The first day of Summer Vacation we slept in! Then Wil mowed the lawn, pruned some branches, went to the dump and I quilted. Then we went to Lowe's for supplies to fix the screens on the porch, which the kitties busted through.
The second day of Summer Vacation we got up super early and went to Canada. (I know many of you feel envy reading that.) We met up with our friend, Rod, went to church with him at All Saints in Dunham, then took him out for brunch. We thereby got to award him his trophy from last Summer's sailing season, as he has not renewed his passport. We also got to make a pilgrimage to Tim Horton's! Then, the USA let us back in. That's the thanks you get for living a clean life. Sigh.
The third day of our Summer Vacation we would like to have slept in. [Actually, we would love to have been in Boston enjoying museums with granddaughters.] Instead the Roofers showed up early (7:30am!) and were pounding away by 7:45am...up top, out front, and out back! The work was slated for June 11-15, but they couldn't start until the 20th. That said, they are WONDERFUL workers with a very kind boss. (And hey, they actually show up, unlike past roofers we've dealt with.) So we are hanging with the kitties today. After the roofers leave we are meeting the son of an old friend who died this year.
There are variable estimates of what percentage of success is simply showing up, but people seem to be agreed that it is a large part.
--Alan
P.S.: Cooler weather today; prediction is for only 99 deg. F. We got some weeding done on the south side of the house. Weeding, followed by timely spraying, followed by timely re-weeding works well.
We have been having a lot of days in the low hundreds lately. Starting with today, the predicted temperatures this week are 99, 101, 99, 97, 97, 100 and 102. Shade and a breeze are welcome when available. It gets to be a real drag when it's over a hundred day after day; the worst I recall was 16 days straight, once about 30 years ago. "But it's a dry heat!" Yeah, so is a blast furnace. Humidity 14% yesterday the newspaper says, which sounds about right for daytime; around 30% at the highest during the night would be typical. We can extirpate weeds and suchlike for a couple of hours in the morning, even on the south side of the house. That keeps the yard under control easily if done regularly.
Republicans scrambled Friday to gavel down progressive Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) less than 15 seconds into playing on the House floor the audio in our TV ad of children crying after being separated from their mothers. The R's were so panicked, they even called the Sergeant at Arms to force Lieu to stop.
I'm uncomfortable with exploiting these poor children, especially having heard part of the recording. At the same time, the picture of grown men calling the Sergeant at Arms to stop the playing of a recording of desolate, lost children crying is ludicrous and most telling.
"This is all going to get more extreme. And it should. We are living in extreme times. The harm that is being done to all of us by the people in the American government is extreme. To imagine that Mexican immigrants should happily cook for and serve meals to people who enable a man who is determined to demonize and persecute them as subhuman criminals is far more outrageous than the idea that those enablers should not be served in restaurants. I do not believe that Trump administration officials should be able to live their lives in peace and affluence while they inflict serious harms on large portions of the American population. Not being able to go to restaurants and attend parties and be celebrated is just the minimum baseline here. These people, who are pushing America merrily down the road to fascism and white nationalism, are delusional if they do not think that the backlash is going to get much worse. Wait until the recession comes. Wait until Trump starts a war. Wait until the racism this administration is stoking begins to explode into violence more frequently. Read a fucking history book. Read a recent history book. The U.S. had thousands of domestic bombings per year in the early 1970s. This is what happens when citizens decide en masse that their political system is corrupt, racist, and unresponsive. The people out of power have only just begun to flex their dissatisfaction. The day will come, sooner that you all think, when Trump administration officials will look back fondly on the time when all they had to worry about was getting hollered at at a Mexican restaurant. When you aggressively f_ck with people’s lives, you should not be surprised when they decide to f_ck with yours." (Edits are mine)
Our modern surveillance state makes it much harder to communicate and organize secretly. People have wondered why the cities have been so quiet during the past twenty years or so; one theory is that the government social programs put in place have had a pacifying effect by taking agency away from the afflicted. We don't seem to have an equivalent of the Black Panthers or the Weather Underground, for two instances.
Thinking of analogies, I still keep coming back to the disintegration (implosion if you wish) of the Whig Party, which brought the xenophobes and fellow travelers out of the nether reaches of the US. Think of the Know Nothings. And it was the prelude to the Civil War. I don't think we will have a civil war this time, but these times have little precedent in our country. I expect that the Democratic Party will survive in a modified form, and that we will continue to have a political duopoly, but what the second party will be like is far beyond my predictive powers.
Wil thinks that instead of a new Civil War we should just give Florida to Cuba, and Texas to Mexico. If that's not enough make a subset of the states below Virginia, including over to Arizona. Those can comprise Republicana. If that doesn't seem enough, give Vermont to Canada.
Nancy Peolosi says Democrats will contest 70 House seats held by GOP.[Click] Says that’s all they have the money for. Doesn’t say which 70. I’d bet five bucks Devin Nunes’ seat is not one of them—it never has been. But I am supposed to finally have an Andrew Janz bumper sticker coming my way.
Mountain laurel, Kalmia latifolia. [Click] A very interesting plant; I was struck by the resemblance of the leaves to rhododendron.
ReplyDeleteShake, rattle and Rolls: across America in the shadow of Elvis [Click] Hmmm….. could be an interesting movie.
--Alan
What I did on my Summer Vacation, Part 1:
ReplyDeleteThe first day of Summer Vacation we slept in! Then Wil mowed the lawn, pruned some branches, went to the dump and I quilted. Then we went to Lowe's for supplies to fix the screens on the porch, which the kitties busted through.
