Willem's Planet

February 4, 2023February 5, 2023

Saturday/ 💥poof! goes the big balloon

The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down by the U.S. military off the coast of Surfside Beach, S.C., on Saturday.
[Picture by Randall Hill/Reuters]

The giant white spy balloon from China that had drifted right across the continental United States the last few days, was shot down today at about 2:40pm ET over the Atlantic Ocean.

As reported by David Ignatius for the Washington Post:
The Pentagon official said it weighed as much as two or three buses and could have caused considerable damage if it had hit land. If it had fallen over Montana, 2,000 people could have been in danger from scattered debris.

As a military operation, the shoot-down was relatively simple. An F-22 Raptor fired an AIM-9 missile at the balloon, and television cameras showed what happened. The Pentagon official said the key targeting priority was to avoid shooting clear through the balloon, which might have left it largely intact and able to travel another 500 to 600 miles east, perhaps out of range of U.S. retrieval.

The Pentagon weighed whether it might be possible to partially deflate the balloon and capture the intelligence pod at lower altitude. But the official said no technology exists that would allow such a “butterfly net” capture operation.

February 3, 2023

Friday/ a soft landing? 🎛

A surprisingly strong jobs report for January came out today.
Maybe the US economy will have a soft landing after all —a short and shallow recession this year. (Or none? There is going to be a recession at some point in the future, we know that. That’s just the way the economy works).

From the Wall Street Journal:
January’s seasonally adjusted payroll gains were the largest since July 2022 and snapped a string of five straight months of slowing employment growth, the Labor Department said Friday. December job growth was also stronger than previously estimated, pushing the average job gains for the last three months to 356,000, well above the 2019 prepandemic average of 163,000.

Payrolls grew most strongly at services businesses, the Labor Department said. Leisure and hospitality industries added 128,000 workers in January, up from 64,000 in December.

From the WSJ: ‘January’s seasonally adjusted payroll gains were the largest since July 2022, and snapped a string of five straight months of slowing employment growth’.

February 2, 2023February 3, 2023

Thursday/ Happy Groundhog Day ❄️

From the National Weather Service: Those stripes across Texas and Arkansas represent a massive ice storm, and an arctic blast into the Northeast is bringing historic and bone-chillingly low temperatures to the Great Lakes and New York City. 🥶

The groundhog from Pennsylvania says there will be 6 more weeks of winter. (Of course there will be, looking at the weather map).

The 51 °F (11 °C ) and calm weather we had here in the city today felt almost balmy, though. I walked back to Capitol Hill from downtown, after taking the No 10 bus to get there.

The pesky crowds of Friday were long gone this morning, and I could take a better picture of **Mowitch Man** basking in the sun (at the new Seattle Convention Center called Summit. This is a type of statue that had traditionally been made by Coast Salish people to invite visitors into their territories. The artist is Andrea Wilbur-Sigo from the Squaxin Island Tribe. She started out with a 20-foot Western red cedar log. The figure is holding a ‘talking stick’ and those are Salish-style salmon emblems on his clothing.

February 1, 2023February 1, 2023

Wednesday/ a little pickle 🥒 ball

It was warm enough (48 °F / 9 °C) for the amigos to play a little pickleball this afternoon.

The evergreen trees are too tall for much of the low winter sun’s light to make it onto the courts at Mount Baker Park, but that’s OK. There was plenty of blue sky overhead.

January 31, 2023February 3, 2023

Tuesday/ the last of the 747s ✈️

The sun sets on an era of aviation manufacturing as the very last Boeing 747 lands at Paine Field after a Jan. 10 test flight. The jet was delivered on Tuesday to Atlas Air, which will operate the plane for freight forwarder Apex Logistics. One side of the aircraft is painted in the colors of Atlas, the other side in the livery of Apex.
[Jennifer Buchanan / The Seattle Times]

Somebody told her that there was a place like heaven
Across the water on a 747
Yeah we’re living in
In a modern world
And pretty soon she’s really got the notion
Of flying out across the big blue ocean
Yeah we’re living in
In a modern world
– From the song ‘Calling America’ (1986) by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)

The last assembled Boeing 747 had left the Boeing’s widebody factory in Everett, Washington, on December 6, 2022.
It was delivered to Atlas Air today: a 747-8F (Freighter) with plane number #1,574 and registered as N863GT.

Pan-American Airways was the launch customer for the first 747 passenger jet created, the 747-100. The airline ordered 25 of the exciting new ‘jumbo’ jets, and the first one was delivered in January 1970, and christened by First Lady Pat Nixon.

