warragamba dam spill: February 2011

Friday, February 25, 2011

Tropical Cyclone Carlos Now Affecting Western Australia

Tropical Cyclone Carlos continues to live and has moved into the Southern Indian Ocean, and is affecting Western Australia.

cyclone Carlos on February 22 at 1850 UTC (1:50 p.m. EST) as the storm's center was battering coastal Australia. TRMM's rainfall data shows that most of the rainfall with Carlos was located off shore but some bands of moderate rainfall were affecting coastal Australia.

Tropical storm force wind speeds on the Saffir Simpson scale estimated to be over 50 kts (~58 mph). Carlos has been predicted to batter the Australian coast as it continues traveling southwestward. It is expected to intensify to minimal hurricane force with wind speeds of 65 kts (~75 mph) on February 24 after moving into the open waters of the Indian Ocean.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Update on the eReader ....

Well I wont be getting a new eReader any time soon - Sony are out of stock in Australia and not due until end of March or April!!! Not keen on the Kobo and don't like Kindles plus my 9000 odd books are all formatted for the Sony.

Hasn't been a full day and already I am having withdrawal symptoms!

Tried to read on my laptop but boy is it uncomfortable and awkward ... oh well looks like I will have to just get use to it but it doesn't make it any easier, I am still upset.

Yes I do love the feel of a real book but they cost money, something I don't have a lot of, and I already have enough ebooks to keep me going for a long time.

On top of that I am feeling rather alone; being without my reader it makes it worse.

At least when you read you can 'drop' into another world filled with people some of whom you could love.... rotfl; takes the edge of the loneliness.

Looks like I will have to spend the next few months painting non-stop and re-reading some of the many real books that I have in my library..... lol.

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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Upset

Aaarrrgghhh - having a horrid day ...... I just broke my ereader!

I was in an exciting part of a book, moved somehow on my seat and accidentally dropped my ereader. I've dropped it before (it had a study leather wraparound cover) and never had any problems but this time it broke.

After using one for 4 years it will be weird not having one. I had 248 books on it still to read, and an additional 8 or 9 thousand on my computer.

How am I going to live without an ereader?

After dealing with the stress of forcing myself to go out this really hit hard, rang W and was about to calmly tell him what happened and instead I burst into tears.

Got off the phone and took stock - I am alive, I have a roof over my head and family. I looked at the pictures from the Christchurch earthquake and realised I was crying over a damn toy! Okay, it hurts but I need to put it into perspective.

This has got to be one of the weirdest pictures - it really shows just how Mother Nature can tear anything apart she likes. This ute in one of the streets has been sucked into the road as the road surface turned in mush from liquification.

What hope would anyone have against the full force of nature? It is amazing that so many people managed to survive; buildings and roads can be rebuilt but lost lives ........

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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Outings ......

For reasons I won't go into I am a bit of a recluse (well more than a bit ...lol) so it has been a rather stressful but pleasing week because I have been out a bit.

Thursday I spent the day babysitting Abi which is a great time for us both; (this time we were crawling around on the floor playing chasings as lions); then Friday I went out and 'forced' myself to have a coffee (see post below); Saturday night I went out for dinner at a local restaurant and then Tuesday I was out most of the day and had a delightful lunch out as well in Penrith. This Thursday is babysitting time again.

It may not sound much but to someone who rarely leaves the house this is big time!!

I am feeling daring and may even venture out some more ..... rotfl.

What stresses you? What makes your stomach churn in knots at the thought? If you are like me do you have to spend hours pouring over maps (Google satellite/maps for me) planning your trip and trying to cover all contingencies?

UPDATE - no babysitting Thurs so at home .... lol.

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Friday, February 18, 2011

Cyclone Dianne Currently Staying Away from Australia

When NASA's Aqua satellite flew over Tropical Cyclone Dianne on Feb. 18 at 06:47 UTC (2:47 p.m. Australia/Perth local time/1:47 a.m. EST) it provided information to forecasters that showed Dianne moving farther west than previously forecast. That movement is keeping the storm farther away from Western Australia and that's good news because Dianne strengthened.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on the Aqua satellite showed a larger area of strong thunderstorms around Dianne's center today, Feb. 18, compared to yesterday. The greatest area of deep convection (rapidly rising air that forms the thunderstorms that power the tropical cyclone) are over the northern semi-circle of the storm.

AIRS infrared data takes temperatures of cloud tops and sea surface temperatures and noticed the stark contrast between the two indicating that the thunderstorm cloud tops were very high, very cold (-52C/-63F) and very strong. Meanwhile, the sea surface temperatures were very warm (warmer than 80F/26.5C) and adding power to Dianne.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Hard Eight - Janet Evanovich

Yeah!! Ranger collected!! She did it!!!

Oh boy am I in love (or is it in lust)..... rotfl.

Not to mention that I was reading this in a coffee shop, alone; when he collected (be still my heart). Then to make matters worse I was reading the hilarious bit with the Rabbit and Clinton and grandma and the .... er, um - well the baddies had guns drawn and the Rabbit has something else drawn. Oh and when the bad guys left grandma needed a cannoli.

So there I was trying hard to look inconspicuous while having tears rolling down my cheeks from laughing so hard (and trying to be silent) when the manager walked up and said "that has got to be a great book to get that sort of reaction". I smiled sweetly at him and said yes - thank goodness he didn't ask me about my reaction 10 mins beforehand when Ranger collected ..... rotfl.

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Sunday, February 13, 2011

What I am Reading at the Moment ....

I have just discovered Janet Evanovich's wonderful Stephanie Plum, Bounty Hunter, books and am totally hooked!

I don't think I have laughed so much reading a book for ages and I am only up to book 6 (Hot Six)..... that woman knows how to write a great story..... and there are 16 books in the series so far.

I am totally in love with Ranger and Joe isn't that far behind. Let's face it, what woman wouldn't lust after either of them. One a bad boy Italian cop, the other a latino dreamboat bounty hunter/mercenary. Both with hot bods. Nothing like 'eye' candy to make a book even better - and you can always fantasise as to which one you would choose (or be crazy like me and have both). Doesn't help that they both sound like my 'ideal' male ..... lol.

The first book was good but it seems each book just gets better and better. The humour is wonderful; it appeals to my warped senses so well.

Let's face it who could write about a male corpse in a funeral home losing a piece of equipment and have it turn into such a funny sequence or how Stephanie manages to 'lose' at least one car each book - firebombed, flatten by a garbage truck, stolen ..... love it!

And who couldn't love Bob - that great dog who eats everything and anything and managed to both upchuck and defecate in the 'baddies' car in one minute.

Or Grandma Mazur accidentally shooting the chicken at the dinner table.

Actually these books are really great after reading the Karin Slaughter series - they were so graphic and gruesome - these are light, short and full of fun.

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