Hi,

Up here in Santa Rosa it seems we have some odd things going on with items which are operated by batteries and I am curious to know if anyone else in this area has noticed anything unusual.

Last week two of my battery operated clocks, which are different models both sped up. One by 6 minutes and the other by 7 minutes in one night, but have not repeated. Then last night I put my cell phone in the bathroom on the countertop to charge overnight, which I do all of the time and this morning it wouldn't work. A co-worker took it apart, wiped off the end of the battery and put it back together and it works fine. It's only 4 months old.

On the other side of town someone else had a problem with a weather station unit with the clock malfuntioning that normally works well with a new battery in it too.

So is it a nighttime thing, because it's colder or something else?

And what should we make of the Ohlone PBO station this time? More water in it? I hope not... but so far there has never been a time when these stations have had a dramatic effect without being related to something other than earth strain. Perhaps it is the nature of how they have to be installed and it cannot be helped, but as to finding out when a quake were to arrive, I'm uncertain. I know they try to read them as a chain of instruments and if more than one is moving along, then the others indicate that as well; but is that always the case? I guess one day we'll find out "after an earthquake." LOL

And lastly, for the weeks road kill report, someone ran over a Snowy Egret today on a road that runs parallel to the Rodgers Creek Fault due east of Petaluma. That's a first for sure. Maybe it lost its way as well in a geomagnetic anomaly.

I wonder....

Petra

• Hercules - Ohlone PBO Station