75 years ago and 3 years ago

Today was the last normal day aboard the USS Indianapolis.   Tonight just after midnight in 1945 Mel my FIL was sleeping on deck as below deck the temperature was near 115 degrees when 2 torpedoes hit the flagship of the Pacific Fleet blowing the bow off the ship.

of the company of 1,197 880 made it off the ship but only 317 survived 5 days in shark infested waters as the navy decided the sinking was a japanese hoax and refused to investigate, even though an SOS was received.

And thus began one of the most covered-up and incompetent handling of a disaster in Navy history.  The ship sank in 12 minutes. 

Three years ago today Mel, a Marine on the ship who's job was to protect a crate that held parts of the atomic bomb, was set in the ground.  He was one of two  Marine's survivor.  We had lunch with Ed a number of times and what an amazing story teller he is.

I learned a lot about how to pass away from Mel as he was cracking jokes to the very end.  I pray when I pass I will he half as awesome as he was.  Thank you Mel.

If you have some time this will keep you riveted with the story.

https://youtu.be/tslQHkZt7dI


 Miss you so very very much Mel.
*******************

We made many great friends during the filming of Public Enemies and one was Susie. 

I am FURIOUS as Susie was diagnosed with cancer and her husband decided to leave her a few weeks ago. 

*******************

I have never seen one inning in MLB that had both teams FREAKISHLY inept.   The Pittsburgh Pirates decided to give the game to Milwaukee and Milwaukee decided to give it back. 

I believe in one inning   9 walks, 4 hits,  a couple of base running fails and I believe 2 errors?   IN ONE FREAKING INNING!

sigh

Side note - I LOVE the Extra inning rule AND the pitcher must face 3 batters rule.

************************

I cannot believe what I assumed  an intelligent business owner in Columbus spewed and spread anti-mask propaganda on Facebook.  I would not take my child to any business that does not believe Covid19 is real and believes masks cause more harm than good.   Period. 

WHAT! - we are a rural community and Covid19 won't come here? 

But the good news is that the latest spike is relaxing it's grip a LITTLE.    The odd thing is on 4 of the last 7 days there has been exactly 13 deaths.   It's an odd number to pick satan.

The CDC expects these 9 states to explode in deaths

Alabama - GOP Governor
Florida - GOP Governor
Georgia - GOP Governor
Idaho - GOP Governor
Nevada - DNC Governor
Oklahoma - GOP Governor
South Carolina - GOP Governor
Texas - GOP Governor
Utah - GOP Governor

What do these all have in common - just sayin'

***************************** 

 Took this shot of Gus yesterday on a walk 

remember the good ol days ? 

Have a great Wednesday - weekend is almost here 

Opening day . . and . . we're done

Baseball talk

Fourteen members of the Miami Marlins cannot leave Philadelphia because they have been tested with Covid 19. They immediately had games been canceled.   THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG.

and another game wa canceled today.

And people think there will be an NFL season?  I truly believe that is why the Packers drafted a QB - they knew there would be no season and "we" would lose a year of Rodgers.

The fake crowd on FOX broadcasts.   I dislike it unless it is there ALL the time, not just spotty which is stupid.

++

I was listening to the games this weekend with the Cubs and how they did not really add to their team BUT have 17 new coaches MANY of them have never played the game.  

 Bill James talked about this - how baseball is STILL one of the only sports where in order to manage a team you have had to actually play the game.   And really baseball is one of the few sports where playing a sport is not really needed to understand how to manage. 

in fact if you take all of the MLB managers - they all basically look the same.  Council is one of the few that look different.  It's creepy weird.  Football, hockey basketball you don't have to have played the sport. Baseball? You gotta LOOK like a manager. 

SO - MLB season is walking on the edge of the swamp, 57 more games in 60 days NOT including the second season where 14 of the 30 teams can go home and not worry about playing 20+ more games. 

MEANWHILE - yesterday I saw a race on the race network featuring NASCAR Heat 4 and a basketball game on the NBA network featuring  NBA2K19.   Is MLB The Show next?   All PS4 games.  

sigh!  

Peanuts Peanuts GET YOUR PEANUTS HERE  

NOPE - in a typical year 2.3 MILLION pounds of peanuts are consumed at MLB games.  farmers harvest peanuts in October in preparation to MLB and are not sitting bags and bags(2.3 million pounds) of $4 peanuts on them making zero money.

One fifth of the peanut harvest goes to MLB. 

******************************

The Blue Tsunami - The CEO of the largest cannabis operation (of course) said that if there is an actual blue wave there will be a LOT of states going legal with cannabis.  Of course he IS the CEO of a cannabis company so he WOULD say that.     

