Full disclosure: I’m posting these thoughts under the influence of some choice state-sanctioned medical marijuana. I still marvel at its availability in this backward-ass state, and good stuff too!
Am currently sitting on the porch as the wind howls and rain falls in hissing sheets. Hurricane Debby is passing west of us, and I feel better about it since the storm crossed our latitude.
Looks like Cedar Key will be sideswiped and Steinhatchee will take a direct hit. Best of luck to all in the path!
I heard a branch or something heavy land on our boat a while ago. It’s too dark to see what’s going on, but I hear debris occasionally.
The doughty vessel is a 1985 metal jon boat, so it is basically indestructible as long as the engine wasn’t hit. Sunrise will tell the tale!
What are y’all up to?
Damien
Just finished reading a book about the legacy of the Exorcist, which was fascinating. I’ve always felt that movie was terrifying because it took time to build atmosphere, tension, and an emotional component that most modern horror films lack.
The reiteration of the sequels/TV show/new trilogy history does nothing to disabuse me of that notion.
ShadeTail
Out here in California, I just got in an hour or so of Tears of the Kingdom on my Switch to relax before bed. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I find video games to be great for unwinding.
SiubhanDuinne
Somehow, Betty, that sounds exceedingly pleasant — hanging out on the porch with a nice buzz going, experiencing the rain but staying dry. I hope there’s minor, if any, damage to your boat.
thruppence
I’m looking for my copy of “Last Chance Texaco”, memoir by Rickie Lee Jones, and I have a ticket to see her on Friday. I feel like I haven’t done my homework.
Phylllis
Quiet here in the Midlands of SC but the storm is coming. They’re saying we could see flooding akin to 2015 from Joaquin. The rain is supposed to start here about 9 am. Gonna hunker down with the Olympics most of the day.
brendancalling
Teaching starts in two weeks. I’ve been having nightmares and insomnia and panic attacks about it since the middle of July. Looking for new work, probably handing in my obligatory 60-day notice the day I go back. The field is hollowed out and miserable. I’d just as soon dig graves, at least at the end of the day you can say “I dug that grave.”
HumboldtBlue
High
SiubhanDuinne
I was trying to find out more about that bizarre story involving RFKJr and a dead bear cub, and one of the too-odd-to-have-made-it-up details is that the NYT reporter who covered the original story a decade ago was Caroline Kennedy’s daughter. She was writing about this weird mystery in Central Park with no idea (one presumes) that the perp was her own first cousin once removed.
Martin
@Phylllis: I saw a forecast for 26″ of rain in the southeast part of the state.
HumboldtBlue
I have jury duty in the morning.
Martin
@brendancalling: So sorry. Been there. Medication bought me time, but eventually retirement was the solution.
Betty Cracker
@Damien: My mom had The Exorcist in print and also a rule that kids were allowed to read any books in the house. I smuggled the novel to a Southern Baptist-run summer camp I was forced by my grandparents to attend. It was called — I shit you not — Camp Gilead.
Each night after lights out, I read the flashlight-lit book aloud to the other eight-year-old girls in the cabin. Scared the bejeebus out of us!
John Revolta
Waiting for Debby here in Jacksonville. It’s raining a bit……….. seems like it’s mostly going around us but we’re still expecting 8-12 inches. All battened down.
Phylllis
@Martin: It’s gonna be a mess. I lived in Charleston in the mid-80’s and streets downtown would flood after a hard summer rain. Or what we thought was flooding–you could safely drive through it. Now a prolonged rain will bring several inches of impassable standing water.
Martin
@HumboldtBlue: Protip: when you walk into the courtroom shout “I want the truth! You can’t handle the truth!”
Judges love that.
HumboldtBlue
@Betty Cracker:
Stanley Kubrick could work with that.
Phylllis
@Martin: I retired from education in June of 2023 and I swear I’ve only just in the last couple of months managed to fully recover/disconnect from the stress. And I wasn’t even in the classroom.
Tehanu
Also in California, just finished watching Noah Lyles win the 100 meters gold, and then caught the baseball highlights, nothing particularly noteworthy. Feeling really sorry for the White Sox who just cannot seem to catch a break this year.
VeniceRiley
Wife just finished 2 weeks off. So, just hanging out with #ReggiePup and watching the Olympics (actually fun to watch on commercial free BBC!) … and the far-right rioting.
We really don’t have the prison capacity to lock these aholes up.
Betty Cracker
@John Revolta: Stay safe!
The most recent flood advisory estimates we’ve had 5 to 7 inches of rain, and another 4 is possible before the storm moves on. Luckily, the river is still low due to last summer’s dud rainy season. The dirt road we’re on will be a mess though.
Doc H
Awake when I don’t want to be, so what do I do? Read a truly bizarre story about RFKjr and a road-kill bear cub. 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
NotMax
Repeating for the night owls,
Putting out feelers about a NYC meet-up early.
