Rain [maybe] in the forecast

[Cudedog]

As Velda has mentioned, it has been unseasonably warm here for the last week or so, heading into the low to mid-90's for a couple of days here at my house.

As Velda has also mentioned, we are under our first "Red Flag" warning (a Red Flag warning is a weather alert for severe fire danger issued by the National Weather Service) of the year - I think it is the earliest such warning we have ever received.

And now rain. . . of course, any drop of rain is a good thing - mostly - (we have not had significant rainfall since December, I think). The problem with warm temps followed by rain (there won't be much - maybe 1/10 of an inch) is that it will stimulate the growth of foothill and mountain grasses and chaparral. Just when it was starting to die back for the season, it will get growing again.

All of this new growth will eventually dry out and become dormant, leaving an increased fuel load for. . . you guessed it. . . summer wildfire. This is why we both welcome - and dread - rain so late in our "rainy season" here.

I lived in the Sierra foothills for thirty-some years, and loved every minute of my time in the beauty of nature. But, every summer, wildfire was always a constant worry (more than once under mandatory evacuation orders).

Conditions are worse here now than they have ever been

Although I miss my beautiful old home - and likely always will - I certainly don't miss the day-and-night constant worry.

Summers here, for the last few years now, have meant living with nearly constant smoke, the pervasive smell of it and ashfall which gets into everything.

This year isn't looking good.

Anne

[JudyJB]

Keeping my fingers crossed for all of California getting rain this week!

[Redetotry]

It's a lovely 77 degree day here, thanks for sending the warm weather Velda. I just took Pippa outside, her third time on the grass since we got her in December. She found it very interesting this time and was really funny doing an alternate run and then a few hops. It has either been too cold, raining or I didn't have a harness that fit her but now she is all set for the great outdoors. We have a fenced in yard in back but she is too small to turn loose, with all the bushes I might have a hard time finding her. She will be 6 months old tomorrow. She weighs 8 pounds and is 9 inches tall. I almost hope she doesn't get much bigger as 8 pounds is easy to carry around.
Beth I hope things are working out at your new job. Anne I wish I could sent a few rain clouds your way. Judy I hope you get to warmer weather soon.

[OregonLuvr]

YIPPEE has been raining most of the day. Not hard just a steady light rain.

Trying to decide what to make for dinner, will be salmon patties, brussels sprouts and the rest of the asparagus. I am leaving for Medford on Wednesday so need to eat up the leftovers.

[Shirlv]

Afternoon All, sunny and pleasant. The baby shower was a huge success. Gifts for baby that I have never heard of and wouldn’t know how to use. I mentioned that we didn’t have car seats when my children were young. My youngest piped up and said she didn’t have any kind of seat and that she had to ride in the back window. At that time we had an old Volkswagen Beetle. Granddaughter lost her dad when she was very young. His brothers sent a new bush basket filled with little fishing rods, a crab kit, boots, camo overalls. Hat and other essentials if you lived on the eastern shore. A childrens book that a friend had saved that had passed around among the family which included different childrens artwork. Stuff this old timer thought was wonderful. Lettuce is growing and tulips are still beautiful. Be safe

Anne, thought your weather might warrant its own spot. Other members experiencing severe might want give their thoughts and plans for the future

[BarbaraRose]

Shirl, how did your Wonky Donkey book go over?

Been watching the Masters Golf Tournament. Tiger didn't win but just the fact that he played and made it thru the weekend was truly amazing! He was hurting by the end tho.

Did 2 haircuts before watching the tournament. Other than that, I didn't do much around here. Did spray paint my new little gourd white. It is still pretty hot out so didn't want to hang out outside or in the porch too long.

I need to run to my local WM to pick up some things the other WM at work didn't have.

Hope you are all having a good day!

[JudyJB]

I have an old Dell Inspiron laptop that I bought in 2016. It works fine, but is slow loading, and it has windows 7 on it. I kept it when I got a newer laptop in 2020 because I was teaching and needed a backup in case my newer one had problems. I am going to clean out the hard drive, but does anyone know where I could donate it??

Or should I just destroy it to make sure the hard drive is clean??

