Category Archives: Weather

Random thoughts, Weather

Urban Heat Island

So far the excessive heat warning is still set to expire at 7 pm this evening…keep your fingers crossed.  Yes, it will still be hot, but I suppose not excessively so?  Yesterday on my way to work (late afternoon) they were warning that temperatures were something like 103 with heat index of 115.  CRAZY.

From the National Weather Service: HEAT INDEX VALUES… HEAT INDEX READINGS THIS AFTERNOON ARE EXPECTED TO CLIMB TO AROUND 105 DEGREES. THE MOST OPPRESSIVE CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR IN THE SAINT LOUIS METRO AREA DUE TO THE URBAN HEAT ISLAND EFFECT.

Did you read that?  URBAN HEAT ISLAND EFFECT.  I feel like they are just making stuff up at this point.  Except it exists on Wikipedia so it must be true.

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Either way I’m not running today because my leg is very sore on the side of the calf (I am not an anatomy expert so I can’t tell you the name of the muscle or whatnot) so I figure a day off is in order.  I haven’t taken a day off since I returned home from Chicago.  I probably should have taken Monday off rather than walking for 4 miles, but oh well.  *spoiler alert* You know the end of the HP 7.2 movie when Neville is limping around due to injuries?  I walk that way a lot, especially when I first get up or when I’ve been sitting for awhile, or after a long run or particularly tough workout.  Is that wrong? 

In addition to the ridiculous heat, it can make you angry (this is definitely true.)  Here’s an article about the heat wave in Oklahoma causing heat rage for people!  I think it must be like road rage but far sweatier.  I am so over the heat.  I am tired of the oppressive feeling you get walking outside, and I’m tired of feeling like I am going to throw up or pass out when I am trying to run outside. 

Here’s some other interesting stuff I’ve read recently (and likely posted to facebook):

Scientists Suggest Red Wine Helps Prevent Sunburn

"Pumpkin Pasties" from the Unofficial HP Cookbook (I love you, serious eats!)

How I feel about "adulthood"

And a few entries from the "blogosphere" that I starred in my reader:

Life Lessons

I was trying to remember not to run

How to handle praise

All right, dear readers.  That’s it for this morning. 

Cat, Weather

Summer is here

I’d just like to say that I’m tired of the whole "hey, and it’s not even summer yet!" mentality.  Firstly, saying that June 21 is the start of summer is just as logical as December 21 being the start of winter after you’ve already been wearing your coat for several months (and in Cleveland perhaps already ruined a few pairs of pants and boots from the salt.)  Secondly, MEH it’s really hot outside.  It’s been hot all week.

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(I just did a Google image search for "hot".  Thank goodness for safe search!  And then I tried the more descriptive "hot weather" and found the sort of thing I was looking for.)

I heard on the radio the other day than in China the government defines the start of summer as the day after 3 consecutive days that exceed a certain temperature.  That makes so much more sense than an arbitrary date!  Now, I can’t find any corroborating evidence of this right now, but I remember hearing it.  If it wasn’t China, maybe it was Singapore.  I am failing at the internet this morning.

In any case, let me quote the current Wikipedia article on summer, which sounds like it was written by somebody as annoyed as I am by our seasonal definitions:

"From the astronomical perspective, days continue to lengthen from equinox to solstice and summer days progressively shorten after the solstice, so meteorological summer encompasses the build-up to the longest day and a diminishing thereafter, with summer having many more hours of daylight than spring. Solstices and equinoxes are taken to mark the mid-points, not the beginnings, of the seasons. Midsummer takes place over the shortest night of the year, which is the summer solstice.

The Western definition based on equinox to solstice is more frequently used where a temperature lag of up to half a season is common.[3] Summer is the period from the summer solstice to the autumn equinox.[4][5][6][7] Unofficially, the U.S. summer season is commonly regarded as beginning on Memorial Day weekend in May and ending on Labor Day weekend in September."