Will be visiting the area 8/22 – 9/8. Past experience is that people prefer the weekends. Looking at the calendar, Labor Day weekend seems a good choice,
Friday (evening) 8/30 or any time Saturday 8/31 or Sunday 9/1 or Monday 9/2. Please do chime in with preferences.
So far as venue, open to any and all suggestions. Initially thinking of either Pershing Square cafe (at Park and 42nd, steps away from Grand Central Terminal) or a more funky spot, Washington Square Diner (easy access by subway, massive menu but no cocktails, beer or wine only),
SiubhanDuinne
@Doc H:
It really is insane. Note the weird detail in my comment #8, just because the story all on its own wasn’t quite bananas batshit enough.
John Revolta
@Betty Cracker: I recently found my old book club copy of The Exorcist when I was unpacking some boxes. I used to sign up for all these book and record club “12 for a dollar!” deals because supposedly you weren’t liable for whatever you signed before you were 18, or 21, or whatever it was, so you didn’t have to keep on buying stuff afterwards. I still have some of them (Beethoven’s symphonies on Deutche Grammophon!- the quality of the vinyl they used amazes me).
I went to see The Exorcist with some friends at a drive-in movie. It was probably less scary that way but it was still plenty scary enough!
Doc H
@SiubhanDuinne: holy crap! Both beyond belief and completely believable.
Betty Cracker
Our poor doggies are gonna need a pool noodle when we let them out to pee at daylight.
@John Revolta: I remember those clubs! Saw The Exorcist movie years later, and it was scary.
SiubhanDuinne
@Doc H:
This line admirably sums up … well, actually, everything.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@HumboldtBlue: Me too!
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
Nice pic of a Kingfisher!
Hope you stay nicely high and dry :-)
eclare
@SiubhanDuinne:
That does sound nice, it’s been a while since we’ve had a soothing rain. We will get one benefit from Debby in Memphis: after highs around 95 for a while, the forecast for Wednesday is only 89.
NotMax
Spent many hours online during an evening last week researching eateries either new to me or newly opened since last year in a radius of no more than 7 miles from Mom’s abode in anticipation of the upcoming trip.
Scribbled copious notes about names, locations, menus, prices, specials, etc. Wonder of wonders, several days later (Sunday) was able to decipher — in full — my chicken scratches and type them into a computer file to take along.
eclare
@HumboldtBlue:
Snoop was really funny today commenting on the dressage competition.
How is Noodles?
eclare
@SiubhanDuinne:
Curiouser and curiouser…
SiubhanDuinne
@eclare:
Our forecast is for a high of 89° today, then in the low-mid 90s the rest of the week. And I don’t see any predictions of rain, but we often get brief t-storms that hadn’t been forecast, so I imagine we’ll get some.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Whereas the high chez Cracker is Acapulco Gold.
:)
strange visitor (from another planet)
@NotMax: if there’s any urge to venture into brooklyn, there are a couple of great places in my neighborhood.
eta- i am sacking out. will see your response in the AM.
SiubhanDuinne
@NotMax:
My bleary, middle-of-the-night eyes read that as Cheeze Cracker, and now I have the munchies.
Dangerman
Pondering firsts from the earlier post. Maybe it was the fact that Sunday meant Disney. One movie was Davy Crockett. Fess Parker dies at the end. Old Yeller also starred Fess Parker and we KNOW how that ended. Shit, Fess Parker was probably in Bambi and we KNOW that story.
Fess Parker might have been the cause of all my therapy. Fucker.
There was a Dodger First Baseman, IIRC, called Wes Parker. I confused the 2.
Speaking of Dodgers, I haven’t heard a word from Steve Garvey.
knally
I managed to get flooded this week as well, but from upstairs. I live in a block of 3 flats and there is an internal wastewater pipe that takes water from the roof through the flats to a soakaway. The flat above mine had a junction where the condenser from their boiler also fed into this pipe.
So much rain on the 1st that the junction blew causing a fire hose quantity of water to come out of the pipe. Upstairs neigbour and I formed a bucket chain, along with the plumber when he turned up and couldn’t do anything until force of water subsided.
Now I’m washing and drying all the linens from my airing cupboard, waiting for electrician to check lighting circuits, running dehumidifiers and contemplating repainting ceilings.
How much rain was there on the 1st? Well, Winchester doesn’t usually have a river in the main street!
eclare
@knally:
That sucks. I once lived in a downstairs apartment, and the hot water heater in the apartment above my roommate and me burst. And the renters were away. And it was in the middle of the night. You feel totally helpless, as the water heater thinks the water is being used and continually refills.
You have my sympathies and hope that your landlord treats you better than ours did.
Just saw the photo. Ugh.
Jay
Adding into my/our current drama. T came back from Alberta, with Covid.
thruppence
Damn. Basement flooded. Deep. No apparent source.
Betty Cracker
@NotMax: I had lunch at the Washington Square Diner a few years back. Can recommend the spanakopita!
Jay
@thruppence:
Back flow?
BeautifulPlumage
Took a nap during the hot part of the afternoon so now am up late on a work night enjoying the cooler temps.
