GTKY: Daily Question Thread - May 2023 Edition

[haldir]

1 hour ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

I'll get around to answering my questions later, may even find some pics.  I got home late and had to actually go into the office for an ergonomic assessment (and confirmed, our desk chairs are crap......well, they are probably fine if you are 5 foot 6 or something, but not if you are 6'2").

Question, Monday May 29th.

We are seeing a significant number of wildfires breaking out in our area, which is fairly unusual traditionally for our area.  How are things weather related your area?  Are they the expected norm or are you having an unusual year for conditions?

 

A little cooler then normal for this time of the year. We've also actually been having rain on some days as well. It's still in the low 80s for the most part. We did have a heatwave roll through first of this month (mid 90s), but overall it hasn't been that bad so far this year. Heat is a comin' & it can take as long as it wants, for all I care....

 

Fire season for OR hasn't started yet & it can stay that way as well.

[Jasper_the_2nd]

On 5/26/2023 at 10:21 AM, Jasper_the_2nd said:

Question, Friday May 26th.

In your area, what is considered a long drive vs and short or average drive?  And do you measure the length of a drive in kilometers/miles, or in time?

 

Question, Saturday May 27th.

I'm at the race track running race control for the first motorcycle race round this weekend.  What are your views on motorcycles in general?  Are you a rider?

 

Question, Sunday May 28th.

Today is the Monaco F1 Grand Prix and the Indy 500. Have you ever been to Monaco or Indy? Would you like to travel to either (for the race or any other time)?  

 

 

 

 

26th.  We tend to use time.  I'm 10 minutes from the FLGS.  4 hours from my parents.  Etc.

I consider anything up to about an hour or so a short drive.  Up to 4-5 hours an average drive.  Beyond that we are talking long drives.

 

 

27th. Bikes. I've never ridden bikes.  (well, I crashed a friend's dirt bike was I was around 10-12, but that doesn't really count).  Folks were very anti-bike.

I understand the appeal of riding them, I've ridden 4-wheelers and the occasional scooter at the track.  For me the risk of riding them on the road is way too high.  One of my wife's nephew's lost his leg to a driver who was in a hurry to by lotto tickets a few years ago.

Now bike racing. Again I understand the appeal.  It is very much a person/machine working as one kind of deal, and the speed and rawness of it.  But (and I say this with a lot of friends who race bikes) there needs to be something...different.. .in your head to race bikes.....
As for the weekend, as a marshal I don't take pictures while bike are on track.  That's a no no as you shouldn't be focusing on anything by what is going on.

So I'll snag a couple of Kevin's photos as he was out shooting on Saturday.

That's Gary, on his R3, classed as a light weight 400.  He can run close to the lap times of most people on a 600 on it.  He's still winning races regularly, including at the national level against up and coming 17-18 year olds.  Gary's in his 70s and in at least three motosports related halls of fame.  

 

That's "the Fraser kid"  (his dad used to race too).  I think that's his sportbike (so a 600) but pretty sure he has a superbike (up to 1000)  as well.

He was having a bunch of technical gremlins this weekend but was still fast when the bike was working right.

 

 

28th.  I've never been to either.  I'd like to get back to Gencon (last time I was there it wasn't in Indy) sometime.  And I'd like to go to the racetrack.  I've never been inside one of the big ovals, so would be cool to see first hand.  The race might be interesting, but I'd rather go marshal when they do the road course there.

Monaco, if someone else was paying, I'd love to visit.  Probably not F1 weekend as it looks super crowded.  They race historics a week or two before the F1, that is apparently much more affordable, and would be cool to hear the old v12 echoing off the buildings.

 

 

1 hour ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

I'll get around to answering my questions later, may even find some pics.  I got home late and had to actually go into the office for an ergonomic assessment (and confirmed, our desk chairs are crap......well, they are probably fine if you are 5 foot 6 or something, but not if you are 6'2").

Question, Monday May 29th.

We are seeing a significant number of wildfires breaking out in our area, which is fairly unusual traditionally for our area.  How are things weather related your area?  Are they the expected norm or are you having an unusual year for conditions?

 

It is apparently super dry here, which is very unusual for this time of year.  That is normally a late July/August kind of thing if we have it.

 

[TGP]

2 hours ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

Question, Monday May 29th.

We are seeing a significant number of wildfires breaking out in our area, which is fairly unusual traditionally for our area.

Thankfully, no wild fires to report. More detail later. 
 

[TGP]

4 hours ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

2nd Question, Monday May 29th.

How are things weather related [in?] your area?

I checked drought.gov (my taxpayer dollars at work!) and the official indications are there is a slight drought in my home county. But to all points East of here, normal levels of rainfall and wetness. 
 

