Just another abusively hot day here at Balloon Juice HQ. At one point, the thermometer read 103, and with 54% humidity, that is ten pounds of suck in a five pound bag. The dogs don’t want to do anything, and really, the only one enjoying it is Tunch (except he gets pissed when I spray sun protection on his ears). It really feels like I am in a tropics, but without umbrella drinks, beautiful women in bikinis, and an ocean breeze and an ocean to jump in. It’s just amazing how the oppressive heat just saps the will to move and my desire to eat. I just want to sit on an ice block and drink iced tea.
On the other hand, my garden is exploding. The combination of the new raised beds with organic soil, the consistent sun and high humidity, and my nightly watering when the sun goes down, and I am going to have more produce than I know what to do with. I may actually grow enough roma tomatoes this year that I can make it till next August without buying canned tomatoes to make sauce.
I’m trying something new this year and simply not pruning, and I have only staked a couple plants- just the ones who look like they need the support. We’ll see how that turns out.
BethanyAnne
Hmm. Sounds like winter to someone in Houston. How do you get such low humidity?
Poopyman
Ditto here in Tidewater MD. And why is it the only cat that wants to be out is the long haired black one? Probably because he’s pre-brain-damaged.
I let my tomatoes go last year with marginal pruning, and they collapsed those cheap-ass wire cages. Beware.
Poopyman
@BethanyAnne: Dunno ’bout JC, but the dewpoint here dropped by about 15 degrees between yesterday and today. It’s supposed to be back over 70 tomorrow. Still not the RH of Houston, I suspect.
MattR
Ellie prefers to stay in the hottest room in the house. In the summer that means moving to whichever room has the AC turned off (bedroom during the day, living room at night unless I pass out on the couch). In the winter I like to leave a window open to get some fresh air and she hangs out in the other room where the heat is not being allowed to escape.
cathyx
John,
what do you normally prune but aren’t?
GxB
Might be buried on the other threads, but I haven’t seen anyone’s take on Zimmermann’s posting bail. $900K from his “legal defense fund”. That’s it, I’m demanding Rage Against the Machine get back together – we need them now more than ever (/Onion Reference)
freelancer
That sounds brutal. I’ve gotten away from drinking pop (Soda to all you non-Midwesterners), and I have loved switching to iced cold water and unsweetened black iced tea, no lemon. Do you have a favored tea?
NotMax
Just for grins, ran “Willard Mitt Romney” through an anagram generator.
Herewith some of my favorites:
Inertly Wild Marmot
Warm Dotty Milliner
More Ratty Windmill
Dirty Timeworn Mall
Wildly Minor Matter
Mildly Nattier Worm
Dim Worriment Tally
Dimwit Mentor Rally
Normally Weird Mitt
Droll Nitwit Yammer
freelancer
@NotMax:
Win.
MikeJ
@freelancer: I preferred droll nitwit yammer. Really, what’s funnier than listening to Mitt?
MattR
@NotMax: Come November, hopefully it will be “Wildly Minor Matter”
Villago Delenda Est
ON Topic: Al Gore is fat.
OFF Topic: The Rmoneytron’s slogan of today is “Putting Jobs First”.
Doonesbury has let us know that the rest of that is “in China.”
Maude
@freelancer:
I use black tea for iced tea, with lemon, no sugar.
I drink water and coffee with 1/2 and 1/2, no sugar.
That garden is beautiful.
We’ll be hot tomorrow with high humidity. Supposed to have a T storm afternoon or evening.
Christie is losing it. He’s more infantile than ever.
j
Former presidential contender Thad McCotter (who?) has resigned from the House, effective immediately.
Yeah, no tears here either.
GxB
@NotMax:
Dimwit Mentor Rally
Now if that ain’t nominal determinism I don’t know what is. Was going to ask who’s the slow one, the mentor or protegee, but the shoe fits either way.
Litlebritdifrnt
@GxB:
I do not know where you are getting your info but a million dollar bond would generally require a 10-15% payment, i.e. $100,000 payment to a bondsman, which he would have if his paypal receipts are accurate. Personally if I were a bondsman I wouldn’t take his $100K because he looks like a hell of a flight risk to me but then that is just me.
GxB
@Litlebritdifrnt: I wish I were joking.
