Official date of last frost isn't until April, which I get and there's a risk to planting anything in the ground this early. But with the increased tendency for spring weather patterns to set in so early before the final frost... it can wreck havoc on entire ecosystems.
Even the native plants that "know better" were starting to pop out and will be nipped in the bud over a barely two day span.
Absolute wreck for flowering plants and trees, many of which came into bloom a full month early compared to recent years. While our garden at home is currently 'cold weather' tolerant vegetables and plants, I'm not sure they'll make it out unscathed.
Covered everything in tarps last night and letting them catch some sun this afternoon before covering again. The year-old Jane Magnolia in our font yard will lose all of its blooms and I'm worried about the new growth that had already started.
Regular reminder that strong diving cold fronts like what much of the country is experiencing right now can be symptomatic of a destabilized jet stream caused by climate change. This morning and overnight tonight in Northwest Arkansas we will see temperatures around 17F (-8C), however temperatures will rapidly warm up and as soon as Thursday temperatures will be in the 80s and will crest around 87F on Saturday (31C).
There's a push to make systems like rear seat detection mandatory, along with the currently delayed implementation of driver monitoring systems, all in the name of Safety. It's easy to understand the intent - prevent children/pet deaths in hot cars and drunk driving - but the technology is not ready. Privacy concerns aside, it would be like if seat belts were mandated but by the implementation date they could only latch successfully about 50% of the time and failed during accidents over 55 mph.
There are other passive monitoring systems that we were not aware of, including an interior 'radar' which detects movement inside the vehicle cabin with an extremely high false positive rate. The intent is to detect children or pets left in hot cars, but it can be thrown off by a fly flying around or by EM interference from nearby electronics, which can be a problem for cars parked in garages where other electronics are within close range. This has gone off ~5 times in the past 48 hours.
This video provides a Toyota-specific breakdown on the system and approaches to take towards at least partially disabling and at best, thwarting it's operation. If you're in a vehicle that is so equipped, a piece of tape works for now, but it does display a message after about 30 minutes that does not go away stating "driver's face not detected".
https://youtu.be/0Nv_q8Um0yc?si=n7on-X7JeaoO3O5V
More details on the Toyota Driver Monitor camera and warnings
I should add that simply asking if a car has a driver facing camera or driver monitoring system is not sufficient. Every salesperson I talked to at 3 different Toyota dealerships had no clue what I was talking about, but driver monitoring cameras (DMCs) appear to be standard equipment starting with Toyota Safety Sense 3.0, which consists of a camera and infrared sensors mounted on the steering wheel. Our car has TSS 2.0 so no camera which I could confirm at the time, but don't take their word.
The award for creepiest new cars goes to Subaru. All of their new models appear to have a 'driver assist' system called EyeSight built-in, which includes driver monitoring and facial recognition built into the dash, and that you can't disable.
The salesman was gushing over how great it is and when he asked us if we were interested in looking at one more seriously we were upfront and said finding a car that wasn't constantly looking at us and storing biometric data was a non-negotiable.
I should qualify that it's taken me most of the last several years to get over my own range anxiety, but it's also been alleviated by seeing base models steadily increase from around 100 to 150 miles up to 250 miles becoming the new 'standard' in conjunction with chargers becoming much more widespread, including in more rural parts of middle America where we live.
I had originally overlooked but was briefly intrigued by the Chevrolet Equinox EV being offered from $25k to $30k new. It's an AWD SUV that has a typical range over 300 miles.
We ultimately didn't get it due to it having retractable door handles, an overstimulating and confusing infotainment system and dash display, and range anxiety on my wife's end that I couldn't alleviate.
Of course the range issue wont go away with a Slate EV, with a 150 mile base model, but wouldnt be used for road trips
