In the summertime......I would trim that hair a bit ;-)

Sideburns where popular back then:)

In the summertime......I would trim that hair a bit ;-)

Sideburns where popular back then:)

I still have a set of them..

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

I still have a set of them..

You do? If I let my sideburns grow like that it would look silly.
I now have white and grey hairs:)

I still have a set of them..

You do? If I let my sideburns grow like that it would look silly.
I now have white and grey hairs:)

I also have a full beard and the hairline of a teenager with no grey hair either.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

Happy Birth Day Sweden!

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Happy Birth Day Sweden!

Birthday? Nobody here knows why we have a national day:)
No parades. No fireworks. Who is Gustav Vasa?
Anyway its a holiday but no one celebrate it except our King Karl Gustav and family at Solliden Skansen Stockholm.


They are now talking about freedom of speech at Skansen and why it's so important. Our King applause:)
Something to think about these Days.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Summertime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guKoNCQFAFk

That is amazingly funny, even though I live in the US.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

90% of the Veggies the rest of the US eats, comes from California, most farmers get subsidies to not grow veggies, just to grow Corn, and wheat, nuts in trees can be machine picked(shaken), plus most veggies are labor intensive, machines can't pick most crops.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

Victor you don’t know many farmers do you. I am a member of the farm bureau and know many. Very few California farmers get any subsidies. The drought is hurting and more so when you consider that agriculture is the number 1 industry in this state. People may think that silicon valley is number 1 but it’s the farmers.
Here are some facts for you. Corn is a minor crop. We are number 2 in the nation in sweet corn production. We produce 16 percent of the nation’s sweet corn. That is not fuel or feed corn. Corn production is down and has continued to fall since 2007. It’s not even in the top 30.
You were right that fruit and nuts are the biggest crop. They represent 2/3 or everything we grow. And that equals 70% of the US total. Remember Oranges are a fruit. We produce 2 million tons of oranges most of the orange juice you see is from California, not Florida.
We supply 55% of all vegetables to the US.
Here is the latest update on California’s veggie production:
Vegetables: U.S. and California Production Updates
Impacts of the extended drought on production have been mitigated by the irrigation that supplies virtually 100 percent of California vegetable acres. Despite ongoing drought and water shortages in California, where about 40 percent of U.S. vegetables and pulses are grown, total U.S. output volume rose 5 percent from 2013 as harvested area expanded.
• While State production of some vegetables decreased in 2014 compared to the previous 3-year average (e.g., cauliflower for the processing market, artichokes, snap beans, head lettuce, Romaine lettuce) production of other vegetables increased (e.g., broccoli and tomatoes for the processing market, bell peppers, chili peppers, spinach, leaf lettuce).
• Despite ongoing drought and water shortages, California continued to be the leading State for fresh-market vegetables in 2014, accounting for 52 percent of production and 60 percent of farm value.
• Reports out of California indicate fewer plantings for short-season crops such as lettuce, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley where groundwater is less available and water allocations have been curtailed. Land may be diverted to other vegetable crops or left fallow. Acres planted to head lettuce in Fresno County fell 27 percent between 2012 and 2013 while acres planted to leaf lettuce increased 4.5 percent (California Agricultural Commissioners’ Report). The San Joaquin Valley typically serves as a “shoulder region” for lettuce as production moves between the Central Coast and Southern California. Based on data from the 2012 Census of Agriculture, less than 5 percent of the California lettuce crop was grown in San Joaquin Valley, with two-thirds produced in the Central Coast and 30 percent in Southern California. State-wide, 2014 area harvested for head and Romaine lettuce decreased 9 and 2 percent, respectively, compared to the 2011-13 average, while area harvested for leaf lettuce increased almost 5 percent (USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service - NASS).
• Total U.S. production of tomatoes used for canned products—such as sauces, paste, soup, juice, and ketchup—rose 16 percent to 29.3 billion pounds in 2014 as area, yields, and prices increased. Water shortages in California, where 95-97 percent of processing tomatoes are grown, did not inhibit production which has continued to expand. According to the NASS January 15 California Processing Tomato report, U.S. processors anticipate contracting a record 15.0 million short tons in 2015. If realized, this amount would be the largest tomato crop on record—surpassing the 2014 amount by 11 percent.

What the drought is really hurting is rice production. Rice requires a lot of water. 25% of the $5 billion crop has already been lost due to drought this year. Rice stores and there is a large surplus in storage from prior years so the price will not go up right away, but if this continues next year expect rice to climb big time.

In addition to the rather comprehensive info Carlos posted, one of the things I see as I travel the Central Valley is orchards being pushed over and shredded, and fields that used to grow cotton and other crops left fallow. Not a pretty sight. Fallow fields and plowed-down orchards mean more dust and fewer jobs - not-good air gets even more not-good, and more hard-working folks on welfare and in line at the food banks.

