Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Let’s finish the job.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

I really should read my own blog.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

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Reader Interactions

182Comments

  1. 1.

    trollhattan

    Have never been lucky enough to catch a lightning photo (don’t get many opportunities in the West, either). I can give the local forecast for the next four months, with solid accuracy: “clear and hot.” This year, “smoky” will be added to that a good percentage of days.

  3. 3.

    workworkwork

    Getting ready for the last lectures of the term….

    Both classes I teach are online but each week there is a regularly scheduled live session via Adobe Connect.

    I wasn’t sure how I felt about that when I first started but when the webcam comes on, my classroom instincts kick in.

  4. 4.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    So many things I want to say about my family that I can’t say because we’re trying to get lawyers involved. Short version, bitch be crazy (and you guys know I don’t use that word lightly).

    The storms in central Florida were pretty spectacular — I think there was at least one every day while we were there.

  5. 5.

    jl

    Thanks for beautiful FL landscape pic.

    When I see the lush FL pics, I become jealous of Lady Cracker’s subtropical paradise. Except when it might get too hot and humid, or when there might be too many bugs. But the I make myself miserable, looking at the beautiful landscape and thinking most every day must be a perfect day.

    Edit: Except, as a BJ commenter I must complain about something. No report from BC on what is up with that pic of the raccoon riding he alligator?

  6. 6.

    trollhattan

    Uber’s business model just went “splat” in the nation’s largest state.

    An Uber driver is an employee, not an independent contractor, the California Labor Commission ruled this month.

    The case, which involves a single San Francisco driver seeking reimbursement for expenses, is small potatoes. The driver, Barbara Ann Berwick, was awarded $4,152.20 — chump change for Uber, which has an immense warchest and a valution of $50 billion.

    But observers seized on the ruling as a possible game changer for Uber, as well as rivals like Lyft and other on-demand companies like Postmates and Handy, which all rely on vast workforces of independent contractors to perform services for customers. If those workers were reclassified as employees, the companies would be on the hook for a range of expenses, such as workers’ comp and other benefits, and expenses like gasoline.

    Uber has long argued that it is a technology company, not a transportation provider.

    But the labor commission disagreed. Uber is “in the business to provide transportation service to passengers,” it wrote. Moreover, Uber “is involved in every aspect of the operation,” the ruling said, including setting rates for rides, vetting drivers and more.

    A raft of lawsuits now winding their way through the courts seek to have drivers and other on-demand workers reclassified as employees, but those are years away from final decisions.

    ETA Curses, MMMMM!

  7. 7.

    Belafon

    @trollhattan: Glad that’s failing. McDonald’s could just reclassify itself as a food transportation company under the interpretation that Uber is providing.

    I wonder if the people at Uber realize that Snow Crash was meant to be satire.

  8. 8.

    Punchy

    If I asked the Black Crowes to play my wedding, would I be accused of plotting a murder-for-hire?

  9. 9.

    scav

    @workworkwork: Teaching, even lecturing, is an interaction of some sort. I imagine the difference is a bit like acting live or for a camera. Both possible but not the same. Does it have to be (or is more vivid for you) with the visual connection or what about real-time txt? Could see it either way — or, in fact, something different in its own right.

  10. 10.

    trollhattan

    And in other tech news, cheaters neverdon’t (always) prosper.

    The Federal Communications Commission will fine AT&T $100 million for misleading customers about its unlimited mobile data plans.

    The FCC alleges that AT&T slowed service for subscribers to its unlimited data service when they exceeded more than 5GB of data in a month. AT&T, the agency says, dropped speeds to as low as 512 kilobits per second, which is about 5 percent of what it advertised for its 4G LTE service, and also failed to adequately notify its customers that they could receive slower-than-advertised speeds.

    By “falsely labeling” these plans as allowing unlimited data usage, AT&T is violating the 2010 Open Internet Transparency Rule, the FCC said. The agency also alleges the company failed to sufficiently inform customers of the maximum speed they would receive.

    “Consumers deserve to get what they pay for,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a statement. “Broadband providers must be upfront and transparent about the services they provide. The FCC will not stand idly by while consumers are deceived by misleading marketing materials and insufficient disclosure.”

    Hundred-mil isn’t chump change. For the zillionth time: elections matter. What would a Republican-appointed FCC have done?

  12. 12.

    Betty Cracker

    @jl: That did come up in comments yesterday. Some say it’s real, Some say it’s fake. I believe!

  16. 16.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    @Major Major Major Major:
    @trollhattan:

    It’s easy to make money when you don’t have to pay benefits, salaries or taxes.

    Sadly, Uber had the money to fight this to the bitter end and I can’t think of a single reason they shouldn’t, because “human decency” is not one of their guiding values.

  17. 17.

    raven

    @workworkwork: What were you not sure about, online or the synchronous aspect? I’ve done quite a bit of work in the online course arena and always like to see how folks like it.

  19. 19.

    Fair Economist

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    So many things I want to say about my family that I can’t say because we’re trying to get lawyers involved. Short version, bitch be crazy (and you guys know I don’t use that word lightly).

    Don’t endanger your legal position. Use the Abraham Lincoln approach – write it, so you feel better, but DON’T send it or post it.

  20. 20.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    When I was a kid I used to love looking through copies of Arizona Hghways at the gorgeous lightning photos.

    Is Arizona Highways still a thing? I haven’t thought of it or seen it in decades.

  21. 21.

    shawn

    This is the first time I will have to wait the full time before another GoT season starts again. Will Ture Detective be as good as it was the first time around? I am very excited about it. OITNB new season has not held me like the previous two – stalled out on episode 4 maybe. Best thing about it so far is the beautiful back and backside of the woman riding Boo. Love that they didn’t use a stick model. Working my way through House for the first time – I haven’t figured out the formula yet ;). Jurassic World was passable – got a big laugh from the guy saving his margaritas. Tomorrowland was fun to watch. I bought one of those pins and it was one of the most disappointing events of my life that nothing happened when I touched it. I moved to SLC from San Antonio and the weather is SO much better – everything else is kind of a wash. Higher taxes, less traffic. THis is an open thread right?

  23. 23.

    Linnaeus

    We don’t get much in the way of thunderstorms out here, and it’s one thing I do miss.

  24. 24.

