Bicycles & Sailboats

I took down the American flag on Wednesday morning and put up the sailboat flag...this will stay up until I put up my Virginia flag on August 23. I cannot believe we are that close to football season!!!

Now that Wimbledon is over (which ended with an awesome 5-setter pitting Federer against Nadal), I have started watching the Tour de France, which is interesting, but at this early stage, it is hard to pick someone you like. I think once the mountain stages start, the peleton will spread out and the leaders will emerge. Probably nothing like what happened when Lance Armstrong was on the Tour however.

Some new shows I've started DVR-ing: Ice Road Truckers (History Channel) - About trucking goods from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada to a diamond mind near the Arctic Circle; The States (History Channel) - Never seen this, but it's an hour-long show about 4 states at a time...recommended to me.

Drought news: We've actually had a decent amount of rain, and it's been awfully cloudy lately, but no loosening of water restrictions yet. Tuesday is the last day for me to water my new Japanese holly, but I'm not worried because I feel it will stay alive. The gigantic Japanese holly I was given and that I cut back has plentiful new growth on it, so I won't be replacing that either. Looks like I'll be down to the traditional 10 hours/week.

Finally, getting ready to go to Huntsville, Alabama next weekend...we're taking the most direct route, using state and county roads to get there, since Mapquest takes us all the way to Birmingham and then north, which cannot be any faster and will definitely be much less scenic. This way we'll get to see Lake Guntersville and Cloudmont Ski (yes skiing in Alabama) area. The wedding is a 250-person black-tie affair.

Peachtree Road Race Eve

Have you noticed that anything that happens, Global Warming is to blame? Today there was a thunderstorm at Wimbledon which stopped play (again), and the announcers asked rhetorically if this was caused by Global Warming.

Speaking of Wimbledon, it's been raining like crazy, with 5-6 rain delays just today. If they don't finish the 3rd round matches tomorrow, the tournament will be forced to play either the mens' championship on Monday, or the players would have to play 2 matches on one (or more) of the days. Apparently Wimbledon has occasionally gone into Tuesday or Wednesday of the third week. There is also a controversy why no play happened on the "People's Sunday", where traditionally no play occurs. Ironically the weather was beautiful that day...maybe it's a good thing that they did not attempt to play though because the Concert for Diana was that day at Wembley Stadium, and it did not rain (meanign that it might have if play had occurred).

There is a chance we may get a tropical system headed towards Florida...as of the 11:30 AM update, they have labeled it a system under investigation...conditions are somewhat favorable.

Finally, I have made a playlist for tomorrow's Peachtree:
Pre-race:
Buy U A Drank - T-Pain and Young Joc
Georgia - Elton John

Race:
2001 Space Odyssey (duh duhhhh DUHHHHHH)
Comin' to Your City - Big & Rich
Keg in the Closet - Kenny Chesney (through the old Buckhead bar district)
Shake Ya Tail Feather - Nelly/P.Diddy/Murphy Lee (for the Braves)
Give it to Me - Timbaland/Justin Timberlake/Nelly Furtado
Jesus Walks - Kanye West
Eye of the Tiger - Survivor (for Heartbreak Hill)
Maneater - Nelly Furtado
Nookie - Limp Bizkit
Jenny Says - Cowboy Mouth
Kerosene - Miranda Lambert
Such Great Heights - The Postal Service
Callin' Baton Rouge - Garth Brooks

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!!.

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.