Spring is Late

So - how is spring progressing in your neck of the woods?  We were supposed to have the heating and cooling guy out today to check the air conditioning prior to summer.  He called this morning to cancel because it is too cold.  It has to be 70 degrees for him to do his work.  He mentioned to Jim that the Weather Channel was reporting that this is the coldest spring in Spokane in eleven years.  Welcome to the Inland Empire, folks.

This was April 15, a mere 13 days ago.  It was not a lot of snow, and it should be the last.  However, the nights are still chilly, flirting with freezing.  So the air mass is not warming up yet.

Today we walked up the big hill behind the house.  It was cool but tolerable.  Here we are at the giant rock at the top of the hill.  It hasn't changed much from last year, still big, still basalt.  Our neighborhood is built upon basalt outcroppings, and next to them as well.  TDS, the fiber company, called our HOA president and advised him that they are reconsidering putting fiber in here.  There is much rock, and a couple of really long driveways that are giving them pause.  So, it may or may not happen.

The yellow flowers are growing well on the sunny side of the hill.

This is some sort of rangy looking tree/bush in bloom up there.  No idea what it might be.

It was a nice walk that proved, once again, that there is zero cross over between walking uphill, spin biking, and rowing machines.  We're really hoping that there is cross over between road biking and spin biking.  We've both been diligent all winter and I am really hoping for some return on sweat equity on the bikes.

In the news of the terrible, there is the current lock down of Shanghai, and the likely upcoming lock down of Beijing.  From Yahoo news we learn the following.

Thousands of air fryers are stuck in factories, warehouses and ports in central China, where shutdowns have stalled millions of dollars worth of inventory for Yedi Houseware, a family-run business in Los Angeles.

How quickly those backlogged appliances make it to the United States could have wide-ranging implications across the U.S. economy, as domestic manufacturers and retailers brace for another round of disruptions from recent covid-related shutdowns in Shanghai, China's largest city. White House officials are paying close attention to the disruptions to monitor the potential impact on the U.S. economy.

"Things are getting crazy again," said Bobby Djavaheri, the company's president. "Everything is halted. There are closures this very minute that are adding to the supply chain nightmare we've been experiencing for two years."

Other executives are dealing with similar scrambles as the situation in China appears to change every day, sweeping up many different sectors.

Widespread covid outbreaks in China have bought entire cities to a standstill and hobbled manufacturing and shipping hubs throughout the country. An estimated 373 million people - or about one-quarter of China's population - have been in covid-related lock downs in recent weeks because of what is known as the country's zero covid policy, according to economists at Nomura Holdings. There are also fears that new lock downs could soon take hold in the capital city, Beijing, escalating the threat to the global economic recovery.

Anxiety over new disruptions has already caused the Chinese stock market to fall sharply, weighing on U.S. stock indexes as well.

And there are signs things could only get worse. Continuing lock downs in Shanghai - a major hub for America's semiconductor and electronics supply chains - has set up automakers, electronics companies and consumer goods firms for months of delays and higher costs.

I suppose if you need something made in China, buy it now.