    Fair Economist

    @trollhattan: I’m from the South but live in California and I do miss real thunderstorms. The lightning storms, the ominous clouds, the sudden winds and rain and temperature shifts – they are a lot of fun to watch, when you can do it safely from your house or porch.

    I can actually see the clouds inland over the desert and sometimes I’m tempted to drive out to see them – but then I’d have to see them from my car, and that doesn’t work too well.

  25. 25.

    srv

    It’s good that Donald isn’t sensitive to shreiking liberals who just don’t get it:

    Donald Trump may be a Republican, but his favorite president of the last four is none other than Bill Clinton.

    “There was a little spirit,” Trump said in an interview set to air on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Wednesday. “Frankly, had he not met Monica, had he not met Paula, had he not met various and sundry semi-beautiful women, he would have had a much better deal going.”

  26. 26.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    Silly question but now that I’m on Facebook, what does one do with it? I already have Instagram for pictures. If I were an everyday blogger, I’d be working on my existing blog. Right now, I’m mostly reading my relatives’ news feeds and deciding who to continue to follow (I unfollowed one elderly aunt already). What else?

  27. 27.

    Poopyman

    @srv:

    various and sundry semi-beautiful women

    Man! That guy sure knows how to appeal to voters, doesn’t he?

  30. 30.

    Belafon

    @srv: Way to leave Bill’s beautiful wife out of the sentence. And I like how he forgets that Republicans were looking for anything to go after Bill with.

  32. 32.

    shawn

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): keeping in touch with people you knew in the last town you lived in or relatives. Maybe a better version of Evite. Finding out which of your friends are crazy conservative or crazy liberal.

  33. 33.

    Tommy

    We’re getting so much rain in my part of the country. Wish I could send it out west to CA. But my garden and yard does seem to love it.

  34. 34.

    rikyrah

    BWA HA HA HA HA HA H HA AH

    BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

    ……………………….

    Roger Ailes Burned By Murdoch Sons In Fox News Power Shift

    Fox Business Network reported last week that Ailes would continue to “report directly to Rupert Murdoch” — a line that came directly from Ailes according to New York magazine’s Gabriel Sherman.

    But on Tuesday, a spokesperson for 21st Century Fox issued a statement saying that Ailes would answer to Murdoch’s sons before the big man himself.

    “Roger will report to Lachlan and James but will continue his unique and long-standing relationship with Rupert,” spokesperson Nathaniel Brown told The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday.

    Sherman called the move significant and detailed the history of acrimony between the Murdoch brothers and Ailes, noting that, “until now, Rupert always backed Ailes during his messy feuds with Murdoch’s children”:

    “Ailes and James have maintained a distant, if frosty relationship. James is an environmentalist who led News Corp’s campaign to be a carbon-neutral company. His wife once worked for the Clinton Foundation. Ailes, a fierce climate change denier, openly badmouthed James to friends and colleagues. He’s called him a “fucking dope” and “Fredo,” according to sources.

    No one I spoke to in the hours after the news broke could remember a time when Ailes has been so publicly diminished.”

  36. 36.

    Germy Shoemangler

    They’re going nuts over in the Salon comments section under the article about Roger A now reporting to Rupert’s Spawn 1 & Spawn 2.

    I don’t know why I keep visiting Salon because it’s degenerated into click-bait and celebrity obsessions.

    The comments are divided between “Great, now Fox News will no longer be conservative if Roger rage quits” and “There’s still a market for teh stupid; if Fox doesn’t do it, the other channels will”

    I was just impressed at how Roger thought he could create his own reality by instructing a news anchor to report that he will still be working under Rupert. That’s balls.

  39. 39.

    srv

    So much Uberhate:

    Facing increasing pressure from the taxi industry, authorities in New York have begun to crack down on Uber — issuing tickets and seizing cars of Uber drivers who participate in illegal pickups in the city.

    Between April 29 and June 15, the New York Post reports that NYC authorities seized 496 cars from Uber drivers taking illegal street hails, mostly at the three airports in the region.

  41. 41.

    donnah

    I was out in Cambria, California for a week and saw the effects of the drought first hand. It’s scary.

    And then I come home to SW Ohio, and face five solid days of rain. It’s pouring right now, and my basement is beginning to take on water.

    Where’s a big pipeline for sharing water? I’d gladly share!

  42. 42.

    bemused

    I don’t think a presidential candidate should talk about raising Social Security age to 68 or 70 to retire with full benefits if he doesn’t know what that age is right now which is 66 or 67 if born after 1959. Jeb thinks it’s 65.

  43. 43.

    shell

    When that I was and a little tiny boy,
    With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
    A foolish thing was but a toy,
    For the rain it raineth every day.

  44. 44.

    Loviatar

    For Zander, Obama’s next try at 34th level extra dimensional chess:

    Republicans have a plan to save Obama’s big trade bill

    Now Republican leaders are trying to figure out a way for the Senate to vote for the fast-track bill without TAA. In the scenario envisioned by GOP leaders — which they haven’t yet committed to — the House would pass the fast-track bill without TAA and send it to the Senate (though fast track already passed, the House would still need to vote on it again for procedural reasons). Then pro-trade Senate Democrats would be asked to vote for the fast-track bill with a promise that the TAA bill would also pass the House and be signed by Obama later. That’s a tall order in and of itself. But the idea is that if fast track has already passed in the Senate, then House Democrats would have nothing to lose by backing TAA and it’d be much likelier to pass.

  45. 45.

    jl

    @Betty Cracker:

    ‘ I believe! ‘

    Thanks. Then I believe too. It is true.
    We need to remember the upside of ‘Florida Crazy’.

    As a thank you, I truculently demand chicpix (of the coop variety) when the weather clears.
    Or wet chickens, if you perfer.

  46. 46.

    WaterGirl

    @Germy Shoemangler: I was having to read this multiple times until I figured out that I have apparently conflated Roger Aiels and Ruport Murdoch. I’m also apparently so lazy that the difference doesn’t matter enough to me to actually google it and see who is who.

  47. 47.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): On Facebook, I keep track of my former grad students. I like to know how their lives are going. I also have a bunch of writer friends whose news I value hearing. It got easier for me to post there when I decided I didn’t have to be profound. People just want to know how you’re doing and occasionally be entertained.

    I save anything controversial for private sharing. I unfriend anyone who’s unpleasant.

  48. 48.

