While Trump is running around cosplaying Jesus, I am apparently playing the role of Noahm because it has rained nonstop the past few days and there is enough standing water in my backyard that the willow is gonna grow another two feet. And it’s not gonna stop any time soon, it appears. It’s bad enough that the mayor sent out a mass phone call asking people to just stay in town and not drive the surrounding roads because half of them are flooded.
And it’s not gonna end any time soon with rain predicted all week except for one day when they are predicting morning snow.
It goes without saying that I give all of this the middle finger.
Manyakitty
We’re getting rain and storms coming in today and tomorrow, snow Thursday and Friday, then it clears out. Better be dry on Monday, dang it.
sab
Noahm? Typo? Anyone who reads BJ knows I aim my thick fingers badly on my tiny keyboard. I have heard of Noah. I know guys with his name.
NotMax
Music to while away time with, Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella.
:)
Martin
Climate change gonna do some shit. Plan accordingly.
WaterGirl
Cole, this is the world telling you to take a rest.
Trivia Man
On another weather note, fat bastard is in green bay rallying. They might get 8” of snow… fingers crossed he has to spend the night
MattF
A case where ‘tech magic’ turns out, as Molly White puts it, to be ‘A Guy’:
Actually kinda creepy, if you ask me.
schrodingers_cat
I too got rained on, on my walk this afternoon. Last week it was too windy to walk.
mrmoshpotato
Tonight’s Rockies-Cubs game might have a snow delay according to the radar.
Juju
I would fart in its general direction. I don’t know that the impact would be any improvement over giving it the middle finger, but it would make me feel better in so many different ways.
sab
@Manyakitty: I know. Cleveland is in a lot of ways an attractive city, but showcasing themselves in Spring ( when they might be sunny and gorgeous) is risky.
Personally I would rather see an eclipse with clouds when morons wer’re not trusting to provide us with the cheap eclipse glasses from an unknown source to stare at the sun.
Last partial eclipse I built a silly shoebox. It did work. This time they tell me an index card with a hole and a white sheet of paper will suffice.
schrodingers_cat
@MattF: Hey I haven’t shopped at the Whole Paycheck since Amazon took it over.
Manyakitty
@Martin: honestly snow in April is pretty normal in NE Ohio. Years ago I watched a season opener for the Guardians (Indians back then, was like 20 years ago) on April 1 and it got snowed out.
mrmoshpotato
@MattF: Yup. And it’s hilarious (and sad) that self-checkout is now apparently too much of a chore for some.
sab
@sab: OT: I phucking hate March, nothing personal but in my life that has been when bad thinks happen.
So yay for April, even if the incoming rabbits and lambs are wary and a bit chilled.
sab
@Manyakitty: Snow on daffodils. Better predictor than that hibernating rodent.
Quaker in a Basement
@mrmoshpotato: Rockies fans are used to that during the early part of the season, but usually it happens when the Rox are playing at home. It’s sunny and mild in Denver today.
mrmoshpotato
@Trivia Man: I hope Milwaukee enjoys the upcoming RNC shitshow too.
Manyakitty
@sab: I ordered half a dozen eclipse glasses from a place NASA linked to. I looked up how to test them and they seem legit.
Another Scott
@MattF: Interesting, and I guess not really surprising.
But on the creepy side, don’t look up when you’re in a Target and similar store.
“Hey, what are all those black hemispheres in the ceiling anyway??”
Cheers,
Scott.
sab
@Manyakitty: Asked spouse if he remembered. A morose yep.
Manyakitty
@sab: yep
Manyakitty
@sab: glad I remembered that right 😂
mrmoshpotato
@Quaker in a Basement: Cloudy, windy, and 44 by our great lake.
sab
@Manyakitty: Workplace did also. They ordered an extra pair for me but Monday is spouse’s klatch day, and also his sister wants us up the hill. I desperately do not want to go but husband is adamant.
Why won’t anyone think of the cats and the dog!?
My guess is they will sleep through it.
Manyakitty
@sab: we’ll be outside, cats are always inside.
SiubhanDuinne
@Trivia Man:
Why do you hate Green Bay?
azlib
I will get my Meade telescope out for the partial eclipse here in Scottsdale. I have the correct sun filter for it. It will probably be cloudy here next Monday. Sigh.
