SitRep

While out and about today we debated candy to give out for Halloween.  The last few years "business has been slow", but it's Saturday, so...  While at Costco we picked up a bag of chocolate.

As of 1900 PDT the bell had been rung once, by a trio of 14-ish young men, of whom one had bothered to put together a costume, of sorts:  A paper grocery bag over his head, with eye and mouth holes cut out.  The unknown trick or treater?

s*i*g*h.  "Well, it's the best costume I've seen so far, but that's only because most of the kids are at the mall, or their church..."

Meanwhile, Ratbane may have slipped by and made it out despite our efforts to keep Black Cat Inside On Halloween.

Double s*i*g*h.  Well, with his past history he's pretty quick to run from strangers, what with the broken, cut off tail--still raw when he adopted us--not to mention having been shaved, and starved.  Have fun, buddy, be safe...

UPDATE:  2000.  Second group, total of six, ranging in age from maybe 8 to 16 or so--again, only one in a costume.  Looks like the Samoan church across the street is not doing any youth group activities after all.  Everyone at the mall?  Trick or Treating done by daylight today?

Or did fundys take over my neighborhood while I wasn't looking?  We did see someone out trying to save the souls of potential trick or treaters earlier today.  At least, I assume that was what the sign was about, it was full of small printing, but the words "HELL IS REAL" were large enough to read...

2020:  Visit from Spiderman, who may have been having trouble reaching the doorbell.  I suppose I should be grateful he didn't "web" the button...

2100:  Ratbane has decided that it's boring, and cold, outside and has deigned to grace us with his company.

2230:  Ring/pound!  Ummmm, I don't think so!  "Wait whilst I arm myself..."  (There having been reports in  previous years of home invasions under pretense of trick or treating...)  Gee, no one's there.  No apparent damage to either house or cars, either.

Kudos!

It seems that our friends at The Grape Adventure have been voted The Best Wine Bar in Western Washington for 2009, AND our friends at 99 Bottles have been voted Western Washington's Best Beer Store for 2009!

Wooho!  Congrats folks!

Katie and Scott at Grape Adventure also won Wine Spectator magazine's Restaurant Award of Excellence for 2009, AND have announced that their second child is due in March!

Troubled Waters III

First, to put you in the mood, check out this Wondermark comic by David Malki!
#491; In which Wendy is prepared
If I ever meet Malki!, I'll ask him if the bang* was inspired by the comma in James Wesley, Rawles' name, or an independent discovery.

Anyway.

The Army Corps of Engineers has posted their estimated flood inundation maps for the Kent/Auburn, WA area in case of the anticipated, dreaded, Green River flood. 

There are four maps here, for an estimated 13,900 cubic feet per second of flow; 17,600, cps; 19,500 cps; and for 25,000 cubic feet per second.  (The "normal" high flow rate for the Green River is about 12,000 cps.)(Each map can be downloaded in two formats, one for 11x17 printout; the other, full size(46" x 36") map, is formatted for a plotter.  Just the excuse I've been waiting for to buy one!)

I feel it important to quote some of the caveats from the Corps of Engineers' website regarding these maps:

• These maps are only guidelines and do not consider the inherent uncertainties associated with all the unknown variables that may happen during an actual flood event. In short, these are not the only scenarios possible, but represent degrees of response needed.
• The maps are provided by the Corps in an effort to provide as much knowledge for the public to plan and prepare for the increased risk due to the decreased operational capacity of the Howard Hanson Dam.
• The maps are based on computer modeling and may vary from actual events.
• The flows shown in these scenarios are not flows that will be released.  The flows represent a range of flow conditions that were evaluated for planning purposes to understand the consequences of types of operations at the dam, which could be necessary due to reduced operational capacity. There is no probability associated with these flows.
• These maps are NOT evacuation maps, they are estimates of the level of inundation based on a range of scenarios.
• The maps do not take into consideration any recent work being done along the river in regards to levee fortification or private flood protection which will change the way in which flood waters spread across the land, and again may not accurately reflect inundation.

Emphasis was added by me.

In the meantime, these are new:

Apologies for the crappy cell phone pic.  This is a section of the sandbagging going on.  The large white objects are Ginormica's shopping bags; they call them "super sandbags", made of heavy plastic and hold about 10 or 20 bushels of sand.  They are lined up and then covered with heavy-grade visqueen.  Pass-throughs are left along the way, with two or more filled bags left to fill in the gap at need.  (Tried to get a close up off one of the bags, but it came out even worse...)

Meanwhile, they have been putting up Evacuation Route signs.  Now, the three of you who regularly read this drivel may recall that I discussed the issues with designating evacuation routes in advance:  People will get used to them, and then, come The Day, not be able to use what they were thinking of as the route, and then be lost.

So, now that the signs are up, they have all been covered (stand alones on sign posts) or turned around (on lamp posts, etc.) so that all that is visible is a blank square.  Considering that people who work, but do not live, in the area tend to know only one way into and out of the neighborhood, this should, hopefully, save some lives.