Hurricane Debby might not have strong winds but wow is it a wide storm! Hoping all the jackals in the path stay safe.
Tony Jay
@Betty Cracker:
It took young Betty a good long while, blinded as she was by the fuzzy torchlight, and deafened by the pounding of her own heart, to notice that the shadows of the bunkroom were growing deeper and deeper, and the squeals of her bunkmates fewer and fewer, until a silence fell so heavy that her breath caught in her chest.
She was alone. Every bunk was empty.
So who was it breathing in the corner?
Was it like that?
Gloria DryGarden
@Tehanu: Noah was something else, wasn’t he?
Did you see when they showed the race in slower segments? Bouncing all over the track beforehand, then winning it because his chest was across the line first..
I missed suni lee’s uneven bars routine, I hope they post it somewhere.
knally
@eclare: Insurance company now talks to insurance company like mastodons bellowing across primeval swamps :-)
Gloria DryGarden
@Jay: good grief! I hope it’s a mild case.
mercy!
thruppence
@Jay: Doesn’t smell like it. Repair folks coming in the morning. Ah, Mondays
eclare
@Tony Jay:
That is good. Kind of invokes the fright of The Blair Witch Project, if you’ve ever seen that. I saw it opening weekend, and that movie terrified me and everyone else in the theater.
Gloria DryGarden
@SiubhanDuinne: this proves that even famous people like Kennedys have “small world” experiences, and instances of being only one or two degrees of separation from some other public figure.
eclare
@Gloria DryGarden:
See if you can find a video of the woman who won gold, an Algerian. Suni was very good, but wow, I was afraid for this woman the whole time.
Found it:
https://youtu.be/ePubEqc7O6M?si=mW7cGEACD2Ojd3Up
Gloria DryGarden
Denver was near 100 degrees again. I’ve decamped to a friend’s house, who has ac, so I can sleep without wiping damp off my face every 10 minutes all day and all night. And cook a meal, too. What a treat.
Betty Cracker
@Tony Jay: Yes. Yes, it was. ;-)
Gloria DryGarden
@eclare: I saw the Algerian, didn’t she have the highest difficulty of any bars program? She was good. Really great.
you notice, even in competition, their coaches are always right there, jumping in to spot during those giant flying release moves? Just in case?
just once I saw a coach ready to spot for a women’s vault, but I think it was Simone doing something so big, even the deduction wouldn’t hurt her. I don’t think the men get spotters; maybe I blinked.
makes me consider how dangerous this sport is. But so, so breathtaking.
eta, so great to see a country win, that is less dominant. So very much coverage in USA is very US- centric.
BTW, has anyone noticed Olympic athletes from Uruguay, or Argentina?
WereBear
@Betty Cracker: I remember hot, humid, BORING Bible Camp.
No fun allowed with Southern Baptists. Have some fun, Betty!
We’re all owed.
Betty Cracker
Latest flood advisory estimates up to 12 inches of rain have fallen with more possible as the storm slowly heads NE. I can believe it. Good thing we’re in a stilt house!
Raoul Paste
@Betty Cracker: “ scared the bejeebus out of us”…
Heh
Liminal Owl
@NotMax: Would love to meet you and others. If I’m feeling well enough to drive (always a question these days), Sunday would be best, Saturday second choice.
Jay
@Gloria DryGarden:
Thank you, it’s been a week and a bit
And to add to all that, I have a headhunter after me for a job, and I have had to push them off for a bit because “life” is intruding.
We will see how it goes, tomorrow,
Day by day.
T is worried she will infect me. It’s a 1BDR apt. If I get infected, I will get infected, it is what it is. There is no “quarantine”.
eclare
@Gloria DryGarden:
Yes I have noticed the spotters for the women. When you think about it, they’re flying around with so much velocity it makes sense.
I haven’t noticed any athletes from Uruguay or Argentina, but I’ve been watching the nightly recap, and even then I DVR it so I can fast forward through commercials and events that don’t interest me.
I just googled, Uruguay hasn’t won any medals, Argentina has won one, gold, in BMX.
Betty Cracker
@WereBear: You’re right — we’re owed, and I’ve spent many years making it up to myself!
I don’t have fond memories of camp. There was this dumb song everyone had to sing to humiliate campers who put their elbows on the table. Why on earth? Also, they served powdered milk and eggs. Yuck!
One activity they made us do was to build “chariots” out of plywood for a race. My cabin won, and they herded us into the canteen for pizza as a reward. My sister was in a different cabin, and I got in trouble for passing her a slice through a ripped screen. I tried to argue it was the Christian thing to do.
eclare
@Jay:
Is Paxlovid an option? It seems to be pretty prevalent here, not sure how it is in Canada.
eclare
@Betty Cracker:
That sounds awful. I have fond memories of Y camp and Girl Scout camp. No humiliation of kids with elbows on the tables. Just lots of swimming and smores.
