bzzzzz -- OVERLOAD -- bzzzzzzzz -- OVERLOAD -- bzzzzzzz -- OVERLOAD -- bzzzzzz

But I'll be looking for that CIA information! I know the FBI doesn't have anything on me! They've checked!

Skybird

P.S. Actually I checked a few of the climate change charts and a couple extra. Interesting stuff---IF one had the time!

Totally overwhelmed and yet intrigued by all that info!

That is one longggggg list! I'm bookmarking this one.

Thanks for sharing,

J

digit - you need a hobby. Oh, wait a minute, this IS your hobby.

Thanks for sharing. This list will take the rest of us - mortals - a few seasons to get through.

Billie

Yep, this is my hobby, Billie.

Soon, it will be more than a hobby. I don't know anyone who pays closer attention to the weather during the growing season. Back when I was out in the fields driving equipment - I could just close the window in the cab. Back in the commercial greenhouse days, the furnace went on & off, AC on & off, vents opened & closed - most of it, automatically. I was a hot house plant . . . (unless I was down in the furnace room or on the roof. ;o)

Recent years, I've got my schedule. The greenhouse is a tiny thing and almost passive without me breathing some life into it. Outdoors, there's nothing between me and the Heavens except my cap. Soaking wet, burned ears, baked, chilled . . . If someone says, "Boo!" - I turn and look in the direction of the prevailing weather.

On the internet, I behave almost as tho' I could influence the weather by paying attention & trying to guess what will happen . . . then I pray.

d'S'

The USGS (US Geologic Survey) is also has wonderful information of use to the gardener -- maps, soils, water, geology, biology, climate, etc.

http://www.usgs.gov

The government does a lot of great basic science work, and of course shares a lot of the info with the public.

digit - oh how I wish I could change the weather by watching it. Whenever I see a forecast I like, I am afraid to look again cuz they probably changed it. Last weekend was a MAJOR bummer. I had so much I still wanted to get done on the holiday weekend. Then, of course, this weekend does not look any better, BUMMER.

Billie

PS I love to "hear" all the storis in this place.

Hmmmmm looking at the stuff on USGS . . . What's with all these "3-point" earthquakes in Maupin Oregon over these last 2 years?!?

Something else to worry about?

You know where all this basalt up here came from, right? . . . . found a July press release . . .

trembling digitS'!

Here is a link that might be useful: The Maupin Earthquake Swarm

IÂm not sure I should be adding more to your plate, Digit, but if youÂre interested in earthquakes, hereÂs a site I found when I was still commuting to SFO. This is on the USGS site somewhere, but I donÂt have a clue where! I used to have to drive over the San Mateo Bridge from San Mateo to HaywardÂas in Hayward FaultÂwhen I had to go to Oakland, and every time I drove over it I kept waiting for it to disappear into the Bay! Never did like being out there! The earthquakes we had here in DEN back in the late 60's, when they were pumping nuclear waste underground, causing slippage of the rocks, was enough to scare the bejesus out of me!

The site is set on CA, Âcause thatÂs where I used to check all the time, and I still do sometimes (itÂs AMAZING how many earthquakes they have out there!), but you can check on any section of the country by using the tabs on top.

One more thing for you to add to your overload,
Skybird

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA - Recent earthquake events

Earthquake this afternoon - Utah.

Here is a link that might be useful: events in the W. Mountain region

I used to check the earthquake page (I don't know that it was the same one) when I lived in Alaska. There are earthquakes there every day, just a lot of them are so small you don't feel them. I only felt one small one. It was nice (in a way) to be able to check the internet to confirm what I thought I felt in my living room.

"Hmmmmm looking at the stuff on USGS . . . What's with all these "3-point" earthquakes in Maupin Oregon over these last 2 years?!?

"Something else to worry about?

"You know where all this basalt up here came from, right? "

Yep, a volcanic eruption in the backyard sure wreaks havoc on the garden.

Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest are pretty common. Most are small. Some are because of subduction, some are because of various local volcanoes, some are because of magma and fluids moving around, and I'm sure there are lots of other reasons, too.

Thanks for the link! It's an interesting and provocative earthquake cluster.

Since you're familiar with eastern Oregon, you're probably familiar with the idea of the Big One, the magnitude 8 or 9 earthquakes that strike the coast every few centuries. The last one was around 300 years ago. That wouldn't be much fun, though eastern Oregon wouldn't get the brunt of it.

Here's a FAQ page from the website you shared:

http://www.pnsn.org/INFO_GENERAL/faq.html

Volcanic eruptions can be a good source of no-fun, too. Most of Oregon consists of volcanic features, after all. It's an active area.

For volcanic stuff, the USGS has great resources. You can also check out the National Park Service websites for the different national parks and monuments that have volcanic features.

