Showing posts with label Pet. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 02, 2026

Chance of Thunderbird

The evening was pleasant when I decided to take Joie for a bit of a longer walk. The air was comfortable. The sky was overcast, but nothing that looked sinister in the twilight's quickly dimming light. There was no thunder or lightning, or at least nothing appeared nearby. It is not uncommon in the Denver area to see lightning across many miles.

The walk started off pleasantly. Joie was doing all the dog things that a dog does on a doggy walk, and I was enjoying the evening's ease, peace and pleasant pine and other natural aromas carried on the gentle wind. As we turned the corner around the second street we often walk, right in front of me was a massive lightning strike. I stopped and instantly count...

"...one one thousand"

"....two one thousand"

"...three one thousand"

"...four one thousand"

"...five one thousand" (one mile away)

"...six one thousand"

"....seven one thousand"

"...eight one thou..." The thunder rumbles loudly over us!

It is less than two miles away. That means it can strike anywhere nearby at any moment. I am definitely not going to continue to walk another quarter mile in the direction of the strike! I turn us around immediately and begin running back home. I'm paying attention to my hair, hoping to not feel the pre-strike hair fuzz or the audible buzz. Almost instinctively, I take my hand up to jostle my hair as though that would really stop lightning from striking.

We run back down the connector road, across a main road, then directly onto our street. Joie is not as fast as she used to be but after some initial nudging, she works to keep up. Another lightning strike...less than one mile away now! I am not even bothering to stay on the sidewalk. We run a direct path to our home, at a sharp angle to the street.

As we are rushing through our front door, another bright lightning strike hits behind us. My count barely made it to "one" before the thunder clapped at our backs! Both Joie and I jolt in surprise and I rush us through the door as fast as possible. That strike was no more than a block away!

As I write this, lightning is still striking nearby as the storm clouds roll on. We are relatively safe inside, and I am not inclined to go on another jaunt this evening.

Sunday, August 30, 2026

Life Stages and Years for Dogs

Canine Aging

Approximate Dog Years

The "multiply by seven" rule is a myth. Dogs mature fast in year one, keep aging quickly in year two, then their pace splits by size with bigger dogs aging faster in their adult years. Pick a size and drag the slider to see their approximate age as compared to human lifespan.

Adult size

Dog's actual age

3 yrs

human years

≈ 3-year-old small dog is about 28 in human terms.

Adult

Aging curve

Small Medium Large Giant

Based on commonly cited veterinary aging charts (AVMA / AKC-style size breakdowns). All dogs age at roughly the same fast pace through year two, then aging curves diverge. Small and medium dogs level off; large and giant breeds keep climbing. Each slider's outer edge is stretched to fit real-world longevity outliers where small dogs are the ones most likely to reach their late teens or early 20s, while giant breeds rarely see much past their early-to-mid teens. As such, the giant breed curve ends stops sooner. Treat this as a rough estimate, not a diagnosis, since genetics, breed, and health matter as much as size.

For information on other tools and topics:

A list of many types of Angles from Geometry: So many varieties! [Do you know of angle types that didn't make the list?.]
Collatz Conjecture Visualizer: Explore one of math's great unsolved problems interactively. [Explore the Collatz paths]
Earth's Looming Expiration Date: Why Earth faces an early deadline as the Sun's energy output increases. [Idea on how to preserve our planet]
Number Rounding Tool: Multiple methods of rounding supported. [Type your number and round it up or down!]

Monday, September 20, 2021

Another random shooting star, this time as a fallen angel

I've seen many random shooting stars in my life. The first one wasn't until my mid-teens. From there, I've seen shooting stars relatively frequently. In the past 10 years, I spotted most of these while walking my dogs. That makes sense, since my dogs are the main reason I'd be outside at night often enough for the opportunity to see these spectacles.

A couple nights ago, I spotted yet another shooting star. This one was unlike any others I've seen before. At first, it appeared as a piercingly bright light just above my line of sight. I thought a street light just blew out. However, I quickly remembered there was no street light above me, and I instantly realized it was yet another shooting star. I looked up to see the shooting star falling down in the Northwestern sky towards the horizon. However, instead of just a bright spot, or a bright spot with a streaking tail, or just a steak, or a quick flash, or a massive fireball; this shooting star was composed of opposed half-circle plumes on either side of a small bright spot. The plumes were bright at their tangent point and faded at their respective vertical centerlines. There was also a short streak emanating from the bright tangent point. The color of the shooting star was unusual. Though being generally bright-white, the shooting star appeared to have a faint tint of green on the left plume (to my perspective) and more reddish on the right plume. These features gave the shooting star an appearance of an angel plummeting to Earth.

As the shooting star came down to the tree line, it faded out nearly completely. It's core remained as a dimming amber just as it reached the tree line. Judging the final brightness, the shooting star seemed like it landed somewhere close-by (well, closer than usual).