It Started With a New Smoke Detector

Aaargh, it has been a few days.  On the Summer Solstice we changed all the smoke detector batteries.  It's an annual event for us.  In 2022 we did them, and the highest one in the house would not stop chirping afterwards.  They're aging out.  That detector was installed over a painted surface.  Jim took it down and put a blank plate over the hole, and then all was well.  This time, the second highest detector started chirping and would not stop.  Unfortunately, it was not on a painted surface.  The contractors painted around it, so there was white paint showing after it was removed.  As we have previously learned, thou shalt not put a 10 year battery smoke detector over the place where a hard wired one lived.  The white paint was too large to be covered by a blank plate.  

We don't have the paint codes for the ceilings.  The color is close, but not identical to the walls.  So, we decided just to use the wall color, this house is so poorly lit, it would not be all that noticeable.  Except, of course, for the entry into the room that has no purpose.  It's 40ish inches wide, and we needed to span the gap with a straight paint line.  We got a 1x2 piece of stock.  I sat on top of the ladder and held it against the walls and the ceiling, and Jim cut the paint in.  Since our paint was different, we had to paint the entire ceiling for one little piece of white paint.

We've never painted a ceiling before, especially such a long one.  This is Jim, on the ladder cutting things in.  Rolling the ceiling was a pain.

Anyway, the line over the entry way to the other room turned out ok.  It's there, but who looks at the ceiling.  What I find so weird is the hall ceiling, and the walls are the same paint code.  Look how different they look depending on the light. 

I hate working on ladders.  They're just exhausting.

Today we went to a landscaping materials place and bought rocks.  They're basalt, and they are very heavy.  We have marmots.  The miles of basalt cliffs are not good enough for them, they must tunnel in my yard.  They go up through the basalt boulder retaining wall and then burrow into the yard.  AI tells us: Marmots are large, ground-dwelling rodents in the squirrel family that construct vast and complex burrows. Their burrows can stretch up to 200 feet long and dive over 5 feet deep. These intricate tunnel networks act as living spaces, nurseries, and hibernation dens.  We don't want this in the front yard.  There is already a small section in the yard that is collapsing due to them digging.  So, rocks are being employed to try to block their access.  We're going to have to go back and buy more, we need little ones for wedging them in.

We're really hoping we don't have to mortar them in, I just do not want to do that.  When we had the RV and contemplated buying a house, we used to wonder what would we do all day.  This, this is what you do.

And this is where you go to scavenge small pieces of basalt.

It's hard to believe it's the end of June.  It's cold, it's overcast, and it's raining some.  It's better than being in Europe where they are baking, but summer would be nice.

Life and the G7

We've had a bumper crop of baby marmots this year.  We drove by a facility on Indian Trail Road, and their yard was full of them.   We've got one trying to establish a burrow in the front retaining wall.  This will not stand.  Lest you think I am unfeeling about critters, there are miles of basalt cliffs behind the neighborhood that are very tall, and they could all be happy there.  They do not need to be here digging.

There is not too much happening here.  The guy across the cul de sac is getting a new roof.  His crew keeps odd hours.  The house up the hill from us has a crew that worked until 9pm last night.  Different work ethic.  Across the cul de sac crew is doing other work along side the roof so they're part time, that would annoy the living snot out of me.  

It has warmed up.  We're riding.  There is a lot of this blooming in the park.

47 went to the G7 where he lost his way several times.  The other attendees would go get him and bring him back to the fold.  There was a fair amount of this, as well. 

We're not convinced he knew where he was, or why.

Macron invited him for dinner at Versailles.  That is where Germany signed the surrender papers after WWI.   While 47 was there, he signed surrender papers to Iran, as well.  We don't think he understood the optics of signing there.  Macron played him.

Meanwhile, the Reflecting Pool is full of algae, the blue coating is coming up due to the use of hydrogen peroxide to kill the algae, and the entire thing is becoming a lost cause.  Uniformed officers of some sort are arresting tourists who are reaching in to get a sample of the floating blue coating.  I have no idea what they're charging them with.

Other than that, life moves on and the ice maker has quit making ice.  I am very annoyed about this. 

The Lake and the Ongoing Turmoil

 Long time, no post.  I keep meaning to, but then something else needs doing.  

Jim has been busy prepping for the annual HOA meeting.  They hold it at Round Table Pizza, which gives me a window into how much pizza restaurants are charging these days.  It's just highway robbery.  It's not very good, so we never eat there.  Actually, I have quit going to the annual meeting, I've been hearing about it and proof reading what Jim is putting together, and so I don't feel the need.  The house hold is well represented.  Jim is VP of the board, and point of contact for entrance gate issues.  

It has warmed up enough to ride.  We went yesterday, there was a fresh little breeze in effect.  This is from a few days ago.  There was a huge logging of someone's yard.  The truck bed in the back is full, and there are more logs waiting to be removed.  We wonder why they took so many trees out.  