Cap'n Magic
@NotMax: WIN. I especially like the rodent that crept out of that generator. Seem rather apt.
Litlebritdifrnt
OT – but I am planning a get together with all of my internet Fogbow Pals in October, I am so excited I could spit. We are going to get together in Myrtle Beach. If anyone of you is perhaps a member of The Fogbow as well as a commenter at BJ please check in and let us know if you will be there. It should be a blast!
Maude
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Zimmerman is probably planning to take off. He’s too stupid to make it work.
Burnspbesq
Because ABL is apparently falling down on the job, it falls to me to highlight this decision by the Fourth Circuit that wins the Wingnut Exacta: it fucks women and the Constitution at the same time.
http://balkin.blogspot.com/2012/07/abortion-first-amendment-and-fourth.html
“Outrageous” doesn’t seem to say enough.
quannlace
I think he’s referring to triming or plucking the little side branches on his tomato plants. What some people call ‘suckers.” Theory is…well, I don’t remember now what it’s supposed to do. Give you bigger tomatoes or stronger plants. These days, it’s kinda fallen out of favor. More branches means more photosynthesis, and more food for your plants. Plus more shade for the fruit, helping to prevent sun-scald.
Mark S.
@j:
I saw that earlier and had no idea who the hell he was. His statement of resignation was thoroughly insane
It’s funny how you don’t get as many perks being a sovereign citizen.
NotMax
@Maude
While I disagree with the resetting of bail after the circumstances involving the revocation of the original bail, one of the terms is that he wear one of those electronic tracking ankle bracelets.
Zimmerman doesn’t strike me as the brightest bulb in the marquee, so that greatly lessens the risk of successful flight, IMHO.
dr. luba
Brown out in my neighborhood. No AC or microwave, but TV, lights and water pump working. Laptop and router OK, not enough juice for the desktop computer to fire up. And the answering machine insists on asking me to reset the time every thirty seconds (yes, its been unplugged).
I guess I’ll be sleeping in the basement tonight, because it’s in the 90s upstairs.
McCotter not being missed. Apparently he was working on a TV program when the presidential bid fell through. Usual un-funny conservative humor. His failing to file enough signatures means our district will probably go dem this fall, after all the gerrymandering done to make it more republican (including moving my little neighborhood into it). The only remaining GOPer is a rabid teabagger; in the dem primary we have a nice Indian doctor versus a crazy LaRouchie. Should be an interesting election.
Litlebritdifrnt
@GxB:
Yabbut he didn’t, anyone can post a 1 million dollar bond providing they can pay the 10-15% to the bail bondsman. Which, I am assuming is what he did in this case. Personally I think the bondsman is stupid. He is going to be looking at a 1 million dollar forfeiture in his future, and you know what is more dangerous than a bondsman looking at a forfeiture? NOTHING.
PeakVT
An important vote to support HSR in Cali was successful today.
Roger Moore
@GxB:
Actually, that article says he paid $100K to a bondsman but still had to put down $1M as collateral; apparently his parents were willing to use their house. So Zimmerman is out $100K for good, his parents will lose their house if he runs, and he’s subject to an ankle monitor. I’d think that would combine to reduce his flight risk to a reasonable level.
Litlebritdifrnt
@quannlace: I was always taught to “pinch out” my mater plants, taking out those tiny suckers that would erupt from the shoulders of the main stems. These last several years I have done nothing to them and they seem to do just fine. In fact this year, due to the heat, I have left my maters alone and without caging or staking they have wandered all over the veggie garden and are producing fruit. Go figure.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Roger Moore:
Where in the article does it say that?
lamh35
On the last thread people were talking about being tired of the emails sent by Obama campaign asking for money and sounding the alarm. Well don’t look at the first segment on Rachel Maddow today, cause she pretty much list the money. Seems like even Rachel is sounding the alarm.
She listed the four main donors to Dem causes in 2004: Soros, Bing and 2 others. In 2004 they gave double digit millions to Dems and John Kerry, but this year….barely anything. One of the donors in fact have double digit million in 2004, this year so far…$200,000.
Which has even led Rachel to ask…why?
I have my suspicions how about ya’ll.
