In my part of the N. Sacramento Valley, 85 degrees F this morning. The humidity is 20% and it’ll drop. Temperatures may rise up to 113 today. Winds are still strong. Across the valley, at Oroville, is the Thompson Fire, which doesn’t seem to be letting up. #ThompsonFire #CaWx
Apple
Comcast/Xfinity Internet Woes
Friday, June 28, 2024
Comcast/Xfinity internet at my home has some kind of network issue that sure feels like throttling. For customer service, it’s literally impossible to get more than a chatbot and a chat-based live support agent. The live support agents are 100% scripted and they do the same troubleshooting flows as a chatbot. The issue is that my internet is operating at 0-5 Mbps unless I’m on VPN. I’m supposed to get ~1 Gbps and usually get 700 Mbps on Wifi 6E.
U.S. land management agencies losing Chevron deference will be madness. Generally judges accept that agencies know what they’re doing as they do it day in and day out and have skillful people with the latest science. This will be a disaster. #SCOTUS #ChevronDeference
A helicopter has been flying a lot over my town so I looked up their previous flights. Okay… guess I shouldn’t be surprised they drew a phallus in the air with their seemingly purposeless flying 🫢 
Windows 11’s File Explorer’s Forward and Back buttons randomly not working is quite the treat. The insane part is that after moving the window, they then work. Did not realize how much I use those those
Stories on California ghost towns are always entertaining. The latest one is from SF Gate: It was supposed to be a California utopia. It turned into a ghost town
Just as most non-native plants stop flowering in time for summer, the California Fuchsias have just begun adding a splash of red. Currently the native toyon, elderberry, and roses are flowering. California Buckwheat is on its way. We have flowers nearly year-round. Native plants are awesome. 
Paramount+'s Strategy is Baffling
Sunday, June 2, 2024
Paramount+ still has nothing to watch once a season of Star Trek is over. Paramount cancelled Star Trek: Discovery and there’s only one more season of Lower Decks. Funny thing is, in the past I subscribed to their ad-free product. But Paramount+ greatly increased the cost of the ad-free subscription so I went with the ad-supported. Guess what? No ads while watching Star Trek. So they got less monthly money from us than if they’d kept the ad-free subscription cost reasonable.
Marestail weeds are impossible to pull out of compacted ground. I’m avoiding herbicide so I’ve resorted to using hand pruners to cut Marestail weeds down to bare mineral earth. It’s as tedious and zen as it sounds. Problem is, they refuse to die. It is as if they have infinite resources in their roots.
The Flight Simulator Navigation Data Economy
Monday, May 27, 2024
Flight Simulation has quite the economy surrounding it. I’m not particularly fond of the navigation data sector of that economy. If you want the latest navigation data, you must subscribe or buy it from Aerosoft or Navigraph. But those companies that sell it to you must buy the raw data from Jeppesen or Lufthansa Systems. That data is delivered as ARINC424 format files or in a more reasonable tailored database format.
The Capay Unit refuge was bustling today. Here’s a Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar and a Black headed Grosbeak. Also saw Orioles, Black Phoebes, possibly an inflight juvenile Bald Eagle, Osprey, Ash Throated Flycatcher, Lesser Gold Finches & Red Tailed Hawks #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge 
Sonos Ace headphones are not for me since all I ever wanted from such a thing was to transfer my music seamlessly between speakers and headphones. And then there’s the Sonos app mess. It’ll be a while before I can trust Sonos enough to resume buying their hardware. WTFs all around.
Windows 11 Thoughts
Friday, May 24, 2024
I have Windows 11 on my work PC now. What does not work for me: File Explorer's simplified right-click context menu where useful file interaction & application extensions, like Box, are hidden under a More button (UGH). Fix by pressing Shift when right clicking. I’m not yet sure if I like the copy/paste buttons. Guess Microsoft wants to turn Windows into Teams and make finding necessary features really difficult. Taskbar is glued to the bottom of the screen -- I need it on the left!
It is super cool that Flame Skimmer dragonflies are spending time in our backyard. This one was stationed on that stick nearly all day. And then there’s the much more active one that you can see as an orangish blur flying behind the stick. #Fujifilm 
NO Pedestrians Beyond This Point: Black Phoebe enforced #Birds #Fujifilm #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge
Sometimes unintentional photos are the best. Today at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge south of Willows:
One of very many Western Blue Birds at Lynch Canyon Open Space Park, Northern California. Lots of Blue Bird nest boxes there! 
On our hike last Saturday, a few drifting swarms of bugs were along the trail. Probably mosquitoes but I didn’t dare walk through them to find out 📷 #MBApr
Poor critter lost its tail! This was also the first lizard I’ve seen this year so it has had a rough start after hibernation 📷#MBApr 
I’ve had a lot of gardening to do with sharp implements so finally got my TDAP booster. I’m ready for a sore arm.
I think this is the “Big Al” Allosaurus skeleton at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, MT. Nice spine (backbones)! 📷 #MBApr 
I love the layers of light in this photo of me taking photos in the desert near Death Valley 📷 #MBApr 
Mid-March 2024 at the Donner Summit rest area (east-bound). I suppose once the building was dug out, ice formed in the alcove as heat warmed the snow’s bottom (ceiling in this case). Pretty neat. 📷 #MBApr 
We’re planting only one row this year. Just tomatoes, various peppers, basil, and an overwintered thyme. All prepped, just need to plant! #gardening 
A slightly early birthday present to me: a Sonos Move 2. Sounds very good! It’ll be great keeping me from the odd anxiety of silence and listening to food chewing 😆 📷 #MBApr 
Gotta have a bit of the flâneur spirit to partake in street photography. Or you’d miss a random dog-dog encounter in San Francisco. 📷#MBApr 
A gorgeous Barrel Cactus from Joshua Tree National Park 📷 #MBApr 
In X-Plane 12, I finally managed to get the 747-200 (modeled by Felis) up to cruise with only minor passenger discomfort. Had a little trouble with the auto-throttle. I’m still loving the Yawman Arrow controller #XPlane12 #macOS #YawmanArrow #FlightSimulator 
I installed my first Sharkbite plumbing fixture and it’s kinda magic how easy & low stress it was. Anyway, the ridiculous hosebib setup is why no one should let me do plumbing. Listen, I learned a lot from this low-stakes project! 📷 #MBApr 
Here’s a windy 2019 August day at Coyote Point, just south of San Francisco International Airport. Some activities: plane spotting, kitesurfing, and cosplay (two of these I was not expecting) 📷 #MBApr 