There is also this to wonder about.  Look on the right side of the photo, about midway between top and bottom.  What is that reflecting the light?  It's really bright.  I need to take my camera with the big lens and get a better image of this.

I can't think of the name of these plants.  Iris?  They're now past their prime, but they were pretty about a week ago.

This is from yesterday.  The boat ramp was busy, some people were not moving their boats to the outside of the ramp, thus making it impossible for other people to off load or pick up their boats.  These people are elderly and it was a struggle for them to walk the boat around.  Then the engine wouldn't start.  Eventually, they got it all together and were able to leave.

The Iran war continues to be off and on.  It's like Schrodinger's cat; is it dead or is it alive?  

The reflecting pool, which has been open for 2 or 3 days, is now full of algae.  The genius who had it painted drove his motorcade through it, which damaged the coating, he removed the filtration system Obama had installed, and now it is a stinking fetid swamp.

A pilot contacted the FAA about the lights on the cage for the UFC fights being blinding when landing at Ronald Reagan airport.  Apparently no one cares, and it was suggested that they contact the White House.  There will be a ground stop at Ronald Reagan for July 4, something that has never happened before.  47 must have have his stupendous fire works.  All the other administrations were aware of and careful of flight safety.

There has been interesting stuff on twitter this week.

AI is crashing because everyone has realized all it does is remix things that people have already done and there is no way to make it better because it doesn't actually do anything. They tried to build a castle on BS and now it is all collapsing into the shit.
Posted by Blade of the Sun

13 workers left Palantir and issued this statement. "Palantir is increasingly complicit, normalizing authoritarianism under the guise of a 'revolution' led by oligarchs. We must resist this trend."
Posted by Blade of the Sun

The real reason why the country is crumbling apart is because the elites of both parties just see America as an economic zone. The proletariat of the right think you can fix this by making the country only white. The proletariat of the left think you can fix this by embracing more racial diversity. Both sides fail to realize that the main problem is that elites (who are above left vs. right) see America as a corporation meant to be sucked dry at any costs possible for their personal gain. If you don’t believe me, ask any rich person you know if they culturally identify more with Paris or Pennsylvania. 
Spenser Hakimian

After Mexican officials confirmed a case of screwworm in Nov. 2024; USDA, under Joe Biden, closed southern ports of entry to live cattle imports to prevent spread of screwworm into U.S. Move also strained supply of cattle in Texas.... USDA reversed course in Feb 2025, after Trump took office, announcing opening of ports.
From the Texas Tribune

The average lifespan of a female screwworm fly is 10 to 30 days, once they lay eggs in an open wound they hatch and the maggots feed for 7 days before dropping to the ground, burrowing into the soil and emerge as adult flies. Tell me then how can the first screwworm case detected in the US on day 498 of the trump presidency be Joe Biden's fault???????

Posted by Covie

And there is this.  I love this for 47,
Cocchiarella: There’s a 100% chance of bugs. That’s a real stat. So Trump’s acolyte, Dana White, has literally lined the cage with industrial fans to blow the gnats off the fighters. For this octogenarian’s birthday, the failing, aging king—decaying in real time—has decided to throw himself a giant blood-sport party on the palace lawn to prove that he is still strong. And heaven responds by sending a heat wave, a thunderstorm, and a literal plague of insects down on top of him.  There is also a chance of hail and a tornado.  

That's it!  

 

The Roof is Done and the Climate

 It's June 7 - the sun is out, the wind is up and it's cold.  I would really like it to warm up a little.

This is the house before the roof.  It's not a beige house, it's a slight yellow.  The roof was green.

After.

This morning they came and took the trailer away out of the driveway.  Now both cars can live inside.  We are very happy about that.  We took the Jeep out to Spokane Valley to the no-touch car wash out there, it looks much better for being washed and waxed.

Yesterday we made pot roast.  We went to WinCo  on Friday, and they had a decent looking pot roast in the counter.  Yesterday it went in the crock pot.  It's a simple recipe, I'm not sure how I make that much mess on the counter.

Jim browned it in a cast iron skillet on the grill.  He does a better job at that than I do, I get impatient.

It was good, but the first one we did was better.  There's no fat rising to to the surface in the fat separator so I suspect this was a Select grade of meat, while the Safeway meat was Choice.  It had a lot of fat.  The WinCo roast was also $2.50 a pound less money.  It's always a trade off.  Anyway, two more meals are available from this, and we're going to eat them.

There is currently a stink about a provision in the NDAA, National Defense something something.  It's Section 224.  Thomas Massie has this to say about it: "If the provision in the NDAA to integrate/synchronize the U.S. and Israeli militaries (section 224) makes it out of committee, I’ll offer an amendment to strip it from the bill on the floor."  There is also section 622 that wants to do the same with intelligence.  It also proposes that future presidents can't undo the changes.  The US intelligence agencies are issuing red alerts on Israeli spying as it is, I don't think we need to make it any easier.  These bills are  disturbing me.  Netanyahu has confirmed that this was his idea and his plan all along.