Lake levels are 1, 2, maybe 5 feet below design level.  (Lakes around these parts are almost ALL artificial, created by the US Army Corps of Engineers. )  There could not be the population density that exists here without the water supply all those reservoirs provide. 
 

TLDR:  …It has felt a little cooler than previous springs; It has been drier—less rainfall. 
 

[Zink]

4 hours ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

I'll get around to answering my questions later, may even find some pics.  I got home late and had to actually go into the office for an ergonomic assessment (and confirmed, our desk chairs are crap......well, they are probably fine if you are 5 foot 6 or something, but not if you are 6'2").

Question, Monday May 29th.

We are seeing a significant number of wildfires breaking out in our area, which is fairly unusual traditionally for our area.  How are things weather related your area?  Are they the expected norm or are you having an unusual year for conditions?

 

We've had a decent May. A little bit drier and hotter than average but compared to the last several years of drought it's looking ok. We did have a lot of heavy smoke from the Alberta wildfires for awhile. We went to Calgary over the long weekend and one day couldn't see anything outside because of smoke. 

[ManvsMini]

On 5/26/2023 at 9:21 AM, Jasper_the_2nd said:

Question, Sunday May 28th.

Today is the Monaco F1 Grand Prix and the Indy 500. Have you ever been to Monaco or Indy? Would you like to travel to either (for the race or any other time)?  

 

No, I haven't, though I am pretty sure the Monaco Grand Prix is the race featured in Iron Man 2. That's good enough for going there for me.

 

 

5 hours ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

Question, Monday May 29th.

We are seeing a significant number of wildfires breaking out in our area, which is fairly unusual traditionally for our area.  How are things weather related your area?  Are they the expected norm or are you having an unusual year for conditions?

 

It's been going back and forth between hot and cool and everything in between. That's pretty typical for my area. Today is sunny, and not too hot out, just about the perfect temperature for me for this time of year. But it's not going to last, temps are supposed to get high this week from what I've heard.

[Chaoswolf]

On 5/26/2023 at 8:21 AM, Jasper_the_2nd said:

 

 

Question, Saturday May 27th.

I'm at the race track running race control for the first motorcycle race round this weekend.  What are your views on motorcycles in general?  Are you a rider?

 

Question, Sunday May 28th.

Today is the Monaco F1 Grand Prix and the Indy 500. Have you ever been to Monaco or Indy? Would you like to travel to either (for the race or any other time)?  

 

 

I do not ride motorcycles, but I have no problem with them or those that do like riding them.

 

I have visited Monaco, but the race was not going on at the time. It was very expensive, not entirely sure why the Navy thought it was a good place to go visit.

 

 

5 hours ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

 

Question, Monday May 29th.

We are seeing a significant number of wildfires breaking out in our area, which is fairly unusual traditionally for our area.  How are things weather related your area?  Are they the expected norm or are you having an unusual year for conditions?

TGP and I live relatively close to one another, so his answer applies for me, as well.

[ratsmitglied]

9 hours ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

I'll get around to answering my questions later, may even find some pics.  I got home late and had to actually go into the office for an ergonomic assessment (and confirmed, our desk chairs are crap......well, they are probably fine if you are 5 foot 6 or something, but not if you are 6'2").

Question, Monday May 29th.

We are seeing a significant number of wildfires breaking out in our area, which is fairly unusual traditionally for our area.  How are things weather related your area?  Are they the expected norm or are you having an unusual year for conditions?

Apart from being slightly cooler than normal for this time of year weather conditions are normalising compared to last year (which was extremely wet)

[Count Urlik]

9 hours ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

 

Question, Monday May 29th.

We are seeing a significant number of wildfires breaking out in our area, which is fairly unusual traditionally for our area.  How are things weather related your area?  Are they the expected norm or are you having an unusual year for conditions?

Wildfire smoke into seattle used to be a once every 4-5 years event that would last a few days.  Now it’s every summer, often for weeks.  We’ve already had a ‘heat dome’ event (once a summer rarity) earlier this spring, and it coincided with BC-generated forest fire smoke.  The part where generalized climate change causes accelerated weather changes is upon us, and it’s only going to get worse.  I’ve been dreading this for decades, and now we’re living it.

Edited May 29 by Count Urlik

[Inarah]

12 hours ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

Question, Monday May 29th.

 How are things weather related your area?  Are they the expected norm or are you having an unusual year for conditions?

 

Every year is an unusual year here.  We had a drier than usual end to last year, then a wetter than usual start to this year, then a warmer than usual start to spring, and now a cooler, but drier move into summer.....  I don't think we will really know what's going on until we look back at it 50 or 100 or 1000 years from now. 

 

 

 

[ejala]

I've never noticed wildfires locally where I am in Ohio. As for the weather, it's the usual "don't like it? Wait five minutes."  This week it's deciding to be hot.