    Tommy

    @donnah: I just said about the same thing. We are getting so much rain here in Southern IL I don’t have words for it. Had to go outside multiple times and reset my sump pump so my basement doesn’t flood.

  49. 49.

    Linnaeus

    @Loviatar:

    Then pro-trade Senate Democrats would be asked to vote for the fast-track bill with a promise that the TAA bill would also pass the House and be signed by Obama later.

    I would be very skeptical of a promise that a TAA bill would pass the House.

  50. 50.

    Roger Moore

    @Belafon:

    McDonald’s could just reclassify itself as a food transportation company under the interpretation that Uber is providing.

    McDonald’s has been getting into some trouble on something similar; people are trying to legally classify corporate McDonald’s as a joint employer of all of their franchisees’ workers, on the theory that the corporation is responsible for setting policy for all the franchises.

  51. 51.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @WaterGirl: Roger is the American who was a producer on the old Mike Douglas show. He attached himself to Nixon and helped him win the presidential election. He runs fox news. He writes memos and makes up shit for his on-air talent to say.

    Rupert is the Australian magnate who is putting his sons in charge.

    Roger doesn’t much care for one of the sons. Now he reports to him! Sweet…

  52. 52.

    JCJ

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I remember looking at copies of Arizona Highways at my grandmother’s house when I was a kid. Being from Indiana I always thought those pictures were from another planet.

  53. 53.

    Brachiator

    Quite a few events to be commemorated.

    Magna Carta, 1215

    130 year anniversary of the delivery of the Statue of Liberty, on June 17, 1885 (google doodle)

    Battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815. Napoleon bites it. The Holy Alliance was later set up by the great powers of Russia, Austria and Prussia to make sure that republicanism (19th century style) and secularism did not rise up to defy the divine right of kings, conservative family values, and the settled political order.

    Kinda like the Tea Party and the modern GOP

  54. 54.

    Tommy

    @Germy Shoemangler: Yes that is exactly who he is. I can’t stand the man but it is good at making NewsCorp money. If was Ruppert’s kids and I wanted to continue to make money I might swallow my ego and let him keep doing what he is doing. But what do I know :)?

  58. 58.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @bemused:

    I don’t think a presidential candidate should talk about raising Social Security age to 68 or 70 to retire with full benefits if he doesn’t know what that age is right now which is 66 or 67 if born after 1959. Jeb thinks it’s 65.

    I remember stopping at a dunk1n d0nuts a few years ago and a woman who looked to be about 75 was struggling to understand the digital cash register. Two teenager co-workers, rather than being helpful, rolled their eyes at each other.

    I felt like she should have been relaxing and enjoying herself someplace nice; or enjoying her grandkids, or doing volunteer work… instead of struggling for minimum wage.

    Those who advocate raising the retirement age are those who make money running their mouths, or polishing seats with their asses. I never hear that opinion from folks who are on their feet all day or lifting heavy stuff or being pressured and abused by bosses young enough to be their children.

  61. 61.

    Tommy

    @cahuenga: What is the local media in CA saying about the drought. I just got done watching The Young Turks and they featured this super rich guy that said since he pays a lot in property taxes he can use as much water as he wants. I was like WTF dude.

    I am pretty sure a lot of my semi-fresh produce comes from CA and I really want to continue to buy said stuff. If a rich dudes lawn goes brown and I can still get veggies and fruit that seems like a fair trade off.

  62. 62.

    ruemara

    I’m beat. 4 more hours, plus a workout and then try to do some more work on stuff. And the pilot I worked on will premiere Sunday. Not feeling the dressing up.

  63. 63.

    jl

    @bemused: If Jeb! only talks about things he understands well, what is he going to talk about? The campaign is on, his homework is were it is, and he has to take the risk. I hope his previous performance on the 2016 trail continues.

  65. 65.

    Punchy

    On the agenda for today is getting my ass kicked by a woman a foot shorter than me

    Aren’t everyone’s feet shorter than a full grown person?

    Now about to swim 2.6km in a cold-ass pool. Are people allergic to water heaters?

  66. 66.

    shell

    @Tommy: Water restrictions are for the little people.
    *******
    Remember that little dude in the ‘L’il Abner’ cartoon who always had a little rain cloud hovering over his head? Maybe this guy thinks that’s the kind of privilege his money should give him.

  68. 68.

    Valdivia

    @rikyrah: It would be justice if they fire that sob.

    Spent most of yesterday and today crash reading every book I have about Latin American avant garde for my class tonight. Fun but I feel like I may have pushed so much information in my brain I may end up having a mental hard drive crash mid class. :)

  71. 71.

    jl

    @Tommy: In my area, the media says the drought is really bad, don’t know when it will end, and we have to conserve more.

    I’m not sure what to make of the rich snots complaining about not getting all the cheap water they want.

    In the CA constitution, water is explicitly declared to be public resource, and the state government has power to direct it to use that produces most benefit for public welfare. Some of these extreme measures you hear about in the news have been used before, most recently in the drought in the late 1970s. I was too young to remember whether the same fuss among the rich occurred back then.

    What may be new, or may not be, is legal challenges to state emergency powers for drought based on Prop 13. Several cases are moving through courts to invalidate rules based on tax provisions of Prop 13. When did Prop 13 pass? What that mess around during last drought? Any CA political mavens here know?

  72. 72.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @Mike in NC:

    Now if only Roger Ailes were forced to do a naked Walk of Shame through Times Square at high noon. On live TV.

    My eyes!

  73. 73.

    glory b

    @srv: Well, whe you create a businees model that requires the flagrant violtion of laws and regulations, you should probably expect something like this.

    Too bad for the poor drivers though.

  75. 75.

    Keith G

    Scanning the document issued in Berwick vs Uber Technologies, I can’t say that I think the finding is a fair one, but I am going to hold off final consideration until I learn more about the case and re-read the decision.

    I seems to me that Uber drivers are indeed more independent contractors than employees with the problem being that they are occupying a bit of a gray area.

    Full disclosure: I have a few close friends who earn extra income as Uber drivers (a couple years). I know quite a bit about their interactions with that company.

  76. 76.

    Tommy

    @shell: That sure seems to be the case. Water is something I am anal about. You know you need it to live. It is bad enough many people in the world don’t have access to clean water. When the richest nation in the world, the largest state, is running out of water maybe we need to wake the fuck up and realize we have problems.

