SouthboundYank

It's probably too much to hope that you'll get bored and bring your scythe out of retirement...

Had this same thought upon rolling out of bed this AM, given that I raced to mow the lawns prior to sunset yesterday. Mrs. V and I slept like sh*t -- wx radio started blaring the initial TOR watch around 12:30-ish, with a couple STWs firing up the wx klaxon each in the 2 and 4 a.m. hours. To your primary point -- lightning seemed pretty vivid for each of the warned storms....but thunder was indeed very muffled and subdued over the past several hours. Of course, I'll take a semi-sleepless night any day over having flash flooding runoff pouring into my ground floor apartment -- those poor folks in Rockville.

Indeed -- the aftermath of those mite bites is an angry-looking affair. I have managed to avoid them, but my wife got knicked by two mites, and while she said it was only mildly itchy, the swelling/redness lasted for at least two weeks.

I was in a conference room, on the second floor of a former Army barracks building (located on the "historic" part of the post) at Fort Belvoir, and we were on a conference call with a large group in downtown Philadelphia. Felt/heard a rumble that could be construed as the HVAC turning on....except you started to FEEL it, more than you could hear it. Plus, the ceiling mounted 55" flat screen monitor at the front of the conference room started to ROCK back and forth. Oh, and suddenly, the conference line to Philly went DEAD. I looked across the table at a colleague of mine and mouthed, "Is this a f*cking earthquake??" and then all hell broke loose...people running up/down the outside hallway screaming, "EARTHQUAKE!" and then, thinking back to all I saw/heard on TV over the years, I yelled, "Hey, everyone, stand in the doorway!" The pros/vets who survived California quakes and who were part of our meeting prevailed, and hauled us all outside of the building and across the street. All were fine, including the nearly 100-year old barracks buildings at Fort Belvoir. Like everyone else, I tried to call my wife at work (didn't get through to her, LOL), and my then-teenaged sons who were home at the time. I DID get through to my sons....who said, with exception of several items falling off of shelves, everything was fine at home. Except just prior to the worst of the shaking of the quake, our Labrador retriever ran to both of our sons and started barking frantically. They say animals can sense when quakes are coming...and based on that, I believe it.

LOL. This used to happen to me when I was mowing or weed-whacking, on either side of the Memorial Day weekend holiday this year, when the periodical cicadas were peaking. Literally 7-8 cicadas (maybe more?) would be attracted to the sound of the mower/whacker and land on me and just hang out. Was pretty funny to observe, and honestly, given the cicada's general propensity to bumble about and their general inability to navigate flight, I didn't mind. I really miss their early summer morning drone, to be honest.

I don't have much pic-worthy food during this late summer period, but by all means, keep the food porn coming, @Mrs.J and @wxtrix. I've tried to emulate a couple of your dishes posted earlier this summer, with mixed success.

Nothing here yet in SE FfxCo, except for increasingly blackening skies to the west and NW....and not just due to sunset.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning MDC031-VAC059-107-290000- /O.NEW.KLWX.SV.W.0486.210828T2318Z-210829T0000Z/ BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Severe Thunderstorm Warning National Weather Service Baltimore MD/Washington DC 718 PM EDT Sat Aug 28 2021 The National Weather Service in Sterling Virginia has issued a * Severe Thunderstorm Warning for... Southwestern Montgomery County in central Maryland... Southeastern Loudoun County in northern Virginia... Northwestern Fairfax County in northern Virginia... * Until 800 PM EDT. * At 718 PM EDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Poolesville, moving south at 20 mph. HAZARD...60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Damaging winds will cause some trees and large branches to fall. This could injure those outdoors, as well as damage homes and vehicles. Roadways may become blocked by downed trees. Localized power outages are possible. Unsecured light objects may become projectiles. * Locations impacted include... Germantown, Reston, Herndon, Vienna, Broadlands, Lansdowne, Lowes Island, Brambleton, Poolesville, Dulles International Airport, Potomac, Ashburn, Oakton, Sterling, North Potomac, Tysons Corner, Wolf Trap, Great Falls, Countryside and Arcola. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building. &&

