Category Archives: Texana

Austin’s intense drought

Posted on November 28, 2008 | Comments Off on Austin’s intense drought

Not good, says Lower Colorado River Authority meteorologist Bob Rose, and not likely to get better soon:

"Year to date rainfall at Austin-Camp Mabry through Tuesday total[ed] only 15.61 inches, over 15 inches below normal.  As of today, 2008 is the 4th driest year on record, dating back to 1856 and is the driest year since 1956!  This is a very intense drought, rivaling some of the terrible drought years of the 1950s. And long-range forecasts are not very encouraging for rain going into early 2009."

It is worth pointing out, for Global Warmists and other hysterics, that 1856, when reliable weather records began being kept in the central city, was only one hundred fifty-two years ago. A lot of droughts certainly occurred before then, and some of them undoubtedly were worse than this one. 

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Posted in Texana, Weather/Climate

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Gulf of Mexico deep: strange squid

Posted on November 28, 2008 | Comments Off on Gulf of Mexico deep: strange squid

I’ve always thought of the gulf as fairly shallow when, in fact, it may be up to more than two miles  deep in the southwest off Mexico. This giant squid, apparently of a species family called Magnapinna, with elbow-like tentacles, was videotaped by a Shell Oil company robot vehicle near a drilling site at about a mile and half below the gulf’s surface. Worth a look. A still photo here of the unknown species, taken off Hawaii, shows that they do get around.

Via Instapundit. 

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Posted in Texana

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The Twin Sisters

Posted on November 17, 2008 | Comments Off on The Twin Sisters

For years I quite mistakenly thought the two squat little mortars that guarded either side of the main doors at the south side of the Texas Capitol were the famous Twin Sisters. The ones used to fire handfulls of musket balls, broken glass and busted horseshoes at the Mexican soldados in the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. Whatever they were (and I think they were removed during the Capitol renovations in the 1990s), they weren’t the "sisters." Texana author Mike Cox reminds me the real ones are still lost, buried somewhere in either Houston or Harrisburg in East Texas at the end of the Civil War. So replicas at the battlefield park are all there are for the present.

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Posted in Texana

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Another chilly night

Posted on November 17, 2008 | Comments Off on Another chilly night

Sunday morning’s low was only about forty at the rancho, but the airport recorded two degrees below freezing. After a blistering summer, I was looking forward to a mild fall. Instead… Was only thirty-one in the back forty by first light today. Brrrr. All part of what the LCRA’s Bob Rose says looks like an early winter. The good part is his forecast of normal fall rain, though we haven’t seen it yet.

ONE GOOD THING:  LCRA has updated their Hydromet Web site to make the maps easier to read.

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Posted in Rancho Roly Poly, Texana, Weather/Climate

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The drought continues

Posted on November 10, 2008 | Comments Off on The drought continues

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Hope you can read the key. We are only in moderate drought, which is unusual considering this has been the sixth driest January thru October, at 14.95 total inches of rain at Camp Mabry, since 1856. 

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Posted in Science/Engineering, Texana, Weather/Climate

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DSL problems

Posted on November 2, 2008 | Comments Off on DSL problems

Posting will be minimal, if any, for a while. My DSL modem is on the fritz. AT&T has promised to come Monday and check the line, if not necessarily replace the modem. The thing’s warranty is out, and it seems to be the major difficulty, so I hope they replace it.

If not, I may consider switching ISPs, though that would be a major hassle and AT&T has provided good service up to now. We think a thunderstorm a couple of weeks ago, which knocked out the landline service (which contains the DSL connection) may have been the culprit here. The techs said the line was the victim of a power surge. We were thinking about having the landline disconnected anyhow. We use the cell phones most of the time.

ADDENDUM: Yes, we were disappointed by last night’s Texas loss to Texas Tech. But Tech, a longtime in-state rival, played a great game and deserves to be No. 1, even if the BCS computers don’t agree. The Horns also beat themselves, with too many dropped passes (and one almost-interception), costly penalties, an OL that couldn’t stop Tech’s D, etc. Hope Texas stays in the top five. They’ll be back.

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Posted in Blogosphere, Rancho Roly Poly, Site building, Texana, Texas Football

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Ralph the swimming pig

Posted on October 31, 2008 | Comments Off on Ralph the swimming pig

Mr. B.’s third grade class goes on a field trip today to Aquarena Springs. So I told him to be sure to ask about Ralph the swimming pig. Ralph, alas, is no more. I’m glad I got to see him in action years ago. It says here the Aquarena Center is to be torn down to make room for some educational thingy or other. Heck, Ralph was plenty educational. Even historical. Or is that hysterical? It was corny, yes, but as roadside attractions went, it beat a smelly snake farm any day.

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Posted in Texana

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