Of course, we all hope that these preparations are not needed, but even a liberal can see the point to getting ready, and even a fiscal conservative won't cavil at spending money that might turn out to have been unnecessary when so much is at stake.

***

*Printing trade name for an exclamation point. I can see the point, no pun intended: If you're setting type, "bang" is a lot quicker to say than "exclamation point."
By the way, the three asterisks appearing above these footnotes are called "slugs."   Or used to be, in the days of linotype and typecasting...

You Got Global Warming On My Truck!

Taken at 11:37 PM (PDT), 10/26/2009, in the Salt Mines' Employee Lot:

Not a lot compared to the pictures I posted last winter, but that was December and this is October...

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"Whooping Oink"

Howard Taylor, he of web comic Schlock Mercenary, has a post on his blog about re-naming Novel Swine Flu Virus H1N1, because, after all, "H1N1 sounds like  a droid out of Star Wars."

• Hamthrax
• Hogthrax
• Spamthrax
• Tuporkulosis
• Porklio

If it does indeed get as bad as some have suggested, it will be the Aporkalypse!  Hognarok!  Porkageddon!

Frankly, it gets even funnier in the comments.  

On this day in History

"We few, we happy few..."

I understand there is a move afoot in historical ranks to re-examine whether Agincourt was really the greatest victory under over-whelming circumstances "ever."

Certainly The Bard's speech above--which is certainly not in Royal Harry's words--is the most inspiring pep talk ever.

"Codebreaker's sleep-talk worries"

At The Beeb: Codebreaker tells of her sleep-talking worries.

I remember mostly being bored...

You're tellin' me.

however, when a code was broken it was so exciting, but it only happened about once a week

"Only once a week!"

Fun Show!

All The Cool Kids are telling their gun show stories today--so here's mine. 

So, Mrs. Drang was feeling well enough--and probably kinda wiped out, though I didn't ask--that she told me to go to the gun show today without her.

Now, as is often the case, our gun show is conducted at a fairgrounds, specifically, the Western Washington fairgrounds in Puyallup. There is normally one a month--except for actual fair month--and it takes up one of the larger buildings there; actually it takes up the large hall in that building, not the smaller spaces in back.

This time, they filled the building. (Since September is Fair Month, and they did not have a show in August this year, since past experience telling that that August is a and month for a gun show anyway.)

Now, if one is a member of the Washington Arms Collectors, one can proceed through the gate, after assuring the guards that one has no loaded firearms or cameras.

If one is not a member (or is a member who forgot his badge) one must pay the admission fee. (If you join, the fee is refunded.)

So, I arrived in Puyallup at about 10:00 AM, and saw a line stretching halfway down the block, probably more than a quarter mile long.  My first thought was that the show was somewhere else, then that there was some sort of problem and they hadn't opened yet.  Then I realized that the parking lot was almost completely full.

Turns out, they sold an awful lot of memberships today:  What I was seeing was non-members waiting to buy their tickets...

Too bad about the "no camera" rule, by the way, this was also the weekend for the military vehicle collectors clubs to participate, and also for the annual "Best Display" competition.  Lots of drool-inducing collections there.  (The rule was introduced after journalists started showing up and trying to entrap show-goers...)

So, lots more people than usual, but really, so many of them were in line to join, the show itself never seemed too bad.  Granted, it was harder than usual to get near some tables, but overall, not too bad.

(And I don't know what the guys out front complaining about how "rude" everybody was were talking about. Even the talk about Obama was usually done with a laugh.)

Lots of ammo there, though the scarce calibers are still scarce--.380, for example. Picked up an "arsenal pack" of .22, since we were running short.  (And I had to explain the "500 rounds=arsenal" comment to Mrs. Drang.)  Picked up Rawles' new "survival guide" from the table* that always sells what I sometimes refer to as "tinfoil hat literature."  (A few bucks more than ordering it direct, but no shipping and handling, or sales taxes.)   Didn't actually fondle any guns--the crowds at the tables selling stuff I want and have a realistic chance of being able to afford were too deep.

I'm sure the crowds  did nothing to convince most dealers that it was a lousy show, never sell enough to make it worth while--except for the ammo dealers, of course--and I don't know why I come here...

Me, I think Obama is going to make Gun Dealer Of The Year two years running...

Outside, I marveled at the fact someone would want a milsurp HMMWV, although I suppose, having turned it into a monster truck would make tightening the half shaft bolts (a twice daily chore during operations) easier.  No Mechanical Mules this year, last year they had several, including a couple with 106mm recoilless rifles mounted. (Oddly--or not--I have never seen a Gamma Goat at one of these...)

And I cannot imagine the juice it takes to own your own self-propelled howitzer...

***

*You know, guys from a big, square state to the east of here, who belong to a group of private citizens who are more-or-less organized for para-military mutual defensive operations.  I think they fund themselves by selling The End Of The World As We Know It books at gun shows...