But with The White House, Senate AND House all goign blue this fall it will be interesting. 

A study of review of cannabinoids in autism spectrum disorder found results to be "promising, as cannabinoids appeared to improve problem behaviors, sleep, hyperactivity, and communication deficits, with limited cardiac and metabolic side effects" and that they generally helped to "reduce the number of prescribed medications."

Just gotta say - logging on out of curiosity this morning SunnySide in S Beloit has 14 different strains of cannabis.  I HONESTLY did not think I would ever see that in Illinois.   In my 48 years of never inhaling MOST are basically the same but a few really stand out I have heard.

One interesting thing is that violent crime has diminished in areas with legal cannabis.  Just sayin'. and OH - I am still not convinced legal cannabis is a good thing.  Decriminalized yes.

**********************   

 Covid19 - Wisconsin - it's not going anywhere but up!  and yes - I see an extra letter in average LOL

+++++++++++++++

OH = working on some interesting videos - up videos 

  

 

It's OPENING DAY!!

Golf - Well - it was about time.  Had a below average round at The Oaks.   The "sand" traps got me.  Whatever happened to sand being in sand traps, seems like just dried dirt now.

I had one hole where I was about 40 yards away from the green in a dirt trap. I CRUSHED that ball 100 yards as the bounce on my sand wedge REALLY bounced.  ACTUALLY  I was pleased with my game.  I have yet to miss a putt < 6 feet in my last 40 holes.  Just hit it, don't aim and over analyse the dang thing.  The longer you stand over the ball the less chance you have of making the shot.

SADLY getting off the tee was not as automatic as it has been.  I blame it on zero warm-up.  Still  48 ain't HORRIBLE.  I took a 6 on the par 4 14th and my average went down to 6.4   LOL  That hole is in my brain. 

******************

MEANWHILE - MLB opens today.  The odd thing is that if you are listening to Brewer games (tomorrow is opening day for the Crew) on the radio or TV and it's an away game the announcers are actually at Miller Park surrounded by monitors.

The longest road trip this year for the Brewers is Pittsburgh.  Going to be a strange year.

********************

We took a road trip to South Beloit yesterday for shits and giggles. Wanted to see what Illinois's largest cannabis dispensary looked like.     

It's nested between two huge truck stops just off the interstate.  19 registers.  Seems to still be relatively unknown.

In Illinois first 6 months they have added $59 million in taxes to the States budget by selling over $240 million in cannabis products.

The flat landers have broken records 3 months in a row in sales.

Sunnyside - South Beloit. 

+++++++
A study suggested a "a potential protective role for CBD during [acute respiratory distress syndrome] that may extend CBD as part of the treatment of COVID-19 by reducing the cytokine storm, protecting pulmonary tissues, and re-establishing inflammatory homeostasis."
+++
Aurora Cannabis Inc. is closing down some of its European operations.

this was issue #1 if High Times

In 1974 I purchased 4 issues from The Pipe Fitter on State Street knowing they MIGHT be worth something later in life.   My mom tossed them. Now worth $420 each  sigh!

 *********************

The GOP Speaker of the House of Representatives and four Republicans connected to him were arrested for bribery and money laundering (something Republican politicians seem to be REALLY good at) on Tuesday by the FBI.

A new fee added on to every Ohio electricity bill in the state steered $150 million per year through 2026 to two nuclear electricity plants located near Cleveland and Toledo.

The FBI alleges that the bailout — which also eliminated renewable energy incentives — was pushed through by the speaker in exchange for $60 million for a political group he controlled.

A common argument is that "all politicians cheat".  ummmm NO - they don't.  Show me a list of Democrats that have been put in jail and we can compare.

MEANWHILE - Trump calls people vandalising confederate statues thugs and they need to be arrested and put in jail  - HOWEVER - if you are accused for finding middleschool girls to force them to have sex with millionaires you are "wished well".
 
I can not wait for him to go to jail (money laundering for the Russians).

*********************

OH YEA BABY - I'm somebody.

CoCoRaHS (pronounced KO-ko-rozz) is a grassroots volunteer network of backyard weather observers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow) in their local communities. By using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive Web-site, our aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications. The only requirements to join are an enthusiasm for watching and reporting weather conditions and a desire to learn more about how weather can affect and impact our lives.

***********
 

So many things happened and composite decks

Last week I had my first haircut since January.  I decided to get it when Madison went all in on the virus and masks were the law. I went to my friend for 60 years and barber and SADLY a Trump cult  lover (We never talk politics).