  78. 78.

    jl

    @Keith G: I heard in the news that the plaintiffs are charging that Uber tried to direct their work hours and schedules as if they were employees, and threatened to punish them if they did not obey, not in accordance with provisions of their contracts. That is all I know about the facts of the case.

  79. 79.

    trollhattan

    @shell:
    The fine citizens of Rancho Santa Fe come to mind.

    “I think we’re being overly penalized, and we’re certainly being overly scrutinized by the world,” complained interior designer Gay Butler to the Post while riding her show horse. “It angers me because people aren’t looking at the overall picture. What are we supposed to do, just have dirt around our house on four acres?”

    Ideally, of course, she’d be able to water her four-acre lawn to her heart’s content. But again: The state is facing a massive drought. Lakes and rivers are drying up. Water consumption needs to be cut back, especially in places where people consume already five times as much water as everyone else just because they need to make sure their show horses have lush grass to trot upon.

    And that’s not all. Rancho Santa Fe resident Steve Yuhas similarly fumed to the Post that “we’re not all equal when it comes to water” because apparently if you have a lot more money, you should be allowed to consume significantly more of an essential resource than everyone else does during a time of scarcity.

    The most amazing thing about Rancho Santa Fe is that even though it already uses vastly more water per person than other places in California, its residents actually boosted their water consumption by 9% in the month after governor Jerry Brown called for a 25% reduction. Because let’s be honest, darling, droughts are for the little people.

    We clearly need a new comet. Any scheduled to come through?

  80. 80.

    Roger Moore

    @Tommy:

    What is the local media in CA saying about the drought.

    It’s a big enough story that it’s hard to summarize what the local media is saying. There’s a lot of talk about what is causing/contributing to the drought, discussion of the latest policy responses, and a lot of talk about what can be done to prepare for future drought. Some of this includes discussion about how rich idiots don’t think they should be required to conserve and how their local government and/or water utility is planning on handing out fines large enough to get even obscenely rich people to pay attention to convince them otherwise.

  83. 83.

    Tommy

    @jl:

    In the CA constitution, water is explicitly declared to be public resource, and the state government has power to direct it to use that produces most benefit for public welfare.

    That is exactly what they said on The Young Turks which is broadcast from LA so I’d say they have a finger on the pulse of what is going on.

    I live in a Great Lake state and we have a joint commission and we’ve been telling states like CA hey we have a lot of water. One day you might need it. We’ve spent billions cleaning those lakes and maybe it would be a good idea to help us pay for it.

    Now I don’t want to withhold water but I think we do have a point.

  84. 84.

    donnah

    Well, I was in Cambria for business and stayed at the lovely Cambria Pines. The weather is beautiful there, but the drought is taking a toll. I didn’t take pics, unfortunately. And I did go into town, which is a pretty and friendly place.

    And when I was in school, we did learn about the historic flooding. My dad’s family actually had members who were part of the Conservency District who laid out the plans for the levees that are in place to this day, preventing more floods. I’ve seen high water downtown in the past years that gave me the shivers. But it never broke.

  85. 85.

    shawn

    @raven: i second this emotion – cold pool are SOO much better – swam @ 5-8 miles a day from grade 6-12 – warm pools are the absolute worst

  86. 86.

    A Ghost To Most

    @trollhattan:

    We clearly need a new comet to make more efficient use of our lamposts. String a few rich fucks up, and the rest will learn a new appreciation of ‘common good’.

  87. 87.

    Mandalay

    Greece vs. the IMF is a Mexican standoff, but it’s now seems that there is no way Greece is going to blink, and is getting close to not giving a flying fuck about the consequences:

    There is no financing, we haven’t got access to the markets, we haven’t got money that hasn’t been paid since the summer of 2014 so obviously we won’t be able to have the money to pay that [the €1.6bn to the IMF]

    Ball’s in the IMF’s court now. The poor parasites must be squirming.

  88. 88.

    trollhattan

    @Tommy:
    There is no way to deliver Great Lakes water to the Pacific states in meaningful amounts. It’s just not physically possible.

    Maybe to the desert Southwest? I don’t know the geography well enough, other than the fact it would have to be lifted at least a vertical mile, if not more.

  90. 90.

    Keith G

    @jl: My brief scan did not see that as part of the complaint. The focus seemed to be over definition of reimbursable expenses and how that definition changes if one in an employee and not an independent contractor.

    Labor Commission Ruling

    But as I said, mine was a quick read. I am sure I did not digest it all.

  91. 91.

    Tommy

    @trollhattan: Yes clearly the logistics are complex. The working group that we set-up with Great Lake states has been around for decades and we keep saying we know some states will eventually need our water, you might want to work on that.

  92. 92.

    opiejeanne

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): You can share photos and newsclips with friends and family. I used it to keep in touch with my youngest while she was on tour with a Disney show and traveling around the world. That was the only reason I signed up.
    Then, old online friends from a now-defunct forum found me and we continued our long friendships.
    My HS classmates located me as well, and we are trying to plan our 50th reunion party, and Facebook works pretty well for that.
    I have deleted several friends and family members because of their obnoxious comments. When Obama was reelected it brought out the worst in these individuals and since I have almost no contact with them in Real Life I saw no reason to allow them to annoy me online.

    my husband’s 95 yo great aunt is on Facebook but not very active. I check in with her from time to time to see how she’s doing. Either she or a family member lets me know.

  93. 93.

    jl

    @A Ghost To Most: comets are mostly ice, so maybe a really small one would do some good out here, if it didn’t blow up too much of the West. I’m sure that is what trollhattan was talking about. Just sure of it.

  94. 94.

    cahuenga

    @Tommy:

    Contrary to what you may have heard, many Californians are intensely interested in water conservation. We average around 36 gallons per person per day in our house, which doesn’t sound very good but that includes landscape, laundry, showers – everything. Nearly everyone here on the Central Coast is taking huge steps to minimize usage, however…

    Yes, assholes exist. In any given pursuit you will find that a precise 15% asshole-factor is the universal constant. All we can do is make it financially painful for them. It’s the only thing they understand.

