11d 6h 9m 14s until ultimate Pi Day!3.14.15 @ 9:26:53
2 Mar, 2015
Well, its March but you wouldn't know it by stepping outside.
This is the view from our back patio. It extends well to the left beyond the covered adirondack chairs - we've kept up with shoveling a small bit for Custer access.
That yardstick shows a current snow cover depth of 15". In fact, the Summit County snow cover depth reports show a range of 11"-18". Its been so cold that all the snow just keeps piling up and never has a chance to melt. Cleveland, among other regional cities, broke a record for coldest average daily temperature for the month of February: 14.3°F! Akron's February came in at second coldest on record: 15.8°F.
This is the view down our street. Our neighbors were out for a walk and offer great size perspective. That's our driveway immediately on the left. The piles are so large they are compromising visibility ... and mail delivery.
Well, its March but you wouldn't know it by stepping outside.
This is the view from our back patio. It extends well to the left beyond the covered adirondack chairs - we've kept up with shoveling a small bit for Custer access.
That yardstick shows a current snow cover depth of 15". In fact, the Summit County snow cover depth reports show a range of 11"-18". Its been so cold that all the snow just keeps piling up and never has a chance to melt. Cleveland, among other regional cities, broke a record for coldest average daily temperature for the month of February: 14.3°F! Akron's February came in at second coldest on record: 15.8°F.
This is the view down our street. Our neighbors were out for a walk and offer great size perspective. That's our driveway immediately on the left. The piles are so large they are compromising visibility ... and mail delivery.
17 Feb, 2015
It seems my entries of late have all been related to the weather. The last few weeks of winter have been pretty active and remarkable. As noted in the previous post, we are in the midst of yet another Arctic plunge. Saturday, February 14, a front passed through the area early afternoon. It was pretty intense and resulted in white out conditions. I was able to capture its passage in local radar reflectivity. South of Akron winds are West. North of Akron winds are North.
Once the front had carried on to our East it intensified into a pretty powerful squall line with some impressive convection and snowfall rates. You don't have to be a meteorologist to figure out where the front is in that composite radar reflectivity image. And of course, behind any strong Arctic front in February, our temps plummeted. Check out the 24-hour minimum temp!
It seems my entries of late have all been related to the weather. The last few weeks of winter have been pretty active and remarkable. As noted in the previous post, we are in the midst of yet another Arctic plunge. Saturday, February 14, a front passed through the area early afternoon. It was pretty intense and resulted in white out conditions. I was able to capture its passage in local radar reflectivity. South of Akron winds are West. North of Akron winds are North.
Once the front had carried on to our East it intensified into a pretty powerful squall line with some impressive convection and snowfall rates. You don't have to be a meteorologist to figure out where the front is in that composite radar reflectivity image. And of course, behind any strong Arctic front in February, our temps plummeted. Check out the 24-hour minimum temp!
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17 Feb, 2015
Remember my post about a root canal? Well it is now completed! Hoooray! To be honest, it was not nearly the grueling procedure everyone makes it out to be. Maybe I got lucky in that my tooth was an incisor (one root) and it was already very, very dead. Shrug. No matter, I'm glad its over with. Now I just need to hope that any further discoloring over the years is minimal since it is, after all, an incisor! Smile!
Remember my post about a root canal? Well it is now completed! Hoooray! To be honest, it was not nearly the grueling procedure everyone makes it out to be. Maybe I got lucky in that my tooth was an incisor (one root) and it was already very, very dead. Shrug. No matter, I'm glad its over with. Now I just need to hope that any further discoloring over the years is minimal since it is, after all, an incisor! Smile!
11 Feb, 2015
Here's the sunrise from this morning! Beautiful! And now we brace for 2 clippers, back to back, that will submerge us in polar temps for the next 4 days.
(click to enlarge)
Here's the sunrise from this morning! Beautiful! And now we brace for 2 clippers, back to back, that will submerge us in polar temps for the next 4 days.
(click to enlarge)
8 Feb, 2015
The aforementioned storm brought us a decent amount of snow. But more impressive have been the icicles that have formed in the days since. These daggers are beautiful ... but lethal!
These are hanging in front of our kitchen window and this is the view outside from inside the kitchen.
The aforementioned storm brought us a decent amount of snow. But more impressive have been the icicles that have formed in the days since. These daggers are beautiful ... but lethal!
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These are hanging in front of our kitchen window and this is the view outside from inside the kitchen.
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1 Feb, 2015
We don't have network TV and I'm not into NFL so the Super Bowl is not finding any screen time in our house. Instead, I'm more interested in the evolution of the latest winter storm. The breadth of this storm is mammoth!
It seems the center of the low is tracking a bit more northerly than the last model runs I had looked at. That puts Akron in some warmer flow that has allowed for some mixed precipitation just to our South. The main swath of snow is to our North. It appears we have 4" of snow so far. But its still falling ... But don't get me wrong, just 4" is OK by me!
We don't have network TV and I'm not into NFL so the Super Bowl is not finding any screen time in our house. Instead, I'm more interested in the evolution of the latest winter storm. The breadth of this storm is mammoth!