WELL - no masks were worn in the shop. 

I was there - I had a mask - I got my damn haircut and will not go back.  No mask no business.

Then Friday morning balderdash and I golfed at Kestrel. I believe he had an 84 and I had ANOTHER new low of 86.  I have cracked the code off the tee (I've said this before) and from 190 yards I feel I have a chance of hitting the green  -WEIRD!
+++
Then it happened. My buddy Elweed called and I told him the bookie barber was not wearing a mask and he FREAKED OUT!  CANCEL Saturday.  He would not be a play date (also called a drink-a-thon) without me getting tested.

SO - DJ and I drove to Madison Friday afternoon and I had my brain poked with a swab.  Pre registered it took about 5 minutes and 15 minutes without pre registered.   Basically they stick a swap up your nose . . . WAY WAY up there.

I got my results back Monday as negative and will go to Ye Ol Garage Barbershop in Columbus from here on.
+++
SO - my brother has been hinting that we should make a trip to Kewaunee as it's been a while so DJ Gus and I drove up there yesterday - BRRRRRRR  The temp never got above 66 Monday  How can they live in that god forsaken land.

HOWEVER - a plan was to go to a beach and see if Gus liked the water.  He has webbed feet so we ASSUMED he would like it.

We went to Neshotah Park which is just south of the HUGE Point Beach . . beach ( so many HUGE solar farms up there around Point Beach -  MAMMOTH).   We got out and walked to the other side of a fence where dogs are allowed.  I dropped the leash and Gus saw some seaweed floating about 5 feet from shore and  IMMEDIATELY rushed into the water to get it.  Splash splash.

He seemed to realize maybe he was not suppose to and came out right away.  I took his leash off and tossed his ball into the water    O' BOY!!!!   He LOVED LOVED LOVED the water.   Dunking his head under the waves  to get his ball and swimming back. 

Once on shore he would shake himself off and roll in the sand   sigh!   BEST DAY EVER!  he loves the beach.

   
Back at the car we "dried" him off  and took off his collar and drove back to Kewaunee.  About an hour later he is dry and we are sitting around talking and he is all whiney for some reason. 

He is looking at us trying to communicate.  First DJ and then he is in front of me trying to communicate something.  He goes back to DJ and is LOOKING at her and she is saying "what do you want Gussy"  and he bows his head deeply.   

She looks at me and we both have a big ? above our heads.  Then he LOOKS at her and again  bows deeply .   CLICK, it comes to us. He wants his collar back on.   It goes on and he is happy again.   I am continually amazed at his brain. 

He cured Caydence of a terrifying fear of dogs.  Caydence was TERRIFIED to a point of fetal position in a corner if there was a dog in the house.  But standing with her back to the wall on the porch she tossed a ball and  Gus caught in mid air and walked up to her and dropped the ball at her feet.  It was a start of a love affair.  No more fear.  she now plays with him for hours.

He is teaching us HIS language and we are teaching him ours. 

*********************

Covid19 on 7/21/2020  Think where we would be if the GOP had not forced people to ignore the virus.  When the GOP took over the State, Wisconsin was averaging 359 cases a day - NOW?  868. 

Well done GOP - open those bars as they are critical to Wisconsin's youth. 

       *****************************

We purchased one of those point and shoot thermometers and have been playing around with it. There is a human mode and an object mode. 

We were sitting on the porch and it was 87 degrees out.  I took the thermometer to our composite deck to see how hot it was.  I knew it would be hot but when making a decision I asked about the "new" composite decks and was assured they were not as hot as the "old" composite decks.

I did not believe them but did like the idea of never painting and also knew that we rarely used the deck on hot days anyway.

The temperature of the deck on a sunny 87 degree day?    130.6
********************************

and don't even talk to me about a sports book.

I got an email saying they were updating their security and I needed to update my profile. 

OK then. All was good EXCEPT my user name.  The one automatically  entered was

Grinder12000@yahoo.c 

 WELL - that was incomplete  but I only had  20 spaces to fill in.  So maybe it's Grinder?  Grinder 12000?   Nothing worked.  Rod Melotte? 

I contacted them and they said enter my email - NOPE.  SO - they needed some more info on WHO I WAS.

Name  Birthday and PIN 

PIN? I don't have a PIN.   "The PIN you entered when you signed up"  THAT was 20 years ago and I have no idea. 

The next day - YOUR ACCOUNT HAS BEEN LOCKED!      WTF?   WHY? 

So I get on Chat and am explaining that I COULD log in  before I was locked - I knew EVERYTHING before and the guy says  Just enter your email address   I CAN'T 

"well - enter a valid user name"    WHAT IS MY USER NAME  "We can't tell you"   AAAAAGH! 

