Thursday, December 10, 2009

Margin Notes: Sun Dog, A380, Jackrabbit, Soul


A sun dog appeared as an American Airlines flight took off from Toronto, Ontario on 7-December-2009

PLACERVILLE, CALIFORNIA - Rainbows are a relatively frequent sight, no matter what songwriters would have one believe. Sun dogs or parhelions, which are like mini-suns with rainbow colorations, are also supposed to be fairly common, but I can't remember seeing prior to this Monday, as the plane I was traveling on took off from Toronto. The sun dog pictured above, as well as its mirror twin on the other side of the sun, were readily visible.

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Prior to takeoff, I noted an Emirates Air A380 at the terminal. I hadn't known that A380's were already flying to Toronto; apparently, they have been scheduled in regularly since June. The 517-seat Airbus actually didn't look that wide or tall; it simply looked fat--it was berthed with one skybridge to each level of the plane.

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A jackrabbit watched a railfan inspect the Union Pacific rail yards in Roseville, California on 9-December-2009

I'm starting to wonder how the jackrabbits in Roseville, California aren't all fat. The past two times I've visited the Union Pacific rail yards in that town east of Sacramento, I have been greeted by jackrabbits as if they were deputized by the railroad police. Could their constant presence be a simple function of grain leaking from rail cars in transit?

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It was not jackrabbits but hamsters that have been used to advertise the Kia Soul, and long-time readers of this blog will recall the Gleich family's take on the Kia Soul hamster ad. My rental car for this visit happened to be a Kia Soul. I can now testify that the car is actually quite roomy, not sized for a hamster, and actually seems to be pretty functional. A neighbor even commented on how cute it was--this is a car that puts the unergonomic Chrysler PT Cruiser to shame.

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