    Severe droughts happen here, 3 previous times in my lifetime. There is much freaking out, but people, this is a fairly reliable cycle. NOAA is predicting a 90% chance of a strong or very strong El Nino lasting through next winter. If this comes to pass the drought would likely be over. Better management must happen in the future though. This boom and bust model, allowing massive water bottling operations, water intensive crops for export and vast desert golf courses to waste finite resources just isn’t sustainable.

  97. 97.

    Tommy

    @cahuenga: Oh I am totally sure many in your state care about water conservation. I didn’t mean to imply that wasn’t the case. There are many things in this world that I can’t understand and why when there are water shortages you need to water your lawn.

    Heck I don’t have water issues where I live but got a rain barrel. I told my next door neighbors “hey I got like 88 gallons of free water. Feel free to use it.” They never do. I just can’t understand this.

    But as I said there are many things I don’t understand in this world!

  98. 98.

    Mike J

    @cahuenga:

    In any given pursuit you will find that a precise 15% asshole-factor is the universal constant.

    I’d guess 27%.

  100. 100.

    jl

    @cahuenga: I second that. There is a 30 to 40 year drought cycle. So, while this one is bad, it is right on schedule after the one in the late 1970s. There is concern of course that climate change is making it worse. For example in previous years (though not this one, at least that I have heard) a lot of snow pack was lost to sublimation because of high minimum and average temperatures.

    I think the previous worst drought in recorded history was in 1920s, which had snow pack stats almost as depressing as this year’s.

    Fear is with climate change, it will be like Texas has experienced. Longer more severe droughts followed by really wet years and massive flooding. I think Texas latitudes are predicted to be over all very much drier, while CA and Pacific Coast will still have a reasonable amount of water, but seldom conveniently timed. And probably very seldom any snow in Sierra in 50 years.

  101. 101.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Germy Shoemangler:
    @piratedan:

    Thanks! I’m glad to hear that it’s still around. But it used to be almost ubiquitous (people’s homes, doctors’ offices, etc.) and I simply haven’t seen it for ages.

    Between AH and National Geographic, I used to zone out on gorgeous nature photography.

  102. 102.

    trollhattan

    @cahuenga:
    Fingers crossed. El Nino formed last winter, with strong early trends, only to fall apart. The other thing is El Nino often drenches southern California and misses the north, where the water delivered to central and southern California mostly comes from.

    The current four-year dry period has no equivalent in the modern era, they have to go to paleoclimatology records about 500 years to find precedent. Go back far enough and there are decades-long droughts. Hopefully we’re not in one of those!

  103. 103.

    opiejeanne

    @jl: Prop 13 pass in 1978 and it has been the bane of public schools ever since. The law forces schools to count office space, covered walkways, the janitor’s closet, and libraries and covered eating areas as classroom space.

    And there was a nasty drought that ended just about the time that passed. I can’t remember if there has been one that bad since. It lasted 3 years and when it ended there was terrible flooding in some places. In Riverside a dam overflowed (or failed, can’t remember) and washed away a big chunk of Victoria Ave. and residential roads nearby.

  106. 106.

    opiejeanne

    @jl: Also, part of the problem is that water rights in California endow some farmers with all the water they can get, and they water orchards by flooding them. Thpse are older holdings, the new orchards are watered by drip irrigation, but the farms with the old rights have no interest in conserving water because it will cost them a lot of money to put in all of that drip irrigation equipment.

    I have flown from Oakland to Ontario, CA and the agricultural areas looked like a mirror stretching for miles because there were so many orchards being watered by flooding them.

  107. 107.

    Linnaeus

    @trollhattan:

    Maybe to the desert Southwest? I don’t know the geography well enough, other than the fact it would have to be lifted at least a vertical mile, if not more.

    You really couldn’t deliver it there either, certainly not in any cost effective way.

    Then there’s the politics of the matter. Great Lakes water diversion is highly regulated. Furthermore, you’d see an outcry from residents of the states in the Great Lakes basin at any serious hint of exporting Lakes water out of the region. Not to mention that the Canadians would also have something to say about that.

  108. 108.

    Tommy

    @lgerard: I can’t really figure out what to think about Uber. I used to live in DC and got used to getting onto the Metro and then often taking a cab. Now I live in a rural area and I have a rail line that is wonderful, but I have to schedule a taxi like an hour ahead of time. I can’t just get off the Metro and have cab waiting for me. That kind of sucks.

  109. 109.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Tommy<@Tommy: The Great Lakes agreements pretty much ban shipping Greats water out of the Great Lakes basin. They do not contemplate shipping water to the Southwest or California.

  110. 110.

    cahuenga

    @trollhattan:

    We are already in a full-blown El Nino now, unfortunately it kicked in too late to have an impact in California. All forecast models indicate a continued strengthening through December and likely to through the winter. Our rainy season here in San luis Obispo starts around Halloween, so yes. Fingers crossed.

  111. 111.

    opiejeanne

    @jl: We discovered that the house we bought in 1976 needed a new roof when that drought ended. We had a trout creek descending from our bedroom ceiling.
    When my husband went into the attic to see what was up he discovered many buckets, pots, pans, and two turkey roasters strategically positioned all over the attic, and they were all full. (that house taught us how to buy a house.)

  113. 113.

    opiejeanne

    @Omnes Omnibus: I didn’t think so.

    There was a huge outcry when California proposed buying water from Oregon and/or Washington several years ago, long before we moved from Anaheim to Seattle.

  115. 115.

    Keith G

    @lgerard: Interesting link to a story about ugly behavior.

    …the largely immigrant workforce of drivers experience staggering exploitation at the hands of cab owners. “They deal with drivers like trash.”

    The Globe also points out that the unit of Boston PD that regulates cabs often “turns a blind eye to fraud and abuse.”

  116. 116.

    trollhattan

    @Linnaeus:
    It just doesn’t make sense, especially when the Columbia River is thousands of miles closer.

    A couple fun and important water facts: typical household use is half an acre-foot per year. One acre-foot weighs about 2.7 million pounds. The absolute top price for potable water is about $2000 per acre-foot but that is rare. It can be as cheap as thirty or forty dollars, or even free for those with historical water rights and gravity feed.

    If an acre-foot of water costs the same as one barrel of oil, and a barrel of oil weighs a maximum of 240 pounds, it’s pretty easy to see why oil pipelines are cost-effective and water pipelines are not. Water can only be moved great distances if the geography allows it. The world’s largest lift is Edmonston Pumping Plant on the California Aqueduct, which pushes water 1,926 feet uphill using 14, 80,000 horsepower pumps. Original SWP system design included a nuclear power plant for powering the pumps.