Liminal Owl
@Gloria DryGarden: https://youtu.be/_RUK-4Sjnq8?si=bIKBrFV9ztfx66LK
Gloria DryGarden
Here’s suni lee, bronze, on the bars tonight. Recall she was sick , 6 months ago, practicing w a bucket nearby to puke in. Golly
https://youtu.be/_RUK-4Sjnq8?si=2jfvHy6ohvTP0sch
Liminal Owl
@Gloria DryGarden: I happened to see this yesterday: Spotters
Tony Jay
@Betty Cracker:
Screw your flag-hunts and boating jamborees, today’s kids demand the spine chilling attentions of authentic eldritch abominations or they’re simply not interested in attending Summer Camp.
“Please hold. The flayed soul-husk of Mr Gacy will be with you presently to arrange a bereaveme… appointment! Excuse me, an appointment……… does your child like balloons?”
eclare
@Gloria DryGarden:
I know, it’s amazing. I also read that she gained about forty pounds from fluid retention.
So, you don’t have A/C?
Gloria DryGarden
@eclare: way cool. I’ll google to see if anyone even went to compete from there. (Uruguay)
Gloria DryGarden
@eclare: I sure don’t.
Tony Jay
@eclare:
What you can’t see is what scares you the most.
Frex. Never seen Trump naked. But the thought of it.
You’re welcome. 😇
eclare
@Liminal Owl:
Oh wow, some of those examples are scary! One of the women today did fall, I can’t remember who, but she kind of slipped off the bar when she tried to grab it and went straight down, so she didn’t have much speed. So the spotter didn’t step in.
eclare
@Gloria DryGarden:
That sucks! Have you thought about getting a portable unit or window unit? They aren’t very expensive, and that way you could at least cool a bedroom to hide out in. Or I guess with a portable you could move it around.
Note> I have no experience with portable units, but I have two window units going right now.
eclare
@Tony Jay:
Brain bleach, stat!
Gloria DryGarden
@Liminal Owl: mind blowing. Consider all the broken necks prevented.
the spotters must have their own training camp to catch high speed trajectory humans. And, it’s good to see the guys get spotters, too.
JoyceH
I saw that Kennedy video and he seemed to think he was telling a funny story and he seemed particularly amused at all the police presence when the bear’s body was discovered. I thought, “Dude, you imported a bear CUB – they thought there was a full grown mama bear looking for her cub in Central Park!”
Gloria DryGarden
@eclare: I’m out of work this summer, borrowing to get by, and a little scared because my usual summer school camp jobs didn’t have me back. So I’m not mostly spending money. But I have thought about it.
Jay
@eclare:
so far, it’s like a mild flu/cold, it’s not bad. It’s just another thing on top of another thing.
We both got vaxxed again, about a week before her trip, because of cancer, it’s not the new vax, but surgery is coming and chemo.
It’s funny, (not) because her MGR has booked 2 weeks out, on no notice (I suspect medical issues, pregnancy, wish her well, but),
She tested positive today, so, we will monitor and test again on Wednesday.
Shitting on staff to the point where Occupational Health and the Union has to get involved,…….
Fun, not.
Baud
@Liminal Owl:
Couldn’t be a spotter. I’d be on my phone reading BJ the whole time.
Jay
@Gloria DryGarden:
Sorry to hear that.
Gloria DryGarden
@Liminal Owl: thanks, it might be the same suni video, but the link characters are different, maybe a different camera angle, or a different edit.
did everyone see during that during the French lady, representing Algeria,’s routine Simone was cheering madly for her amazing performance?
I love that.
eclare
@Gloria DryGarden:
Gotcha. Glad you have a friend you can stay with.
eclare
@Jay:
Wait, she has cancer?
eclare
@Gloria DryGarden:
Great recognizes great.
Jay
@eclare:
Yeah.
eclare
@Jay:
Oh I’m so sorry. If you mentioned it before I didn’t see it.
Gloria DryGarden
@Jay: can you wear a mask around the house, and do hand washing?
At the start of Covid, my dad researched and found out having good vitamin d levels helps w how sick/ not sick one gets w Covid. I mostly take D year round because I work w kids, in the Petri dish classrooms of littles.
it would be so nice if only one of you gets it. Still just a tad worse than a pretty bad cold or flu, but one doesn’t know how much worse it might be.
I had paxlovid my first time w Covid, and I’ll never know if it prevented a way worse case. And I have not heard anything about the latest mutations/ variants. Not getting milder, seems to be more contagious, but no one’s being careful anymore.
Keep us updated.
Scuffletuffle
@Gloria DryGarden: would you accept monetary gifts toward an ac unit?
Gloria DryGarden
and also, Simone is all about building people up. She helped Jordan chiles improve and become more consistent, and I think she’s very positive and kind. And she’s probably trying to turn womens gymnastics away from the toxicity and abuse that went on. It’s deeply moving.
Gloria DryGarden
@Scuffletuffle: oh my god. I mean, gosh.. um, that’s kind.