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/home.html (Cascade Volcanic Observatory, good for stuff in the Pacific Northwest. There are similar sites for Yellowstone and other volcano-rich areas.)

http://www.nps.gov/ for great information and links about every park in the system. There's fantastic info about biology, geology, climate, history, etc., just to keep it somewhat related to gardening. You can see some of your favorite garden plants in the wild. I can easily spend hours roaming through links and park info on this site. And from there I tend to drift to the BLM and USFS and comparable state websites, all of which have great information and drool-inducing photos.

I know this isn't terribly gardening-related, but it's fun stuff anyway.

Totally off your off topic subject here, but everytime I read the header on this thread, all I can think of is "you can get anything you want at Alice's Resturaunt!!"

Sorry I can't sing too well.

Billie

You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Excepting Alice . . .

Polygonum_tinctorium, that usgs.gov site gives us Geological Survey map downloads, even without $$!

I tried using USGS a few years ago and got sooooo tangled up that it proved of no use - mapwise. This time I risked downloading a map. It came "zipped" but opened as a pdf file. I'm very happy about this!

USGS maps are wonderful as long as they aren't too old! I used to go out into the middle of nowhere and figger out where I was and where I wanted to go. (Even on days when I couldn't see much of anything but my trusty compass, map, & the forest around me :o).

Travel isn't much on foot anymore but I can still go on the roads. Now I don't need to know exactly what map I want days (weeks) in advance so as to order it!

digitSÂ !

For back country use, which my kids are doing big time, the usgs maps haven't been updated in I dunno how many years.... around here, there are roads where they don't show them, different trails, and so on.

So we got the National Geographic soft ware to make your own maps. Thats really cool, because you can start seeing things in 3D. But....

The bestest of all is Google Earth, because you can zoom right in on the stuff - so my son asks me about potential avalanche areas, and we go look.

So between the two, the National Geographic topo maps and google earth, we can figure out where to go.

They don't do the Canyon Lands very well, though.

I can't take Google Earth with me, David, and there's a big chunk of land up here that they must have photographed under a full moon or dropped flares or something. Maybe there was a forest fire that week . . .

National Geographic, huh? Yeah, I wonder how many times I've been impressed and inspired by what they do.

I know what you mean by the dated maps. Neither of the ones I downloaded are within 20 years of current - but, most of the mountains are still where they last left 'em.

The Canyon Lands are a mystery, no doubt. Southern Utah has a real pull on my imagination but it's been forever since I've been there.

digitSâÂÂ

Around here, they did the Google Earth photographs during the 2002 exceptional drought, so McPhee Reservoir is empty, my pond is empty, and I can see the construction trailer from when they built our garage/greenhouse. I think if you get the paid version, it's 'real time'. Although they may not have a satellite programmed to watch the '52 tomatoes grow.... but you never know.....maybe the guy who steers the satellite likes Sungolds.

Here is a link that might be useful: National geographic maps

Google street search came to my neighborhood just recently. Dad's neighborhood too - you shoulda seen his reaction when I told him that a picture of his house and pickup was on the internet . . . !!

I gotta say that when I looked at my house, realized what time of year it was, and didn't find my pickup - I assumed I must be at a distant garden. So, I took off on google to find that road.

Would you be surprised to know that I couldn't find myself there either ?!? What was I thinking? HA!

Real time, it ain't. But I had another "funny" to share that I used on Dad when he bridled about people snooping on his house. Two doors down the road from me, the google camera caught a cat with its tail held high, going thru the front door of the neighbor's house. I asked Dad, "Why do you suppose they were out spying on that cat?"

Oh, I looked at Google Earth for my large veggie garden . . . all I can see are the rocks!! HaHaHaHa

d'S'

There are areas where *no* map is accurate! Even Google Earth only shows so much. Those twisty unmaintained old roads and trails often aren't visible under the trees.

The software mapping tools you can use with GPS units cover areas with roads that aren't on the GPS map. They can have roads on the map that don't exist in reality, and roads that are seriously misplaced compared to reality.

USGS topo maps have areas where the mappers seem to have used their imagination instead of actual data. Or areas where they use 50 foot contours in a region of 40 foot hills.

Forest Service and other government trail maps don't show everything. They may well show different roads and trails from other maps of the region. All are incomplete.

For various reasons, I've never liked the National Geographic topo-map software. Anyway, it's all based on other people's data, especially USGS. It can't be more accurate than the data allows.

For the backcountry, we take everything. And then we update as we go.

If you think it is fun taking a packing trip out to nowhere's land with an innacurate map, you ought to try driving a tandem dually lumber truck stacked full with the material for a new barn, or house. There is more than one time this has happened to me and the salesman has never been to the jobsite, Yikes.

WHERE THE $@&% DID THE ROAD GO!!!!

Billie