I tell them I HAD full functionality EXCEPT I need a valid user name.  "Email does not work?"
  NO - IT'S ONLY 20 characters!  " 

Well, after 45 minutes they unblocked and said I should enter my user name.  You mean the one that says WELCOME Rod Melotte which you would think would be my user name but it isn't? 

I'm afraid to even ask the question now LOL 

Carry on. 

 
   

Box office and Mars here we come.

Pageviews all time history

1,061,089

So what are the top box office draws from last weekend?  Yea - SOME theatres and outdoors are open - what are the top movies? 

#1. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back "The film tells the story of a waning empire’s efforts to eliminate an increasingly dire problem that is getting completely out of hand, so a totally escapist fantasy."

#2 Ghostbusters "where federal leadership fails to curtail a threat that scientists warned them about on multiple occasions and New York City suffers as a result"

#3 Jaws "a film where a city re-opens too quickly before a threat is fully contained" 

#4 Jurassic Park "where a callous corporation reopens an amusement park and puts their park employees in danger" 

total escapism

********************

Comet Neowise - I copied this from facebook and when I went to find the photographer I could not find the post it came from - you know that feeling.  I tried last night for a photo op but need a better location I think. 

***************

I'm a little surprised at the news coverage of Sunnyside in S. Beloit opening.  The largest dispensary in ILL.  

Last night it was nothing but "yipee"  in news coverage as the Mayor of South Beloit was so excited at the economic wonderfullness of the place opening.  

Meanwhile in Colorado they sold $192 million in cannabis products in May with about $48 million going into the state's coffers (what the hell is a coffer anyway and why are they still using them).

Arcview Market Research and BDSA forecast that worldwide legal marijuana industry revenue will grow another 38% to $20.4 billion in 2020.


*****************

Mars is under attack.  In the next few weeks China, America and the United Arab Emirates are sending a slew of missions to Mars.

America is sending a car size rover to Mars to collect rock samples that will return to earth in 10 years with said samples.

China is sending a rover and an orbiter and the U.A.E is sending a weather station that will orbit Mars.    All will get there in February.
+++++
Flights to Las Vegas are down 91.6%
++++++++++

It looks like zero movies will be released in theaters in 2020.  I REALLY want to see Tom Hanks newest movie  Grayhound but I won't spend MORE money on yet another streaming service that I will watch once a month.

GEE - I see all the paperwork from the Army Corp of Engineers about removing the Uday dam has been lost, thrown out or misplaced.  It's almost like SOMEONE who takes care of such things did not want council to see the recommendations a few years ago.

+++++++++++++++

    
Watch out for big storms today

Technology of the past

DJ and I were sitting on the porch with some wine and music and we were talking about whatever and a question came up about binoculares and wishing we had good ones as the ones we have now are $30 crap.

So I get my iPad and DJ gets hers and she is looking up good binoculars for birding and I'm looking at Cabelas.  We find some 3 good ones and see Cabela's is sold out of 2 of the 3 and I comment.

"Here we are looking to see what Cabelas' have in stock and what they don't have while listening to a music on a radio that is coming from a satellite that is getting the data from my phone".

All this when I started my techno life with this amazing techo adding machine.

THE MAGIC - BRAIN

This was my first adding machine and SO AWESOME for Strat-o-matic.  OMG - I wore this out.  I could do SO much before with this beauty and my slide ruler.   Of course I had a bamboo one AND still have it. 

BUT WAIT - in 1972 ( 4 years later) my dad purchased (?) an Ti SR-10 for $150    WOW - It's almost like I could go to the moon.   ALL FOUR FUNCTIONS 

I gotta say - my parents were pretty poor moving from apartment to apartment and moving from a beautiful home next to Jones dairy Farm in Fort Atkinson but then provided so many cool things that enriched my life.  Thank you mom and dad. 

Fun Fact - When I got my job as an intern for the State in 1987 my keyboard did not have a  " 0" or "1" .  You had to use an 'O' or a "I"  which makes zero sense to me but that was how it was.  To this day I have no idea why.  It was only for a few months before we were upgraded to a full keyboard. 

I THINK it was a space thing on the keyboards.   So weird.    

********************

Sad - heard that a road crew worker was killed this morning on 151 when a tow trucks boom came unattached and hit him. 

************************

And seriously Robin Vos - remember this guy? the one who said elections were perfectly safe and then helped showing us how safe it was? 

  

A very good friend of mine's son who posed for this image on the right and was being VERY good EXCEPT  . . . . he voted and then got infected. . . . .