(shocked spluttering, inarticulate sounds, ellipses)
yes, sure. I have to go find out if anything would fit my little windows.
eclare
@Gloria DryGarden:
I like your take better than mine!
eclare
@Gloria DryGarden:
Read up on portables, I think they’re cheaper, no installation, and…portable.
WereBear
Oh, that cuts no ice with them. That started to make me wonder…
WereBear
@Tony Jay: I haven’t reached for mushrooms in the store, since.
WereBear
She’s done it by bringing adulthood to the sport. The power of actual women, as in men’s gymnastics.
Instead of starving girls and giving them serious injuries.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?
@eclare: Portables are much easier to install but if you’re going to need one in a room like a bedroom more or less permanently window units are a lot more efficient. Some models are at 15 SEER. I think the best portables are around 7ish. If you only plan to use it occasionally probably the portable would be more convenient but for folks in warmer climates who don’t have central air and are running them a lot window units are a better choice. I’ve heard good things about Windmill window units.
BretH
I did a stint at an outdoor education camp in New Hampshire when I was 18. My nighttime thing was to relate to the best of my ability “A Most Dangerous Game” at lights out.
eclare
@What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?:
I have window units, I was just advising someone else to look into portables. I live in Memphis, my two units run 24/7 from June through September.
Gloria DryGarden
@WereBear: she’s also doing a big reset away from the sexual abuse all the girls got subjected to at the farm in Texas, from dr nasser.
catclub
@Martin: I would say if you want to get excused, offer to to explain jury nullification to your fellow jury pool members.
Betty Cracker
First light report: the river is up like a FOOT from where it was at dusk yesterday — pretty amazing. The boat has water to the gunnels but otherwise appears unharmed. An intrepid Great Blue Heron is stalking the shallows in the steady downpour because life goes on, and there are fish to eat.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
Nominated!
catclub
Looks more like a kingfisher to me.
Gloria DryGarden
@eclare: I will do that.
My house is small, I have to think where to put one. ditto, a windows unit. portables might be a good solution.
But I’ve been getting nothing done in the 95+ days. It would be incredible to cool off enough to be useful to myself.
are you thinking about those little desk mount ones advertised on YouTube, Arctic something?
At least when I had summer work, I was in ac for 4-6 hours.
MazeDancer
So glad Debbie passed you by. Also glad FL letting you get high!
WereBear
@Gloria DryGarden: Oh, yes! I was adding to your statement.
She did the unheard of, taking time off, and made it work for her. That’s a big reset all by itself.
Geminid
@Gloria DryGarden: I wonder if there a public library nearby that you can inhabit during the hottest part of the day, until the weather breaks.
David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch
You’d think he would be considerate of Teddy bears.
prostratedragon
@Dangerman: My devious plan is working.
Gloria DryGarden
@Betty Cracker: some photos of this heron in the pouring rain would be most welcome. It sounds focused, and beautiful.
we’re having a long dry spell out here, I forgot what rain is, but I’ve heard of it. I sort of remember it, but it’s hard to believe after awhile. I think Thursday we might get 0.2 inches. Out here, we can have a whole conversation over “what is rain?”
you’re getting a Colorado amount of rain, but all in one storm, what we get in a year.
Hope you stay safe and dry, hope the boat is ok. When you’re safe, and have options, forces of nature can be so splendid..
Ken
@catclub: Be sure to work in the stuff about flag tassels and constitutional sheriffs.
Gloria DryGarden
@Geminid: sometimes I do go there. It’s a brilliant place to go. It’s been hard to even get ready, or consider being in a too hot car. I love my libraries! Sometimes, even a trip to the stores, because they have ac. But 100, it’s too hot to go out.
and if I’m out at the library, nothing gets done at home. The rock and the hard place. Intrapersonal negotiations
Really takes will power( which melted in the heat…)
lowtechcyclist
If anyone in the greater DC area ever needs a window or portable AC on short notice, PLEASE get in touch! When our heat pump failed a couple years ago, and it took over a week to get it replaced, we bought two window units and a portable to tide us through. We’ve still got ’em out in the shed.
I expect it would cost as much to ship one across the country as to buy one locally, otherwise Gloria Drygarden, you’d be welcome to one of mine.
I’ve been taking a Vitamin D supplement for several years now, because my primary recommended it for me. My wife and I have gotten Covid twice in the past two years, but neither time was very bad for very long in my case, while my wife’s gotten clobbered both times. This might explain the difference.
eclare
@Gloria DryGarden:
I think those desk.units only work in small spaces, so you have to be at your desk to get cooled. I think there are some bigger ones that advertise that they can cool an entire room. I would Google portable air conditioner reviews and go from there. If you know anyone with a Consumer Reports subscription that you could use that would be helpful too. Actually some of their articles are free, so try that too.
I’m sorry the summer work didn’t come through this year.
Also, pose the question “does anyone know anything about portable a/c units” in the morning open thread, lots of house-knowledgeable people usually on that thread.