So there you have it.  June 21 is the MIDDLE of summer, not the beginning.  Yes, it’s Saturday, I’m using wikipedia as a definitive source.  It’s okay, my parents are RETIRED college teachers 🙂

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(that’s the forecast.)

random tangents:

Last night I went to see a friend’s husband’s band at the Focal Point in Maplewood, and then we met some folks at Urban Chestnut.  It was a great summer night!  Today I have a wedding and need to do preparations for tomorrow afternoon’s studio recital.

And last night  I had my SECOND getting married dream.  This one included a walk down the aisle in my dress.  It also involved me being really controlling with the ceremony musicians, i.e., at one point I was playing violin with them to demonstrate the correct tempo for Panis Angelicus.  And it definitely included the song I am 98 percent sure I want to walk down the aisle to (wow that is tricky grammatically, is that even remotely correct?).  I may cry to the song, but I think that’s okay…

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Somehow my cat would try to ruin everything!  Like she ruins my sleep every night.  Silly fat thing.

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Awww…who can stay mad at that??

Hope, Weather

Happy Memorial Day

It’s going to be a hot day today…

weather

I daresay summer is officially here.

We are heading to a friend’s bbq this afternoon.  I’ve made a pie and a pasta salad.  We musicians always try to outdo each other with the food.

Chris wants a dog.  I have a bad feeling that at some point in my life I will be a dog owner.  I never anticipated that.  Maybe I’ll counter that if he gets a dog I get a daughter?  (cue awkward pause).

(pause continues)

 

 

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I’d better go check on the pasta salad, see how that’s coming along.

Hope, Running, Weather

Tornadoes

Today we are under another tornado watch.  These storms are just ridiculous.  I don’t know if it’s global warming, or simply the Midwest being a crazy place to live, but the past few months have been just awful.  First it was the New Year’s Eve tornado in Sunset Hills, then the Good Friday tornadoes, the tornadoes in Alabama, then the destruction of Joplin, Missouri.  And there are more today. 

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Here’s an article on what you can do for the people of Joplin.

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You can text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief.  Or you can go directly to the website here.  If you can afford to donate and haven’t, please do.  I see lots of folks on facebook who say they are praying and that sort of thing.  Give money.  Or go volunteer, if you have the skills.  Do something tangible.  Don’t just update your facebook status.

Here’s an article summarizing the awfulness.

Okay, back to me 😉

I need to go to the Ballet School this afternoon for teaching.  I plan to leave early to get there (hopefully) before the storm hits.  It’s been a great day so far.  This morning we met with a possible officiant for our wedding (we are looking at one other person) and the meeting was really enjoyable.  After that I ran in the park.  I have made Wednesdays my official speed day so today I alternated sprinting with walking until I made it all the way around the park.  It was a very impromptu workout but I think, very effective (at least, I was sweating all over, hyperventilating, and felt somewhat nauseous.  If that’s not a good workout, I don’t know what is.) 

Tonight I look forward to relaxing at home and perhaps catching up on a couple of television programs (the Borgias and maybe the Office.)  Long term I am looking forward to my sister Leslie coming to visit at the end of August, and hopefully my other sister Carrie as well!!

Edited to add:

So I should have called ahead before heading to the ballet school, but I didn’t fathom they would close…right when I got off the exit.  So then it was a race back home whilst the sirens were going off.  Lots of worry and fingernail biting ensued, but I made it home without incident or death.  Then I holed up inside watching the weather, and heard some CRAZY hail outside.

I haven’t gone outside to inspect my car yet…my friend Jen says hers has some hail damage, and I’m just avoiding it.  From across the street it looks ok…

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These are what we found in the immediate vicinity.  Nothing like this photo I stole from Jen:

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from www.stltoday.com

Teaching, Weather

Sunny Day

Today is the second sunny day in a row!  Unfortunately my current schedule is such that I am barely able to function, much less spend any quality time outside.  Okay, it’s not THAT bad but I am too busy to go for a run or anything without waking up way too early (for me).  Besides which Chris pointed out that it IS a little strange to not be able to walk properly for close to a month now and maybe I need to rest a bit more. 

