It's in the HUNDREDS a little inland, and here on the coast it's in the mid-80's. It's been that way for days, and they are saying it's lasting through tomorrow.
Yesterday when I was driving north to Clam Beach, it smelled of smoke. "Smoke" has also been in the daily forecast. It hasn't rained here in weeks and weeks and weeks. It's so not like this place. My first experience with California fires, and I have to say I'm over it. I'm sure lots of other people feel the same way.
They banned fireworks just south of us last week. I never heard of that, but it makes sense.
Showing posts with label weird weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weird weather. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
It's HOT!, plus Riding the Bus
It's definitely in the mid-70's here in Eureka, which is so not like Humboldt County any time of the year. And it's only going to get warmer according to The Weather People.
Yeah, I'm enjoying it. It's funny to hear people "complain" about it though. Maybe their lives are just so good they have nothing else to complain about ... but I sort of doubt it.
So, I have been riding the bus into work in the mornings, which has been truly wonderful, because:
a) I get to read a book instead of fight traffic and/or
b) I get to stare out the window and look at the lovely bay
c) it's actually much cheaper to ride the bus right now than to buy gas that is well over $4 per gallon
d) I'm helping the environment
e) I have a stress free commute (OK, this is similar to reasons "a" and "b", but whatever, I like stress free, OK?)
f) I don't have to try and find a parking spot in downtown Eureka, which is only two-hour parking if there is no spot in the lot, which means I spend all day moving my car around every two hours, which is LAAAAME, plus I have forgotten several times, and a $20 parking ticket is not nice.
So, there it is. Why I love the bus.
But this morning I had one of those, what do you say, Uncomfortable Bus Moments. You know, the ones where you don't know how to act, or not act, what to say, or if you just ignore it altogether.
I went the ignore route.
I don't know if the man in the seat next to me was talking to me, himself, or a tiny cell phone chip implanted in his head, but all of a sudden the relatively normal looking guy I sat down next to starts mumbling angry expletives under his breath. I didn't feel like they were meant for me, especially since when I glanced out the window he stopped and just sat there looking like nothing was going on. I couldn't make out anything that he was saying except the "f-bomb" and the "s-word," but what I could understand is that his tone was very angry.
So, I'm trying to focus on my book, but it's hard. And then I realize that I am actually letting this guy get to me, and I'm feeling really hot in the face, like the feeling you get when someone is yelling at you. So I tell myself, inside my head, of course - otherwise I wouldn't have thought this was weird behavior - that I REFUSE to let this guy get to me, that I REJECT his poison.
It worked. I felt much calmer. I considered putting my ear phones in and listening to some music, but we were getting pretty close to my stop by this point, and I also worried that it might be really obvious if I suddenly whipped out my MP3 player. So, I just ignored the guy.
I don't know how I'm supposed to treat this kind of a thing. Just like I haven't figured out if I'm "supposed to" ignore homeless people or say hi to them. Saying hi to them often gets them following me asking me for money. It makes me feel uncomfortable and guilty. I help when I can, but I worry about getting taken advantage of too. There is quite a drug problem in Humboldt County, and no, I'm not talking about weed. It's hard to differentiate between the honest-hearted down-and-out homeless guy and the tweaker who is just trying to get a fix. And really, who am I to judge anyway? I'm just trying to go to work!
Anyway, I still love the bus either way. And excuse me if I sound naive, which I'm sure I do, but Wisconsin just doesn't have the homeless problem that northern California (all of California?) has. It's not like I have a problem with the homeless people, but I do have a problem with the systems in place that force people to live on the streets and beg for their livelihood. But that rant is for another time.
By the time I got done writing this, the weather increased 10 degrees. It's hot, y'all! My hair is rebelling, i.e. frizzy as all get-out (I don't even know what the phrase "frizzy as all get-out" means). But that rant is for another time too.
Yeah, I'm enjoying it. It's funny to hear people "complain" about it though. Maybe their lives are just so good they have nothing else to complain about ... but I sort of doubt it.
So, I have been riding the bus into work in the mornings, which has been truly wonderful, because:
a) I get to read a book instead of fight traffic and/or
b) I get to stare out the window and look at the lovely bay
c) it's actually much cheaper to ride the bus right now than to buy gas that is well over $4 per gallon
d) I'm helping the environment
e) I have a stress free commute (OK, this is similar to reasons "a" and "b", but whatever, I like stress free, OK?)
f) I don't have to try and find a parking spot in downtown Eureka, which is only two-hour parking if there is no spot in the lot, which means I spend all day moving my car around every two hours, which is LAAAAME, plus I have forgotten several times, and a $20 parking ticket is not nice.
So, there it is. Why I love the bus.
But this morning I had one of those, what do you say, Uncomfortable Bus Moments. You know, the ones where you don't know how to act, or not act, what to say, or if you just ignore it altogether.
I went the ignore route.