Gloria DryGarden
@WereBear: I love the whole story about her taking time off. She could have really gotten hurt otherwise, but she stood up to a ton of interviews about it.
I’m still blown away that in ‘22, after the twisties, she found a gym outside Tokyo, to keep training and rework her beam routine, and took all the twists out to make a less difficult routine she could compete. And came back and performed it, won I think it was silver, which is humbling for her, only I don’t think her ego gets into that. She was just staying in shape, and holding on to what she could do. It just makes me tear up.
Gloria DryGarden
@eclare: cool.
I mean, great!
I think my library has consumer reports. It’s online, last I looked, so it was harder to use and find stuff in. But the library staff are great for helping, tech stuff, research, etc.
lowtechcyclist
Fish, family, freedom!
Gloria DryGarden
@lowtechcyclist: someone in dc area will so gratefully receive your ac unit, I’m sure.
I tested low on D a few years back, so I take 10,000 IU, most days, some days, whenever I’m on top of it. A practitioner told me I could take that every day for a long time, a year or so, since I was low. Besides, In the braverman books, he suggests post menopausal woman can take a big dose a few times a year, like 70,000 iu. If I fail to take most other vitamins, multi, etc, I usually get my D, and some NAC. I think it helps.
eclare
@Gloria DryGarden:
Definitely do that, if I have to buy a big appliance, I get a one month online subscription, or whatever the shortest period is. But if your library has it free, awesome!
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Gloria DryGarden:
It’s been a tough, what, 9-10 days now. It hasn’t even been cooling off the way it typically would.
TBone
@eclare:
@Gloria DryGarden:
We had a portable AC (stood upright and had wheels). Two things to know: (1) they require exhaust venting through a window which means there is a plastic plate you install in the window to screw the exhaust hose into, so it’s not truly portable and (2) they require a water drain. We found a plastic tub at just the right height to avoid having to mess with a drain hose, but the water level must be watched or it’ll overflow while your back is turned.
I don’t know if improvements have been made since we owned one about 6 or 7 years ago.
Gloria DryGarden
@WereBear:
that’s sort of what I’m doing this summer, in a way. Writing, opening some doors inside myself, processing
Ksmiami
@Baud: Doug Adams would be proud of this statement..”As for the Blue Heron, he didn’t know what all the storm fuss was about, all he knew was that life goes on and there were fish to eat…”
ColoradoGuy
The one-hose portables don’t work very well, because they pull in hot air from the rest of the house, so they only cool a small area in one room. The two-hose portables cool outside air, and remove the hot air from the room to the outside. Much more efficient.
Window units now come in an inverted U format, with the weight equally distributed between the inside and outside machinery, with a narrow connecting part, and not requiring a special platform to hold the weight. The usual big deal with a window unit is the awkward installation, because unit is heavy and requires a strong external platform to carry the weight. If you get a standard window unit, you will need a friend with some mechanical skills to install it (it’s a 2-person job).
Air conditioners work by transporting heat from one location (your room) to another (outside the house). That’s all they can do. If there is no connection to the outside, it can’t cool anything. A “swamp cooler” does not need a connection to the outside, but all it does is evaporate water into the air … which only works in very dry climates, like Phoenix. If it is humid, a swamp cooler will make things worse, not better.
Betty Cracker
@Gloria DryGarden: If I can get a good shot, I’ll share!
Gloria DryGarden
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Thursday, honey. It’ll be like 76, 79, 80 for 3 days, w a few flecks of raindrops on the sidewalks. it’ll be safe to get a little yard work done, if I aim my focus correctly.
Mom used to say it was a 6” rain, if the distances between raindrop freckles were 6” apart. I always thought that was a clever way to express it.
my sedum autumn joy plants look stunted, and wilted, and sad. And what’s the point of watering if it’s just going up to 100 again the next day? My garlic chives, toughest plant around, have browned out, and other tough things too. My poor planties…
eclare
@ColoradoGuy:
I learn so much on this blog!
pluky
@WereBear: “power of actual women”, absolutely!
The thing that promoted the rise of pubescent girls in “women’s” gymnastics was a spike in power/mass ratio that ebbed as their bodies matured post-puberty. The problems were:
— immature bodies (bones and joints) are less resilient.
— a point was reached where the training generated more power than their brains could control.
With Ms. Biles, we see how mistaken that approach was. Let the body mature, and a fully developed neuromuscular system will be ready to process all the raw power generated therefrom.
Gloria DryGarden
@ColoradoGuy: really helpful information. Thanks.
the portable swamp coolers seem big and unwieldy, but I need to investigate. Here in Denver, where should I look? Is there a good alternative to Home Depot? I bet everyone is selling cooling equipment stuff like hotcakes. sometimes h depot sells out.
besides don’t they give money to weird republicans?
ColoradoGuy
Always remember that A/C’s and heat pumps just move heat from one location to another. Physically, there’s an inside heat exchanger, a compressor (which makes the noise), an outside heat exchanger, and a working fluid (Freon, etc.). That’s it.
