Road Trip

So I found out at work today that I get to drive one of our Stantec trucks to our Buffalo, NY office. From there someone else will then take it the rest of the way to Kitchener, ON, or there-abouts. It won't be too bad I suppose except that I will be by myself. On top of that I will be towing a dynamometer machine. It's this machine that puts a constant amount of stress on the road, and then measures how the road handled that stress. Anyways, it's about the size of a jet-ski, except it weights about 2,000lbs. So hopefully that doesn't slow me down too much. Other than that I think I'll potentially enjoy most of the trip. I'm always up for a good road trip, especially when I get paid to do it! It should take me about three or four days at the most, hopefully. Here's the approximate route I will be taking:



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As it stands, the plan is to spend the first night in the Amarillo, TX and Oklahoma City region. The second night around the St. Louis and Indianapolis region. And the third night in Buffalo. We'll see how the plan pans out. Would be nice to be back home sometime on Thursday.

Hot & Dry

I thought it felt pretty hot and dry outside today...guess I was right. Take notice of the humidity and the dew point. (See screen shot below.)

If I understand weather correctly, that means if the air pressure (barometric pressure) stayed the same, it would have to drop 104 degrees before dew can form, a.k.a., rain. I think it's a pretty safe bet you can leave your sunroof open today.

I compare weather in AZ and MI pretty often, and one thing that makes absolutely no sense to me is how it will say that in Phoenix in the winter that it's 65, with 7% humidity, and it feels like it's 65. Then, in East Lansing in the summer/spring/fall it will say it's 65, with 63% humidity, and it feels like 65. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?? In my experience, humidity plays a pretty big factor in how the air temperature feels. People always used to say back in MI that the air feels "thick" on humid days, which were usually hotter days. What they were actually describing is that they could feel the humidity in the air, which in turn "holds" the heat better. Think about it like this...lets say you have a cup of water and a cup of air. You then heat both the water and the air in the cups to 200 degrees. Now, after two minutes you have to put your hand into one or the other, which one would you choose? Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out. I'll take the cup of air for $200, Mr. Trebek.
This is how I have always pictured how humidity works: the higher the humidity (which I think you could call dew point), the more water vapor you have in the air. Since water holds heat better than air alone, it will feel hotter. SO...going back to where I started...how can both places "feel" like 65? I don't have the proof to back it up, but I feel like it's unscientific to make that kind of statement. Since moving out here I have consistently been off by 10 to 15 degrees when guessing the outside temperature. I will say it feels about 70, but it's actually 80 - 85. Well, do you really need me to tell you why? It makes perfect sense...there's very little humidity out here, so the air temperature has to be that much hotter to compensate for the lack of water vapor.

Anyways...I'm done talking now, and I think you get my point by now. According to the Weather Channel, if it's 65 with 5% humidity, it feels like 65. But also if it's 65 with 63% humidity it feels like 65 as well. I need to look into this more, because that just makes no sense to me what-so-ever, and I have never experienced it like this before. If anyone knows why, please let me know!

clipped from www.weather.com Sunny 111°F Feels Like 111°F Updated: Jun 19 04:45 p.m. MT UV Index: 3 Moderate Wind: From WSW at 9 mph Humidity: 2% Pressure: 29.74 in. Dew Point: 7°F Visibility: 10.0 miles Sunrise: 5:19 AM Sunset: 7:41 PM Right Now for Phoenix, AZ (85044) Save Location [ English | Metric ]

Desert Summer & Golf

I think it's safe to say that the summer heat has officially arrived. Until about the two weeks ago, or I guess you could say June 1st, it had been pretty nice for the most part. Since living out here, I've heard many people say how the heat starts in May. Apparently not this year or last. In my opinion May is very nice for the most part; it's usually in the 90's. There were a few days around the 100 mark, but even that's not too bad. However, the last whole week, for sure, has been 100+ every day...with tomorrow's forecast at 111. Maybe it's because this is my second summer out here, so I'm more used to it, but it doesn't seem to be as hot as I remembered it. I mean don't get me wrong, it's hot, but it's not that bad really. It's not like it's so hot you can't do anything outside. You'll just sweat more. For instance, today Stantec had it's annual golf outing, and I was fine. Sweaty, but fine. I was prepared though. I had shorts, a polo shirt (it was a nice course, they had a dress code), a hat, water, and a copious amount of sun block. Now if you showed up with pants, no hat, no sun block, and no water, you'd be hurtin' for a certerin'!

I guess I feel like a lot of people blow way out of proportion how hot and "miserable" it gets here. But, maybe I'm abnormal and can adjust better than most. Like I said before, it's definitely hot and can be uncomfortable at times, but I would argue it's a set of mind. If you think it's going to be hot, expect it to be hot, and prepare for it, you'll do fine. But if you hope that it won't be hot, or ignore the fact that it will be hot, then you sir, will almost certainly end up "miserable".

Anyways...the summer heat has definitely arrived now. Golf was fun. It was a four person scramble; we shot 1 over for the day, which was pretty average compared with everyone else. However, apparently there were some ballers out there, cause the winning team came in at 14 under par. Not too bad on 18 holes.

Gas Prices

Man, is the price of gas crazy or what?!? Here in Phoenix it's gone up more than 50 cents a gallon in the past month alone. I have to fill up about once a week, and I tell you what, I put almost six whole dollars into my scooter! SIX!?! I know! Crazy I tell you! That's about a dollar more than it cost this time last year. And what's worse is that I have to use premium! Grrrr!
That means one less dollar menu item a week now, sheesh. Pretty soon I might have to scrap eating out all together! Hmm, now that I think about it...maybe high gas prices are a good thing. :)

Canada Pics

The CN Tower.



Home of the Blue Jays.





Seats on the first base line, row 5.



I think the CN Tower looks way cooler at night.

Change for a dollar? Sorry.

If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. This is the largest amount of money in coins that you can have without being able to make exact change for one dollar.