WELL - Vos claims  that he could not attend his own state convention, citing other engagements? Poor planning if you cannot even remember one of the most important GOP state events.

So, which is it? Poor planning or another blatant lie? I'm pretty sure that the date was set a long time ago.

not unlike trumps big rally Saturday . . oh didn't hear about it?  It was canceled because there was a chance of showers EIGHT HOURS EARLIER than the event.

************************************

The Columbus Historical Society museum was open this past Saturday (2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month) and it is really a interesting place for all things historical in Columbus.  

I bring this up as when I was going through some of my moms stuff I found an old newspaper . . I mean OLD!!   On the envelope she writes the paper can't be more than a 100 year old UNLESS it's the real thing.  It LOOKS like the real thing.   Did they have copy machines 100 years ago? 

And as I was CAREFULLY looking at it and saw this.  Probably would be frowned upon in today's media. 

************************

Illinois largest cannabis dispensary opened today - a couple miles from the Wisconsin border.   7600 square feet just off the interstate.  Yea - I'm waiting for the new State Trooper department to open a mile away  LOL  

What I found interesting was on the news instead of talking about illegal cannabis crossing state lines they talked about  keeping cannabis out of the hands of children.    

I have been obsessed with all things "legal cannabis" as I find the whole thing fascinating even though I have never inhaled the evil weed on purpose.   

In numerous studies from Colorado and Washington - ODDLY, youth smoking cannabis has actually gone DOWN in states where it is legal.  Violent crime has dropped and vehicle deaths have dropped also.

So far this experiment is working.  Yea - there are a few bad things as people overtake edibles but if you weigh the good vs. bad the good is FAR out weighing the bad.         

************************

My buddy Elweed and another friend had a fight (verbal).   Elweed is a smoker of cigs and is VERY VERY concerned with Covid.  Well one friend who has never apologized for anything gets too close and is hovering over Elweed talking and Elweed says "social distancing" and other friend says  "well, hold your breath".   sigh

this did not sit well with a covid-o-phob.

to put this in proper perspective.  When I bring Elweed up to Columbus he sits in the back passenger side seat with a mask on. 

As of 7/13/2020  Wisconsin

   

Stealth Trainer. 

Not me

11 days total planking is 29 minutes and 25 seconds.  MUCH harder than actual planking.  So far so good.  I'm feeling it. OK - I'm only up to 1 minute and 20 seconds but think about exerting maximum effort in almost every muscle on your body for 1 minute and 20 seconds.  OMG.  Yet it's fun.

***********************

Have a great week - it's going to warm up for sure this coming weekend.

Cheers

Tough as Nails

I've applied for Survivor a few times but never Big Brother and nerver Amazing Race - the big three unscripted shows and being a coder I certainly will not apply for the newest unscripted show that has been getting some rave reviews  Tough as Nails.

Phil Keoghan, his wife, his daughter and his brother premiered their new show last night and it was outstanding.

They take 12 trades people (fisherman, drywaller, Marine Corp vet, roofer, sheriff, welder, scaffolder,  farmer, gate agent, forestry tech, ironworker) and in a singles and team competitions  challenge them to do other trade skill.  The first episodes had them shoveling coal 3 times their weight,  laying railroad tracks and building a perfect brick wall.

Fun show with a good cast all who have hands with calluses from hard work.  And some of those little guys will REALLY surprise you.    The woman 4th from the left.  "I have skills nobody knows about" can be credited with her team win. 

When her 5 companions were laying track she went and put in every spike straight up in its place about an inch deep.  Then once they got to the putting spikes in they just hammered away.  MEANWHILE the "strong" team put spikes in haphazardly and had to redo them as they were crooked.   

It's not just a strength show but detail.  She did not win the brick wall competition but EVERY brick was exactly 1/4 inch apart.  She built the perfect wall. 

This is must see television in a landscape of reruns.  I doubt we will see any new movies or series for at least 6 months if not a year so anything new that actually has some redeeming value (not like Love Island or crap like that) should at least get a chance.

I liked how Phil has professionals showing the contestants exactly how to do their job.  It's a fascinating show on the trades.

**********************

I believe there is no blue wave - it's a blue psunami.  I believe the left, because of the President, will take the House, the Senate AND the White House.  And the Trump will go to jail on tax fraud and money laundering for the Russians since the Supreme Court today said he is not immune to withholding his taxes.

**********************

at 10:00 it's 81 degrees with a 76 degree dew point - SEEMS HUMID!   good  cooling storms this afternoon.   talk about instability - there are things happening everywhere in the area.

