distortions.net Profile Photo

distortions.net

I'm Ryan Mikulovsky. Tech geek. GIS pro. Avgeek. California Native plant gardener. All photos on this blog, unless stated otherwise, are mine. Cameras: Fujifilm X-T5 and X100V. Views are my own.

Apple

    ∞

    Compared to German Non-Alcoholic (NA) beer, Sierra Nevada Brewery’s NA Trail Pass beer is fine. The IPA is too bitter and like hop water. Malt flavors should be highlighted more in Golden and IPA. Will buy Golden again; it’s most like beer. Big leap over previous NA beers

    ∞

    Here’s a Western Meadow Lark photobombing a White Crown Sparrow. Or was it the other way? #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge #Birds #WesternMeadowLark #BirdPhotography #AvianGeek #Fujifilm Two birds perched in dry brush. The closest bird displaying yellow markings. That one is a Western Meadow Lark. The farthest away bird looks like a small white crown.

    ∞

    Some birds spotted today at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge: a Bald Eagle, a Merlin, and a Black Phoebe. 🪶 #Birds #SacramentoNationalWildlifeRefuge #BaldEagle #Merlin #BlackPhoebe #Fujifilm Bald eagle, looking left across its left shoulder, perched on a Willow tree branch surrounded by foliage.

    A Merlin perched on a leafless tree branch against a clear blue sky.

    A Black Phoebe bird in mid-flight over a calm body of water with light ripples and reflections of vegetation on the surface.

    ∞

    COVID Sucks (Stay Fully Vaccinated )

    Glad I’m fully vaccinated as my post-Germany COVID symptoms/disease could be lots worse. Took several days to test positive. The infection started with an on/off fever, sore throat, cold-like symptoms, & general malaise. My finger tips tingled for a few hours (immune system must have gone after my nerve myelin)! Two weeks later, my head is congested (ears not at right pressure) and I’ve a minor cough. Get vaccinated & protect yourself. Don’t travel during peak respiratory virus season. Avoid poorly ventilated (we’ve learned… nothing) trains. Still, Germany was pretty great! Photos will be randomly posted.

    A positive COVID test results. The lolly-pop BinaxNOW style test.
    ∞

    Love getting out of the bus at the departure stand. Returning today to SFO from Germany. #Travel #Deutschland #B77W #Fujifilm #AvGeek ✈️

    United 777-300 engine on a damp tarmac 777 wheel undercarriage with a man next to them for scale.Front nose gear of the 777 with the aircraft ID of 2143. A bus is driving off on the background.

    ∞

    My 3-year old 777-300 ride tonight to Frankfurt. SFO gate G9 has decent views of that gate’s aircraft. Lucky me! (Not sarcasm; most gates here are awful for avgeeks) #Avgeek #B77W #Fujifilm United 777-300 parked at SFO gate G9 just as it’s towed in. It’s a cloudy day and the tarmac is wet and shiny.

    ∞

    #SilentSunday It is night in the city where there’s a five story building where the front is only lit up. Small li windows reveal shops are along the dark street. There are a few red unlit Chinese New Year lanterns strung across the street.

    ∞

    Yellow-Rumped Warbler was on the backyard cultivated Native California Grapes just long enough for this fortunate shot. #Birds #YellowRumpedWarbler #Fujifilm 🪶A Yellow-Rumped Warbler in a grape vine that’s losing its red to brown leaves. The pointy beaked warbler has a yellow neck and chest. It’s gray and white elsewhere. The bird is staring at something off-frame to the left.

    ∞

    I guess it’s good that the lost Budgie (parakeet) keeps returning to our bird friendly backyard. The neon green bird seems to be flocking with house sparrows. The sparrows constantly move while the Budgie preens.

    A parakeet is perched on a Ceanothus branch. It has a neon yellow head and green body.
    ∞

    Happy new water year! According to WeatherCat software, my wx station recorded a total of 27.91” for Oct 1, 2022 - Sep 30, 2023 water year. Compare that to 13.66” for Oct 1, 2021 - Sep 30, 2022 water year! Nature gave us a 0.5” boost yesterday. I’m in the N. Sac Valley #CAWx

    ∞

    Someone lost a parakeet or a small parrot 🙁😳 #BirdsOfMastodon #NotFromAroundHere A bird with a green body and yellow head perched on an elderberry branch. It has black markings on its wings and tail. There are elderberries behind it.