General Stuck
I am certain the wimen folk in WV has bikinis. They just don’t have many teeth. But no one is perfect
zattarra
@dr. luba: Are you up here in Farmington too? I couldn’t believe when I found out they carved us out and moved us into McCotter’s district. Now I’m only upset I don’t get to vote him out of office.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Roger Moore: Oh and as an aside I have known lots of errant “kids” who have thought of nothing when it comes to their parents losing their house when they go on the run. I knew one female who let her 86 year old mother’s house get sold cause she ran on a 100K bond. Zimmerman seems to me that kind of person.
KG
@Burnspbesq: didn’t see your response in the prior thread about the DOMA cases, so answering here. I don’t know the facts/procedural standing of either case, so I’ll take your word for it on what’s happening. And the more that I think about it, I don’t think I can think of many judges I’ve been before that would grant a stay in similar circumstances (maybe if one of the parties was a party in the similar case, but that’s about it); most don’t even like having the bankruptcy stay leaving a case on their docket for an extra couple of weeks.
Roger Moore
@Litlebritdifrnt:
It’s almost at the end:
jo6pac
Wow I feel good in Calli central valley we might warm up next week. John I freeze enough tomatoes until the next yr. Its vacuum seal, I normally make a none spiced sauce so I can add those later when I want to use it.
MikeJ
@j: What a [wordpress banned word]. Quits with over 1/8th of his term left because his campaign was so bad they couldn’t get enough sigs to get him on the ballot.
KG
@lamh35: contested primaries? inherent advantages of incumbency? planning to go the SuperPAC route? My guess is probably the first two, but wouldn’t be surprised by the third either.
Steeplejack
Deleted for redundancy.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Roger Moore:
Thanks, that tells me that the bond company does not trust him, normally you just pay the 10-15% or whatever and you are golden, the fact that the bond company had him put up a 1 million dollar house tells me that the bond company does not trust him.
Roger Moore
@Litlebritdifrnt:
It’s not just that his parents would lose their house, though I think that’s probably important. I’m inclined to agree with the people who think he isn’t too bright, and I don’t think he’s going to run without his father’s help, which will presumably be a lot less forthcoming with his parents’ home up as collateral. He’s also subject to electronic monitoring, and he was forced to turn in his passport, which is significant since he was most likely to want to flee the country if he runs. I certainly wouldn’t rule out the possibility of him running, but I think it’s a lot less likely than if he had been able to make bail with cash only.
Joshua Norton
If it gets any more tropical around there Romney might open up a bank account.
GxB
@Roger Moore: Huh, first heard it on either ABC or NBC nightly news where they used the “legal defense fund” bit. Not being too terribly big on legal mumbo-jumbo (but being forced to come to terms with it on an ever increasing basis) I assumed $1 million bond means you have to have $1 million on the barrelhead. Though I can see how most of that is posted as collateral. The rate these assholes are pissing me off, I’m going to be a JD via rage.
rikyrah
lamh35,
tell me your suspicions?
Keith
Congrats on knowing what the Gulf Coast is like. Now take that weather and extend it out 4 months, and you *really* know what the GC is like.
rikyrah
@Roger Moore:
you mean, his first AND SECOND PASSPORTS.
I dunno why the judge would think that someone with a SECOND PASSPORT would be running[/snark]
Litlebritdifrnt
@Roger Moore:
He has already turned in an expired passport when he knew he had a new on hand, I do not trust him to be anymore honest now.
the Conster
Now that the permafrost is thawing and is releasing its carbon dioxide and methane, stored for millennia, into the atmosphere, the positive global warming feedback loop will accelerate faster and faster. Weather events will get more and more extreme, and it’s too late now to do anything about it incrementally. Have a nice day!
HRA
@Joshua Norton:
“If it gets any more tropical around there Romney might open up a bank account.”
Win!
dr. luba
@zattarra: Northwest corner of West Bloomfield. I am in Peter’s district, but we’ve been moved to the 11th for the next congress. The districts here are so bizarre now due to the gerrymandering that they look like intertwined dragons.
I have a lawn sign up for Dr. Syed already. Seems like a really nice guy.
hitchhiker
Gah, Seattle summer doesn’t start until July 5th, and this year that was even more true than usual. June truly sucked — high 50s in the fucking daytime, with cloud cover — but yesterday and today have been actual summer.
As in, above 70, with sun. We all wore summer clothes for the first time.