  117. 117.

    opiejeanne

    @cahuenga: I have seen some along I-5, but not as many as there used to be.

    We have a tiny cabin in Blue Jay, CA, about a mile from Lake Arrowhead. The trees in the forest around our cabin are hurting, and some are now visibly in trouble. Most of the pines are gone, after the Old Fire in 2003 and the pine bark beetles combined to destroy much of the forest. It is becoming an oak and cedar forest, and the natural progression I’m told is for forests to go from softwoods to hardwoods, but there is now very little of that wonderful piney-resiny scent when we are there. We are heading south next week to take care of some business, and will be shocked to see how much worse Lake Shasta is than it was the last time we traveled south.
    In other news, the drought is now officially here in Washington, although Western Washington is saying that we are fine, no need to conserve water just yet because they saved enough rainwater and if we start cutting back the water rates will have to be raised, which is what happened in Southern California when people voluntarily started cutting back when there was no drought because they were being responsible citizens and preparing for the next one. I have some concerns about the overall affect of too large a reduction in water usage on yards, and how that will affect the climate. I also think those artificial lawns are probably far worse for the environment than having a lawn and garden. I dunno.

    Also, those idiots in Rancho Santa Fe who think their horses need a four acre lawn to cavort on are nuts. If they think that they should move here, where meadows don’t need watering so much (she says as she watches her half-acre lawn turn brown because no one waters their lawn in the summer here).

  118. 118.

    Tommy

    @Omnes Omnibus: That is 100% true. Changes would have to be made. Major changes. We’ve spent billions and billions cleaning up the Great Lakes. We went to a number of states and asked for help paying for it. One day they might need our water. They told us to pound dirt. So now, as you noted, we have it in law we won’t ship our water to another state.

  119. 119.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @donnah:

    IANA meteorologist, but one theory I’ve heard is that the infamous Ridiculously Resilient Ridge (that’s the actual name) is redirecting the moisture that would normally travel down the entire West Coast from Alaska and sending it to the East Coast and Midwest instead. That’s why the East Coast got slammed with snow and the Midwest is getting slammed with rain. I can’t remember where I read it, though, so don’t take it as gospel.

  120. 120.

    bemused

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    If you don’t financially need SS/Medicare, you sure aren’t going to interested in the pesky details nor in those who do need it. I think Jeb is pretty clear on that. Yet, those Republicans who do count on it will still vote for another Bush.

  121. 121.

    opiejeanne

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): That’s what the weather maps showed, all of the rain that would normally hit Seattle was going around us in the north and dumping the water far to the east.

  122. 122.

    Linnaeus

    @trollhattan:

    It just doesn’t make sense, especially when the Columbia River is thousands of miles closer.

    True, although in that case, I wonder if that would have an effect on the hydroelectric dams on the Columbia, not to mention stressing an already stressed Pacific salmon habitat.

  123. 123.

    Tommy

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): I will have to go research that some. I’ve lived much of my life in the Midwest and we always had amazing thunderstorms. Plenty of rain. Maybe it is because of my smart phone and weather app that I pay more attention. I don’t know. But the amount of rain we’re getting is over-the-top.

  125. 125.

    Tommy

    @opiejeanne: Georgia a number of years ago when the Coke bottling plants had to shut down for a short time because of lack of water.

  126. 126.

    opiejeanne

    @Linnaeus: Too much pressure on the salmon habitat. California can’t touch that water, and has had to shut down a lot of the demand on the Sacramento and American rivers for irrigation for similar problems with the environment.

  127. 127.

    opiejeanne

    @Tommy: That’s only been about 3 or 4 years since Georgia had that problem, right?

    So when did Illinois ask California for help cleaning up the great Lakes? What year?

  128. 128.

    Roger Moore

    @Tommy:

    There are many things in this world that I can’t understand and why when there are water shortages you need to water your lawn.

    Some people are just incredibly self-centered and don’t see why the rules should apply to them. Most of the people in California are very worried about the drought, and a heartening number are doing things like replacing their lawns with drought-tolerant vegetation. The people who continue to water large lawns in the middle of a drought when everyone is telling them they need to conserve are the same kind of people- possibly the exact same people- who have bumper stickers proudly proclaiming “My Hummer Cancels Out Your Prius”.

  129. 129.

    opiejeanne

    @Roger Moore: Not necessarily. I’m kind of on the fence about giving up a lawn because it helps cool your house in ways that drought-tolerant shrubs will not.

  130. 130.

    Tommy

    @opiejeanne: I think it was 5 years ago. As to Illinois asking Calfornia for help I honestly am not sure. When Georgia had the problem I went to the Google and found the Great Lakes workgroup and they were pretty vague in details about it all.

  131. 131.

    opiejeanne

    @Tommy: Yeah, most states with water resources aren’t very interested in sharing or selling those.

    Georgia was trying to get water from a state right next door, if I recall correctly, and I think without success. That drought was terrible.

    ETA: I may have the wrong end of the stick on the above. Georgia wanted to stop allowing water to leave the state for other states adjacent. And that was in 2007.

  132. 132.

    lgerard

    @Tommy:

    I think that a challenge to the existing system is a good thing in that may result in a new and better model. I don’t know much about rural transportation, but in many major cities the taxi system is almost feudal and does not serve the public or the workers well at all.
    I have the feeling (and i don’t know if this is correct) that Uber and like minded companies are a bit like MLM companies in that they may attract interested participants, but many drop out when they discover that it is really not worth the time or effort.
    In any event, the idea that someone who takes direction from a company who sets rates for their work and then collects the fees, and then pays them on a weekly basis is not an employee is absurd.

  133. 133.

    jl

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    ” don’t take it as gospel. ”

    Probably best not to, but I think that is the emerging theory. Lower temp differentials between arctic and temperate latitudes due to trend in average global temperature allow the jet stream to loop around more and shift. So, more loopy and shifty jet stream dumps unusual weather patterns into unexpected longitudes. And the unusual weather patterns stay there until more loopy and shifty jet stream shifts again.

    Ridiculously Resilient Ridge due to low temperature differential between arctic and pacific coast, jet stream shift and therefore weaker push of cold fronts down along Pacific Coast. That is what I have read and heard on news interviews with meteorologists and climatologists.