Last night I saw a piece on the news where San Diego has turned off the showers at city beaches. One disgruntled beach-goer was quoted complaining about "90% of the water going to agriculture", which is patently false, but typical of the misinformation being put out. Last report I saw, 55% of available water in California was used for environmental purposes or allowed to flow to the ocean to minimize salt water incursion into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Of the remaining 45%, 80% goes to Ag, and the rest goes to cities and people.

Central Valley farmers have been dealing with reduced water supplies for many years. They have been in the forefront of developing technologies for more efficient use of water, including drip irrigation, and ground-moisture monitoring, so crops get watered when they need it, and only as much as they need. Visit the World Ag Expo in Tulare every February, you'll see.

It isn't the farmers who are the problem, it is the urban areas and the politicians who have been so slow to react to the ongoing cycle of wet years and drought. It has been 40 years since the last major upgrade to California's water infrastructure, the State's population has doubled since then.

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Donald
Infernal Optimist / Submariner, retired

I am afraid California's water problems
are a foretelling of the future, and it
is all going on at breakneck speed! You
people need to make basic changes in the
way you do business before you have to
move out of there.







edit:
I bet no one thought they would have to
empty Kansas of people in the dirty thirties....

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I am afraid California's water problems are a foretelling of the future, and it is all going on at breakneck speed! You people need to make basic changes in the way you do business before you have to move out of there.
edit:
I bet no one thought they would have to
empty Kansas of people in the dirty thirties....

I know people who moved here from the Dust Bowl in the 30s. I don't see that happening here. Our farmers know how to deal with these periodic droughts, but our government doesn't seem to want to learn.

Getting back to Summertime, it's 88F/31C on my back porch. Supposed to get to 94F/33C today, and 100F by Tuesday. Gonna be spending more time out under the mulberry trees, where it is usually about 10-15F cooler than in the sun.

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Donald
Infernal Optimist / Submariner, retired

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYUqbnk7tCY

Oh, "Lady Day"

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Getting an a/c unit here, in a drought was tough, the idea was there was no drought and water conservation is not important. Since there are no limits being imposed on well water users, that came from the management here, the a/c resistance came from a the capsbc, which gets money from utilities.

I did say most, not all farmers, since I do acknowledge that not all get subsidies. I have seen and heard of farmers plowing under fields of crops and of tearing out trees, instead of watching them die, the trees could be watered with drip irrigation to prevent losses to evaporation, like is done in Israel, I used drip irrigation when I had a garden plot and I did that a lot in the high desert, now I don't own any land or plants anymore, so I don't water anything. Don't take things the wrong way, but y'all don't know what is going on in My head, if I leave something off or out, it's not intentional, it's something that can't be helped, don't like that? Tough.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

I did say most, not all farmers, since I do acknowledge that not all get subsidies. I have seen and heard of farmers plowing under fields of crops and of tearing out trees, instead of watching them die, the trees could be watered with drip irrigation to prevent losses to evaporation, like is done in Israel, I used drip irrigation when I had a garden plot and I did that a lot in the high desert, now I don't own any land or plants anymore, so I don't water anything. Don't take things the wrong way, but y'all don't know what is going on in My head, if I leave something off or out, it's not intentional, it's something that can't be helped, don't like that? Tough.

Very few farmers in California get "subsidies", or get paid to not grow crops. Those programs are being slowly phased out, although there is resistance from some sectors. There are "Marketing Orders" and market stabilization programs, (which some might call subsidies) but they are also under fire as un-necessary and overly restrictive.

Most citrus, nut, and stone-fruit, trees in the Central Valley are already on drip irrigation, and have been for years. But when there is NO State or Federal canal water, the ground-water table is dropping 10-20 feet a year, and water on the "spot" market costs several thousand dollars an acre-foot, growers will take out the trees, rather than spend that kind of money for enough water to just barely keep the trees alive until next year.

No, Vic, we are not mind-readers, we don't know what goes on in your head. We only know what you post, and that is what we respond to. And when you post something that is totally at odds with the reality we see every day, we are going to tell you about it. Not just for your benefit, but for anybody else who reads these boards.....

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Donald
Infernal Optimist / Submariner, retired

Forecast high temp raised to 104-105F(40C) for today,
99F for Tuesday with a 25% chance of rain in the mountains.
Solstice may not be for 2 weeks, but the summertime temps are here early.

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Donald
Infernal Optimist / Submariner, retired

Summer is June 21, 2015. Father's day is on the same day. :-)

I know that LSM already got my
Father's Day gift, I just don't
know what it is. I do know that
she is going to make me a Roast
Chicken with her special fixens!

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