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This seasonal Halloween Dunkin’ Donut was called “Spider” and I think it was supposed to be a lot more involved than just “munchkin in hole.” Sure enough, the official press release shows frosting eyes and spider legs, but eh, it was a donut and I ate it.
“Purple Potion” was another seasonal Halloween donut which I consumed with my mouth.
Ezra was an astronaut for Halloween, his first time trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, Grandpa and Grandma coming along for the fun of it.
I also let him be a creeper for a bit but that box head is not well-sized for toddler use.
Scary launch failure on Soyuz MS-10 as a booster anomaly led to an abort, with the crew of two returning to Earth via ballistic descent and landing safely in Kazakhstan.
NASA ISS Expedition 57 photo album includes this photo taken around the time of the anomaly — note only 3 of 4 strap-on boosters can be seen separating from the core stage, consistent with the explanation that a separation motor valve failed on one strap-on, resulting in violent recontact with part of the launch stack.
While the launch failure is a frustrating event, it’s at least comforting that launch escape systems worked and kept the crew alive; there has been at least one past incident where the outcome was lethal. Sadly no trip to the ISS for NASA rookie astronaut Nick Hague.
Update: More on the incident, with Roscosmos onboard video of the anomaly, from Scott Manley.
Got another hurricane in the South, Michael, first Cat 4 to make landfall at the Florida Panhandle.
Orbital view of Michael from the ISS. Helicopter video of flattened homes in Mexico Beach, FL. Photos of the aftermath from Apalachicola Times and The Atlantic.
As of this writing the remnants of Michael, now a tropical storm, are over us in Virginia. It’s raining pretty hard and the soil is nicely soaked so I threw some grass seed out on the lawn to let the storm water it.
Videos of earthquake and tsunami in Palu, Indonesia — a “worst-case scenario” disaster caused by a shallow earthquake just off the coast.
Reuters maps and imagery of damage, and more photos from BBC and Atlantic In Focus.
Photos from the aftermath of two major storms recently:
Timelapse of an NOAA Hurricane Hunters flight into the eye of Florence:
NASA GPM satellite precipitation data timelapse for Mangkhut:
Size comparison of both storms from juxtaposed wind visualizations.
Met a little snek outside the house yesterday. From the Virginia Herpetological Society list it seems to be a juvenile rat snake.
We did not step on snek.
Living out in the ‘burbs now, I rarely get to enjoy much of DC anymore these days. When I can I try to walk the “scenic route” home, circling past the Capitol before heading for the train station out to my stop in Virginia.
Ominous clouds overhead and behind the Washington Monument this time, as Hurricane Florence, despite being centered far south in the Carolinas, stretches its rain bands up to here.
Having a Dunkin’ Donuts counter right at my workplace has certainly been good* for my eating habits. (* — bad) There was last April’s seasonal Cherry Blossom donut, and as September rolls along there’s now a “Festive Fall” Donut.
Over summer we also had a “Capitals Craze” donut commemorating the Washington Capitals’ Stanley Cup win…
…and for Shark Week, a donut with little blue shark-shaped sprinkles.
While I’m at this office I will continue to log my novelty donut consumption.
While at the National Aquarium we picked up a souvenir plush shark for Ezra. Amelia gave it a sniff.
Meanwhile, here is Martha’s face when presented with a catnip fish toy. She is such a goof.
Back to Amelia, who shows us cat circle theory in action.
Sad news: I’ve ended the cat-centric “JonesAndPond” Twitter account I started a couple years ago; if you were following it for pictures of Martha and Amelia, there’s always here, and the Flickr “companionkittens” tag.