Strawberries and Cream, Droughts & Hurricanes

It's about the middle of Wimbledon, and Tim Henman, the fan's favorite, lost yesterday in another 5 set marathon. I'm sure Henman Hill is in mourning. I'd love to get my hands on some Strawberries & Cream though, the official food of Wimbledon (along with the official drink, Pimms Cup. In addition, there was a small controversy when a French player wore red knickers, which apparently is technically not against the dress code.

Moving on, check out this video from the Beau Rivage in southern Mississippi from Hurricane Katrina:


No one is quite sure whether this hurricane season will be ferocious or easy, but for comparison's sake, we're currently waiting for the "C" storm, Chantal, next...In 2005, the busiest hurricane season in history, Cindy formed on July 3, which would be next Tuesday. There is nothing looming, although some people think something may form soon (See here).

On to the drought, all areas west and north of this line in Georgia are experiencing an "extreme" drought. One county, Harris has run out of whater and has to purchase from neighboring Carroll County (which also has a total ban on watering). 54 other communities are experiencing shortages that could prove critical (see article. They say this drought is worst than the old benchmark, 1954 (more info here). We did get a good rain yesterday, which was bad only in the fact that Screen on the Green got cancelled & we got soaked walking back to Argonne & 6th Street to get our car!!.

Drought continues...worse in Alabama

I just found out that Birmingham Water Works (as of June 7, 2007) now only allows hand watering two days a week before 10 AM and after 10 PM...that makes it almost impossible to water anything! I think I'd just sit outside with a drink and spray the hose around anytime I could. In addition, customers are limited to 12 CCF's, and after that there is a surcharge imposed on the water. I think we usually use about 18 CCF's? (Not sure about that one, and there's really no way to tell how much of that is for showers and washing clothes and how much is for the lawn). Finally, golf courses are only allowed to water greens and tees three days per week...yikes...that must make for an ugly golf course! (Even Atlanta golf courses can water on Saturday mornings midnight to 10 AM!!!).

Other than that, no real news...just hot as usual.

Big update

1) Watering restrictions: Everything seems to have leveled out...we're still on the 10 hours/week, but nothing worse than that. I have until July 17 to water my new Japanese Holly...the huge Japanese holly that I thought was dead actually has a bunch of green leaves on it now, so I don't think I'll get another 30-day exemption after that!

2) Wimbledon: It starts this week, with Wake Up to Wimbledeon on every morning for the next two weeks. Fun times...I love that they play on grass...feels very old school. Now I just wish I had some strawberries & cream to eat!

3) The Peachtree Road Race is next Wednesday (July 4). I think I'm fairly ready for it...I don't think that the fire hydrants will have the sprayers attached this year since we're in a drought though ( ): ) Hopefully the holy water at St. Philips will at least be turned on.

4) Also next Wednesday is the announcement for the 2014 Winter Games.

5) Also next Wednesday is the beginning of the Henley Regatta in England (early July seems to be the best month in Great Britain, which is why we might take a trip there next year!).

6) Forecasters are saying that with this drought, temps might climb to 103-108 degrees in Atlanta this summer b/c there is no humidity to bring temps down. Yikes...I think that 103 and dry is WAY better than 90 and muggy though. They're still saying we need a tropical storm to help out, and that the effects of Barry are bascially gone (and the S. Georgia fire is not quite out, and could flare up again).

7) Next Monday is Canada Day (we have 2 canadian neighbors so I keep up)...Normally it's July 1 except in years when that is a Sunday, like this year.

Rain in our neighborhood!!!

So we're finally getting some actual rain in our neighborhood. We got some yesterday and we're getting more today. I can't tell sitting at my desk, and the Weather Channel radar is about 25 minutes out of date, but there are storms moving down the Chattahoochee, going from Six Flags Whitewater in Marietta down to Six Flags Over Georgia in Lithia Springs & Sweetwater Creek State Park in Douglas County. We also got rain yesterday, and it actually covered the street.

The whole Atlanta metro area is under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 10 PM tonight (as we were last night). This is definitely beneficial.

However, they say we'll need 40-50" of rain to end the drought, and at least 12" just to get back to normal rainfall for the year...looks like no loosening of water restrictions anytime soon! Since last time I blogged, Carroll County went to no watering whatsoever until further notice. No other drought news.

Also, I've decided that (to use one of the main characters Barney's words), How I Met Your Mother is one of the "awesomest" shows ever...even better that it only takes 15 minutes to watch using DVR! I think that the Robin Sparkles episode has got to be the funniest.

Nothing new

I am VERY tired today after playing poker until 1:30 AM last night. Unfortunately I did not realize that almost everyone at the table except for me works from home and therefore could sleep in. Oh well, after chugging some water and waking up, I think I'll be okay.

I noticed one other water restriction county: Coweta (includes Newnan). I don't know if the restrictions are "new", but they too are now at Level III drought restrictions, meaning homeowners can only water on Saturday or Sunday depending on the address.

Tomorrow night we're venturing to Tucker to go see my wife's co-workers' band play, which includes free pizza and beer beforehand. Sunday is the big Foyer dinner for our church group...note to self to take it easy on the wine...haha

Fourth of July Cancelled?

No, not really, but the City of Roswell is considering banning the annual 4th of July Fireworks display because of drought/fire conditions. I wonder if that will also mean the fire hydrants along Peachtree will not be turned on for the Peachtree Road Race?

