Rain!

05 Aug 25

08:00 hrs

     Hello Campers, 

     I'm sitting out in the Catio with Miss Mocha. She's our new adoptee and things aren't going so well with her. It's been well over a month and the integration with Mr. Wilson and Jack has not taken place. We've tried all of the normal methods and it is not happening. She'll put the run on both of them. And as much as Jack beats up on Wilson he tucks tail and hides under the Sr. Couch Monkey's bed. Mocha and Wilson will tolerate each other on the same space but if he runs she'll chase after him. We really don't know what to do. Jack is so stressed he's been crapping on the floor and not in the box.

     There is a very large wildfire beside the lake going to where our Friends Over the Hump reside. It is human caused and appears to have been started on or near the old rail bed on the North side of the lake. Over the past few days it has spread up the slope and properties on the opposite side of the mountain are threatened. As bad as that is, if the winds were to change direction a small section of Old Growth Protected forest would be in danger of burning to the ground. Cathedral Grove contains giant red cedars, fir and hemlock trees that are five hundred or more years old and are taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The province has been putting all available resources in not only battling the fire but in preventing the ignition of this stand of trees. To make matters worse the snow cap on the Beauforts has long since melted away and there has been no precipitation a month or more.  In town the lawns are brown and the tops of trees the leaves are beginning to yellow as they dry out. And that is with the limited amount of watering we are allowed. So, you can imagine what the forest is like. The good news is that we knew that rain would be coming. Not a huge deluge but a long slow drizzle. A big cloud burst would simply hit the ground and run off with no benefit. But a nice constant rain over many hours, even if it's only falling at 0.2mm per hour will have a greater effect by cooling the surrounding air and being absorbed by the foliage.

     My buddy Gordo and I have been monitoring the weather for another reason. We're working an alternating graveyard shift where one of us is on one week the the other is on the following week. The contractor is repainting all of the markings on the runways, taxiways and the apron. Plus rubber remediation. It's a huge project last will last nearly three months. To complete the project the hard surfaces must be dry so as much as the forest needs the rain the contractors do not. It rained for about thirty minutes this morning but in the afternoon it's supposed to start again and then drizzle through the night and all day tomorrow and tomorrow night. I hope the forecaster has got it right this time.

     My Lobster and I are planning a short trip to celebrate our 30th anniversary. We will travel to The Peg for a few days and see the old haunts plus a couple of friends and relatives. Then, we will jet to The Big Perogie see a couple more old friends before returning to The Rock. 

10 Aug 25

06:50 hrs

     Last night, we, the family plus one, we to Elric the Stalwart's home to aid in celebrating his 60th Birthday. His Lobster had asked him what he wanted for a meal. Roast beast, mashed taters and veggies. We said we would bring the Yorkshire puddings, so I made a couple of dozen of them. There was still some concern as to the amount of food as we has a plus one and they had a couple of students so on the way to their place we stopped off at The Big Box Store to pick up roasted chicken. At their house we all pitched in to make things easier for the hostess. Our Jr. Loin Fruit made the mashed taters and helped with the gravy my Better Half aided in setting the tables, I broke down the chicken, sharpened up a rather large chef's knife - which probably hadn't seen a steel in many years - and carved up this gorgeous piece of beef. After the meal there was birthday cake, fresh fruit and white port. By the time it was all over we were too tired to play cards so we chatted for a length of time before heading home to the Wayward Inn. 

     I'm back on graveyards starting tonight so I'm going to try to get some projects done for my Lobster today. Being on graveyards is not so bad if you live by yourself ecause you can sleep and rest up when you want. But, when you're in an active household it is up to you that has to find the work/sleep/obligation balance.

     Speaking of this project, about two weeks ago Gordo was with the contractors and part of the job was to remove two separate lines on the airfield. These particular lines are referred to as Hold Short Lines. They are like the big stop line you would see and an intersection which tells you where to stop. On an airfield it is a visual means for the air traffic controller to safely direct ground traffic, both vehicles and taxiing aircraft, around the aerodrome. So, two lines and a helipad were removed. So what, right? Well, the removal of one hold short was required because it was it was no longer needed to prevent vehicles or aircraft from encroaching onto the helipad when it was in use. But, one of the twits in the planning department figured that the other hold short line on the opposite side of the now non-existent helipad wasn't needed for the same reason and had labeled it for removal. Which it was! At the end of the night, Gordo informed the control tower that yhe helipad and the two hold short lines were removed. 

     Uh oh, Shaggy! No one had consulted with the air traffic controllers about this second line being removed. This particular second line was there to identify where vehicular traffic was to stop preventing them from getting out near the main active runway. Sure enough an incident occurred last week and by Friday morning the command structure was in a fast rotating spin cycle on how to get this issue corrected and fast. Sure enough, I get the call asking, almost pleading if, in the morning, I could escort a contractor out onto the airfield to put up some temporary indicators so traffic knows where to stop until the hold short line gets reinstalled. 

     Sure thing.

     I'm not saying that I was the hero. Both myself and Gordo and a couple of other former airfield qualified Cmres have had to go back in to work to assist in correcting someone's mistake. It's what we do. This particular mistake should never have happened and had the potential of being catastrophic.

     On another note, the wildfire near The Hump is still burning. The amount of rain that was received did help but not much. From last reports it's still spreading but headway is being made in curtailing its advance. Today is going to be another hot one - up to 30°C. We're going to hunker down, stay cool, play some games and stay put of the sun.