Blognic ’09 planning

If it’s September, that means time to start planning for another Blognic!

By my count this will be Blognic #4 and since Wannamaker County Park worked so well for the last two, might as well go there again (unless someone has other suggestions).

Now we just need a date. My thoughts for potential dates are the weekends of Sept 26, Oct 3, Oct 10 or Oct 17. Those just happen to be weekends I have free, but don’t let that stop you from suggesting other dates. Personally I like the Oct 10 or 17 dates.

As usual, Blognic ’09 will be a pot-luck affair for the whole family and by no means limited to bloggers so everybody’s invited!

TS Erika

It’s September which means we’re starting to get into the peak of the hurricane season. Yesterday the NHC announced TS Erika had formed but forecast models don’t have it strengthening a whole lot.

DATA FROM THE AIRCRAFT INDICATE THAT ERIKA HAS WEAKENED A LITTLE… WHICH IS NOT SURPRISING CONSIDERING THE DISORGANIZED APPEARANCE OF THE SYSTEM ON SATELLITE IMAGES. MODERATE WESTERLY SHEAR HAS BEEN DISRUPTING THE CYCLONE BUT THE SHEAR IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE STRONG ENOUGH TO PREVENT SOME STRENGTHENING DURING THE NEXT DAY OR SO. THEREAFTER…AN UPPER-TROPOSPHERIC TROUGH FARTHER TO THE WEST IS LIKELY TO IMPART INCREASING SOUTHWESTERLY SHEAR ON ERIKA…WHICH SHOULD INDUCE WEAKENING. THE NHC INTENSITY FORECAST IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE PREVIOUS OFFICIAL FORECASTS…BUT BELOW THE CONSENSUS OF THE NUMERICAL INTENSITY GUIDANCE.

It’ll definitely be something to watch after the weekend when I get back from Dragon*Con.

0x186CE miles

Today I went past 100000 miles on my 2000 Camry. I think it happened when I was on my way out to Summerville to check out the next dog park in my Lowcountry Dog Park Tour. On my way back, remembered I was close to 100000, and when I checked it was reading 100026 miles.

Still going pretty strong. No major issues with the car yet, although I do need to get the brakes and shocks done, and a couple of new tires for the front. Just the normal things wearing out.

Lowcountry Dog Park Tour: Wassamassaw Park Dog Park

Just inside the entrance to Summerville’s Wassamassaw Community Park are two fenced dog parks on either side of the road. The signs say that the one on the left (as you’re entering) is for big dogs (> 20 lbs) and the one on the right (as you’re entering) is for small dogs (< 20 lbs).

Both areas are roughly the same shape, long and rectangular, providing a good amount of room for long ball throws.

The park is pretty new (opened August 2008) so the grass is still largely intact, although there was a small muddy section near the middle that was probably started by a dog trying to dig something up. Looks like the park designers took drainage into account, as the ground slopes down toward a line along the middle of the park and towards a stormwater drain.

A muddy spot

A few trees provide some shade, and several benches are available for people to sit on in both dog areas. There are also a couple of poop bag and disposal stations in each dog area.

Poop bag station

One significant failing of the dog park is that there is only one water fountain, and it’s located outside the large dog area. That means if you want to water your dog, you’ll have to leash it, exit the park, get water and then go back in when you’re finished. Or you can just wait until you’re finished with the dog park and let your dog drink on your way out. Why the water was placed outside the dog area, I have no idea. I suspect the small dog area was put in as a bit of an afterthought, which would explain why there’s no water fountain for the small dog area.

Not sure what the dog population is like in Summerville, but I’m sure once more people find out about this dog park, it’ll be come very popular.

See the rest of the dog park photos here.

Here’s a Google Map to the dog park

View Wassamassaw Park Dog Park in a larger map

At the roller derby

Made it out to catch Charleston’s very own roller derby team, the Lowcountry Highrollers in a match against the Greenville Derby Dames this afternoon.

It was my first roller derby experience, and it didn’t disappoint. The action wasn’t quite as continuous as I expected, but was still fun to watch and pretty fast paced. Plenty of shoving and take-downs. Before the match started they did a slow speed demonstration to show the rules to the audience (very helpful for newbies like me). It still took me a little bit before I really figured out what was going on and what to watch for.

The crowd that showed up to watch was larger than I expected, which I suppose is a good thing. What’s up with all the little kids sporting mohawks though?

I picked a spot up front in what’s known as the “suicide seats”, named because apparently there’s a good chance you might end up with a roller derby girl wiping out or sliding into those seats and who ever is in them. No such luck this evening though.

The derby track

Roller derby track

Getting ready to start off a roundjam

Roller derby girls getting ready to start a jam

Zooming around the bend

Roller derby skater zooming around a corner

Score card girls

Two roller derby skaters holding up score cards

In the penalty box

Two roller derby skaters in the penalty box watching the match

Not quite sure why these guys were dressed like this.

Fans and spectators watching the roller derby match

The final score

Scoreboard showing the final score of 115 - 47 for the roller derby match

Post match congratulations

Roller derby skaters lined up to shake hands after the match