a weblog of whereabouts & interests, since 2010
The results of the US Open 2024 are in.
Men’s Singles:
Jannik Sinner (23, 🇮🇹 ) def. Taylor Fritz (26, 🇺🇸) 6-3 6-4 7-5.
Women’s Singles:
Aryna Sabalenka (26, *) def. Jessica Pegula (30 🇺🇸) 7-5 7-5.
*Lives in Florida but is from a country involved in the invasion of Ukraine.
It was great to see American players in the final, but in both cases it would have been a surprise if they had managed to best their opponents.
Happy Saturday.
I love wild animal cartoons.
Ahead of a key Federal Reserve meeting to set interest rates, employers added 142,000 jobs in August, fewer than economists had expected, and previous months were revised downward.
– The New York Times
My little ultraviolet lamp arrived today: one that is specifically designed to inspect postage stamps. (My pictures below).
Starting in 1969, South Africa began to add phosphorescent frames to stamps from its first definitive series of stamps*. Starting in 1971, the phosphorescent element appeared throughout the paper. It is almost impossible to distinguish between these two types of stamps without the aid of an ultraviolet lamp.
*Definitive series of stamps for the Republic of South Africa. The Union of South Africa became the Republic of South Africa in 1961 when it gained its independence from Great Britain.
Issued 1969-1972
Perf. 14×13½ Photogravure, chalk-surfaced paper, printed with phosphor bands
282 168 ½c New blue, carmine-red and yellow ochre | African Pygmy Kingfisher
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps, 2016 Edition]
Issued 1969-1972
Perf. 13½x14 Photogravure, chalk-surfaced paper, printed with phosphor bands (LEFT, issued 1969, with bands badly misplaced! ) and without phosphor bands (RIGHT, issued 1971)
277 169 1c Rose-red & olive brown | Coral tree flowers
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps, 2016 Edition]
Issued 1969-1972
Perf. 14×13½ Photogravure, chalk-surfaced paper, printed with phosphor bands
284 132 1½c Red brown and light purple | Afrikaner bull
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps, 2016 Edition]
Issued 1969-1972
Perf. 14 Photogravure, chalk-surfaced paper, printed with phosphor bands
285 133 2c Ultramarine and yellow | Pouring gold
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps, 2016 Edition]
Issued 1969-1972
Perf. 14 Photogravure, chalk-surfaced paper, printed with phosphor bands
286 134 2½c Violet and green | Groot Constantia wine estate
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps, 2016 Edition]
Issued 1969-1972
Perf. 14 Photogravure, chalk-surfaced paper, printed with phosphor bands
287 135 3c Red and deep blue |Burchell’s gonolek
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps, 2016 Edition]
Issued 1969-1972
Perf. 14 Photogravure, chalk-surfaced paper, printed with phosphor bands
293 138 10c Brown and pale green | Cape Town Castle gate
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps, 2016 Edition]
Issued 1969-1972
Perf. 14 Photogravure, chalk-surfaced paper, printed with phosphor bands
294 139 20c Turquoise-blue, carmine and brown orange| Secretary Bird
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Commonwealth & British Empire Stamps, 2016 Edition]
We’re going to warm up to 88°F (31°C) tomorrow here in Seattle: warm for late summer.
Our summer temperatures are nothing compared to a place such as Phoenix, Arizona, of course.
At 11 a.m. local time this morning, temperatures in Phoenix hit 100° F (38°C) for the 100th day in a row. The longest previous 100-degree streak was 76 days in 1993.
WHIDBEY ISLAND STATION, Wash. — Residents of and near Whidbey Island witnessed a weather phenomenon on Tuesday as “wave clouds” lined the horizon.
Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds or fluctus clouds, as the formations are named, are very rare over Washington, according to KING 5 Chief Meteorologist Mike Everett.
The clouds look like literal waves in the sky, a series of rounded crests that are worthy of a double-take.
Often referred to as “wave clouds,” the clouds signal a difference in wind speed and density between two layers.
– Reported by Olivia Sullivan for king5.com
Here are my pictures of a ride today on the new northbound extension of the Sound Transit light rail system to downtown Lynnwood.
It’s September, which means we will soon learn which new products Apple will introduce. It’s time to upgrade my phone.
Here’s a cute cartoon from the Seattle Times Sunday.