So I commented on the weather on Facebook and someone made a comment basically saying WHY.  Everybody knows the weather.   I said actually no.  People are clueless about the weather.

So I JUST came in from helping a guy put up a easy-up on the golf course for a tournament today at Kestrel.   The guy had NO CLUE that there were storms coming this afternoon.  Then I talked to another person and mentioned the storms - NOPE - had not looked at the weather at all.

 Europeans are amazed that Americans pay SO MUCH attention to the weather.  I think it's because we have so much weather because of the varied topography of the United States.

WELL - I hope they get it in but I suspect they will be called off the course at some point.  Although in my experience lightning does not stop people from playing at Kestrel. 

Next 14 days of temps  BOLD weekends  BLUE rain chance above 50%

89, 83, 84, 77, 83, 88, 87, 86, 86, 91, 89, 89, 89, 89,

Look for over 1 inch of rain . . . unless the storms totally miss us

************** 

I'm getting sick of people with power screaming racist insults and then apologizing. TOO LATE - you showed your true colors.  Apology NOT accepted.   

Columbus vs. Columbus

WELL - the shit hit the fan on social media last night when the Columbus City Council voted to remove (not destroy) Chris Columbus from his little perch outside Columbus.

I swear if aliens came down and scooped up Chris nobody would have noticed for at least 5 years BUT - this year, it was a thing.

OK - my views, I know I know I like to keep my personal views hidden to the public but here we go.

I really did not give a crap either way except he looked like The Burger King welcoming people to the fast food section of Columbus.   It was an ugly monstrosity made of fiber glass.  Dan Amato gave it to Columbus (the town) decades ago and I really thank him for his generosity as he considered Columbus a great explorer which he was.

What got me was the vial comments about the towns City Council. Our elected officials that have all the information and were put into a no win situation.  THANK GOD they did not decide to have a referendum.

A referendum would tell me they were a bunch of cowards that can't make a tough decision.  But that conversation did not go far. 

One train of arguments was that the council should listen to the emails and vote how the emails and social media was responding.  WRONG.

Maybe I'M wrong but when I was on city council I felt I was hired because people trusted me to make decision that impacted the entire town.  I had more information and civilians.  Alderpersons are the one that LITERALLY think about issues all day every day.  Not just when they got onto social media.

I felt that even with a ton of people telling me how to vote - it was MY decision. I was voted into office because they trusted me to make MY best decision.

When I vote or a person for office I don't vote for his or her agendas. I vote for the person that I trust most that represents my ideals knowing that sometimes I won't agree.  But I still know that the person is making decisions for the benefit of the entire town while I might be more focused on MY personal view.   

SO - back to Columbus the person.  I was taught back in the 70s that Columbus was a great explorer AND a horrific human. That last part was swept under the rug and ignored because ignoring was was easy. 

Yet it took a 15 year old  with some big ass nerve to bring this forward to remove Chris.  BRAVO girl!  Your parents should be SO SO proud.  Talk about an amazing learning experience with city government and the worst of human kind at times.

Some of the adults insulting her were seriously ignorant bullies.   HECK  - I think the council saved Chris from vandalism or demolishment (was not sure that was an actual word LOL)  and if nothing happened this year it would continue  FOREVER.

I am proud that our city council  . . . . made ANY decision.   And for the adults that threw insults at the kids saying they are all lazy and selfish  . . . . well . . . kids imitate their parents right? you insult the kids you insult the parents at the same time.   Shut the fuck up adults and start acting like adults and stop the childish tantrums.

The kids were the adults on this one   BRAVO!

*****************************

So I wake up and the temp is 68 and the dew point is 67 - seemed muggy out.  My question is, what are the spiderwebs thingys on the ground looking like little tables ???

*****************************

Weather  Highs for the next 14 days  Weekend in bold   rain chance over 50% in blue

89, 89, 84, 85, 80, 83, 88, 89, 88, 89, 88, 88, 89, 90, 89

We are under magnificent HIGH pressure so wind is not really any factors.

************************
Wild animals are loving covid19.  There is been a 21% decrease of animals deaths in CA.  In California, Maine and Idaho alone 27,000 large animals will live instead of becoming road kill and we are not talking about squirrels and raccoons.  Mountain lion road kills are down 58% in CA.

***********************

MEANWHILE in Illinois - Retailers sold $47.6 million worth of recreational cannabis  and $12.4 million came from out of state (don't look at me, I don't have that much money!)

nuff said - have a great day
   

    

2 Miracles and White-throated sparrows

I got a little trolled for a post on facebook about upcoming weather being hot.  Something about "OH - people can't look to see the weather forecast?" 

