California Misery

[Howellerman 104]

When you seen screenshots in the &@($*... um, wait ... AVSIM Screen Shot forum, you normally see lots of color, lots of sky, lots of DRAMA!

 

Well, I thought I would share with you pictures of Northern California, January 12th, 2014. Dead of winter, so to speak. Lord knows we need the rain (we are on the verge of a serious drought), but you cannot beat the weather with a stick! Last weekend I took down the Christmas lights in a t-shirt.

 

This is a short flight in the Duke V2 (need I say more?), from Monterey (KMRY) down to Santa Maria (KSMX) along the coast, scooting along at 3,000 feet. Just a beautiful day for flying!

Oh, sorry, forgot: Orbx Global, Rex OD Texture, Opus weather (not that there was any weather!).

[HLJames 2,568]

Very nice....love those!

 

HLJAMES

[woodhick 504]

Sometimes CAVU conditions are not a good thing.  Hope your water problems resolve themselves soon.  In the meantime, nice shots of an excellent airplane

[Howellerman 104]

Thanks for the comments, HL and Dan.

 

I didn't start out thinking about a photo-op when I laid in the flight plan, but when you compare the weather here with everywhere else it is really a stark contrast.

 

And yeah, Dan - I hope we get some rain, or better yet, snow in the mountains since snow is our primary source of water. It will be a grim summer otherwise.

 

On the sim side, I probably fly RA aircraft more than everything else combined, although the new Wilco TBM850 is now my high-and-fast choice.

[Guest]

Sir, those are some VERY VERY nice screen shots.  

 

Agree, we need rain ... gonna end up like Dubai ... lots and lots and lots of desalination plants.  Supposed to be in the mid 70's most of this week ... I remember many years back we'd be in 40's this time of year.  Gonna have to give up the lawn this year and move to a rock garden or something considerably better on water usage.

[Howellerman 104]

 

 

Gonna have to give up the lawn this year and move to a rock garden or something considerably better on water usage.

 

Heya Rob, 

 

Since the Governator ... er... Governor Brown declared an official drought conditions, this could be a wise move. 

 

It's funny. The house I live in now I started as a renter, then ultimately purchased from my landlord. The *ENTIRE* back yard was concrete, and it took me 7 years to get rid of it all (courtesy of Santa Clara annual cleanups). Concrete is looking pretty good nowadays... I fear that Contra Costaopolis and other inland areas are going to be miserable this summer.

[Guest]

 

 

The *ENTIRE* back yard was concrete, and it took me 7 years to get rid of it all (courtesy of Santa Clara annual cleanups).

 

Don't get me wrong, I love grass, but our water situation is pretty bad so it'll have to get replaced with rocks.  This drought is by no means just CA either: http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/drought-disasters-declared-20140117

 

I've gone thru a drought before in CA (many years ago when population was less), but this one looks to be really bad.  I think Oregon is going to become the new CA as our climate changes.

 

Anyway, I think your route/flight has just inspired me to go do some virtual flying.

[P47D 5]

I live in Santa Maria and commute up to MRY quite often.  I have the MegaScenery for Cali which is FLAT with no autogen so I wondered what my home airport would look like with ORBX.. Do you have any enhancements to SMX?  It looks better than default.

[Howellerman 104]

Heya Jug, 

 

The only enhancement I have to SMX is FTX Global. I do note that FTX Global improves *all* airports: buildings are a better scale, sharper images, and things like radar towers, wind socks, etc., are all improved. AND they add static aircraft appropriate to the host airport, although I think I did see one piloting on the tarmac a while back.

 

Global is not quite as fancy/immersive/complete as their Orbx regions (I have all the NA regions), but nonetheless an outstanding job.

 

JKH

[TuFun 437]

Very nice shots indeed!  Living in the central valley... lack of water is critical now for farmers and ranchers. 

[Howellerman 104]

Very nice shots indeed!  Living in the central valley... lack of water is critical now for farmers and ranchers. 

Yes, it is going to be a difficult balancing act, and it will be interesting to watch what the drought does to the discussion for digging a tunnel to supply water to Southern California.

 

Ranching was on the front page of the Murky News a couple of weeks back - there is little or no natural forage for the cattle, and it gets really expensive to maintain the herd.

 

Rob, I am thinking about retiring to BC. For one, it will get me out from under the best government that money can buy, and two, I think BC is going to be pretty temperate in about 5-10 years!

[Guest]

 

 

I think BC is going to be pretty temperate in about 5-10 years!

 

You are probably correct there ... I used to live in Canada (Quebec - Dorval) way back in the 70's ... but I don't know, Canadian government can be a little nutty at times.  For example, we lived in Canada (English language) but because we were in Quebec we were forced to learn French (public schools were taught in 100% French) - I can understand if it were France, but not a province of Canada.  Hopefully BC is a little more in line with the rest of Canada ... Quebec seemed to be doing their best to NOT be a part of Canada.

[Howellerman 104]

Ah yes, the Quebecois. They have tried to secede from Canada a couple of times, IIRC, and I get the feeling that much of the rest of Canada would not miss them much!

 

Yes, too broad a brush, but I can still remember calling companies based in Montreal and hearing the cheerful "Bonjour!" change to a dismissive "Yes" when I identified myself as English-only speaker. 

 

My company has a Canadian presence, and because of it, all internal communication is provided in two languages: English and French. 

 

C'est la vie!