It seems the center of the low is tracking a bit more northerly than the last model runs I had looked at. That puts Akron in some warmer flow that has allowed for some mixed precipitation just to our South. The main swath of snow is to our North. It appears we have 4" of snow so far. But its still falling ... But don't get me wrong, just 4" is OK by me!
31 Jan, 2015
Earlier this month Mike was in Grand Cayman for work. Given my high school nickname he made it a point to find his way to Spotts Beach! Beautiful, no!?
Earlier this month Mike was in Grand Cayman for work. Given my high school nickname he made it a point to find his way to Spotts Beach! Beautiful, no!?
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11 Jan, 2015
Happy New Year?! Well we sure hope, but its not really gotten off to a good start. We have been all kinds of sick since Christmas, running the gambit of coughs, colds, food poisoning, and flu. Not only has our house been affected but so has my parents', my brother's, and Holly's sitter. This all has to end at some point, right?
Happy New Year?! Well we sure hope, but its not really gotten off to a good start. We have been all kinds of sick since Christmas, running the gambit of coughs, colds, food poisoning, and flu. Not only has our house been affected but so has my parents', my brother's, and Holly's sitter. This all has to end at some point, right?
10 Jan, 2015
Back in November 2014, sometime prior to Thanksgiving, Custer began to pester with his right eye. He always solicits face pets but this behavior was excessive. He developed some irritation on his upper eyelid so I took him to the vet. Some dye in his eye revealed he had an ulcer on his cornea. We went through three weeks of conservative treatment but none of them allowed for healing of the ulcer.
At this point Dr. Feeman referred us to an ophthalmologist for a grid keratotomy to get his indolent ulcer to heal. Custer had the procedure done on December 9. We were sent home with a strict regiment of 5 medications, some applied as many has 4 times per day, that we had to keep up for 3 weeks. On top of that, Custer had to wear an e-collar for the duration. 3 WEEKS! He was miserable. After 4 days of the e-collar we found an awesome alternative - the optivizor! While Custer disliked this headgear, too, it proved to be his preference because he could still groom, eat, and drink water without much interference.
Back in November 2014, sometime prior to Thanksgiving, Custer began to pester with his right eye. He always solicits face pets but this behavior was excessive. He developed some irritation on his upper eyelid so I took him to the vet. Some dye in his eye revealed he had an ulcer on his cornea. We went through three weeks of conservative treatment but none of them allowed for healing of the ulcer.
At this point Dr. Feeman referred us to an ophthalmologist for a grid keratotomy to get his indolent ulcer to heal. Custer had the procedure done on December 9. We were sent home with a strict regiment of 5 medications, some applied as many has 4 times per day, that we had to keep up for 3 weeks. On top of that, Custer had to wear an e-collar for the duration. 3 WEEKS! He was miserable. After 4 days of the e-collar we found an awesome alternative - the optivizor! While Custer disliked this headgear, too, it proved to be his preference because he could still groom, eat, and drink water without much interference.
 Hey, Holly, can you take this thing off for me? |  |
| Custer had his re-check just before New Year's Eve. His ulcer had healed! But his eye still has a lot of healing to do from the procedure. The ophthalmologist assured us that within 6 weeks his cornea will be crystal clear again. Until then, Custer looks like a bionic dog that can shoot lasers! |  |
4 Dec, 2014
Root canal!? Yes folks, I have to have a root canal. I take very good care of my teeth so this was a huge shock to me. I visited the dentist earlier this week for a cleaning and general check up. I noted to the hygienist and dentist that my lateral incisor (tooth #7) was tender when I tap it, but otherwise it feels fine. They took an extra x-ray to get a good look at the tooth - all looked well. The dentist did the "cold test". He essentially held ice onto that tooth and waited for me to signal that I felt the cold pain. Nothing. He did the same exercise to a neighboring tooth and I felt the cold pain almost instantly. What does this mean? Yup, my tooth is dead. There is no more blood flowing to that nerve. How is it dealt with? You got it ... root canal! Ugh. Since the tooth is not bothersome for me (yet) I scheduled the procedure for January so I can enjoy the holidays. Happy New Year ... here's your root canal.
Root canal!? Yes folks, I have to have a root canal. I take very good care of my teeth so this was a huge shock to me. I visited the dentist earlier this week for a cleaning and general check up. I noted to the hygienist and dentist that my lateral incisor (tooth #7) was tender when I tap it, but otherwise it feels fine. They took an extra x-ray to get a good look at the tooth - all looked well. The dentist did the "cold test". He essentially held ice onto that tooth and waited for me to signal that I felt the cold pain. Nothing. He did the same exercise to a neighboring tooth and I felt the cold pain almost instantly. What does this mean? Yup, my tooth is dead. There is no more blood flowing to that nerve. How is it dealt with? You got it ... root canal! Ugh. Since the tooth is not bothersome for me (yet) I scheduled the procedure for January so I can enjoy the holidays. Happy New Year ... here's your root canal.
