Bring On The Heat

So it is 7am and these are our current conditions. It will only get hotter today and if we do get the 30% chance of rain, more than likely, it won't cool things down, it will just increase the humidity.

I really don't mind the heat here...I even enjoy the humidity too, but you do get used to sweating a lot, all the time. I guess I am just used to the fact that summer means sweat and I try to plan for outdoor things first thing in the morning or in the evening when the sun is low (or gone).

We had a picnic the other day at the beach and even in the shade, we were all sitting there sweating. Of course we didn't have any wind either and that is a huge factor here. We need wind.

Currently, there are no typhoons on the horizon and we could really use one. I love them and we haven't had a decent one in ages.

Anyway, I better get off here so I can get a couple of things accomplished outside before it gets too warm.

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Two Years Ago on In My Words...Hitting Bumps But Living Through It

Marking The Day

Happy Anniversary my love!!! These really have been the best years of my life and I am thankful everyday that we found each other. You are the best!!

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Three Years Ago on In My Words...My Love

Solar eclipse shrouds Asia in daytime darkness

It was so cool to be so close to the total solar eclipse today. We only had a 92% total here but it was still very cool. The sun was only a tiny sliver (much like the moon looks when it is just starting out for the month). My sister and I always called it a fingernail moon. This was a fingernail sun at the fullest part.

The sky was darkened like we were in a shadow and the temperature definitely dropped. We had some thin cloud cover but the camera and welding glass still allowed me to see through it to the sun. It seemed like it lasted a long time but it was really only a bit over 6 minutes.

I was kind of suprised that I couldn't see the moon at all as it approached the sun or even as it covered...it looked just like a circular shade was being drawn.

I found that the welding glass was the best for taking pictures and the reverse binoculars worked best for watching the progress when I wasn't taking pictures. I didn't want to watch it much through the glass because I didn't want to hurt my eyes even a little bit.

I think I actually got a few decent shots even if the sun looks green in them. I would like to get a solar filter for my telescope so I can check out the sun more often with it and perhaps get some shots of solar flares or spots sometime.

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Three Years Ago on In My Words...Catch Up

My Only Recourse

This may be it...I will be experimenting with different options for a pin hole viewer for the eclipse since the eclipse glasses seem to be sold out here on the island...I found this blog post that has directions for a pretty simple one...we'll see if I can get one that works for me...

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Two Years Ago on In My Words...Still At The Open

Solar Eclipse

Looks like I might get to see a "very close to full" eclipse of the sun on the 22nd of July around 10:50am. The full eclipse will be just north of us so we won't get the full meal deal but pretty darn close, which is cool since I haven't been in a location to see a solar eclipse in forever.

I remember when I was a kid, my dad went off to see one, I am not sure where he went for it but he brought back some cool pictures. I thought it was prett interesting. As kids, our parents were always pointing out the unique things in the skies to us. We would watch lightening storms from under the picnic table in the back yard. We watched for days and days for Skylab to fall in the 70s and we always watched the meteor showers in the August skies.

I have a pretty decent telescope now but I need to see if I can find some solar eclipse sunglasses here somewhere. I would like to get some pictures and even some video if I can through the telescope but I don't want to chance hurting my eyes. According to Wikipedia's website, you can watch it through a video camera or digital output without hurting your eyes but just going through the telescope, viewfinder on a camera or looking at it directly could be very bad. If I were to get the full eclipse, I could watch that but since we will be a bit off, it will never be complete and therefore dangerous at all times during the event.

This site has a lot of info on the eclipse as well as the links for webcasts from my part of the world if you want to check them out.

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Two Years Ago on In My Words...Lunar Eclipse

Update to Mishka's Reading

I updated my reading blog today with my reads from February thru June 2009. Check them out if you have a chance...

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Three Years Ago on In My Words...Bogged Down

Suicide bombers kill 8 at Jakarta Marriott, Ritz - Yahoo! News

This is why my mom gets nervous when we travel...

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Four Years Ago on In My Words...Grand Theft Auto

Cicada Time

July is a big month for cicada here in Southern Japan...they are called semi. They are very big and noisy here. We had them when I lived in Texas as a kid but I don't remember them being this huge or loud.

Anyhow, this year has been particularly loud...apparently some years there are lots more than others so perhaps this is a busier year. They seem to like the little tree in the middle of our pond so we are forced to be audience to their loud song each day during "semi season". Soon they will be gone.

This morning, I decided to get out and video tape some so I could have the sound as well as the pictures. I also took this picture with our video camera so you could see the detail of one and also see how big they are here. This one was about 3 inches from the top of the head to the edge of the wing.

I know I will miss them when they are gone as they are always a reminder that summer is finally here.

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Two Years Ago on In My Words...Heading Out

Me, Myself and I

Over the last few years I have noticed that the verbal (and now written) use of the word "myself" has evolved into something that is slowly driving me crazy. I do not claim to be an expert in grammar but this one is a peeve I just can't ignore. I have heard this incorrect usage spill from the lips of Americans in all spectrums of society (educators, sports figures, journalists, politicians, movie stars, students....etc). I don't watch enough international television to notice whether it is worldwide or not, so for now I am limiting my peeve to Americans. Now I am starting to see it in written word as well and that is very scary...

I think it stems from the fear of when to use "me" and "I" correctly. This is something that is drilled into all of us at a very early age. Regardless of the trama, substituting "myself" does not correct this or ease this confusion. It is becoming so commonplace that I expect that Webster's will adopt this new use and there will be no going back. Therefore, I am announcing my issues with it again, so I can say I made an effort.

Okay, so here it is. You CAN say "She bought the cake for my wife and me." You CAN NOT say "She bought the cake for my wife and myself." It just doesn't work that way, because if you were to take the wife out of the sentence (the true test if something is grammatically correct), it would be "She bought the cake for myself" and that just doesn't make sense. You can also say "Jack and I were married yesterday." You can not say "Jack and myself were married yesterday." I don't tend to hear the use of "myself" substituted for "I" as often as for "me" but it does happen on occasion.

Now that I have mentioned it, all of you will hear it all the time and it will drive you crazy too....so you can thank me later...ha ha. Great, I feel better now, getting that off my chest. Please remember that I am not an expert, and I am sure there are 47 other grammatical errors in this little blurb that someone could point out. I just had to get my particular peeve out in the open again (and now that I have, let us hope that I don't ever use "me, myself, and I" incorrectly or I will have hell to pay).

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Four Years Ago on In My Words...Me, Myself, and I

Chirping Madness

Okay, a similar little guy to this image almost drove me crazy last night. He was in our bedroom and would chirp super loud pretty much once an hour. Finally this morning, I was able to figure out where he was and chase him until he got tired and shooed him out the door. I knew I couldn't do another night of him in my room chirping for a girlfriend...it would have driven me insane.

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One Year Ago on In My Words...Irritation