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Okay I’m glad the brunt of the atmospheric river missed the North Sacramento Valley. Geez.

Gerry Díaz :sutro: (@geravitywave@sfba.social) sfba.social/@geravity…

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I’m happy to see there’s still snow on the peaks of the interior Northern California Coast Range. Hope the snow survives as they sponge up all the rain for long term water storage. This is Black Butte at 7400 ft.

Snow capped & cloud enshrouded Black Butte peak seen from a distant town in Northern California.
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In X-Plane 12, the KJFK RNAV Z Runway 13L approach is lot of fun. Watch a real-world YouTube video of it.. Default XP is just missing the lead-in lights! #X-Plane #flightsim

A321 on approach to KJFK 13L at night. Highways with cars, the street lights, and more all glow amber and white. The runway is visible and the jet is makiing a sharp turn for it.
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May 2016 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. In late 2017 this 747-400 went out of service. Hard to believe Delta ever operated 747s only five years ago.

Delta 747-400 at the gate
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Our thrice delayed trip to Germany has this year’s three of my top four aviation photos — from SFO and FRA. And then one for a trip back from Montana (the two 787s, the only one taken with an iPhone 11 Pro). #2022Top4AviationScores #Fujifilm #X100V

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Randomly thinking about my first A340-600 flight in 2013 SFO-Munich. I love that plane - especially if fitted with lower lavatory hall that also has random snack & drinks. First aircraft I ever flew with stairs and it was great for stretching the legs in economy.

SFO gate view of a Lufthansa A340-600. Its night & the craft is being readied for boarding.The stairs down to the lavatories & snacks

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ginger bread people with snow balls, Lindtt chocolayes, all in a red and white basket.
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Some flyover photos from 12/24: United 777-200 LHR-SFO at 37,000 ft; Emirates A380-800 DXB-SFO at 39,000 ft; Qatar A350-1000 DOH-SFO 41,000 ft; SW 737 OAK-BLI (Bellingham) at 38,000 ft. #Fujifilm X-T5 at 300mm (35mm equiv is 450mm). I’m impressed

United 777-200 flyover with contrailsEmirates 380-800 flyover with contrailsQatar A350-1000 flyover with contrailsSouthwest flyover with contrails

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Yesterday: Red-winged Black Birds at the local wildlife refuge. Likely some Starlings in there too.

dozens of black birds in a bare tree top
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I’m rather impressed with how popular #caturday is on Mastodon.

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Our cat’s 2nd preferred winter sleeping area. #caturday

a tuxedo cat loafing in the middle of random objects including a Python refebcd book, a box, and a basket
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Snow Geese flying overhead at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. #fujifilm

3 snow geeze flying above in triangular formation below cloudy skies. they have white bodies with black wing tips
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Just had a leak detector go off. This time a toilet water line started leaking at its connector to the tank. I’m very pleased with this result!

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Here’s a Red Tail Hawk from today’s visit to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge.

underside of a mottled red tail hawk, soaring in a cloudy sky.
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Chef’s treat: caramel scrapings from the pan!

caramel drippings on a silicone sheet with the candy thermometer near by.
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Done. Just need to salt the caramel in 30 minutes.

a parchment lined pan of fresh poured caramel. The pan is atop a grate and a cuttingboard.
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Almost done making the caramel. Just needs to hit 250°F

a candy thermometer in a 4 qt sauce pan of almost done caramel colored caramel. At about 230°F
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I’m going to make caramel today. Alton Brown’s Dark Caramel recipe never fails. Though I prefer a little less dark so I cut the highest temp from 350 to 340°F and then the final temp to 250°F (makes them a tad softer).

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The 2013 Dresden Christmas Market. Guaranteed to make you cheerful no matter how cold it is.

dark evening at the Dresden Christmas Market with a lit up buildings, trees, the tops of sales shacks and a crowd of people
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A ravenous Yellow Rumped Warbler visited our grapes again. Eat up, little bird!

a grey bird with yellow patches investigates a clump of dessicated grapes