Thunderstorm?!

Did anyone else see/hear lightning/thunder (at around 3am)? At first I heard some rain that I thought might be sprinklers. Then I swear I heard thunder.. Turned the lights off and sure enough saw a flash of light before another roaring boom…!

The weather is certainly not boring this week..

(Yes I’m up late.. this is fairly normal for me lately.)

Bay Bridge Closure

I’m sure everyone knows about this already but in case you’re like me and don’t pay attention… here’s the latest from the official website.

I assumed it would be closed only for 3 days because it was supposed to be “over labor day weekend”, but it’s actually going to be closed from Thursday, Sept 3 to Tuesday, Sept 8, almost 5 days.

Judging from last time, I’d assume that to be an overestimate and for them to be done before the 8th.

(Ironically, I can’t remember what “last time” is, but I remember them finishing way earlier than the estimate)

228 Massacre

February 28, 1947 was the catalyst for uprisings against the corrupt Chinese government in Taiwan.  Uprisings which were later suppressed brutally and which began decades of martial law and the period known as the “White Terror”.

For more on the history, please visit this site.

In the interest of completeness, I looked up a few articles on the events this year:

1. report from India – only “foreign” report I could find, added for perspective’s sake.

2. sit-in rally – group of people made the words “do not forget 228″ in Liberty Square.

EZ-Rider Parking Validation

I just found this video on the “new” EZ-Rider parking validation.  The video says registration is free before Feb, and $7 after Feb. 1st.

Wish you found out earlier, and wondering why a little hangtag costs so much?  Me too.

Until I found the official Bart source.  Ok it’s only $7 if you don’t already have EZ-Rider because you pay $5 for the card, and $2 for the hangtag.

Yes it’s not as good as free and it would have been nice to not miss it by ONE day…. but $2 is reasonable.  I assume the hangtag has some electronic coding on it as well.

$5 for the card isn’t horrible either, considering you get a pretty sturdy case and a strap (? correct me if I’m wrong, it’s been a while and I don’t use a strap) in addition to the card and paying less for fare.

Side note: Hope this doesn’t increase car volume in the parking lots..  It’s already crowded enough as it is in some locations..!

Opening Ceremony Controversy

I think this news has been out for a while now… but I figured I’d write it up anyway.

According to this article, the footage of footprint fireworks was faked — aka, digitally created on a computer… a feat that took almost a year to accomplish.  In addition to that, the little girl singing Ode to the Motherland was switched at the last minute because she wasn’t pretty enough.

Here’s a better article on the switch.

Thoughts on the Fireworks

I have mixed feelings about the fireworks — on one hand, it’s neat that they were able to digitally create it and make it look realistic… but this is the olympics, not hollywood.  At least when I go watch a movie, I KNOW that it’s probably fake.

Olympics

The opening ceremony was as impressive as expected, but I think I’d  be more impressed if I had watched it on a bigger screen and with better sound (my tv is smaller than 17″ and I watched at an angle from across the room).

The choreography is by far the most impressive aspect.. I was intrigued by the huge LCD screen/scroll, but since that’s just a display of money spent, it didn’t impress me that much. :p

The amount of practice the performers must have gone through to be totally in sync — now that I can appreciate.  That and the artistic vision of the choreographer, of course.

Some slightly less censored thoughts:

Wildfires in the Bay Area

I haven’t been keeping up with news on the fires because I felt like I was being paranoid about them.. but the smog from the fires have become so thick that I can’t see any part of the blue sky anymore…

So here’s the latest article, and a quick quote:

Air quality regulators today warned Bay Area residents – particularly the elderly, children and those with heart or lung disease – to limit outdoor activities after measuring unhealthy levels of particulate matter from the fires in portions of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.

Elevated levels of pollutants are also expected today in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

The pictures were taken on 6/21/08, driving westbound on I-80 between Davis and I-680, and the first is from I-680 southbound, around sunset. Resolution’s horrible as they were taken with my cameraphone. I had to straighten and crop them, of course… I basically pointed and pressed the button without looking.

The article has a map if you want to know where the fires are. There have been 1,032 fires so far in Northern California.

The smog has gotten progressively worse since the pictures were taken.. It was actually relatively clear on that day, aside from that patch along the freeway. I believe today’s the worst so far. If you can, stay indoors if you’re in the aforementioned areas.

Red flag warning in the East Bay

There were several fires in the bay area today: Stockton, Martinez, even Half-moon bay. 12 homes were destroyed, and 21 were damaged.

As a result of the high winds and the dry weather, a red flag fire warning is in effect tonight in much of the bay area.

It wasn’t as warm today as yesterday, so I thought it was a bit strange…

Apparently, most fires around here are caused by carelessness — like people tossing leftover cigarettes into dry grass (the news actually showed some guy who did that in front of a firefighter — smart :p).

Be careful out there, and try to make sure your cigarettes are completely put out and away from dry grass!

Anyone remember the Oakland hills fire? That was pretty massive — I remember driving by and seeing whole patches of blackened firewood…

Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself this year.

Salmonella in tomatoes

Just heard about the salmonella outbreak in tomatoes. Here’s a list of sources that are cleared:

The FDA has cleared tomatoes from these regions, saying they are not associated with the outbreak: Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, The Netherlands and Puerto Rico.

Several restaurants have pulled raw tomatoes off of their menus, just in case. Basically, just avoid eating it raw unless you know where it’s from… though of course if you want to be extra safe, you can just not eat tomatoes

There was also some news on west nile infected mosquitos detected earlier than normal.. apparently the higher number of foreclosures have increased # of unattended pools.

That and the warm weather has increased mosquito breeding. The advice — wear long sleeves and bug repellent when out, especially at dawn/dusk.

Anti-discrimination bill

Bush just signed a measure to ensure that genetic testing won’t be used against people (in terms of work/insurance).

It’s basically one of those bills that no one can argue against, other than insurance companies and other big companies.. Even then though, I think it’s pretty much a selfish reason on the part of the companies.

If it’s considered in terms of how it will affect the individual (other than the company), it’s a clear choice. Thus, it’s not surprising that it passed the senate 95-0, and the house 414-1.