A July Abnormally Wet System (JAWS) is approaching the Northwest coast as I write this blog. The view from space is scary and unusual for this time of the year. It looks like a November satellite image.
Apparently the current system will be followed by JAWS2 and then JAWS3. It's going to rain forever. It's enough to make us buy bikes that will accept fenders. We used to have those, should have kept them, I guess. It rained like heck today, it never does that in July, if we get anything, it's drizzle. I can't decide if it's better than the last two summers (hot, dry, smoke) or not.
We got DSL today. It was an interesting process. Yes this is a first world problem, I know that. I called last Thursday to sign up for service. I scheduled activation for Tuesday, and was told that someone over 18 had to be on site. She couldn't give me a time, but told me to log on to their website to create an account and get the time window. Monday I tried to create the account; nope no account creation can occur until line activation. Okaaaay, how do I find out when the guy is coming? I was transferred to customer service who said it would be between 8 and 2 on Tuesday, and that they would call an hour in advance. So, we sat around Tuesday waiting. No call, no guy. I called customer service again - oh no, you don't have to be on site, the activation will be done remotely, and will be done at 5 pm. Every single person I talked to at Century Link told me something different, they are so aggravating! They just make me crazy.
Other things making me crazy are the whole Epstein thing and Acosta's breaking of the law when he failed to notify the victims before sentencing Epstein to 13 months on work release and now Acosta is attempting to justify his decisions as being kind to the girls. I'm also crazy because of journalists referring to the girls as "under-aged women." They were children. There is also the usual crazy making things of incarcerated children; Washington DC is running out of money because they haven't been paid for the inauguration or the 4th of July; and white people continue to call the police on black people who aren't doing anything wrong.
The USDA is also making me crazy.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that it’s suspending tracking the plunging honeybee population because of a budget shortfall.
The department will suspend data collection for its Honey Bee Colonies report, and officials did not say when — or if — it would be restarted. It will release data already collected from January 2018 through April of this year.
The number of honey bee hives, vital to pollinating crops for the agricultural industry and other plants for wildlife, plummeted from 6 million in 1947 to 2.4 million in 2008. The worst honeybee hive loss on record occurred last winter as beekeepers reported a 40% loss of their colonies over the year.
This is not good. One out of three bites of food was pollinated by bees. Do the people in charge of this administration not care about the devastating effects of no pollinators? How about for their children, or grandchildren?
Homelessness is on the rise in the Seattle area. The city keeps closing camps and forcing them to move on. I saw this in Renton. These are old people. It just hurts my heart to see this.
In other news, we had dinner with friends last night, it was just delightful. The deck flowers are looking good. I like the colors of the coleus and that purple flower whose name I can not remember. I planted those for years, but the name has departed my brain.
This is a chicken in a cast iron skillet. The grill is being used as an oven, and it worked really well. When we return to Tucson, I will acquire a cast iron skillet and we shall cook chicken like this, as well. We could also do things like pork roasts and other stuff.
Here V is checking the temperature of the chicken. It was really good. That's vintage cast iron, back when the surfaces were polished.
I've been reading reviews of cast iron today. The Lodge cast iron is the least expensive, but they don't polish. The polished ones cost more, but they weigh less than the Lodges. We will have to refine our problem statement to see which one would be the best. Reviews can be found here and here.
That's it, that's all of my whining.
I think I have ten pieces of cast iron. LOVE it. Look up Kent Rollins on the internet. He's got lots of how-to videos and reviews. The biggest thing about cast iron is to never use soap. Hot water only. So sorry about all the rain ... it's 105 here. I think I'd like the rain better!!
ReplyDeleteI have four pieces of cast iron handed down, all polished. I had another old cast iron skillet that eventually cracked and broke in two. I have 5 in all...2 10" skillets, two 6", and a dutch oven. one of the large skillets I bought at an estate sale for $10, an old one also polished. I like to find old ones because besides being polished they are already well seasoned. it would never have occured to me to cook a chicken in one on the grill. and no, NO hot water! that just ruins the seasoning. scrape out as much as you can then a little cold water with a soft scrubbie (as in those green things).
ReplyDeletewe have an early storm out in the Gulf but it's going to stay well east of us this time.
this country has become so heartless, the current government is cruel and cutting it's nose off to spite its face. and ignorant and stupid. not only are they stopping keeping track of honeybees they have OK a pesticide that is a know killer of bees to be sprayed on millions of acres of crops that attract honeybees! wtf is wrong with them? if something is science based they just flat out don't believe it. if Trump gets re-elected it would not surprise me if he rounds up the homeless and puts them in concentration camps too.
There is no solution to Trump but to defeat him at the polls. And the way to do that is keep the voters energized and registered. My voting age grandson posted on FB the numbers of teens who will be eligible to vote in the next election, if they are registered. I hope he is not just idle talk; I encourage him to ask if teens he knows or meets are registered and how easy that is to do in Ohio.
ReplyDeleteAre the flowers in the pot with the coleus New Guinea Impatiens? I do know what you mean: I used to be such an avid gardener, and now I can't remember the names of a lot of things I used to plant. It's all a matter of usage of that part of the brain, and mine has gone dormant, just like a perennial in the heat of the summer!
ReplyDeleteYes! Thank you, it's been driving me nuts not being able to remember.
DeleteSo much is crazy making right now, but i love the rhythm of your life, the forward motion, the pause with friends, the flowers in a corner of the deck, a new way to roast chicken.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the under-age women thing. Journalists have become reluctant to use the word "girls" because (I assume) they think it's anti-feminist -- but it's only anti-feminist when you're using it to refer to WOMEN, not ACTUAL girls. You know?!
ReplyDelete