TCC for 4/25/08

The Caretaker's Concern 4/25/08
Lake Temp. 50.5 F.
Ghetto temp. 62 F. and dropping.
Island tmp. 64 F. Yesterday's L/H: 60/64.5 F.
Current conditions: Total cloud coverage, wind from the Narrows, 5 to 10 mph.

For much of the day the Lake was mostly calm. Late morning the Caretaker saw someone going down the Lake on a jet-ski, the Lake is certainly warming up but the Caretaker is of the opinion that it is probably too cold to be out on a jet-ski, perhaps the Lake will get lucky and this person will get pneumonia from their jet-ski ride and they'll be kept out of commission for the rest of the Summer. Historically the Caretaker has been on the anti-jet-ski side, however since the powers that be have banned people from driving them without either a license or a hired guide they have become much less of a nuisance. In addition, now that most of the Jet-skis on the Lake are 4 stroke and not 2 stroke their noise is a lot more tolerable. Overall the Caretaker is of the opinion that everyone has a right to enjoy the Lake as they see fit, but no one has a right to be a general nuisance. On average, the typical jet-ski operator knows nothing about the rules of the water, nor do they seem to care, unfortunately this also seems to apply to many of the power-boaters. The Caretaker thinks that operating licenses should be required, and a strong knowledge of the rules of way on the water should be mandatory before a license will be issued.

Currently on the Caretaker's radio: China Radio International, a guy is singing in Chinese. The Caretaker has grown a bit tired of NPR and so has pressed his short-wave radio into service again, the previous hour it was Radio Netherlands. Next hour he will probably tune in Radio Havana Cuba. Now CRI is playing a guy rapping in Chinese, funny, other than the language difference, it sounds pretty much the same as most all other rap music. Talk about the beating of a dead horse of a music genre, the same goes for new country too. The Caretaker can't say he is waiting around for innovation in either of these two music genres because he has long since stopped listening.

The Caretaker spent a bit of time today working on a pulley system for his outdoor-shower setup, if this posting had a title it would probably be called "The Caretaker's Cockamamy Concern". The pulley system he has set up does make for a "cleaner" looking arrangement, and it does a great job of getting the shower bag up to the proper height, however, it's portability and ease of set up does not really compare to that of the Caretaker's ladder and 2x4 arrangement. Then again, the initial set-up of this new system may have taken a while, but perhaps further set-ups will go quicker, either way, the Caretaker will be sure to keep you posted on this oh-so important issue. For the record, there was a nice view of Black Mt. from his shower this early evening.

--The Caretaker