[Cudedog]

I have an old Dell Inspiron laptop that I bought in 2016. It works fine, but is slow loading, and it has windows 7 on it. I kept it when I got a newer laptop in 2020 because I was teaching and needed a backup in case my newer one had problems. I am going to clean out the hard drive, but does anyone know where I could donate it??

Or should I just destroy it to make sure the hard drive is clean??

Destroying it would not necessarily make sure that the hard drive was wiped. Nor does merely deleting programs and files - they are actually still there for those who know how to find such things. Best to use a disk wiping program.

Judy, there are programs that you can buy pretty inexpensively that will wipe your hard drive, some will remove even the operating system.

I would probably do that, instead of destroying the computer.

I would especially consider doing this if you were going to donate it somewhere.

Not because a Windows 7 computer has any particular value (although you might be able to upgrade it to Windows 10), but just because destroying your computer would make a awful mess. And. . . one might smash a computer to bits, but if the hard drive somehow remains intact, information can still potentially be harvested from it.

Letting the computer soak in a bucket of water will make most of it toast - but there is still the potential that once the hard drive dries out again, information might still be able to be retrieved if someone wanted to bother with it (even if the rest of the computer didn't work at all).

Anne

[Acadianmom]

Didn't do much today. It's going to take me a week to get over my trip. The wind is still blowing. I am really tired of the wind and we have more tomorrow. Then possible storms on Tuesday and Wednesday.

I need to get my motorhome serviced so guess that will be the project for the week. After I had Auto Zone change the engine battery the battery light would stay on for a few minutes. Now it stays on for about 30 miles. The engine starts fine so don't know what's up with the light. I will have to see when my son can pick me up if I drop it off.

Martha

[chalet05]

Judy, several years ago I formatted the hard drive, removed it and took a hammer to it. Not the best solution but wasn't much else I could do at the time. Recycled the rest at a Best Buy along with a few other things.

A little snow here overnight.

[snowball]

really don't know what happened to my post last night but it's gone.... and I even chatted about stuff
had to take mom to ER yesterday as she told me she was bleeding... so consulted with dr went to ER and she has a bad UTI need to be more aware of how much she is drinking hard for me to push water when I don't drink much at all in actuality she probably drinks more than I do...
we got a skiff of snow today temp is about 25 but boy is it cold in here perhaps I ought to check the thermostat and see if it's been played with... cause I'm ready to go curl up under the heat throw
or a cup of hot chocolate
started the border on my crocheted afghan today because of being in ER yesterday didn't work on the Swedish Weave and today well a nap called my name...
not much today zoomed church it was stake conference today so mom could view it she last about 1 hour...
yes that cup of hot chocolate is becoming needed
on one thing I talked about last night was a wild flower was spotted on Mar 30 way early so lots of fear about a early spring lack of moisture and wild fires none is good
you all have a great day
sheila

[JudyJB]

Thanks for the advice. I am spoiled because when I worked for Ford, they had a couple of days each year when you could take personal cell phones, computers, and iPads to a row of desks in an outdoor parking lot of one of the company buildings, and there would be IT people around who would clean your equipment and take it apart for recycling. Very convenient because you did not even have to get out of your vehicle--just handed stuff through a window as you drove past. College had that also, but only once a year, and I trusted the Ford guys more. At the end of the day, they had huge boxes full of components for recycling.

With my last old computer, I took the hard drive out and my son drilled a couple of holes in it. Not sure if that was enough, however.

In this area of southern Ohio and in Kentucky as I was driving through, I really enjoyed seeing forsythia, red bud trees in blood, daffodils, and even violets in the campground. I am hoping to see lilacs soon. Don't get to see some of those spring blooming shrubs and plants out west or in Florida, so I really miss them.

[snowball]

, daffodils, and even violets in the campground. I am hoping to see lilacs soon. Don't get to see some of those spring blooming shrubs and plants out west or in Florida, so I really miss them.

I am surprised that you don't find forsythia and the other plants out west... we have them even in Idaho and Wyo...Daffodils bloom all over the place but we don't have the red bud trees... I remember when I first went to the midwest I was amazed at the blooming trees tulip trees, some others that I can't remember now... but we do have the spring plants not so much in the south west though... Utah has them even as far as St George.. it maybe the time of the year that you are in the areas
sheila

[JudyJB]

They do exist in high altitudes where there are freezing nights out west but not
In places that do not have snow. At least that is my experience.