NotMax
@Another Scott
The Kmart blue lights are the larval form of the black hemispheres. They migrate to roost at other emporia upon maturing.
;)
Mousebumples
It’s also Election Day in Wisconsin (Presidential Primary and Spring Election), and I’m wondering if this messy wintry mix (rain, sleet, snow) – with parts of the state projected to get about a foot of snow by tomorrow – will affect turnout.
WisDems have been pushing Vote By Mail. MAGA/GOP turnout may be down due to the weather. Wouldn’t that be a shame… 😈
narya
Theoretically (because I haven’t checked) you can get eclipse glasses at Chicago public libraries. We were gonna schlep to Indianapolis–even had hotel reservations for Sunday AND Monday–but it’s looking like there might be rain on Monday and I’ve canceled the Sunday reservation. My friend has a suitable telescope, so he can just drive south if he’s so inclined, but I think I’ll try to snag a pair of glasses and just go outside here if the weather is cooperating. I’ll hang onto the Monday reservation another day or so, but the likelihood of going is decreasing rapidly.
Martin
@Manyakitty: Once got snowed out of a 4th of July trip in Colorado. Ms Martin and I had a great snow adventure one early September in Wyoming and Utah.
That said, climate change gonna do some shit. Prepare accordingly.
sab
Went to my rental storage today and it was a bit damp. Surprising! We didn’texpect that. Never happened before. A LOT of rain might be expected.
Weather service waffling every which way between catastrophe and a few bad outcomes.
We think most of it is a bit south. Husband roaming shakingthe kitter bage free. Cats do not like the shaky noices. All headed to the basement while he makes their lives clean.
Cats are intelligent animals, but not packish or clannish. Their I Q might be high, but their emotional intelligence is beneath pathetic. Their idea of a friend is someone who might play without attacking. And that changes daily. There is a reason that rescue cats never want to go into the outside world again.
Bill Arnold
@azlib:
I have similar (90mm refractor, with a basic solar filter (not H-alpha, just a partially mirrored surface), and have been watching sunspot activity for the past year or so. Worth regular looks during this solar maximum. Some of the recent sunspot clusters have been interesting visually, and also technically (magnetic fields, images from professional observers).
(Also have other scopes, but that one is easy, and light.)
lowtechcyclist
@Martin:
My wife and I have pix of each other in the snow in mid-August at Logan Pass in Glacier NP.
On that trip, we were staying in a cabin down by Lake MacDonald, and that day, it was pouring down cold rain. We were glumly preparing to spend the day indoors, when the thought hit me that if it was this cold and rainy down in the valley, it might be snowing up at the pass. So we drove up there, and sure enough, it was. Improved our moods immensely.
sab
We are in the height of tax season, dozens of returns not yet prepared, partners freaking, and I left an hour early worrying about driving rain, which never happened.
Rain or not, I have to slink into work tomorrow ashamed. Others hung in there and worked.
In my defense (weak) my valley floods a lot and theirs hardly ever.
Raoul Paste
Fingers crossed,— it looks like we’re going to get a sunny day next Tuesday for the solar eclipse. Don’t jinx it
Math Guy
@azlib: I have a 4-inch solar filter and an 8-in Meade reflector. With some stiff cardboard and electrician’s tape I’ve rigged the Meade for solar viewing. Come Sunday I’ll make the 7 hour drive to Champaign-Urbana where I was able to get a hotel reservation, and Monday morning I’ll drive to Bloomington, IN to watch the eclipse. Weather permitting. It’s always weather permitting when it comes to rare astronomical events.
Manyakitty
@sab: yeah, so far, things got cancelled and closed all over the place and we got nothing but a little rain.
satby
Pretty much same weather sooner here. Planted my new bare root roses Sunday in pots temporarily, and we had monsoon rains yesterday. The pots drain, so no worries there, but might get several inches of snow tonight. It’s 55° now, so maybe tornadoes with snow, who knows?
Martin
@lowtechcyclist: One of the great contradictions of nature is the misery of 33 degree rain vs the joy of 31 degree snow.
Bill Hicks
Yay, JGs back and we/I are in the middle of some disaster porn in Bethany. Hopefully good disaster porn where no on gets hurt. Buffalo is over its banks.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mousebumples: I voted this morning. My polling place was pretty busy for a primary where the end result for both parties is already set in stone. I am just wondering about the uninstructed vote here in Dane County.