The different types … portable, window, mini-split, and ducted/whole house just locate the different parts in different locations.
I think Midea makes the weird-shaped inverted U-shaped unit. About $500, which is typical for a window unit. Average window unit varies between $350 and $600. The only advantage of a “portable” two hose unit is simpler installation. They are still plenty heavy, though, maybe 70 lbs or so.
A mini-split is serious money, thousands of dollars, and is not a DIY job unless you are a serious DIY’er.
Trivia Man
@Betty Cracker: Have you ever talked about it those other little girls? I wonder how often they still think about you. Fondly? Terrified?
Dorothy A. Winsor
Is anyone interested in being part of a cover reveal team on Aug 21? It’s the cover for Dragoncraft, the book I have coming out in Sept. I’d send you the cover and a few words you could use or not on Aug 21 and you’d share it on your social media.
If you click on my nym, you should get an email address you could use to let me know.
I’m embarrassed because I can’t even offer swag. Just my thanks. Oh, and a chance to see the awesome cover. :-)
Soprano2
@Betty Cracker: I heard forecasts of up to 30″ of rain. Yikes!!!
TBone
Today I will be making a foray to the local Walmart (please don’t judge, we have limited shopping options in this tiny hamlet) in my pink Childless Cat Ladies Voting for Kamala T-shirt. Anything could happen. It’s where I saw the only cybertruck I’ve witnessed in the wild. It’s where we were nearly killed by an elderly handicapped person who mistook the gas pedal for the brake in his SUV and went up and over several cars before plowing into the cement pylons at the store entrance. It’s where everyone in this backwater shops unless they want to drive more than an hour one way. When masks were required, a lot of fellow shoppers thought that only their chins were dangerous enough to require covering.
It’s a glorious cross section of rural Pennsylvania and I’m chuffed. Hubby will be my protector, but I hope to encounter women who will be cheering (and will minimize men who don’t by shouting about weirdness).
I feel good mentally. I’m ready. Let’s DO this!
If you don’t hear more from me later today, check the local newspaper 😆
Soprano2
@eclare: I have fond memories of camp too, except for at 4H camp when an older boy jumped off the diving board right after I did and was right on top of me. That was scary, I couldn’t get to the surface for the longest time. The church camp I went to was a Methodist one, we had dances and everything! It was in a place where there was sulfur in the water though, it was gross.
Soprano2
@Gloria DryGarden: I saw her performance, but I didn’t see Simone cheering for her. They know better than anyone else how hard all those moves are. Evidently uneven bars is Simone’s worst event.
eclare
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I would love to, but my footprint on social media is tiny.
Soprano2
@brendancalling: I’m so sorry it’s so stressful. Two of my Jazzercise teachers who were also public school teachers quit this year; one who was a 25+ yr special ed teacher retired a year earlier than she had originally planned to, and the other is a math teacher who is going to be an adjunct professor at the local state university. They both said it wasn’t the students that drove them away, it was all the paperwork they had to do and the huge amount of uncompensated time they had to work that did it. Plus, the special ed teacher said some discipline problems made it more unpleasant to teach than it used to be. I hate that long-time teachers are being driven from the profession in this way.
TBone
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I would but I don’t use any social media, only antisocial BJ 😉
Soprano2
@WereBear: I am really glad to see that female gymnasts are now actually women, rather than teenage girls. It used to be thought that once a girl developed breasts, it was all over as far as her gymnastics career was concerned, at least that was my understanding.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@eclare: @TBone: I actually thought of that before I posted the request here! I’m only on social media (other than BJ) because my editor said I had to. I think of it as part of my job.
Editor told me yesterday I should get myself unbanned from twitter. To my own surprise, I managed to do it.
eclare
@Soprano2:
That is so sad about the teachers. Especially special ed, teachers there are so needed.
eclare
@Soprano2:
The woman who won gold on the bars also appeared to be taller than normal compared to most gymnasts. She is only seventeen, but hopefully that’s a good sign.
eclare
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Yay! The only social media I’m on is Twitter, and I never post anything and only follow about a dozen accounts. But if you post your cover on Twitter I’ll write a nice note!
Dorothy A. Winsor
@eclare: Thank you! It is a great cover. When I opened the email from my editor sending it, I said Oh My God!
Soprano2
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Our next couple of days are supposed to be in the high 90’s, then back down to the high 80’s again. The worst is when the temp is 75 degrees at 6 a.m., that day is guaranteed to be miserable.
OldDave
@ColoradoGuy:
They do. It’s supposed to be very quiet. GE (or whoever owns that name these days) makes a variant that has the ‘U’ pointing down, rather than up – the majority of the GE is below the window. I’d think the GE would be easier to install, but don’t have any direct experience. There are YouTube videos on both makes.