There goes August, leaving us with 66 days to go until Nov. 5.
Happy Friday.
It’s the start of Labor Day weekend— summer’s last hurrah here in the United States.
I was at the QFC grocery store, and thought: ‘Let me check with the pharmacy to see when they will have the new Covid vaccine’.
Well, it had arrived, so there I was 5 minutes later, inside the little vaccination room, rolling up my sleeve for my shot. Done.
A letter arrived today from Antwerp, with more South African stamps inside.
Belgian Railways 175th Anniversary
Issued 2010, May 10
Perf. 11½| Photogravure & Engraving
2438 Belgian Railways 175th Anniversary| €1.18 | multi-colored
[Source: 2018 Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, Vol. 1B]
Let’s see what’s on these stamps from Spain.
They were put on an envelope sent to me from an Ebay seller from Barcelona.
There was a single stamp from South Africa inside, to add to my collection ☺️.
I’m making the decision to stop. I’m very happy with that. No injury, no nothing. Okay, I decided to because I’m tired, because I’m feeling like I cannot be the competitor I’ve been before.
– Diego Schwartzman, talking to a reporter
Diego Schwartzman (32, 🇦🇷) bid the crowd a tearful good-bye after his 7-6, 2-6, 2-6, 1-6 loss against Gael Monfils (37, 🇫🇷) on Monday. He will be playing his last tournament in Buenos Aires in February.
From atptour.com: It will bring to a close a memorable career in which the Argentine has won 250 tour-level matches, competed in the Nitto ATP Finals in 2020 and ascended to No. 8 in the PIF ATP Rankings.
We spotted this Cybertruck at noon today, at the junction of South Alaska Street and Rainier Avenue South. (Looks like a black Tesla Model 3 on its right, in the second picture. It could also be a Model Y).
A filing from Tesla on June 24 for a recall revealed that there was a total of 11,688 trucks ‘in the wild’ or shipped to customers.
There might be 25,000 out there by the end of the year, with production volumes still being ramped up.
Tesla sees as its full-volume production total at 250,000 units per year.
Will there still be buyers for a truck that sells for more than $100k, at that point?
(The Foundation Series starts at $102,235, but cheaper trims such as an All Wheel Drive for $96,390 and Rear-Wheel Drive for $76,390 could be on the way.)
The year’s last Grand Slam tennis tournament starts tomorrow in Queens, New York.
Congratulations to the 16 qualifiers.
There were 128 men and 128 women competing for the final 16 slots, respectively, in each of the 2024 US Open singles draws.
Even if you lose in the first round of the main draw, you are awarded $100,000 for your efforts— a lot of money.
If you are a young professional player just starting out, you play in so-called futures tournaments offering $10,000 to $25,000 in prize money for the winner.
Yikes.
From cbsnews.com:
After weeks of debate, NASA has ruled out bringing two astronauts back to Earth aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule because of lingering concerns about multiple helium leaks and degraded thrusters, both critical to a successful re-entry, officials said Saturday.
Launched June 5, Starliner commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita Williams originally expected to spend a little more than a week in space in the Starliner’s first piloted test flight. They’ll now spend at least 262 days in orbit — nearly nine months — before returning to Earth around Feb. 22 with two Crew 9 fliers after they wrap up a normal six-month tour of duty.
Happy Friday.
There was steady rain here in the city today (about 0.5″), and there will be more this weekend.
It was all of 58°F (14°C) as I headed out for a quick walk after dinner.
The convention in Chicago is over.
The Democratic Party’s nominee for president took the stage tonight in Chicago to rapturous applause and accepted the nomination.
I liked all of Harris’s speech: the story of her life, how everyone counts in a democracy, and saying she will be a president that is realistic and practical, and that she will always fight for the American people.
Nandita Bose, Jeff Mason and Doina Chiacu reporting for Reuters:
Harris drew a series of contrasts with Trump, accusing him of not fighting for the middle class, planning to enact a tax hike through his tariff proposals, and having set in motion the end of a constitutional right to abortion with his picks for the U.S. Supreme Court.
Here’s Minnesota governor Tim Walz (picked by Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee for Vice President), addressing the conventioneers tonight.
A little bit of rain, a little sun, clouds— that seems to be the weather pattern for the week. A high of 71 °F (22 °C) today.
It’s the last hurrah for my deck furniture before I put it away in the garage and the basement.
