Gah. Dear Authors.

If you are going to have guns in your book, please be a little knowledgeable and specific.  My current book has the bad guys running around with a "machine gun."  I don't know what the author means by that.

I Wasn't Sure We'd Survive

But we're doing OK.

The Good News And Ow!

The good news is that both the well pump issue and the HVAC issue were the result of fried components in control panels, not the complete death of systems.  The AC crapped out completely last night, but I have been fortunate in finding service folks who are honest and are as prompt as possible while not trying to up-sell me things.  I suspect that the power failure we had just before this started had something to do with it - when the power came back on the surge fried some older components.  But, anyway, this week cost me $900 as opposed to the thousands it might have been - the estimate for the well pump replacement alone was $4600.

The Ow! is from Petey, an adorable mixed pitty who is one of Copper's dog park friends.  He greeted us so happily yesterday and rocketed up to give me a doggie kiss.  He has a really hard head.

Sigh

My house is 17 years old.  I've started replacing things here and there and actually caught a huge break in having a hail storm (referred to as Hell Storm by my insurance agent) give me a new roof for the cost of the insurance deductable.  But yesterday I noticed something was going on with the heat pump.  And then the well pump kept kicking off.  The HVAC guy will be here next week.  The well guy came today.  The well pump is shot.  It's 750 feet down.  It will take a crane to pull it.  Which is going to cost more than the pump will.  Now is not a good time to be pulling from one's IRA...

Apparently It Got So Hot...

...my dog melted.

Ummmm....

These are the CHAZ/CHOP folks that the Seattle authorities can't take 6 blocks back from?

Seems Like Just Yesterday...

...that we were being lectured about not condeming a whole group of people for what a few did.

By the same people who are now condeming all police.

Is This, Like, The Year Of The Snake?

Yesterday, a rattlesnake.  Today, on a walk by the river, it was a brown water snake making a valiant attempt to get a way-too-big and still flipping fish up from the river.

The Morning's Excitement

Fortunately I watch for just this sort of potentual surprise when Copper and I are on a trail.  I saw it before pup had a chance to get nosey.

Nice sized timber rattler coiled next to the Appalachian Trail.

Happy Birthday, Hattie!

Born in Wichita, Kansas, on June 10, 1893, Hattie McDaniel was the daughter of two former slaves.  According to Wikipedia:

In addition to acting in many films, McDaniel recorded 16 blues sides between 1926–1929 (10 were issued), was a radio performer and television star; she was the first black woman to sing on radio in the United States.She appeared in over 300 films, although she received screen credits for only 83. 

McDaniel has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood: one at 6933 Hollywood Boulevard for her contributions to radio and one at 1719 Vine Street for acting in motion pictures. In 1975, she was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame and in 2006 became the first black Oscar winner honored with US postage stamp. In 2010, she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame.

And, of course, we all know that she was the first black to win an Oscar.

And now she's being erased because I'm racist. 

911 Call

Minneapolis 911 Dispatcher:  " What is the nature of your emergency?"

Caller: "Someone's shooting up the store!"

Dispatcher: "I'm sorry, but funding has been re-allocated to unicorns farting rainbows.  Please call back when you have one of those type emergencies.  Have a nice day!"

Click

They Might Want To Re-think The Wording, Given The Times...

Having once gotten their catalog, I get regular e-mails from Henry Repeating Arms.  One of these days I may unsubscribe but until then, it gives me things to dream about.

When I looked at my inbox and saw today's email, I burst out laughing.

Given that our cities are burning, the 'burbs are now being threatened in some areas, police are being overwhelmed and unsupported, idiot liberals are saying idiot things and giving support to violent rioters and looters, the definition of  "pest" and "varmit" may mean something other than ground hogs to some folks.

Now back to dreaming...

They Seem To Have A Costume

Antifa does.

Pretty distinctive.

Reminds me of the red sashes the bad guys in "Tombstone" wore.  And the same thing that happened in "Tombstone" should happen to Antifa.

Yeah, I'm at the more than sick of it point.