High pressure and windemeanors

As is typical for this part of the world in January, atmospheric pressure as measured by the trusty old barometer has been fluctuating considerably. Yesterday it hovered in the 29.50 inches of mercury range until evening, when it began to creep up. By sunset it was 30.12. That doesn't seem a large difference, but it is.

Not long after sunset the winds arrived. Now winds are a very complex phenomenon. Our atmosphere has a hell of a lot of individual gas molecules, and they behave according to physical gas law. Lots and lots of things add and subtract energy from the air mass in lots and lots of places. Air molecules with more energy move faster and are therefore warmer, with temperature being an indirect indicator of molecular energy state. A more direct indicator is atmospheric pressure, as more energetic molecules move faster and therefore impart higher pressures to the air mass. In obeying gas law, molecules of air move from areas of higher pressure to areas of lower pressure. One way to think of it is air mass flowing down the energy/pressure gradient. When large air masses with relatively high energy/pressure states "line up" and begin to flow "downhill," we feel the movement as wind. As always, it's not that simple, but pressure gradients play a big role in the winds we experience. So yeah, it's windy today.

We're directed by the nws, whose mission has shifted from reporting and forecasting weather to "saving lives," to stay out of the enchanted forest while the wind blows. And we're also supposed to be terrified and therefore not venture outside. Which will save our lives. Mission accomplished, nws!

As you might expect after reading the previous paragraph, it is my belief that the nws is one of those unelected alphabet agencies which has decided to "do what's right" regardless of any other consideration, and oh by the way, to pay themselves as lifesavers rather than weathermen. They really should be slapped down and allowed to join the ranks of fellow former government employees. I believe this is one of many things that all of us sovereign American citizens should consider as we run our country. But that's of course a decision for each sovereign citizen to make for themselves.

And none of this is about that!

Nona doesn't mind the wind. She had an exciting morning, getting a treat before we got stuck properly into the day!



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One of the reasons I heard the wind come up last night is that I was up puking on and off all night. I think I got into some bagged salad which had a bit of E. coli, or Salmonella dressing. Not a pleasant experience, but if you're gonna be lazy and let unknown and potentially unwashed people prepare your salad, there's a chance you'll get sick. As with everything else we do, consuming foodstuffs carries a certain amount of risk. We can bitch and moan and shout from the mountain tops that the world should be a perfect place, but the world cannot be a perfect place. It's just too busy being the world. Managing all those air molecules leaves precious little room for managing perfection.

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Perimeter fencing. It's all very confusing. Who owns the county road? Who pays property taxes on the land where the county road exists? Who has control of the county road? Who decides where a fence may be placed alongside the county road? Or where crops may be planted? There's statute, and then there's reality.



Here's where I took some video of dirt blowing and tried to 'splain who's in charge of dirt blowing, who's in charge of mitigating blowing dirt, and how much of an emergency blowing dirt is. As with the county roads, it's complicated. There's statute, and then there's reality. The video really sucks.



And that's gonna have to be more than enough for the day. I'm preparing a delightful super bowl supper dish called baked chicken parm dip. This is a practice run to see whether it's edible or not and perhaps help decide if I want to have or participate in a super bowl party. I'll report on the failure of the dip tomorrow.

Also Snow Girl is going to join Mom and I for the dip experiment this evening. Girl's got a lot of moxie! Hopefully a solid digestive system as well. Her faith in my infallibility may be shaken severely, which is as it should be.

Be well and enjoy the blessings of liberty.