WereBear
@Dorothy A. Winsor: You’ll get my email :)
Soprano2
@eclare: Yeah, she had to “buy out” a year for her retirement. She said she was getting a lot of flak from some new staff member; I never understood the whole story, but the upshot was that this and the fact that she didn’t feel like she could take a week off to be with her adult daughter when she had a miscarriage and ended up in the hospital is what drove her out. She said because of the shortage of special ed teachers she had more students than one teacher should be expected to manage, and she was spending a lot of her own time at home writing IEP’s and other things like that, it just got to be too much.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@WereBear: Thank you. :-)
WereBear
@Dorothy A. Winsor: How else are people going to know, is the thing.
I never got much from Twitter. Lots of engagement, but no one was exploring my site. Moving to Mastodon was much better.
Booktoks on Tiktok might be fun. Just wear a hat or wave something mysterious. Be one of your characters, and tell a little of their story.
I film my cats endorsing my book.
Lots of young people there
ALSO, there are apps (I like Buffer) who have limited ability when free but might be all you need. Setting things up all at once can take some of the sting out of social media. Lets you release it into the wild at good times to will be seen.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@WereBear: I’ve seen your tiktok posts! You’re much more fun than I am on there.
WereBear
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I do have fun! Our youngest, panther Morgen, loves to film with me. Bumping the tripod, waving her tail in front of my face, nose booping on camera.
It’s also great to demonstrate training. I put a treat in a cat tree shelf. The cat appears. Lou, Morgen… Bud. Bud, your treat is right there. Come get it. I know you want it.
Which demonstrates cats are not reliably obedience trained because it needs to be their idea. Cat Circuses bring extra cats.
Bud is Method.
Glidwrith
@catclub: I found out if one has opinions on chiropractors, you get called in for the judge to speak directly to you, before being dismissed.
Geminid
@Gloria DryGarden: I saw some small swamp-type coolers in a hardware store the other day. They sold for $39.95. I couldn’t say how efficient they are but the people pictured on the packaging looked cool as cucumbers as they smiled at a little white box across the room.
lowtechcyclist
@ColoradoGuy:
My window units, which I got at Home Dopey two years ago, were pretty easy one-person installs, no outdoor platform needed. And each one cooled a pretty large bedroom.
The portable unit did a pretty decent job cooling our smallish living room.
opiejeanne
@eclare: I went to Methodist camps and loved it. They tried that stupid song on the kids and realized after the first time that most of us had our elbows on the table, and gave it up.
Almost all of the time at those camps was free time, and the Wrightwood camp was in the woods so we had lots of time to ourselves. I don’t remember a lot of preaching, I do remember a precocious 11 yo girl who announced one evening that when her undies dropped to the floor we would see the figure of the year. The rest of us changed into pjs in the dark because we were shy about being naked, and wondered what the heck was wrong with her. She was the only one who brought makeup and hairspray to camp. She tried to educate us about reproduction, and the word made me laugh because it sounded like a factory was involved. Mostly we just wanted to run wild in the woods, swim in the pool, play with the stuff in the craft room, and avoid the oatmeal for breakfast.
Kathleen
@SiubhanDuinne: Seems like he confesses to some new bizarre caper every day. Next: “I kidnapped an octopus and strangled a weasel.”
brantl
@Tony Jay: Jaysus, Maaary and Joooseph, Tony Jay, how cruel!
kindness
I’m hoping the storm put a little more water into your neck of the backwaters Betty.
Helena J Montana
We got almost 6 inches of rain yesterday in upper Pinellas, probably 3-4 more today. The bands of squalls are something else. I hope your boat wasn’t hurt too badly.
Lily
Gorgeous bird pic.
Big news for me today is seeing a basking shark in a nearby cove. Amazing. Hopefully just here to feed and will make her way out with the tide as it goes.
She is really big! Easily 26 feet, maybe more. There’s a call in to a marine ecology org in case she’s tangled in fishing net or something. She is swimming the way they do when feeding, but before that she was thrashing her tail around so I hope she’s OK. I took a video.
The ocean is unusually warm these days. A professional fisherwoman I know said the fishing is very poor right now—they don’t know for sure why yet.
I google-read up on basking sharks. They filterfeed off plankton, small jellyfish, shrimp, and microscopic things. Huge mouths, tiny teeth, long gill areas.
Gloria DryGarden
@Soprano2: I’d heard that too. Yeah, she’s so terrible at it. //s
Hasn’t she sometimes even medaled on the bars?
if you watch the routine again, it’s after ms nemour lands, they show people cheering, including Simone.
I have a friend in Springfield, btw. I wonder if she goes to your bar. That’s you , isn’t it, with the sports bar?
Gloria DryGarden
@Lily: I wonder if water girl would publish your video her, if you shared it. Gosh how amazing to see a basking shark.
Gloria DryGarden
@lowtechcyclist: that’s encouraging.
Cheryl from Maryland
@eclare:
@Gloria DryGarden:
Portables kept me alive as I waited for two weeks in above-90-degree temperatures for my new heat pump/AC combo (the vendor provided them as part of the deal). Just set it up by an open window, plug it in an outlet, and make sure you can sleep in front of it.