    ∞

    Got out to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge this morning. The White Fronted Geese are here (along with many small migratory song birds)! #WhiteFrontedGoose Five Greater White Fronted Geese flying in a clear sky. They have bright white chests and tails. Their belly is striped with black. Their wings are gray. The photo is very soft or slightly blurry.

    ∞

    Covid booster and flu shots scheduled for next Friday! 🎉

    ∞

    I finally deleted my Twitter account. Even having an inactive account felt icky. And really really awful and gross over the last couple of days.

    ∞

    I managed to write an ugly Python script that converts MesoWest (via Synoptic download; nice people there btw) CSV weather data to WeatherCat (macOS software) data. I did some QAQC and it’s a good conversion. I’m pleased. Nice to finally have locally stored & accessible historical weather data.

    ∞

    macOS WeatherCat and Meteobridge with any Supported Wx Station

    I figured out how to have WeatherCat work with my Meteobridge that connects to my Ambient weather station. Turns out it is easy to do with Meteobridge’s template system.

    In the WeatherCat Station Communications dialog, for Station Type select Generic XML (HTTP) and then enter your Meteobridge’s IP address appended with a URL encoded XML template...

    user:password@192.168.x.y/cgi-bin/template.cgi?%3Cvalue%3E%3Cname%3EAirTemp_C%3C%2Fname%3E%3Cdata%3E52%3C%2F[th0temp]%3E%3C%2Fvalue%3E%3Cvalue%3E%3Cname%3EIntTemp_C%3C%2Fname%3E%3Cdata%3E52%3C%2F[thb0temp-act]%3E%3C%2Fvalue%3E%3Cvalue%3E%3Cname%3ESolar%3C%2Fname%3E%3Cdata%3E52%3C%2F[sol0rad-act]%3E%3C%2Fvalue%3E%3Cvalue%3E%3Cname%3EUVIndex%3C%2Fname%3E%3Cdata%3E52%3C%2F[uv0index-act]%3E%3C%2Fvalue%3E%3Cvalue%3E%3Cname%3EBarometer_hPa%3C%2Fname%3E%3Cdata%3E52%3C%2F[thb0press-act]%3E%3C%2Fvalue%3E%3Cvalue%3E%3Cname%3EWindSpeed_ms%3C%2Fname%3E%3Cdata%3E52%3C%2F[wind0wind-act]%3E%3C%2Fvalue%3E%3Cvalue%3E%3Cname%3EWindDirect_deg%3C%2Fname%3E%3Cdata%3E52%3C%2F[wind0dir-act]%3E%3C%2Fvalue%3E%3Cvalue%3E%3Cname%3ERain_mm%3C%2Fname%3E%3Cdata%3E52%3C%2F[rain0total-act]%3E%3C%2Fvalue%3E%3Cvalue%3E%3Cname%3ERH%3C%2Fname%3E%3Cdata%3E52%3C%2F[th0hum-act]%3E%3C%2Fvalue%3E%3Cvalue%3E%3Cname%3EIntRH%3C%2Fname%3E%3Cdata%3E52%3C%2F[thb0hum-act]%3E%3C%2Fvalue%3E

     

    If you want more information on this XML format, see the WeatherCat 2.1 Change Log for the XML definition. For more information on building Meteobridge templates and the various possible values, see this page.

    I’d put this into the WeatherCat forums but I don’t feel like creating a new account right now.

    ∞

    A female Oriole having a nice evening Mantis snack in our backyard tonight. A female yellow and gray Oriole with a praying mantis in its beak. It is mostly yellow on the underside and gray on its wings. It is perched on top of a blue wire tomato cage with a tomato plant pushing through the top.

    ∞

    This morning, House Finches were breakfasting on ripe elderberries in our backyard. #HouseFinch #BirdsOfMastodon #BirdWatching #Fujifilm Two house finches are on top of two bunches of ripe elderberries, feasting on them. The upper most Finch has a Elderberry in its beak. The lower most finch is on a branch, reaching up into a bunch of berries. 

    ∞

    Much as I dislike that my heat-pump requires a proprietary communicating thermostat, I do like that I can change some deep level settings to optimize things without dip-switches.

    ∞

    Some real dinosaur stuff happened today at Bay Front Park just south of SFO. This Great Blue Heron caught a gopher, paraded around with it for several minutes, then swallowed it whole. Then the heron proceeded to hunt some more. 😬A Great Blue Heron stands in a dry grassy area with yellow flowers. It has a gopher’s neck in its mouth and the entire gopher is hanging.

← Newer Posts Older Posts →