The second day of Summer Vacation we got up super early and went to Canada. (I know many of you feel envy reading that.) We met up with our friend, Rod, went to church with him at All Saints in Dunham, then took him out for brunch. We thereby got to award him his trophy from last Summer's sailing season, as he has not renewed his passport. We also got to make a pilgrimage to Tim Horton's! Then, the USA let us back in. That's the thanks you get for living a clean life. Sigh.
The third day of our Summer Vacation we would like to have slept in. [Actually, we would love to have been in Boston enjoying museums with granddaughters.] Instead the Roofers showed up early (7:30am!) and were pounding away by 7:45am...up top, out front, and out back! The work was slated for June 11-15, but they couldn't start until the 20th. That said, they are WONDERFUL workers with a very kind boss. (And hey, they actually show up, unlike past roofers we've dealt with.) So we are hanging with the kitties today. After the roofers leave we are meeting the son of an old friend who died this year.
There are variable estimates of what percentage of success is simply showing up, but people seem to be agreed that it is a large part.
Delete--Alan
P.S.: Cooler weather today; prediction is for only 99 deg. F. We got some weeding done on the south side of the house. Weeding, followed by timely spraying, followed by timely re-weeding works well.
*blink* Cooler weather = 99 degrees. Uhuh. I guess the man was right: It's all relative.
DeleteThose are very pretty flowers.
ReplyDeleteWe have been having a lot of days in the low hundreds lately. Starting with today, the predicted temperatures this week are 99, 101, 99, 97, 97, 100 and 102. Shade and a breeze are welcome when available. It gets to be a real drag when it's over a hundred day after day; the worst I recall was 16 days straight, once about 30 years ago. "But it's a dry heat!" Yeah, so is a blast furnace. Humidity 14% yesterday the newspaper says, which sounds about right for daytime; around 30% at the highest during the night would be typical. We can extirpate weeds and suchlike for a couple of hours in the morning, even on the south side of the house. That keeps the yard under control easily if done regularly.
DeleteAlan
Oops--the above reply should have gone further above. Just normal lack of attention, not fried brains.
DeleteAlan
Next weekend when the temp gets up to 97F here, it's going to be between 37% and 82% humidity.
DeleteAnd we do not have air conditioning.
From an e-mail received today from the PCCC:
ReplyDeleteRepublicans scrambled Friday to gavel down progressive Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) less than 15 seconds into playing on the House floor the audio in our TV ad of children crying after being separated from their mothers. The R's were so panicked, they even called the Sergeant at Arms to force Lieu to stop.
I'm uncomfortable with exploiting these poor children, especially having heard part of the recording. At the same time, the picture of grown men calling the Sergeant at Arms to stop the playing of a recording of desolate, lost children crying is ludicrous and most telling.
https://splinternews.com/this-is-just-the-beginning-1827099100
ReplyDelete"This is all going to get more extreme. And it should. We are living in extreme times. The harm that is being done to all of us by the people in the American government is extreme. To imagine that Mexican immigrants should happily cook for and serve meals to people who enable a man who is determined to demonize and persecute them as subhuman criminals is far more outrageous than the idea that those enablers should not be served in restaurants. I do not believe that Trump administration officials should be able to live their lives in peace and affluence while they inflict serious harms on large portions of the American population. Not being able to go to restaurants and attend parties and be celebrated is just the minimum baseline here. These people, who are pushing America merrily down the road to fascism and white nationalism, are delusional if they do not think that the backlash is going to get much worse. Wait until the recession comes. Wait until Trump starts a war. Wait until the racism this administration is stoking begins to explode into violence more frequently. Read a fucking history book. Read a recent history book. The U.S. had thousands of domestic bombings per year in the early 1970s. This is what happens when citizens decide en masse that their political system is corrupt, racist, and unresponsive. The people out of power have only just begun to flex their dissatisfaction. The day will come, sooner that you all think, when Trump administration officials will look back fondly on the time when all they had to worry about was getting hollered at at a Mexican restaurant. When you aggressively f_ck with people’s lives, you should not be surprised when they decide to f_ck with yours." (Edits are mine)
Our modern surveillance state makes it much harder to communicate and organize secretly. People have wondered why the cities have been so quiet during the past twenty years or so; one theory is that the government social programs put in place have had a pacifying effect by taking agency away from the afflicted. We don't seem to have an equivalent of the Black Panthers or the Weather Underground, for two instances.
DeleteThinking of analogies, I still keep coming back to the disintegration (implosion if you wish) of the Whig Party, which brought the xenophobes and fellow travelers out of the nether reaches of the US. Think of the Know Nothings. And it was the prelude to the Civil War. I don't think we will have a civil war this time, but these times have little precedent in our country. I expect that the Democratic Party will survive in a modified form, and that we will continue to have a political duopoly, but what the second party will be like is far beyond my predictive powers.
Alan
Wil thinks that instead of a new Civil War we should just give Florida to Cuba, and Texas to Mexico. If that's not enough make a subset of the states below Virginia, including over to Arizona. Those can comprise Republicana. If that doesn't seem enough, give Vermont to Canada.
DeleteMissed a couple of my favorite curse words........oh well. The entire article is good reading.
ReplyDeleteNancy Peolosi says Democrats will contest 70 House seats held by GOP.[Click] Says that’s all they have the money for. Doesn’t say which 70. I’d bet five bucks Devin Nunes’ seat is not one of them—it never has been. But I am supposed to finally have an Andrew Janz bumper sticker coming my way.
ReplyDelete—Alan
Guess nobody told the PCCC. I've lost count of the candidates I'm sending my pennies to, including Andrew Janz.
DeleteNancy Pelosi is a wimp and you can bet that the candidates supported by the Democrats will be their usual Corporate flavor.
Delete