Kelly
Blue sky and 75 here in Oregon’s western Cascade foothills. This is the last of several sunny days. Forecast predicts our next week will be the usual spring rain. Normal April for around here.
Poe Larity
We should project a giant Dark Brandon with laser eyes on the moon during the eclipse.
Mousebumples
@Omnes Omnibus: I’m also wondering about the Constitutional Amendments.
Though I heard some group encouraging an uninstructed vote fell afoul of campaigning too close to a polling place in Milwaukee.
I voted by mail a few weeks ago and confirmed my ballot was received last week.
Bill Arnold
@Math Guy:
Yeah, I’ve been watching long term forecasts to decide whether to drive north to somewhere in a broad swath of upstate NY (from downstate NY), or Burlington-area VT. Can do it in a day trip if no hotel (or relative) is available.
(Saw the August 21, 2017 eclipse in TN; that was a much longer drive.)
Princess
Let old like it’s snowing and very windy in Green Bay right now.
Heard a bit of what was called a “small” crowd Trump was speaking to today. It sounded like there were twenty people there, tops.
sab
@schrodingers_cat: They only arrived here later. I went once during Covid and it horrified and terrified me.
Fortunately we have a same concept but more local store that is much better at their alleged job. Food not politics. Sensitive to allergies. Organicis good. Covid real.
This store started same time as Whole Foods. Just local and honest.
mrmoshpotato
@satby:
Snownadoes?
mrmoshpotato
@Martin: Yeah! Gimme 20° and snow over 40° and rain any day!
WaterGirl
@Mousebumples:
what is uninstructed vote?
Timill
@Martin: Back in August 1982, I took my then (US) girlfriend to visit Bodiam Castle in Sussex.
This being an English summer, we took refuge from the snow in the local pub.
Mousebumples
@WaterGirl: or uncommitted – whatever the none of the above option is called for the presidential primary. I’ll see if I can find the tweet..
ETA below –
frosty
I’ve got camping reservations in an Ohio State Park for the eclipse. Got Celestron glasses from B&H Photo. Forecast now is 24% chance of rain on 4/8. I expected Ohio to be a crapshoot. Saw the one in 2017 and it was truly awe-inspiring.
Next two are in Southern Spain/North Africa and Australia. I’d expect those to be cloud-free!
geg6
It’s all your fault. We had beautiful weather all through January and, especially, February. In fact, pretty much right up until you started driving home. You have no one to blame but yourself. 😉
Baud
@geg6:
Kind of like that cloud of dust followed Pigpen around.
Dan B
@Kelly: 72°, very breezy, high clouds moving in here in Seattle. 50° tomorrow with rain. Everything is leafing out – crazy early!
kindness
John….that growing willow? You know better than to get us started about how you planted the willow too close to the fence.
RevRick
@Manyakitty: My sister-in-law/brother-in-law in southern Maine are expecting 18 inches of snow tomorrow and they already had plenty on the ground.
Dan B
@RevRick: Yikes! I remember measuring snow with the yardstick we kept by the door at our house west of Akron. Here in Seattle, north of Quebec City and Minneapolis we’re 72°. Thank you Japanese Current.
Jackie
@mrmoshpotato: 82 today, then we drop to low 60s and 50s for the rest of the week and into early next week. Southeastern WA.
OF COURSE I finally packed away the sweatshirts Easter wknd as it’d been upper 70s/low 80s the last 10 days… 🤷🏼♀️
Old School
@Raoul Paste:
The eclipse is Monday.
Sister Golden Bear
Had a really rough Sunday with the noonday demon. Realized I had to get out of the house, so I’m down in Monterey today through Thursday to recharge. (One advantage of (not so) funemployment.
Getting a second opinion next week about doing shoulder surgery. Thankfully it’s only partial rotator cuff tear, so the recovery only a couple days plus PT. Probably will do it because they’d also shave down a bone spur that’s been fraying the tendons, and that won’t go away on its own, and fix some minor stuff.
HumboldtBlue
Look at it this way, you could be Peter Navarro.
lowtechcyclist
A friend of mine from grad school is on the faculty at Defiance College in NW Ohio, which is inside the zone of totality, so we’re headed up on Saturday to join him and his family for a few days. Got our eclipse glasses all ready to go.