January 30, 2023January 30, 2023

Monday/ the dog bus 🐶

Mo Mountain Mutts, a dog walking business in Skagway, Alaska, has gone viral on social media for its beloved dog bus.
Back row, from left: Yarrow and Otis. Front row, from left: Gumbo and Slade.
[Still from video by Mo Mountain Mutts]

From the Washington Post, reported by Sydney Page:
Mo Mountain Mutts is Skagway, Alaska, dog walking and training business, run by husband-and-wife duo, Mo and Lee Thompson.

A recent TikTok video of several dogs confidently boarding the bus on their own with big wagging tails was viewed more than 50 million times.
It documents the Thompsons’ regular pickup routine. At one point, the minibus stops in front of Amaru’s home, where he is seated in the front yard — clearly expecting them. From inside the bus, the Thompsons open the doors for the pup, and he happily leaps in.

Once entering the bus, the dogs typically sniff around and greet the other canine passengers, before climbing onto their assigned seat — which the Thompsons have trained them to do. Then, their harness gets secured, and the same process is repeated as the rest of the pack, about 12 dogs, is picked up.

The seats are carefully selected based on factors such as a pup’s personality, age and manners. Most dogs head directly to their designated seat without being guided.

January 29, 2023January 29, 2023

Sunday/ sunny and cold 🌬

The high today was all of 38 °F (3 °C), but no matter— the pickleballers were out in full force at the Miller Park courts on 19th Avenue.

In fact, I notice now that one of the sixteen intrepid competitors was in shorts and a t-shirt 🥶.

January 28, 2023January 28, 2023

Caturday

Can you spot the big cat in this picture?
Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Picture by Hemant Dabi, posted @fasc1nate on Twitter.

January 27, 2023January 27, 2023

Friday/ inside the Summit 🏬

The amigos toured the new $2 billion Seattle Convention Center extension today. (Construction had started in August 2018).
The existing Convention Center is now named Arch, and this extension is called Summit.

There is a large below-ground space, and five sprawling floors stacked on top of it, with a ballroom the size of a football field at the top. (The height of the Center is the equivalent of 14 regular floors).
The planks of wood suspended from the ceiling in the ballroom, and used for paneling at the ballroom entrance doors are called ‘wormwood’.
The wood comes from salvaged, decommissioned log-booms (floating barriers in waterways to collect logs that had been cut nearby).
After some time in the water, larvae of marine clams (sp. Bankia setacea) attach themselves to the logs, and start drilling into the log’s interior, creating a network of tunnels.

‘Seattle faces a moment of truth to save downtown’ wrote the Seattle Times today, pointing a report from Downtown Seattle Association that had estimated in October 2021 that 500 street-level businesses had closed since 2019. Only 300 new street-level businesses had opened. The hope is that the Convention Center extension can serve as a catalyst to bring people back and fill the empty spaces of commercial real estate.

January 26, 2023January 26, 2023

Thursday/ the leaves have left 🪵

Here’s a dead-of-winter photo of 19th Avenue’s bare trees.
I am looking south, with Stevens Elementary School on my right.

January 25, 2023January 31, 2023

Wednesday/ about the Abrams tanks ⚙️

President Biden announced today that the U.S. will send 31 Abrams tanks to push back against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

From the New York Times:
But by promising Abrams tanks — which John F. Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, said would take “many months” to be built by General Dynamics — Mr. Biden was able to give Mr. Scholz political cover to send Leopard tanks by early spring. And Germany’s decision opened the way for Spain, Poland and Finland to do the same, with Norway likely next to announce a similar contribution.

The latest versions of the Abrams and the Leopard tanks. These are models are both the third generation of tanks that were first designed and built in the 1970s.
The Abrams tank is named after WWII tank commander Creighton Williams Abrams, Jr. (1914-1974). It has a massive 500 gallon fuel tank for its 1,500-horsepower gas turbine engine that runs on jet fuel, gasoline or diesel. The engine is very reliable, but the high fuel consumption could present a serious logistic problem in places such as Ukraine.

January 24, 2023January 27, 2023

Tuesday/ mail from Malaga, Spain 📨

Very nice: the stamps I had purchased just 11 days ago from my seller in Spain, landed in my mailbox tonight. The mailman should be commended for still doing the rounds at 8 at night.

This time the mailing envelope has the dreaded computer-processed postage label on. (Some philatelists don’t mind: they collect even these machine-generated labels).

**Correos** (the name printed on the postage paid label) is a state-owned company responsible for providing postal service in Spain.
**SWA** on the stamps: South West Africa, Namibia’s name until independence in 1990.
**RSA** on the stamps: Republic of South Africa, South Africa’s official name since 1961 (before 1961 the country went by the Union of South Africa, and like Canada, Australia and New Zealand, it was a self-governing dominion of the British Empire).