Primarily this week (it seems) I’ve been sitting around feeling sorry for myself.  One of my students yesterday asked if I had gotten any better at Mario Kart Wii—we had discussed my general lack of video game skill.  This gave me an excellent opportunity to tell him about the break-in.  He was confused why somebody would do that (a sign of a fantastic kid!) and seemed flustered.  FYI:  this is the student who asked earlier about the race picture, and did I win.  He is also a fantastic violin student.  Soon I plan to teach him vibrato and I am banking on the John Kendall step 1:  First ask the student to play vibrato—they may just be able to working out really well.

We actually did some wedding planning last night.  We’re now looking at the first week in January.  It means another year of filing my taxes as single, but that’s probably okay.  We actually sent emails to a couple of venues to maybe check them out over the weekend.  I have to try to remain calm through this process, as I have not been dealing with stress very well lately.  I may have had a couple of freak outs this week which ended in me curled up in a ball sobbing.  Perhaps the robbery IS affecting me.  I’ve also been starting to freak out about my impending 33rd birthday…I guess my 30th is finally catching up on me.  Am I going to look like an old bride?? 

Okay, sorry for the maudlin-ness of this post.  Let me leave you on a happier note.

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We watched Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom the other night.  Harrison Ford proved it is most definitely NOT necessary to have a “six-pack” in order to be ridiculously good looking without a shirt on.  That’s a PSA for all of you men out there:  don’t worry about your abs too much.  Instead work hard studying archaeology and practice your combat skills.

Weather

Rain rain go away

The sun was out this morning when I got up, but by the time I had finished breakfast the radar didn’t look good for running.  We had a ton of phone calls to make anyway so I had to go to the gym instead.  Had to call dell to get my serial number (PSA:  write down your laptop computer’s serial number), had to call the police to update the police report with a couple more items I had noticed missing, and had to call the insurance company.

State Farm is my hero.  My agent checked to see if it made sense to make a claim, and it did, so we made the claim.  (Another PSA:  have renter’s insurance.  Mine costs approximately $8 per month.  There is no excuse.)

I haven’t had an insurance claim in some time, but I’ve had two car related ones in the past.  Once my car was stolen–that was a real pain in the butt.  Another time my car flooded (was in a flash flood.)  When I called State Farm to tell them my car was in a flood, they asked “is anybody in the car?”  No.  No, I would likely be calling 911 then instead.

Both times they were quite prompt with their payments.  I remember when the car flooded, State Farm had my car towed away within 24 hours for inspection.  I had the money within a week or two.  I didn’t even have to sing the tune from the commercials (though I gladly would have as I love to sing.)

In any case, evidently the claims department is a bit backed up due to the tornadoes on Friday night.  The author of another blog I read sometimes had a great summary of the carnage.  I can’t believe Chris and I were at dinner, knowing it was storming a bit (the sirens actually WERE going off on my way home from work but I decided the radar was on my side and tried to get ahead of the storm), but completely unaware of the extent of the damage inflicted.  Later than night I heard that tornadoes had hit the airport, but didn’t really believe it until the next morning when I saw the footage.  My understanding is that no one was killed or seriously hurt, miraculously.  I guess everybody heeded the warnings!  It just reminds you that life is most important and that you shouldn’t attach to your belongings that much, I guess.

My landlord has been “improving” the property a bit today.  By that I mean putting some latticing/bars on the back window and a lock for the back yard.  I should probably be more concerned that I am about future break-ins, but I feel that it was a one-off/lightning strike type of occurence and could have happened anywhere (in the city) as it certainly seems that enough of our friends have been affected by similar incidents.  Remember to back up your important computer data also!  Mine is all backed up online and I am SO glad I have that.

Speaking of materialism (haha) I was so excited today to receive our first engagement gift.  It is a cheese plate (with spinner on the bottom) and matching knife, and is from some good friends of Chris’s parents.  It’s VERY italian, and I love it!  Perhaps this (awful) month is about to take a new turn…or maybe May will be better.