Verna and Bob's Weblog

Weirdness

Collateral Damage

We had a visit from a neighborhood dog that we had not previously met this morning. Her name was “Oreo” and she came calling on our other dogs to meet and greet. Unfortunately for me, I accidentally let Cabela and Bay Bay get loose through the screen door. As I chased them down the driveway, I stumbled and fell. I scraped my left elbow on the concrete as I went down.

I recovered both of our dogs and also secured Oreo and returned all dogs to their owners. Verna dressed my wounded elbow with an oversize bandage. If you’re not squeamish, you can click on the image below to reveal the actual injured area. Click again to put the bandage back on. What a mess!

November 1, 2011 by Arizona Critters Retirement Weirdness

A Moderate Shake in Virginia

intensity.jpg

According to the shake map above (click to enlarge – sorry about the crappy quality, but this is the original resolution), Washington DC is about 80 miles northeast of the epicenter of the 5.8 magnitude quake. It surprised me to hear that the quake caused officials to evacuate the Capitol and other government buildings. According to the color code, the DC area would have experienced “weak” to “light” shaking and no damage to structures.

As a former resident of a very seismically active area, I can attest that most of us who experienced that amount of shaking would simply have said “Hmmm – a little temblor.” And would go on with whatever we were doing. Some of us nerdy types would go to the USGS Earthquakes website to see the epicenter and magnitude. Maybe even look at the shake map.

August 23, 2011 by California Weirdness

A Troubling Gap

saguaro-gap.jpgA troubling gap appeared at the base of our giant saguaro cactus. The gap between the cactus and the ground is on the north side of the root. Verna noticed it yesterday but we don’t know for sure how long it has been like that.

Image – the gap at the base of the saguaro – courtesy of Verna. Click on the image to enlarge.

Needless to say, I immediately placed a call to the garden shop that sold us the saguaro. The owner indicated that he would get in touch with the expert from the cactus farm and that they would have a look at it tomorrow. It’s troubling, but they assure me there’s no reason to panic.

August 17, 2011 by Arizona Home & Garden Retirement Weirdness

Oversized Load Coming Through Town

oversize.jpg

I hope someone gets a picture of this heavy-hauling behemoth as it crosses the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge. I honestly don’t know how this rig will be able to navigate through the two traffic circles in Wickenburg but I guess they have thought it through.

Photo Credit : Precision Heavy Haul.

PHOENIX – What weighs 285 tons, moves uphill at 15 mph and takes eight days to travel from Hoover Dam to the mining town of Miami, east of Phoenix? It’s a huge anode used in the electrical process for refining copper.

The largest oversized load to cross the new Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge will enter Arizona from Nevada [tonight] and start a 380-mile journey that’s expected to create significant travel delays for some drivers who wind up traveling behind it.

A Phoenix-based hauling company, Precision Heavy Haul, is carrying the anode on a specially-designed truck and trailer rig stretching 225 feet long. The oversized load started its trip from Salt Lake City on Aug. 2.

It is now scheduled to cross the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge just after midnight Tuesday morning (Aug. 9) and continue a slow trek to its destination – the Freeport-McMoRan mine in Miami – about 80 miles east of downtown Phoenix.

Motorists should expect delays in the vicinity of the oversized load, which will take up to two lanes, and will be escorted by Department of Public Safety officers and pilot cars. There will be no traffic impacts for weekend travelers.

A complete travel schedule may be found here.

August 8, 2011 by Weirdness

Adapting to Arizona Dust Devils

devil.jpgAt the California house, the weather in June typically is mild temperatures with night and morning low clouds and fog. Late spring and summer in our town in Arizona is a completely different story. We have sunny days, warmer temperatures and a weather phenomenon known locally as “dust devils.”

Image: Arizona dust devil

The little twisters have shown up at our new home a few times since the weather has warmed up to highs in the 90’s. We quickly learned that lightweight objects are best stored indoors rather than on the back patio or behind the garage.

Three buckets we had out by the garage got caught up in one of the devils. Two of them got lodged in palo verde just to the east of the lot. We found those right away, filled them with something heavy and put them away. The third bucket was at large for about two weeks until Verna spotted it under a large creosote in the vacant lot to the east several hundred feet from where the twister picked it up.

Our trash bin has been knocked over three times and once was thrown across the driveway at the same time the buckets were taken. Frankly, I don’t know what I can do to the trash bin short of dumping a boulder in the bottom. I’ll think of something.

The devils, though rarely fatal, have done some pretty interesting things, like this:

In 2010, three children in an inflatable jump house were picked up by a dust devil and were carried over three houses and a 10-foot fence, in east El Paso, Texas.

June 12, 2011 by Arizona Retirement Weirdness

Pepto Bismobile

Verna took this picture today of a God-awful pink Smart Car® as we were running errands and shopping. All I could think was it’s not smart and it reminds me of Pepto Bismol. No larger image available.

pepto-bismobile.jpg

May 2, 2011 by Weirdness

Avalon 1998

Categories

Archives