life saver for many, but the scope gets those precancerous polyps which beats cancer treatment be a country mile.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.miamiherald.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/dave-barry/article1928847.html Just had mine done a few months ago (7th I think at, and I'm 58). Miralax, gatorade and a good book or 12. Maybe a padded toilet seat. Start the day before they require their prep, eat lightly, and 'go all out' the day you're supposed to start. And yes, the 'poop in a cup' kits are supposed to work, but are NOT a substitute for a a: good cleaning out and b: an actual camera up the butt visual.
ReplyDeleteDave Barry's article is the classic! Pretty sure I read that around the time I had my first one.
DeleteThe past few days here on the water in New York Harbor have been about as miserable as I can remember. I do remember equal suffering in August working in Boston Harbor in my 20's, hauling lobster pots, but I was in my 20's. Middle-aged fatter and slower and balder me is no longer 8-feet-12 and bulletproof. Add to this joy that these days I'm apt to be moored next to a 1000 foot long container ship, specifically alongside the fuel tanks, which are kept at 125 degrees and radiate that heat through the hull adjacent, which is next to me, and also usually painted flat black, to absorb the good sun. That same 125-degree fuel is in my tanks too, which are underdeck, so my decks are 125 also, and also steel, and also radiating heat.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, it's warm and despite drinking 5 gallons of water a day or more, I can't remember the last time I took a leak. August sucks.
While fishing in the S Pacific I wore white boots with extra thick soles. Keep the deck hose running and close by.
DeleteAt the NOAA site showing predicted paths, one of the models featured the storm making a sharp turn to the west then turning sharply to the NE once north of Tampa. That is a weird one.
ReplyDeleteAll but two models have predicted a path ever further to the west once at the latitude of, say Ft Lauderdale.