ODDLY - no. it's surprising how many people NEVER look at a weather foraste OR watch the news.

SO - here are the high temps for the next 14 days starting today - weekends bold 

88, 88, 92, 91, 87, 86, 83, 86, 88, 89, 90, 90, 89, 90

**************

Miracle #1 

Gus is typically pretty good when laying in the yard watching golfers go by.  EXCEPT when one is looking for his ball in the tall tall grass.

"I WILL HELP YOU FIND YOUR LITTLE WHITE BALL"  and he runs out and starts looking for the golf ball with the golfer.

I go out and apologize and then his friend in the middle of the fairway says something

"OH LOOK YOUR FRIEND IS SAYING SOMETHING - I WILL GO AND MEET HIM"

And Gus runs to the fairway to meet his newest best friend.  If course tail is wagging and he is SO happy to meet his new friend.

The guy gives up looking ( like 100% of golfers) and the fairway guy gives Gus a ball to take back to his friend.

"I WILL TAKE YOUR LITTLE WHITE BALL TO MY NEW FRIEND IN THE TALL GRASS".

And Gus runs back and drops the ball next to his friends feet.   I was shocked.

THEN    Miracle #2 

Caydance (11) and Sydney (9) have been terrified by Gus for years.  TERRIFIED!  They have not come to grandmas and grandpas house EVER in 3 years.  HOWEVER - Bailey who is 3 (??) has zero issues with Gus at all and in fact Bailey picked up a ball and threw it and Gus caught it.  A lightbulb went off in Bailey (autism) and she and Gus worked together to toss and catch. MEANWHILE DJ was filming it all.

Well, Jenny said it was time and showed Caydence and Syd what Baily and Gus were doing - it was time for them to face their fears.

Sydney was first in and stood straight up like a little trooper as Gus wagged his tail and was "calm"  while Caydence curled up in a corner in the fetal position.

All was going "ok" and we were on the porch when Caydence in the corner picked up a ball and tossed it.  Gus, who is amazing at catching (seriously he would be a 1 SS in Strat-o-matic) caught it and again . . . a light bulb went off and before we knew it Caydence and Gus were playing a toss and catch game.  Then we told Caydence to look at Gus and say "sit".  She did and Gus immeadielty "sat".

OMG - it was awesome.  Both kids now want to visit all the time. They both faced their fears and came through AMAZINGLY and Gus was the perfect doggie.  It was like he knew how to tone it down and be careful.

We went into the downstairs and Syd learned how to play pool and Caydence and Gus played together for a few hours.

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As I wait for the newest iteration of The Golf Club (next month) which keeps getting bought out by bigger and bigger software companies (now EA is in control) I was looking for a NASCAR racing game for a PS4.

I have spent literally thousands of hours of my life behind a virtual steering wheel.  I have always felt it is why I have never had a moving violation or accident even though I consider myself on the low end of being an aggressive driver. 

Elweed is always amazed when I say a car two cars ahead of me wants to change lanes.  And then he does.  There are so many "tells" when driving and I believe racing games have taught me to always be looking ahead.

WELL! even though NASCAR Heat 5 is coming out this week it means NASCAR Heat 4 is REALLY cheap now.  I'm not really into adjusting the shocks and so forth - I just want to drive and race. Thus let's go cheap. 

I've played Need For Speed and Grand Turismo. Both great but I wanted to race.

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The Stealth Trainer Day 5.  Actually day 7 but I erased my first 2 days once I learned how to play the games.   It's still awesome.   On a facebook page a guy weighting WELL over 350 was using the yellow trainer with a much better technique then I can do.

I've been doing it maybe 3-4 minutes a day which sounds pretty weak but . . in my normal out of shape times I could plank maybe 1.5 or 2 minutes tops.  I'm up to 1 minutes on this and it is MUCH MUCH harder but so much more fun.   I started at 15 seconds and have worked up to 1 minutes  LOL

DJ took this photo near the end of my 1 minute and my ass was sinking (notice hair that has not been cut since January . . is it really that gray?).  I said take a photo EARLY when I still have good form . . . and I get one with 10 seconds to go and I abs are exploding BUT - I'm still off the floor.

But even after 5 days I can tell a small difference in my triceps and abs.  I mean how often can you see ANY results after working out for 12 minutes and 50 seconds in 5 days.  It's hard but only for a minute.

The GOAL is 3 minutes. The record 1:30:28   GET OUT OF TOWN!!  My record 0:01:00 on my toes. 

