In the news

Well, hell, you didn't think Obama was going to bomb some potential terrorist target this early in his administration, did you?
From the AP: Analysis: White House beers a way to change topic

Actually, I will give the President this: If there's anyone in the administration who should know if someone is acting stupidly....

(If you need and example: W.H. makes CEOs pay for lunch.

Four of the most powerful business leaders in America arrived at the White House one day last month for lunch with President Barack Obama, sitting down in his private dining room just steps from the Oval Office.


But even for powerful CEOs, there’s no such thing as a free lunch: White House staffers collected credit card numbers for each executive and carefully billed them for the cost of the meal with the president.

Real class.)

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I sure am glad I didn't wait around to get some of my tax money back via the "Cash-for-Clunkers" program.
AP sources: Govt to suspend 'cash for clunkers' "amid concerns it could quickly use up the $1 billion in rebates for new car purchases."
Cash for clunkers program may be running on empty
Excuse me? I thought that was the idea. Stimulation and all that.
The powers that be didn't anticipate the success of the program? I thought the crowd in power knew how people respond when the government actually gives/returns money to people? Of course, it would be even better for the economy if the government never took the G-D damn money from businesses and workers in the first place.

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It's raining like hell again. I emptied the rain gauge yesterday before we went wine tasting. It held 0.95 inches for water gathered Wednesday afternoon and over night. It rained hard last night...hard enough that it woke me over sound of the window fan at 3 AM. Looking at the radar we could be getting rain well into this evening. So this July will go out as one of the cooler and wetter Julys on record.

But not if you check the monthly data at weather.com. I've no idea where they get their data but there records indicate the station received only 1.93 inches of precipitation compared to a July average of 3.30 inches. (The Aerie is above that average value for the month.)

They also sneakily report on one bar the "Highest temperature" (86 degrees) opposite the "Average High" (81 degrees). This gives the impression that the average high for the month was 81 degrees. It was not. The 81 degree figure is the historical average for the month of July. But, of course, there is no indication of how long records were kept to calculate that "historical" average.

Using weather.com's observed highs and lows for the first 30 days of July I calculate an average high of just 77.3 degrees and an average low of 54.2 degrees. (The historical average high, as mentioned above, is 81 degrees, the low is 55 degrees.)

Our high temperatures at the Aerie have generally been two to five degrees lower than those reported by weather.com. This is attributable to our elevation (2100 feet over the valley's altitude of 1400 feet) and daily winds. Our lows are sometimes lower and sometimes higher depending upon the cloud cover and stillness of the early morning air. (Warm air rises and cold air sinks when permitted to. Clouds and fogs can block that movement. Winds tend to mix valley air and hillside air giving the two more equal temperatures. We are not at the tippy-top of the hill but 100-200 feet below the ridge this affords some protection from the temperature extremes.)

In any event, with today's rain it's a god day to curl up with a book, but please, no wine.