I read about all the heat/humidity suffering and try not to mention that it’s been SO COLD and gray here, b/c I’ll take it any day.
MikeJ
@hitchhiker: South of the city it was 85 and 37% humidity, and I nearly bowed down to Mecca in thanks that I don’t live in DC any more.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
So, now you have the politics and heat of Texas. Welcome!
Spatula
John, in reference to night time watering, I’ve been warned away from that by multiple gardeners saying it promotes the growth of powdery mildew and other spore and mold type diseases.
Thoughts?
Omnes Omnibus
@hitchhiker: @MikeJ: You’re both bastards.
hamletta
Hey, you guys! Do you hate Parkinson’s Disease as much as I do?
Maybe your blessed grandma didn’t struggle with it to the point where she was embarrassed to go to dinner with the first of her progeny to graduate from college, but I did.
And maybe you didn’t watch in horror as Michael J. Fox, a guy about your age, did the Parkinson’s Shuffle, but I did. Parkinson’s is supposed to be an old people’s disease!
There’s a new study in progress to measure the ability to diagnose Parkinson’s by voice alone. In places and situations where people can’t get to a doctor to be tested by other means, it could be a way toward earlier diagnosis.
Here’s the article (http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/06/parkinsons-voice-screening/).
Here’s the study site (http://www.parkinsonsvoice.org/) They’re looking for controls who are breathy, so if you have asthma or smoke a lot, like I do, you’re probably a good control subject.
I’m holding off at the moment, because anything involving human subjects can be tricky, and I have an email in to an old friend who knows about IRB issues. The study is a joint effort between Oxford and MIT, but that can often mean nothing.
The only reason I’m alive is because I was born at Johns Hopkins, but their IRB approved a horrid longitudinal study of poor kids who snacked on lead paint chips.
andy
Doing okay up here in Minnesota- had a week of ridiculously hot and humid weather, followed by some scary thunderstorms. They had to cut our 4th of july fireworks of short because of them- the front was rolling in behind the display, and there was continuous lightning. It actually made the fireworks look pretty puny by comparison. The police had to step in when a tornado was reported just across the county line and stopped it. Luckily everybody got under cover before rain started bucketing down.
I too have witnessed explosive growth in my tomatoes. Just for shits and giggles, I modified a planter into one of those self-watering rigs, and I have to admit it makes a heck of a difference. When the other plants were wilting the tomato in the modified container was bigger and perfectly healthy. I’m thinking next year I’ll modify some more. I have found, though, that for best results pruning your tomatoes is really important- it cuts down on the avenues parasites climb to eat your tomatoes plus there are lots of soil borne pathogens that can splash up into the understory and make your whole plant sick.
Digital Amish
Woo Hoo! We hit the low 70’s today. Right on schedule. Summer starts July 5th on the Olympic Peninsula.
Jewish Steel
@Joshua Norton: That’s gold, Mr Norton.
David Koch
silver lining of global warming, everyone will be forced to leave the midwest and migrate to the left coast, which eventually will give California, by itself, 300 electoral votes.
of course, they’re gonna need bigger freeways.
JoyfulA
@dr. luba: I’ve read very good things about your nice Indian doctor. Here’s hoping!
JCT
Actually here in Tucson it dropped back into the 90’s for the first time in awhile. Amazing how much “cooler” it felt.
jak
Didn’t prune the tomatoes last year or the year before. Ended up with a bumper crop. Did have cages around them though. Just finished off the tomato sauce from 2010 and 2011 making room for this years crop. Also dried a lot of roma tomatoes. Less mess, and takes up less space in the freezer. Reconstitute the tomatoes in garlic infused olive oil and have them on salad all winter.
keestadoll
JC, that garden is fantastic! Am I remembering correctly that this is your first veggie garden? If so, BRAVO! If you have some extra funds, I would suggest investing in a kick ass vacuum sealer. The Food Saver brand is not very reliable, but the Cabela’s brand Pro Sealer is great and never fails. Blanch, vac, freeze baby! Wahooo
@jak: you dehydrate your romas in a dehydrator? If you have the Excalibur, I’d be curious to know if you ever had any issues with it.
Junko Kuchler
Microcosm of a microcosm and Luke Davis’ hair is full of jizz.