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The White Throated Sparrow in Canada is changing their tune and nobody knows why.  Birds change their songs but normally over a 100 years. Not 20.  But on the east coast of Canada  the White Throated Sparrow started to change his normal ‘Oh, my sweet Canada, Canada, Canada,’ to Oh, my sweet Cana– Cana– Cana– Canada.’

And for 20 years they have seen the new song slowly move west EXCEPT for a pocket on the east coast that refuses to change.  Nobody knows why but speculation is that since it's the males that sing the song trying to attract females MAYBE the females are finding the new tune "out there" or "something new" and it's attracted to the new song. 

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Meanwhile in Wisconsin Covid19.  An 86% increase in infections in the last 2 weeks.

   
 
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I'm getting my car detailed by Jordon Prosser this morning $50.  Jordon graduated from Cbus this year and looks to be going into welding at MATC.  Great choice. Big big money in welding = and you can pretty much go anywhere in the country (stay away from AZ, TX and FLA). 

Carry on! 

Cheers  stay cool


 

Oh I do love Nitrous.

I'm pretty sure the golf gods will strike me down but I'm el fuego golfing with my new (remembered) technique.

I had to sub last night as the guy I was subbing for is in quarantine as a co worker got infected.  The team was in first place and I think I helped as I hit 7 out of 9 fairways last night with a 44.

Seriously though.  A few weeks ago I got so tired of watching golfers freeze over the ball like they had never stood over a ball before.   How can you get any rhythm that way.  So I tried something old that worked in that past.

Walk up to the ball and hit it.  yea yea you aim and so forth but once the club stops next to the ball.  HIT IT!

Off the tee I've been doing the same thing.  Place the ball on the tee, straighten up, grip the driver with the left hand move the clubhead to the far side of the ball and like in a slot bring it back in to the correct position, right hand moves to the grip and swing immediately.  Whole thing takes like 5 seconds.

same on the fairway and same thing putting.  I have not missed a 5 foot putt in 36 holes (knock on wood).  No time for yipes.   

REMEMBER - I'm not a great golfer by any means with a 21.1 handicap so anytime I feel I'm doing SOMETHING right I have to write it down. 

I might have been a little better but on hole #1 I realized . . . . I was missing my 7i which is my #1 chipping iron.  Messed me up once as I tried a 6i and a 8i with horrendous results.

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I've been staying out of the Columbus statue issue as much as I can but geez, last night when someone said ALL of Columbus students are lazy  . . . . well . . . . (as I said in my post) Typically kids imitate their parents so what she was saying was ALL Columbus parents are lazy.

I believe kids are FREAKING amazing these days.  They are SO much more informed then when I was a kid.  I feel sad when thinking back to my middle and high school days and how we would make fun ( I really don't think I did) of mentally challenged or even "ugly" kids. 

Now?  In schools kids with down syndrome are buddies and made homecoming queens and kings?  Are those the students she feels are lazy and selfish?

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If you have not seen Sarah Connor you are missing something

https://youtu.be/SUTYsl9TTvA


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Steak Diane.  I had heard of Steak Diane but did not have a clue what it was.  It was mentioned on Modern Family and I had to look it up. It's a pan fried beef steak with a sauce made from season pan juices which is prepared next to the table and often flambeed.

BIG hit in the 1940s to 1960s and is now considered retro.  As we all know it's similar to "steak au poivre".

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Had an implant done yesterday.  I now have amazing abs.

OK OK - tooth.  OH - I do love Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas).  Red Merlot has a few nitrous stories from the late 70s.  I believe the statute of limitations must be up by now. . . . . we shall leave it at that.     

BUT! the actual "implanting" is pretty smooth (as long as the N2O is turned up to 11 . . which I did ask for AND received . . . . . . I believe I started talking about edibles at some point and how they do not affect me . . sadly (true)).

OH - an implant is the screw that goes into the cadaver bone that was pumped in a few months ago.  The cadaver slurry hardens and then yesterday a screw is inserted into it so in a month a new tooth is put on it.  easy peesy.   

Red Merlot has a history of talking under sedation . . . I had a knee scoped a few decades ago and was having valium slowly dripping in me and I was watching the procedure on a screen.  I was commenting about  how it looked like Jacques Cousteau and the doctor told a nurse to give Mr. Melotte some more medicine.    zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I woke up with a nurse leaning over me and commented on her breasts.   I would have been a poor prisoner in WWII.

OH - I'm reading The Rising Tide By Jeff Shaara - it's about the North africa in WWII

Have a great day and stay cool!  Expect hot temps AT LEAST to the middle of July.  We are in the dod days of summer all of a sudden

Cheers