In music news, I heard a song "Sugarland", by Sugarland, referring vaguely to a town in Texas called Sugar Land or incorrectly Sugarland. Although Sugarland the band is from Atlanta, the song talks about fields of bluebonnets, which is the state flower of Texas, and also talks about growing up in a small town. Sugar Land, in Fort Bend County, was a company town for Imperial Sugar, and was a small town until the 60's & 70's when it became an extremely affluent golf-course/planned/gated community location for Houston, which is 23 miles away, or roughly Roswell to Atlanta. I wonder if that'll be their next hit...I've never heard of a "self-titled" song so to speak...haha.

Finally, London unveiled its 2012 puzzle-piece logo and got the same reaction as Izzy from Atlanta 1996, which was in a two words, not good. Read more here.

Finally, this is a big weekend for sports: The St. Jude Classic in Memphis is today through Sunday, the French Open finals are 9-noon and 9-2 respectively on Saturday and Sunday in Eastern Daylight Time, and the Belmont Stakes (in which the Derby winner Street Sense will not be running, but the Preakness winner Curlin will be running) is on Saturday around 6 PM from Elmont, New York.

Water water everywhere, but not a drop to sprinkle our lawns with

It did rain yesterday in Fulton County/City of Atlanta, and we even got a Severe Thunderstorm Warning. However, the rain was selective, and almost nothing fell over my neighborhood in Northwest (City of) Atlanta. Our lawn is as parched as ever, however I still mowed it yesterday. I'd rather have a dry, manicured lawn, than a kinda-green one that is raggedy.

Three Counties and one city: Tift (S Ga.), Heard, Haralson (both W. Ga.) and the City of Eatonton (Putnam Co., Central Ga.) have all banned all outdoor watering. The City of Atlanta, realizing that EVERYONE is watering on the weekends now, has changed Piedmont Park's and golf courses' watering days to Monday & Friday, to try to ease pressure on the lines. I noticed about 1/2 of the odd addresses on Saturday night at 2 AM in my neighborhood watering, so people know about it and are taking advantage of the 10 hours we have.

In addition, it appears our drought is going to get worse, not better. According to The Weather Channel, we're going to get temperatures into the mid-90's and hotter, and not much more rain, which will dry everything out faster. Sounds like more quality time for me and the watering can (I don't consider watering can watering to be a violation b/c I get the water from the kitchen sink and therefore it's not "outdoor" watering).

Tomorrow sounds like same old, same old. Since it's been over 30 days for the boxwoods, I can only water the Japanese maples on Tuesdays and Thursdays now (they have until June 21).

Atlanta...It's a Dry Heat

Still no rain in Atlanta, although they're predicting a 20% chance and there are currently some thunderstorms about 100 miles south of us in Houston County (near Macon). Still the same water restrictions and it looks like they'll continue unless we get a Hurricane Opal- like storm to hit us here in Atlanta...hopefully without the flooding and the 5000 downed trees however!

Today is the 6th anniversary of the formation of Tropical Storm Allison, who caused havoc due to flooding in Houston even though it was only a weak Tropical Storm. That is the only Tropical Storm name to be retired to date. (Why do I suddenly have Glen Cambpell's "Galveston" stuck in my head??

I was able to finally turn on the sprinklers in the 3rd neighborhood park...those have been off since about the time of the 9/11 attacks. Finally it all works, save one zone, but I set all the others to go on twice during the Saturday midnight to 10 AM time frame...neighbors came out and were very happy.

Finally, I picked out a television for my mother in law, the Olevia 532H, a 32" LCD flat-screen HDTV. I found it at Beach Camera in Edison, New Jersey for $618.00 which offers free shipping and no sales tax except to residents of New Jersey.

Thanks but no thanks Barry! (and more water restrictions)

Well, Barry came ashore on Saturday as a Tropical Storm near Tampa, Florida. It skirted along the Atlantic coast and is now near Ocean City, Maryland. It brought a lot of welcome rain to south Georgia, and helped to mostly contain the forest fires down there. However Atlanta officially got just a trace of rain, while my yard in NW Atlanta got none at all. The beneficial rain got as close as Locust Grove, Conyers and Snellville. There is no other rain in the forecast now for the next few weeks.

Speaking of watering, I watered from midnight-2AM, 2AM-4AM, 5:30-7:30 AM and 8-10 AM on Sunday morning, getting the majority of the lawn, and it does look better, but probably not for long. With no more rain coming, I sure hope they don't institute a ban on all watering period, which is the next step. It's exhausting, having to wait up until midnight on Saturday night (of course this week I was @ a party), and then getting up at 8 AM to turn the water back on! Also, I noticed walking the dog at 2 AM how many people's sprinklers were on...crazy. I'm still under the exemptions until tomorrow for my new boxwoods, and until June 21 to water the new Japanese maples, which helps some since the runoff goes into the side yard and down into the front yard.

In addition, the cities of Alpharetta, Milton and Johns Creek in north Fulton County just went to our weekend-only midnight to 10 AM system. Roswell can still water their 3 days/week but only from midnight to 7 AM, and the city of Mountain Park as far as I know is still on the statewide 3/day/midnight to 10 AM schedule. Surrounding counties like Cobb, Douglas and Cherokee are still on the statewide restrictions. When will we get some rain?

I got my application for Masters practice round tickets! Got to turn that in.