WaterGirl
@Mousebumples: That seems odd. What’s that about?
Kelly
We were in the center of the totality path for the 2017 eclipse in Oregon. It was much neater than I expected.
Paul in KY
Has rained heavily off and on all day here in the Central KY.
Betty Cracker
@HumboldtBlue: I’m having a shitty day, so it gladdens my heart to learn that the odious fascist cog Peter Navarro is having **an even shittier** day. Thanks! :)
Paul in KY
@sab: Back in the late 90s, the Flats were rockin & so was Cleveland! Had some fine times there watching the new Browns get whupped (in general).
Paul in KY
@Poe Larity: That would be badass! Would definitely freak the yokels, though.
On a side note, am watching 3 Body Problem now and when that thing occurs at midnight for everyone who can see it, I don’t think there’s enough general freakout shown/imagined.
Kristine
Rain’s finally stopped here in NE Illinois. 3 inches over the last 4 days on ground that’s already pretty soaked. Snow showers/snow mixed with rain/rain over the next few days. Suckitude all around.
Paul in KY
@Timill: Pretty cool castle!
geg6
@Baud:
Exactly!
HumboldtBlue
@Betty Cracker:
Always glad to help, Homes!
HumboldtBlue
FUCK!!!
7.4-magnitude quake strikes off Taiwan’s east coast, sparking tsunami warnings
Mousebumples
@WaterGirl: I think that’s the same thing that was the big deal in Michigan among Democrats who are displeased with Biden on something (eg Gaza). Isn’t it?
Omnes Omnibus
@Mousebumples: It is.
CaseyL
Good evening to all!
I just got off a conference call with Nature Conservancy. It was for members to hear what the Conservancy is up to: it’s current projects, its ongoing ones, and so on.
I’ve been a member on and off for years, and donate, but I’ve gotten really cynical about large progressive organizations. Too many started out with great intentions but after a couple decades become too enmeshed in lobbying for the sake of lobbying, and don’t actually *do* anything for the cause they ostensibly support.
So I was incredibly pleased to hear Nature Conservancy is still walking the walk, and all over the world as well. They started out and are still focused on the US/Canada in terms of land protection, but also have a lot of projects going on globally. Their work does not appear to consist of “building relationships” with high-ranking government officials – that’s become a red flag to me when I hear it – but does involve a lot of hands-on work with landowners, advocacy groups, restoration organizations, and such.
They did, BTW, make a pitch for people to get out and vote, and get their friends and families to get out and vote. They made a point of praising the IRA for putting so much funding into environmental restoration, and made a definite point that a “change in government” (they didn’t come right out and mention TFG’s name) would have a devastating effect on environmental policy.
Jackie
@Raoul Paste: You jinxed yourself! Tuesday is the day AFTER the eclipse.
Omnes Omnibus
Polls are open until 9:30 at two polling places in Madison because some idiot at the front desk of Memorial Union said there was not voting at that location this morning. (Twitter)
Mousebumples
In other news…
https://www.iowapublicradio.org/ipr-news/2024-04-02/prison-sentence-for-wife-of-woodbury-county-supervisor-federal-prosecutors-wanted-more
Every accusation is a confession…
Mousebumples
@Omnes Omnibus: 😅
I shouldn’t laugh, but just wow.
Glad to see the Voter Protection division is getting practice at extending voting hours where appropriate.
Jackie
@HumboldtBlue: Peter Navarro is doing his utmost to out-whine TIFG. I can’t wait to see if TIFG gets tossed in the slammer overnight for contempt to see who wins The Biggest Whiner competition overall. It could end up a tie.
HumboldtBlue
@Jackie:
Pfffftttt, Trump wins hands down, there is no more a bitchier whining bitchy-bitch than Trump, not even close.
citizen dave
@CaseyL: What a great update! Good to hear. They do good things in my state. I was a 20 year or so member in the 80s and 90s. Did a few volunteer days. My membership trailed off…. should probably rejoin.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
I think we’re getting the same rain system here in southeastern PA. We’re heading up to Montreal in a couple of days and they’re predicted to get 6″ or so of snow just before we arrive.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mousebumples: When I worked in election administration (GAB), we partnered with the City of Madison on training projected several times. They take voting very seriously. It doesn’t surprise me at all that they were on top of this.