I don't know if the man in the seat next to me was talking to me, himself, or a tiny cell phone chip implanted in his head, but all of a sudden the relatively normal looking guy I sat down next to starts mumbling angry expletives under his breath. I didn't feel like they were meant for me, especially since when I glanced out the window he stopped and just sat there looking like nothing was going on. I couldn't make out anything that he was saying except the "f-bomb" and the "s-word," but what I could understand is that his tone was very angry.
So, I'm trying to focus on my book, but it's hard. And then I realize that I am actually letting this guy get to me, and I'm feeling really hot in the face, like the feeling you get when someone is yelling at you. So I tell myself, inside my head, of course - otherwise I wouldn't have thought this was weird behavior - that I REFUSE to let this guy get to me, that I REJECT his poison.
It worked. I felt much calmer. I considered putting my ear phones in and listening to some music, but we were getting pretty close to my stop by this point, and I also worried that it might be really obvious if I suddenly whipped out my MP3 player. So, I just ignored the guy.
I don't know how I'm supposed to treat this kind of a thing. Just like I haven't figured out if I'm "supposed to" ignore homeless people or say hi to them. Saying hi to them often gets them following me asking me for money. It makes me feel uncomfortable and guilty. I help when I can, but I worry about getting taken advantage of too. There is quite a drug problem in Humboldt County, and no, I'm not talking about weed. It's hard to differentiate between the honest-hearted down-and-out homeless guy and the tweaker who is just trying to get a fix. And really, who am I to judge anyway? I'm just trying to go to work!
Anyway, I still love the bus either way. And excuse me if I sound naive, which I'm sure I do, but Wisconsin just doesn't have the homeless problem that northern California (all of California?) has. It's not like I have a problem with the homeless people, but I do have a problem with the systems in place that force people to live on the streets and beg for their livelihood. But that rant is for another time.
By the time I got done writing this, the weather increased 10 degrees. It's hot, y'all! My hair is rebelling, i.e. frizzy as all get-out (I don't even know what the phrase "frizzy as all get-out" means). But that rant is for another time too.
Monday, January 7, 2008
The Crazy Weather
Here it is raining and storming so much that many people (last I heard on the radio, 1/2 a million in California alone) are without electricity. I'm not one of those people. But I feel for those who are affected by this.
Back in Wisconsin there was a 50-car pile-up on I-90 because of the intense fog, combined with the snowy weather conditions.
Here they warn you not to leave your house if you don't really have to on account of the pouring rain. Being one who drove on a regular basis in snow back home in Wisconsin, I thought this was being a bit overly cautious. But the climate here seems to lend itself to ultra slick roads when it's raining a lot. So it's really not a whole lot different than driving in the snow. Combine that with the fog. The fog here is intense.
I hope everyone is being careful. The forces that be are beyond our control. Respect the weather. That's my hippy dippy speech of the day. I won't call it Mother Nature, OK, but just respect it. The road by my house was closed last week for a little while because the river jumped the bridge. The (happy) cows by my house could go swimming if they wanted. Somehow I don't think they want to go swimming.
My Monday workday is over now so I am going home. Today the weather was so strange that I didn't know if I should bring my sunglasses or my umbrella. By the end of the day I had used both interchangeably. Never a dull weather moment here.
P.S. Snow may be cold, but you can't go sledding in the rain, you can't go ice skating in the rain, or skiing in the rain. My BF likes to say you don't have to shovel the rain off the car, but I'm cooped up inside a lot, and right about now I think I could go for a little bit of snow. At least snow is fun. Cute umbrellas and rain boots lose their appeal pretty quickly.
Back in Wisconsin there was a 50-car pile-up on I-90 because of the intense fog, combined with the snowy weather conditions.
Here they warn you not to leave your house if you don't really have to on account of the pouring rain. Being one who drove on a regular basis in snow back home in Wisconsin, I thought this was being a bit overly cautious. But the climate here seems to lend itself to ultra slick roads when it's raining a lot. So it's really not a whole lot different than driving in the snow. Combine that with the fog. The fog here is intense.
I hope everyone is being careful. The forces that be are beyond our control. Respect the weather. That's my hippy dippy speech of the day. I won't call it Mother Nature, OK, but just respect it. The road by my house was closed last week for a little while because the river jumped the bridge. The (happy) cows by my house could go swimming if they wanted. Somehow I don't think they want to go swimming.
My Monday workday is over now so I am going home. Today the weather was so strange that I didn't know if I should bring my sunglasses or my umbrella. By the end of the day I had used both interchangeably. Never a dull weather moment here.
P.S. Snow may be cold, but you can't go sledding in the rain, you can't go ice skating in the rain, or skiing in the rain. My BF likes to say you don't have to shovel the rain off the car, but I'm cooped up inside a lot, and right about now I think I could go for a little bit of snow. At least snow is fun. Cute umbrellas and rain boots lose their appeal pretty quickly.
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