TORNADO WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WT 447 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 1130 AM EDT WED AUG 18 2021 TORNADO WATCH 447 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS VAC013-043-047-059-061-069-099-107-139-153-157-171-179-187-510- 600-610-683-685-840-190000- /O.NEW.KWNS.TO.A.0447.210818T1530Z-210819T0000Z/ VA . VIRGINIA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE ARLINGTON CLARKE CULPEPER FAIRFAX FAUQUIER FREDERICK KING GEORGE LOUDOUN PAGE PRINCE WILLIAM RAPPAHANNOCK SHENANDOAH STAFFORD WARREN VIRGINIA INDEPENDENT CITIES INCLUDED ARE ALEXANDRIA FAIRFAX FALLS CHURCH MANASSAS MANASSAS PARK WINCHESTER $$

We didn't get the flooding rain that some folks mentioned above, but the lightning late Saturday/early Sunday AM in that storm complex that blew up out of nowhere was easily the most intense I've seen in the 30+ years I've lived in NoVA.

Wow, big time popping going on over your head right now! Growing quickly...

Never heard of the spotted lanternfly before going camping at French Creek State Park just NE of Philly last fall -- where I was not only inundated with literature posted there, but saw a good many on my own in the wild. Had no idea they had become so prevalent, but PA is clearly concerned and should be. Us, too.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WS 425 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 200 PM EDT WED AUG 11 2021 SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 425 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS VAC003-007-009-011-013-015-019-023-025-029-031-033-035-036-037- 041-043-045-047-049-053-057-059-061-063-065-067-069-075-079-083- 085-087-089-097-099-101-107-109-111-113-117-121-125-127-135-137- 139-141-143-145-147-149-153-157-159-161-163-165-171-177-179-187- 193-510-530-540-570-590-600-610-630-640-660-670-678-680-683-685- 690-730-750-760-770-775-790-820-840-120100- /O.NEW.KWNS.SV.A.0425.210811T1800Z-210812T0100Z/ VA . VIRGINIA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE ALBEMARLE AMELIA AMHERST APPOMATTOX ARLINGTON AUGUSTA BEDFORD BOTETOURT BRUNSWICK BUCKINGHAM CAMPBELL CAROLINE CARROLL CHARLES CITY CHARLOTTE CHESTERFIELD CLARKE CRAIG CULPEPER CUMBERLAND DINWIDDIE ESSEX FAIRFAX FAUQUIER FLOYD FLUVANNA FRANKLIN FREDERICK GOOCHLAND GREENE HALIFAX HANOVER HENRICO HENRY KING AND QUEEN KING GEORGE KING WILLIAM LOUDOUN LOUISA LUNENBURG MADISON MECKLENBURG MONTGOMERY NELSON NEW KENT NOTTOWAY ORANGE PAGE PATRICK PITTSYLVANIA POWHATAN PRINCE EDWARD PRINCE GEORGE PRINCE WILLIAM RAPPAHANNOCK RICHMOND ROANOKE ROCKBRIDGE ROCKINGHAM SHENANDOAH SPOTSYLVANIA STAFFORD WARREN WESTMORELAND VIRGINIA INDEPENDENT CITIES INCLUDED ARE ALEXANDRIA BUENA VISTA CHARLOTTESVILLE COLONIAL HEIGHTS DANVILLE FAIRFAX FALLS CHURCH FREDERICKSBURG GALAX HARRISONBURG HOPEWELL LEXINGTON LYNCHBURG MANASSAS MANASSAS PARK MARTINSVILLE PETERSBURG RADFORD RICHMOND ROANOKE SALEM STAUNTON WAYNESBORO WINCHESTER $$

This x 1000. OBX on down to MB is best in mid-September, my .02 cents. TOTALLY worth taking the kids out of school for a week for this. Most of the crowds have left (at least until the late Nov/Dec ones start arriving), most eateries and shopping are still available, and the weather/ocean water temps are close to perfection. Assuming you're not navigating around hurricanes.

My wife thought she had a tick bite on her neck, given the round-ish, reddish rash about 4" in circumference on her neck, but there was no visible tick...and then her co-worker sent her this story. Has to be this damn mite, especially since we back to a heavily wooded area.

And this right here is why I'm happy for you and your family...and I hope it stays this way! I know you've experienced NVSL's ugly underbelly, from other convos and as evidenced here. However, on a personal note, we've visited your pool many times over the years, as competitors and guests...and ALWAYS enjoyed being there. It's always been a "comforting" and welcoming experience...which is a reflection of the PEOPLE behind the property. I sure can't say the same about some of pools we've visited in the central/western part of the county.

