A watched pot never boils…if your stove is broken.
Yes, today is not the last day of May. Sometime soon, it is likely I will take a 3-4 day break from posting. That break could start as soon as tomorrow.
Today is, however, the 28th consecutive day with a post and I think it’s time for a short break. While that is not anywhere close to the longest such posting streak–61 consecutive days and 100 days out of 101–I just need a brief recharge.
June 1 is, by the way, the beginning of meteorological summer in the Northern Hemisphere as opposed to astronomical summer that starts on June 20 this year. While Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport has had about 10 days with a high temperature of 100° or higher, we have not had one in our neck of the woods, yet. (I have always thought “neck of the woods” was a strange phrase, like why wasn’t it arm of the woods or nose of the woods, but someone has explained to me that the phrase has some logical origin although I don’t remember what it is and, frankly, don’t care enough to spend a minute on the Internet looking it up.)
I’m sure we will reach triple digits many times this summer, but the fact that we haven’t so far illustrates why we moved to this location and at this elevation. We are almost exactly 1,000 feet higher than Sky Harbor Airport. The dry, adiabatic lapse rate–change in temperature with respect to elevation–is 5.38° F per 1,000 feet in altitude. Combine that with the fact that almost all airports are heat islands and we actually have lots of plant life here and we are almost always 7°-10° F cooler than the airport, even though we are “only” about 30 miles away.
Of course, living here means we got to see this on January 25:
That didn’t happen at the airport.
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OK, the search for new wheels for my Z06 continues. Yes, time for a picture:
The really inexpensive set, at least relative to full OEM price, I found is cast and not forged so they’re out. One of the reasons Chevrolet/General Motors is in the bind they’re in is that they cast the wheels for the C7 Z06 and Grand Sport. Forged wheels are much stronger than cast ones.
I don’t want to pay full retail for a set of C7 ZR1 wheels in Chrome, but I guess if I have to I will. Oh, it’s only 50 days until I take the car in for its next power upgrade.
#HelloJune?!
#DesertSnow
#NewWheelsForMyZ06
#somanycarsjustonelife
#disaffectedmusings
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Disaffected Musings 
OK… you got me curious, so I looked it up. “Neck” used to describe a peninsula or strip of land usually bordered by water since the 1500s. At some point, the term was corrupted to refer to a stand of woods, then further to a general area or neighborhood. There you go… that’s my vocabulary history lesson for the day. 🙂
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Thanks, JS. I knew there was a reason for the phrase, but I still think it’s silly. I may start using nose of the woods…
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On the topic of wheels, I took my Avalon in for its 40K mile maintenance. Once they finished the oil change, I was informed that their multi-point check indicated that I need a front end alignment. They even documented the need with a print-out showing the right wheel indicated a toe out.
Having just put two new tires on the front less than a month ago, I am now $110 poorer, but hopefully I won’t wear out the new tires prematurely.
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Cars, like houses, require maintenance that is not free. The power of entropy…
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When it comes to Arizona weather, I get my data from the AZ Meteorological Network operated by the University of Arizona College of Agriculture. I use it for their evaporation data. They remotely operate stations throughout the state for agriculture, golf courses and anyone else who needs weather data like nerd engineers like myself. Their nearest station to you is the Desert Ridge Station, West of you. Link to that station’s data: https://cals.arizona.edu/azmet/27.htm Sadly, the official State Meteorologist is a professor at that other University, Arizona State, opined the University of Arizona graduate.
WRT new wheels for the Corvette, absolutely go with forged wheels. The forging process compresses the metal crystals together to make the material stronger and tougher. That is why Henry Ford used forged axles on all of his pre-1948 cars and trucks. They were needed for the terrible roads in those days. I have seen videos of how they forge the wheel blanks for forged aluminum wheels. They actually start with drawn aluminum billets and heat and roll the pieces through hydraulic rollers.
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Thanks, Philip. I intend to buy forged wheels, but may have to pony up full retail for real Chevrolet/GM wheels to do so. It is what it is…
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