  134. 134.

    trollhattan

    @Linnaeus:
    Plans were on the books in the ’50s and 60s to shunt PNW water, including from B.C. IIRC, south via a series of canals and reservoirs but were spiked at least half a century ago and have no chance of being resurrected.

    We (California) have a water management and use problem more than a water supply problem. Cities will always be able to throw money at farmers, who at some price will make more money selling water than they do raising crops. The crappy part of that is those who are selling subsidized federal water, which seems like double-dipping to my simple brain. All that is apart from the environmental impacts of drought, which will remain years after the rain returns.

  135. 135.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @opiejeanne:

    I wonder if native grasses (the clumpy kind you can’t mow) could have a similar effect, though.

    Most of the public areas (like parks and golf courses) have switched to reclaimed (recycled but not potable) water for watering grasses, and a lot of big companies like the Giant Evil Corporation are following suit. It’s still not cost-effective for residential use, though.

  136. 136.

    Tommy

    @lgerard: I tend to go to liberal media sites and Uber is not often presented in a good light. But I refuse to believe I am the only person in the St. Louis metro area that takes the rail to Forest Park from the Illinois side and doesn’t want to walk a mile plus to the Central West End. Willing to pay ten bucks for a cab.

    But maybe I am totally wrong because I guess if there was a market for this service somebody would be serving it.

  137. 137.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    Also, too, to get it in before stupid trolls arrive — despite what you think Mike Davis said, California is NOT one big desert. Coastal Southern and Central California is semi-arid (Mediterranean) and agriculture has been going on here for millennia. Northern California is more similar to Oregon and Washington and also is not a freakin’ desert. So don’t even start.

  138. 138.

    Tree With Water

    This is a teaser to a NY Times story about the all-American pastime of getting an edge on the opposition. Tom Brady should tell Roger Goodell (et.al.) to shove a deflated football up their collective ass, and walk away.

    “If the Cardinals did hack the Astros, it would not be the first time that a sports team used illegal or improper methods to gain an advantage. Some of that cheating has been creative, or even bizarre.

  140. 140.

    bemused

    Gallup poll says confidence in organized religion has dropped to an all-time low. Gee, what a surprise. Can’t imagine what has caused that!

  141. 141.

    Roger Moore

    @trollhattan:

    We (California) have a water management and use problem more than a water supply problem.

    We have both. Right now, we have a very serious drought (i.e. a supply problem) that demonstrates and is made worse by our management problems. Unfortunately, the solution is going to have to come from the management side, because trying to solve the supply problem is hopelessly impractical.

  142. 142.

    Tommy

    @Tree With Water: I had not seen that Cardinals story. I bleed Cardinals red and I sure hope it isn’t true. We have the best record in baseball and don’t see why we’d have to do shit like this.

  144. 144.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @jl:

    Were you around when I was raving (in a good way) about the Autry’s new Civil War exhibition? If you’re in So Cal, it’s worth a viewing though the museum itself is quite small. It addresses a lot of California Native American stuff — the mission system was bad enough, but it was the genocidal war during the Gold Rush that came close to killing them all off.

  145. 145.

    Roger Moore

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    I wonder if native grasses (the clumpy kind you can’t mow) could have a similar effect, though.

    Probably not. The reason the grasses have a cooling effect is because they’re transpiring water, giving a swamp cooler effect.

  146. 146.

    shawn

    @Tommy: so you could have the best record in baseball :P

    i don’t care for the cardinals one bit but i am not getting into a twist over this – cheating, if it even was that and they are guilty, is part of baseball and no way is only one team doing something like this

  147. 147.

    Tommy

    @trollhattan: That guide looks interesting. Bookmarked. We built a new high school in my town and the local community college down the highway from me all have what I guess you’d called “reclaimed” grass lands. What was growing here before we started building stuff. I find it very attractive. High grass of some kind and wildflowers.

  148. 148.

    Roger Moore

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):
    My impression is that the Autry has gotten a lot better since they merged with/took over the Southwest Museum. What started out as Gene Autry’s vanity project benefited hugely from the professional staff at the Southwest Museum. Of course there’s something kind of ironic about the cowboy museum taking over the Indian museum.

  149. 149.

    Tommy

    @shawn: Look what is the phrase, if you are not cheating you are not trying. Steal signs. Do this or that but don’t hack a network of another team. That is just wrong and if my team did it I will be the first to call them out.

  150. 150.

    JPL

    @opiejeanne: Technically GA still has even/odd system for watering in place.
    GA has a history of droughts but because of water sharing with Alabama and Florida, we were limited to watering after midnight and before six a.m on our days. That was about nine years ago.

    I’m still upset that Alabama and Florida did not have to limit their usage even though most of their water comes from us.

  152. 152.

    jl

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Not sure I remember. Went to Autrey museum on a recent trip down south. Wasn’t too enthusiastic about it. Thought it would be corny showbiz BS, and who exactly is Gene Autrey anyway, and why is the a whole museum for him. But it was really interesting. Glad I finally visited.

  153. 153.

    Tommy

    @lgerard: LOL. My mom is a huge fan of Celebrity Apprentice. Thinks he is a smart business person. I told her he bankrupted a ca$ino. She was like how is that possible. I said exactly.

  154. 154.

    Roger Moore

    @Tommy:

    That guide looks interesting. Bookmarked.

    Ideally, you should look for something put out by your local ag school rather than the one intended for California. California might as well be a different continent when it comes to plant life. I think I’ve read that there are more species of plants native to California than to the rest of the lower 48 put together, and many of them are endemic species found nowhere else. Besides, you have enough precipitation to support a nice tall grass prairie, so you should take advantage.

  155. 155.

    PurpleGirl

    My friend N was going to be taking a class and exam for teaching disabled scuba diving. He was taking the class in the Florida Keys. As his wife was suddenly told she was on call (she did computer support) for that weekend, they asked if I could get the time off (which I could). He himself was disabled and needed help when traveling. We flew into Miami, picked up a car and drove to Key Largo. As we were driving west, the thunderstorm was moving east to the mainland. Wow, was that some lightning, thunder, and rain. Eventually we drove out of the storm and into evening sunshine. We went food shopping and had grilled steak for dinner.