You make an excellent point about NVSL Divisionals -- making it to that level is an awesome achievement, but one that often gets overshadowed (my .02 cents) by the overwhelming/relentless focus on the top swimmers who will be breezing through Divisionals and heading to All Stars. But the nice thing is...standout kids from ALL divisions with the drive and talent (and often at the top of their age bracket!) CAN make it to All Stars. And those are the kids I root for the most. I know we have several accomplished NVSL coaches and/or swimmers who contribute to this sub, a couple who (I think?) hail from some of the top performing NVSL teams, and I don't mean to crap on them, their talent or their experience, or generalize about their teams. Our family has known a few families over the past 15 years from a few of the teams in those top performing 2-3 divisions in the NVSL, although I admittedly have little time nor respect for the kinds of summer programs some of those elite teams tend to run. Because to one of your bolded points above, some of those elite teams drive much of the FUN out of summer swim, instead focusing on the cutthroat, bloodthirsty competition that hones in on which team is gonna get bumped out of Division 1 to Division 2 NEXT year. But worst of all? The attitudes that some parents (AND league officials) bring to the table. I'll never forget one of the first years that our youngest son made it to All Stars in free/fly and when they announced his name/our pool, a gaggle of the obnoxious NVSL Division 1 team mommies sitting near us (mommies who showed up as soon as the grounds opened so they could stake out half of the entire seating area with their clipboards, timer watches, iced Starbucks half-caf skinny lattes and Louis Vuitton totes) contemptibly sneered, "Who the HELL ever heard of 'Hayfield Farm'??" Several years after that, our pool hosted the NVSL All Star Relay Carnival, when lots of those same parents and league officials from the "elite" teams deigned to grudgingly travel to the southeastern corner of FfxCo for the competition...and while we heard a few positive comments, there was far more negative feedback provided regarding our pool, the deck area, its parking lot, the team areas, the quality of available food, and parking availability in the general neighborhood. Our team and community families worked their asses off staging that event...and that stung. That last experience permanently soured me on all things NVSL, which is fine since our youngest finally aged out of the league seven years ago. Obviously, I don't miss any of it...but I'm always glad to hear that there's a lot of folks here who still manage to find FUN in any summer swim program, let alone the NVSL.

I wonder, in retrospect, if leagues like CSL might be a better experience. NVSL All Stars always seemed dominated by the top 5-7 teams in the top two divisions, at least a decade or so ago when our two sons were still swimming. At that time, our neighborhood pool's team typically fell anywhere in the Division 9-11 range...and when my youngest son, who was the "better" swimmer in the family, made All Stars (which happened every year in his mid-late teens), he was often "alone" when it came to his "team." Although, in fairness, he made friends from those above-mentioned 5-7 teams from year-round swimming (e.g., Curl-Burke, NCAP)...who made it a more welcoming experience for him.

Congrats to you...but kindly stay away from MY KID'S All Stars records, please.

THIS just sounds heavenly....enjoy it this weekend!!

You're correct about the quality of SXM in the car, of course...what really ticks me off is trying to use the SXM app (which I love cuz it actually has even MORE stations/content than the carbound subscription) to listen in the house. I've used it alternately with Google Chromecast speakers and Amazon Echo smart speakers (a few of which we have rival or exceed the vehicle experience), and the damn app constantly crashes or freezes or generally loses connections with either type of smart speaker. UGH.

That's interesting. I've noticed that the sound systems in theaters have really expanded in recent years, due to technology advances, etc., and are just so....booming. There were a few movies I came out of in recent years where my ears were almost ringing because the theatrical sound systems practically blow you through the back of the theater now....not unlike the feeling I've had coming out of a live concert.

Anyone catching the limited runs of first-run theatrical movies on HBOMax or Disney? Anyone a fan of that, vs. seeing them on the big screen? It's weird...we'd typically see maybe 1-2 first-run in the theaters PER YEAR pre-pandemic. This year, in the first six months, we've seen 3 already (Nomadland, In The Heights, The Conjuring 3). At this point, I think I'd only miss seeing a "spectacle" movie (e.g., Top Gun 2, a Star Trek/Star Wars movie) in the theater. On the whole, though, I don't miss traipsing to the theater myself.

Gonna check these out....and THOSE look amazing!

Yeah, have been eyeing radar all afternoon....looks like your side of the Bay was most affected so far this afternoon, and I wondered if you were getting hit in your location. GREAT pic.