h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

No, the rat was found on the outside of my house the morning after my return from the fjord.

They say there are usually just as many rats in a town as there are people. I wonder how many of them drowned in the sewers.

How many of the rats, I mean.

In his disingenuous way, Paulh does have a knack for encouraging pedantry.

Pedantry? Moi?

I was confused about where the rat was at the time of its death.

Pedantry is the art and science of clarity of expression.

Well, thank you.

To understand clearly. If I have a mission, it could be that.

...probably conditioned by a life-long habit of conscientious direction of library patrons to the literature they were seeking...

Thank you ITIWBS.

Yesterday, it rained from early morning to late afternoon/early evening. The rain rarely stopped and it was quite breezy. There was plenty of rumbling thunder but sadly no lightning. At the latter end of the rain storm, there was a rainbow which was quickly disappearing as I was videoing it.

I videoed the latter end of the rain storm.

http://youtu.be/LhqqAE5QY-0

http://youtu.be/aLqa5819Z2I

http://youtu.be/Bna1Dhf6YyU

Very soothing videos, Rosa.

Thank you ITIWBS

There is very little chance of being able to see the Perseid meteor showers in Thurrock. Last night there were overcast skies and it looks like it will be the same tonight.

On the plus side, there have been 129 spotless days, this year.

Daily sun activity: 11th August 2018

Sunspot number: 0

Current Stretch: 8 days
2018 total: 128 days (58%)

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 70 sfu

"The heat, the flies", have abated somewhat here, but we are still waiting for rain. On Thursday we had the European equivalent of a tornado - a swirl of wind which broke off the tops of small trees and flung them at our office windows - quite excitingg! However, some colleagues' cars must have suffered when the trees and branches landed on top of them. My bike was OK but it was quite a slalom between fallen branches to get home.

Extremely heavy rain is likely around 3:00 or 4:00 this afternoon.

Here's hoping it won't hit you too hard, paulh!

So far the really heavy stuff has passed us by.

...no hurricane force storms hitting yet... ...the Salton Sea could use 3 or 4 meters of water... ...its not winter yet... ...I still need to get the roof fixed (next month)...

Yesterday, Boston didn't get much rain, but the area north of us was hammered. Hundreds of cars stalled out in the deep water, having to be towed.

Wa'al, I kind of figure when the dams and rivers on the Colorado system are all topped up, the Salton Sea is a reasonable destination for remaining surplus, last before the Gulf of California itself.

Not that I'll turn my nose up at a hurricane force storm.

When I went out shopping, I was prepared for rain but there was not anymore rain, even though it was threatening. There has not been any strong winds yet but may have them in October. Autumn is coming early this year and I hope that there will be seasonable weather.

Different strokes for different folks.

The only rain we get here worthy of consideration is the comparatively rare gale to hurricane force storm.

Only sign of weather like that evident at the moment is the occasional still standing stump of a palm tree broken off in a storm like that.

There's a woman on my street who worries about an oak tree falling on her home. She points to a fallen tree (a maple) on the street. I pointed out that the maple is a swamp maple with shallow roots, which can be blown over by windstorms when the ground around it is wet. We did, indeed, have numerous strong windstorms this past winter. The oka, however, would likely have a tap roots going down twenty or thirty feet, plus a lateral root system stretching out underground for up to a hundred fee. It could live another three hundred years, unless a category 4 hurricane comes through this area. Carol, in 1953, was a category 5, but not when it hit New England. The hurricane of 1938 set wind speed records south of Boston, though it might have lessened to category 4 by the time it hit us. But even that hurricane was unable to knock down the Avery Oak of Dedham. (That tree was knocked own by a thunderstorm in 1972.)

I think hurricanes are kind of exciting, provided that I'm watching them form inside a safe place.