  156. 156.

    trollhattan

    @Tommy: We used to have NBA owners, the Maloofs, who accomplished the very same thing in Vegas, leading to their demise as team owners. Still scratching my scalp over that one. Team now owned by a tech billionaire and we’re deciding how much of an improvement that might be.

  157. 157.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @jl:

    It runs through early January, so if you’ll be in the area, it’s worth a side trip (especially since it would only take a couple of hours at most). It definitely helped them to have a better-trained and more professional staff. They also seem to have broadened their definition of “the West” beyond the mythical West of Autry’s films. He always had ambitions of it being a real museum, though, so I think he would be happy with the direction it’s gone.

    Last year, they had an interesting exhibition about Route 66. It was the first time I’d seen a “Green Book,” which was the guidebook that let Black Americans know which towns were safe to stay in and which ones should be driven through at a fast pace.

  158. 158.

    PurpleGirl

    @Major Major Major Major: Buzzfeed forgot he was the crazed alien Edgar in Men in Black. I loved him as Edgar. Maybe not a good additrion to the story because it was him in makeup, but Edgar was a shape shifter.

  159. 159.

    Roger Moore

    @Tommy:

    if you are not cheating you are not trying. Steal signs.

    Stealing signs is only cheating if you’re using mechanical means to help you. If the other guys can’t hide their signs from the guys in your dugout, that’s their tough luck.

  160. 160.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Roger Moore:

    I know there have been some complaints that the Southwest Museum is getting pushed aside and not getting as much attention, but I’m not sure how much of that is valid and how much is internal politics to the institution.

  161. 161.

    PurpleGirl

    @srv: This was said by the thrice-married Donald, whose mistress and second wife (Marla Maples) was quoted as saying things about his sexual abilities. Really, Donald.

  162. 162.

    FortGeek

    One week after my month-long water heater project, we had to blow $150 to have some roots hacked in the sewer line.

    As long as it stays cheap and once a month…

  163. 163.

    PurpleGirl

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): I have a FaceBook page only because I needed it for several of kitten cams I follow. Not everyone has and regular internet site and having the FB makes it easier to sign-in to the Livestreams.

  164. 164.

    A Ghost To Most

    As they say here in Colorado, “Whiskey is for drinking’, water is for fighting over”

  167. 167.

    PurpleGirl

    @Iowa Old Lady: The people who adopt the kittens featured on some of the cams start FB pages for the kittens and we followers can keep in touch with favorite kittens and see how they are growing. Some followers would like demand that adopters share FB pages but the cam sponsors keep it entirely up to the adopter.

  168. 168.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JCJ:

    Yeah, me too. I grew up near Chicago and spent my childhood summers on a farm in central Michigan. There were always copies of AH around, and I used to pore over the photos for hours. Everything was so exotic!

  169. 169.

    fuckwit

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Stay the fuck away from it; it’s evil. Seriously, if you have to use FB, don’t allow commenting/posting on your wall/feed/etc, don’t post anything, set your privacy settings on maxiumum thrust. Log in rarely, from Incognito mode if you’re using Chrome, or delete all your cookies afterwards and before using it otherwise.

  170. 170.

    PurpleGirl

    @SiubhanDuinne: Around the late 1980s and early 1990s I bought Arizona Highways for their stories about Native American jewelry. When I was in the Phoenix area for an arbitration case, what I learned about jewelry helped me buy some great pieces and know what I was buying, and where to go to find the good jewelry.

  171. 171.

    Roger Moore

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):
    The Southwest Museum as an institution is definitely getting pushed aside. They’re all but closed as a separate museum- they’re only open for a few hours every Saturday- which goes directly against what was promised when the Autry took them over. It’s a classic example of one of the bad things that can happen to a museum. With only the rarest of exceptions, museums are money losers on their direct operations, so they depend on donations to keep operating. The Southwest Museum has a wonderful collection, but it didn’t have the backing it needed.

  172. 172.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Roger Moore:

    The LA Times had some decent coverage — basically, the Autry was the only institution willing to take on the Southwest without breaking up the collection, but they say they don’t have enough money to run both locations. The neighborhood around the Southwest is very attached to it and insists that the Autry must run it as a separate, full-time institution accessible to the neighborhood. The Autry keeps trying to find an institution willing to partner with it because they can’t support two museums, but there have been no takers so far. So it’s kind of a stalemate at this point.

  173. 173.

    FortGeek

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    Silly question but now that I’m on Facebook, what does one do with it?

    Cat videos, cat pictures, etc.

    I don’t have any relatives or many friends, but I follow some folks like George Takei, David Gerrold (“Star Trek” author), some space & science groups, and a couple of car groups. Only a couple of my friends even bother posting, so most of the traffic comes from the other stuff.

  174. 174.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @fuckwit:

    I can’t discuss it here, but I’m on Facebook specifically so some relatives can find and contact me there who may not be able to do so otherwise. Therefore, unfortunately, I have to stay pretty open. It’s not my favorite thing to do, but it is potentially necessary for the well-being of my relatives right now.

  175. 175.

    PurpleGirl

    @trollhattan: I have a friend in Henderson (NV) and when she and her husband bought the house, they were shocked at the water bill. So they went to xeriscaping all the lawn around the house. Water bill went down and has stayed semi-reasonable even as water rates went up.

  178. 178.

    opiejeanne

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): It’s too bad the reclaimed water isn’t available for home use. We toured the El Segundo plant and the water that comes out is as clean or cleaner than any that comes out of your tap at home, and the water in your tap in SoCal is some of the cleanest in the country.

  181. 181.

    opiejeanne

    @Tommy: The prairies were made of both grasses and flowering plants, including coreopsis and lisianthus.

  182. 182.

    opiejeanne

    @JPL: Yes. When we lived in SoCal we always watered the lawns sometime around 4am, and only every second or third day; we had a beautiful lawn in front of something not very thirsty, sort of like zoysia. In back there was a big area of St Augustine under that we almost never watered and the rest was some scrubby bermuda grass (weeds) but we watered that a couple of times a week. We wanted bluegrass but it’s a bit too thirsty for the area.
    We had a rose garden and vegetables and trees and hedges, quite a few fruit trees. The lot was about a third of an acre, I think. Our water usage wasn’t outrageous and if we still owned that place we might have a problem cutting down on the watering because we were already careful with it.

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