Scout211
@CaseyL: Thanks for the wrap-up. We have contributed to The Nature Conservancy every year for decades. It’s good to hear your positive assessment of them.
Mousebumples
@Omnes Omnibus: yeah, I’m not surprised either. Still good to hear they quickly took care of it!
**
Postcards to Voters FYI –
New campaign up for Mai Xiong for Michigan State House Special Election! The election is on April 16th, if you have time to write in the next week or two.
If you’re interested in getting started with their postcarding program –
Text JOIN to Abby The Address Bot at 484-275-2229
OR
Email [email protected]
dr. luba
@Bill Arnold: I was in Ukraine years ago during an eclipse (near total, I think). Had to run out to the market–no one around, locals were afraid to go out.
It was overcast by then, but you could see the eclipse through the clouds/fog/whatever. Cool.
Scout211
Iowa won last night (yay!) and women’s college sports was also a big winner,
NotMax
FYI.
Steeplejack
@Baud:
Joe Btfsplk.
WaterGirl
@Mousebumples: @Omnes Omnibus: It makes more sense if they are upset about something in particular. Without that context, I couldn’t figure out what the point was. thanks.
Brachiator
@NotMax:
Biden quietly and patiently gets shit done.
But the idiot side of the political media wants to talk about how Biden may be too old.
The least they could do would be to write stories like “How does old Biden keep kicking ass?”
And of course, “Trump. Different day, same old tired bullshit.”
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Tangentially, Albert King.
;)
WaterGirl
@Jackie:
“I don’t like it in prison!”
Welcome to the party, pal. No one likes it in prison.
mrmoshpotato
@Mousebumples:
Has anyone tried repeatedly yelling “GO CUBS!” at these assclowns?
Kristine
@CaseyL: This is good to know. I get so much paper mail from a number of environmental groups. Already a member of the Sierra Club, but the Nature Conservancy would be a good one to add to my list.
HumboldtBlue
@Scout211:
That, sadly enough, is not a win, at least not in the modern context of sports and gambling. It’s going to lead to a sharp increase in serious ethical issues (they are already here, just look at Ohtani and the series of suspensions across leagues from amateur to pros of players being suspended for gambling activity) because in the past they maintained at least a very apparent bright line between gambling and the actual games and leagues themselves.
That’s all gone, they’re all in bed together now — media-Vegas-leagues — and I suspect you will soon see more and more calls to look into betting patterns and what happens on the field, court, or pitch.
The fuse has been lit, the only question now is how big will the explosion be?
wjca
And the Saudis working hard to join the party.
Another Scott
@HumboldtBlue: +1
There have already been big betting scandals in tennis. The thirst for ever more money for the owners and the leagues is going to do lots of damage – they know this. There’s history. But they don’t care…
Grr…,
Scott.
Brachiator
@HumboldtBlue:
Two things that have always existed in sports, from the days of the ancient Greek Olympics until today:
Cheating by athletes.
Betting.
In ancient times.
In the UK, gambling followed advances in technology.
Gambling has often been illegal in the US. But now the genie is out of the bottle. We will just have to try to deal with it.
Manyakitty
@RevRick: oh wow! Where are they on the eclipse path? Totality in the deep snow would be way past surreal.
wenchacha
I opted out of totality in WNY to visit family in California. I decided that time I can spend with my grandson is more precious to me than trying to get home in time for the eclipse. Also, flights were really expensive in that time frame.
My son and his wife are well, Grampa and I are having a great time with them and the 3.5 year old. The kid has discovered Spiderman, and we have been looking at old comic books. We have also worked on perfecting web-slinging. 🙂
I hope the weather cooperates; it should be really cool, and I will be happy for all who experience it.
yellowdog
@mrmoshpotato: I refuse to use self checkout because it is a job destroyer.
Origuy
I’m leaving tomorrow for Cincinatti. Going to check out some of the Indian mounds in southern Ohio, then there’s an orienteering event at Hueston Woods near Oxford. Sunday I’m driving to my sister’s in Danville, Indiana. The orienteering group has a place just over the state line in Indiana to watch the eclipse, but I haven’t seen my sister in over 4 years. So we’ll catch the eclipse at her place, which is supposed to be partly cloudy.
Manyakitty
@yellowdog: same.