 

Back to motorcycles. We moved here before I started first grade.  Not sure it happened that year, but pretty soon our fairgrounds acquired a labor day bike rodeo, which has continued, save covid, until recent times.  They might not come this year, the county sheriff refused to provide security after some incident last year.  Now the huge influx of bikers is good for business; I'm pretty sure it's the highest beer sale weekend locally, even moreso when they built the gas station by the fairgrounds.  There's a worn dirt path between the berm of the highway and the corn from all the go carts and four wheelers taking a shortcut between the fair and the gas station.  Lots of groups do bike washes to raise money.  Our hs drama club tried, but we didn't have a choice spot.  

The downside of several hundred bikers descending on town is of course noise and traffic.  The fairgrounds are between our subdivision and town.  So closer to us we get the riders cruising twisty back roads and being noisy.  And to get to town, we have to deal with anyone wanting to turn left at an intersection that sometimes has a stoplight, but it only does two way traffic, so there is no turn signal and no turn lane.  The county fair and swap meets are worse than the bikers on that, you can get stuck behind someone half an hour those days til the cop running the light bothers to get up and walk into traffic to stop the northbound lane by hand so the southbound people can turn left.  

 

As I mentioned the rodeo went on through most of my childhood.  My school bus route would naturally have had to go past the fairgrounds, inviting the above traffic issues.  The surreal part of my experience with bikers is that our bus route had to pick up the family that lived at the end of the lane past the fairgrounds and the water company.  So picture an elementary school bus slowly wading through a sea of bikes with the kids looking at all the tattoos, piercings, and scantily clad individuals, just to drop off two boys,  make a three point turn, and wade back again.  Getting home could take an extra 15-30 minutes. 

 

Tl;Dr: bikers in large numbers are annoying in so many ways. 

[Evilhalfling]

in Colorado we got a thick cloud from Canadian fires  (two weeks ago) - we have also gotten Oregon & California fire smoke,  + our own. 
My asthma rarely bothers me,  except in heavy smoke.   I have to watch the air quality,  and try to stay inside when its bad.  

otherwise we it is the edge of summer and feels Like it  cool mornings, mid seventy afternoons. 
other than the smoke, its nice here.  

 

[Pezler the Polychromatic]

15 hours ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

I'll get around to answering my questions later, may even find some pics.  I got home late and had to actually go into the office for an ergonomic assessment (and confirmed, our desk chairs are crap......well, they are probably fine if you are 5 foot 6 or something, but not if you are 6'2").

Question, Monday May 29th.

We are seeing a significant number of wildfires breaking out in our area, which is fairly unusual traditionally for our area.  How are things weather related your area?  Are they the expected norm or are you having an unusual year for conditions?

More forest fires than normal up north, it's been a bad year. Thunderstorms are rolling through the province all week, so it's giving a bit of relief. Current status: https://www.saskpublicsafety.ca/emergencies-and-response/wildfire-status

[aku-chan]

19 hours ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

Question, Monday May 29th.

We are seeing a significant number of wildfires breaking out in our area, which is fairly unusual traditionally for our area.  How are things weather related your area?  Are they the expected norm or are you having an unusual year for conditions?

 

The weather is the usual mixed bag, just a bit more extreme than usual, the hot days are hotter and the rainy days are wetter.

The other week I just about avoided being pelted with giant hailstones.

[TGP]

22 hours ago, Jasper_the_2nd said:

3rd Question, Monday May 29th.

Are they the expected norm or are you having an unusual year for [weather] conditions?

Both. 
As I reckon things, 5 months in, it’s been  closer to the expected norms than anything else. But, not according to:

 

The Chief

 

Oh No. No, no, no! You see we need to get the app, on our phones, we need to tune in everytime! Because…

 

The Chief

…has to save us by warning us. From what?  You’d rightfully ask. From those deadly Thunderstorms that are going to hunt us down that’s what! (The Chief Meteorologist at one of our local Telly stations goes into conniptions anytime radar detects anything bigger than a buzzard.)

 

A couple of nights ago…

The Chief

 

(they really say it like that) was first up on the 10pm evening news. Ahead of all other stories. THERE WERE THUNDERSTORMS OUT THERE !! and we needed to know. They were just a little North and a bit West of Abilene.    For those unfamiliar with the geography of Texas, these storms were so far away you could fit the entire country of Ireland in between  @Chaoswolf’s house and where these storms were.  They were about six hours out. Six hours is a eternity for a Texas thunderstorm. Anything can happen in that timeframe. But, 

 

The Chief

 

…had to let us know. That he didn’t know. If it would be bad, or how bad, or where exactly it might be bad. 

It rained for about twenty minutes around 3 am.