once again, sandy wasn't going to work today, since she was waiting to see the hasty pudding parade later in the afternoon. we finally left by 2:15pm. temperature was in the teens today so i busted out my heavy duty columbia winter jacket for the first time this season. i also wore my flannel-lined pants with another layer of wool long underwear underneath. however i didn't take into consideration that my green jacket combined with the green pants would make me look like i was dressed more for the army than the parade.
i've known about the hasty pudding woman of the year parade since 2009 but i've only seen a few: mila kunis (2018) * marion cotillard (2013) * anne hathaway (2010) * renee zellweger (2009). 2011 julianne moore came to town to receive her award but there was no parade that year. there's also been years were i could've gone but didn't because i wasn't so hot about the winner (2012 claire danes, 2015 amy poehler comes to mind). kelvin seems to be obsessed with emma stone and asked if she'd ever received the award (surprisingly no, but maybe it's just a matter of time, or perhaps she declined the offer).
bryce dallas howard was the recipient this year. off the top of my head, i can only remember her in the two most recent jurassic park films and also the 2004 m. night shyamalan thriller the village. a lot of people get her confused with jessica chastain (who by the way has never received the hasty pudding award either) and i occasionally have to do a double take as well. the hasty pudding club made the announcement rather late, just this past tuesday, with a parade and celebration 2 days later. i wonder how the recipients are selected but i think a lot of it has to do with availability and scheduling.
the parade itself was brief, lasting all but 10 minutes before it turned down a side street and disappeared. as the procession was slow, it was easy for onlookers to chase after it, turning it into a mob of people following the lead car. kelvin - armed with their prosumer point-and-shoot - really seemed to be into it, separating with sandy to get some better shots from the street. at one point i saw him touching the tail of a dancing inflatable t-rex. i had my 70-300mm lens, and as long as nobody was blocking my view, i could shoot fine from the sidewalk, though the transitions from light to shadow was an exposure challenge.
as for bryce dallas howard, she seemed to be game despite the cold weather. all bunched up in her matching black coat and earmuffs with her red hair glistening in the winter sun, she seemed to be the kind of person who can look really pretty from certain angles but unflattering in others (e.g. double chins).
there was a dusting of snow this morning, which hampered the solar production from getting a perfect curve, skewing the morning production numbers like it did yesterday as well. i could tell which panels were covered from the layout view. but whatever snow there was quickly melted in the sun so we still ended up with the highest production this winter at 33.48kWh.
this is the first time we have data from the same 2 months but different years (january 2018, 2019). the highest single day production for this month (january 2019) was 33.48kWh (set today on the 31st), which matches the single day high from last year (2018) which was also 33.48kWh (set on the 26th). i still regret the 4 day of near-zero production between the 20-23rd. on the 20th it was overcast as the snowstorm was winding down, but the 21st and 22nd were actually sunny, and it was partially sunny on the 23rd. had we cleared the panels on that first day, i believe we could've easily made 60kWh+ between those remaining days, bringing the total for january 2019 to 600kWh+.
sandy and kelvin went out to dali on kirkland street for tapas. i myself had a plate of leftover ribs, bacon, and bratwurst for dinner. when they came back they said dali was a lot bigger on the inside than what it appeared on the outside, but the food wasn't anything special, nothing like the real tapas they had in spain.
kevin spent the rest of the evening violently coughing and sneezing. as a working pharmacist i figured he'd keep his contagion transmission to a minimum, but he seemed to be spraying virus everywhere in the house, sneezing loudly to the ground, or snorting back a runny nose. it's only a matter of time before sandy and i get sick. i'm hoping that i've already been exposed to the virus and that my immune system had already fought it off. i had a little cough yesterday but it's since disappeared for the most part. i am filling a bit stiff around the joints though, hopefully it's nothing.