Here’s to a fine Sunday morning flying an Embraer E-175 from KSEA to KPHX (Seattle to Phoenix). Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens loom large. #XPlane12 #XCrafts #E175 #FlightSim

An Embraer 175 in American Eagle livery flies past Mount Ranier with Mount St. Helens looming in the background. It's a somewhat overcast day but blue, sunny skies above the clouds.

At the refuge, the only newcomers are white crowns and white fronted geese. But I only photographed a Black Phoebe that just pooped and a rather brave squirrel. #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge #BirdWatching #BlackPhoebe #Squirrel 🪶A small, Black Phoebe is perched on a barren, leafless branch against a clear blue sky. The branch extends across the photo and ends at the center where the bird is. A falling drop of bright white bird poop is barely visible below the bird. A ground squirrel standing on its hind legs next to a fallen Willow tree with branches, in a dry grassy environment.

XPlane 12’s boat update is fun but IMHO a sailboat just down SFO’s runway 28R is taking it too far #XPlane12 #BetaRelease #FlightSim A XPlane 12 simulated view from an airplane cockpit window showing an airport runway with taxiways and lighting, set against a background of mountains and buildings. The sky is clear with some scattered clouds. There’s a sail boat just down the runway.

It’s great that XPlane lets aircraft devs bypass native modeling but that means other native features may not work. The usual example is a broken native fuel & weight config dialog. A newer one for me is an inaccurate fuel flow data ref. But the model is quite accurate. #XPlane #FlightSimulation

For now, here’s an urban Black Phoebe #BlackPhoebe #Birds #BirdWatching A small bird is perched on a tree branch amidst dense green foliage. The bird has a black head, back, and wings with a light-colored belly. Dappled sunlight filters through the leaves.

Geese & White Crowns are back. Soon as the weather stays cooler, I hope to be out at the refuges on weekends. And that should mean photos to share! 🤞

Yikes. Dresden’s Carola Bridge collapsed in their early morning hours. Apparently a tram had just crossed it and no one was on the bridge. And soon floods may begin. Here’s the bridge back in 2009 with a tram passing over. #Carolabrücke A busy riverside promenade with numerous people walking and socializing. Several street lamps, a parking sign, and a no-stopping sign are visible along the cobblestone walkway. There is a river with the concrete pier Carola Bridge. A church is visible beyond the far shore.

I got the latest iOS 18 developer beta and its Home app can download PG&E energy use data & make it nicely accessible along with comparisons. The interface showing comparisons needs work but it is better than PG&E’s web charts though the iOS charts do not show cost (yet?) The image shows a smartphone screen with Home app displaying electricity usage. The app section titled “Electricity Usage” shows a bar chart of electricity consumption over the past year. A call-out over the current month shows a daily average of 23kWh. Below the chart are verbose definitions about energy use and how electricity is measured.

Today, our roofers repaired a set of joined eaves that had been a leaky but exterior only problem for years. It finally got bad enough with the sheathing sagging that I committed to getting it fixed this dry season. That sheathing was pretty rotted Looking up through a partially deconstructed eave at a L shaped exterior wall join with exposed beams and a red door beneath it. The sky is visible through the gaps in the beams. The support beams are casting shadows. A metal ladder is leaning against the building because of repair work.

My wife enjoyed sunset at Laguna Beach this last FridaySunset at a beach, with a large group of people gathered on the grass and along the shore. Silhouettes of people, palm trees, and a distant island are visible against a colorful sky with shades of orange, pink, and purple.

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