January 23, 2023January 23, 2023

Monday/ at the library 📖

I checked into the central library in downtown for the first time since the start of the pandemic today, and did very well. 😁
I bought two books for $1 each (so: free) at the little store at the entrance, and
checked out two Der Spiegel magazines and The Case of The Shoplifter’s Shoe. (A Perry Mason detective mystery. He is a lawyer and his secretary’s name is Della, and his private detective is Paul Drake. It’s easy reading and for old times’ sake. I had read them all a long time ago).

January 22, 2023

Sunday/ Happy Lunar New Year

The hare is the fourth in the twelve-year periodic sequence of animals that appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.

January 21, 2023January 27, 2023

Saturday/ a Great Britain stamp enigma

A little side benefit from buying stamps from sellers all over the world is that the senders sometimes paste whole sheets of stamps onto the envelope, instead of using a dreaded computer-generated black-and-white ‘stamp’ .

Why would the seller use these stamps from 30, 40 years ago, though?
He had an oversupply of stock?

**Greetings Stamps. ‘Memories’ Set of 10**
**1992 (28 Jan.) Two phosphor bands**
1592 (1st) multicoloured Flower Spray
1593 (1st) multicoloured Double Locket
1592 (1st) multicoloured Key
1592 (1st) multicoloured Model Car and Cigarette Cards
1592 (1st) multicoloured Compass and Map
1592 (1st) multicoloured Pocket Watch
1592 (1st) multicoloured 1854 1d. Red Stamp and Pen
1592 (1st) multicoloured Pearl Necklace
1592 (1st) multicoloured Marbles
1592 (1st) multicoloured Bucket, Spade and Starfish

**Greetings Stamps. ‘Smiles’ Set of 10**
**1991 (26 Mar.) Two phosphor bands. Perf 15×14**
1550-1559 (1st) multicoloured

**British Anniversaries.**
**1971 (25 Aug.) Two phosphor bands**
891 5p multicoloured Faraday Building, Southampton University

**British Trees (2nd Issue)**
**1974 (27 Feb.) ‘All-over’ phosphor**
949 10p multicoloured Horse Chestnut

**‘Occasions’ Greetings Stamps**
**2003 (4 Feb.) Two phosphor bands, Perf 14½x14**
2337 (1st) lemon and new blue ‘Gold star, See me, Playtime’
2338 (1st) red and deep ultramarine ‘I♥U, XXXX, S.W.A.L.K.*’
*XXXX is a beer and Sealed With A Loving Kiss, a World-War II postal acronym
2339 (1st) purple and bright yellow-green ‘Angel, Poppet, Little terror’
2340 (1st) bright yellow-green and red ‘Yes, No, Maybe’
2341 (1st) deep ultramarine and lemon ‘Oops! Sorry, Will try harder’
2342 (1st) new blue and purple ‘I did it! You did it! We did it!’
[From the 2011 ‘Collect British Stamps’ Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue]

January 13, 2023January 21, 2023

Lucky Friday the 13th? ☘️

The largest lottery winnings ever is the Powerball payout of US$2.04 billion recorded just last year on Nov. 7, 2022.
As of today, and for tonight’s drawing, the Mega Millions prize is up to $1.35 billion.

From thelotter.com:
The biggest jackpots in the world, both starting and awarded, belong to US Powerball and Mega Millions.
Both of the lotteries jackpot prizes reset to an estimated US$20 million each time they’re won.
This is larger than many lotteries’ biggest payouts!
The second-biggest starting prize belongs to Europe’s transnational star: The EuroMillions.
The top prize starts at €17 million and can grow with each rollover until it reaches the prize cap.

Update Sat. 1/14: The second largest jackpot in Mega Millions history was sold in Lebanon, Maine (pop. 6,000) at the Hometown Gas & Grill. The winner hasn’t come forward yet.

The display board at the 7-11 here on 15th Ave. on Capitol Hill, where I had just bought 3 tickets for $2 each for the $1.35 billion Mega Millions lottery. I’m such a rank amateur when it comes to buying lottery tickets, that the clerk had to inquire twice as to exactly WHICH lottery I wanted tickets for (For the big prize— duh .. and it didn’t help that his accent make it sound like MAGA millions😆).

January 12, 2023January 21, 2023

Thursday/ soaked ☔️

It’s a challenge to go for a run outside, or to play sport outdoors in the Pacific Northwest winter.
When it’s clear and dry, it may be too cold.
When it’s cloudy and milder, it may be raining.
There’s always skiing and snowboarding in the mountains, of course.