The Super El Nino is coming.  The climate scientists are up in their hair about this.  Saying things like, "The only effective response is climate action equal to the crisis — ending the addiction to fossil fuels, accelerating the shift to renewables, protecting the most vulnerable, and delivering early warning systems for all."  Right then, 47 is giving money to run coal fired plants, and he outlawed new wind turbines in the US, and he pulled up all of the sensor buoys.  There is an article here.

This is a model generated map of how it will be.  Look at the Arctic and northern Canada.  Hopefully this model is wrong.  Interestingly enough, the South west of the US will not be all that hot.
 

In other terrible news that you can't do anything about, there is concern the the AMOC is slowing down.  Too bad someone pulled all of the ocean sensor buoys out of the water.  I talked about AMOC here.

That's it!  That's all I've got.

Roofing and Screw Worms

Wednesday the shingles and other roofing stuff were delivered to the roof.  That required a giant crane.  Here is a short video.

It was unfortunate timing.  The delivery company is swamped because it's roofing season, so everything was deposited on the roof prior to any tear off being done.  One guy handled all of those packages of shingles by himself.

This guy drives the crane with a body worn controller.

So that was yesterday.  Today there has been incessant pounding as they take off the old roof.  They're having to move the packages of shingles as they advance on their location.  They're picking them up, and dropping them in the new location, which makes the house shake and rattles the glasses.

Mid-day we were able to get a ride to the lake in.  The climate was interesting, cloudy, sunny, and windy with a cool air mass.  We guessed correctly on the clothing and kept it all on.

We recently learned the following.

Located in the far eastern part of the state, Spokane and the surrounding Inland Northwest are among Washington's notable eastern tick areas, especially for Rocky Mountain wood ticks and western dog ticks. The region's dry climate, rolling hills, and open pine forests create a favorable habitat for Rocky Mountain wood ticks (Dermacentor andersoni) and western dog ticks (Dermacentor similis).  One illness associated with tick bites in this region is tularemia. Symptoms include a sudden fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, and a skin ulcer near the bite. Early treatment of tularemia with appropriate antibiotics is essential. 

We are not walking through tall grass anymore.  It's safer just to stay in paved areas or wide gravel paths.  There had been discussion of new mountain bikes for riding trails up here, but I think that's off the table.  Riverside Park, which is where we ride, was specifically called out in the linked article.

Screwworm has been detected in Texas, USDA confirmed - marking a serious threat to US cattle and other animals Larvae of the parasite were found in the umbilical cord of a 3 week old calf. Screwworm was eradicated from the US in 1966.  Unfortunately, screening and surveillance was discontinued and now they're back.  This is not good. 

Meriweather Farms posted this: Three counties in Texas have declared local state of disaster declarations on the New World Screwworm: Kinney, Jim Webb and Uvalde Three others are pending: Webb, La Salle and Val Verde The reasoning behind these declarations is because they feel they are not getting the federal nor state support needed to combat this crisis Its long past due for the President to declare a National Emergency Declaration so local officials on the front lines are getting the support they need.

If the inspector shows up in a timely fashion, tomorrow will be putting on the new shingles.  They'll be running a compressor and using a nail gun.  It will be good when this is over.

Window Wells and the Administration

Greetings Earthlings. We have spent the last four days doing maintenance on the window wells.  Spokane is the only place I've ever seen this style of building, which is not to say no one else does it.  There are two bedrooms downstairs, there has to be emergency egress in case of fire, so they put in windows that are partially below grade.  I have to tell you, the idea that a little kid will be able to open the windows, boost them selves out of the window, and then climb up the rusting metal ladder unaided is just stupid.  

Anyway, we've been recaulking and then painting the ancient window frames.  The worst part of all of this, is getting in and out of the well.  This is me moving dirt away from the window.  New gravel was added to keep dirt from bouncing up when it rains.  Notice the ladder on my right.  It's not secured to anything, there's nothing to hang on to when climbing out.  I hate ladders as it is.

Here is Jim painting.  He's 5 foot 11, you can see how deep these suckers are.  Thus far we've had one baby rabbit fall in (twice) and one quail chick.  Both were successfully rescued.

 Today was probably the last good day for the fried egg peonies.

Who knows what the AMOC is?  It's this.  The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a massive system of ocean currents in the Atlantic Ocean that acts as a global climate conveyor belt. It transports warm, salty surface water from the tropics northward to Europe, and sends cold, dense deep water back south.  It's critical to maintaining temperatures in Europe, and the tropics.  Currently the rate of flow is slowing.  How do we know this?  Science.  The US spent many years and dollars putting buoys in the oceans to keep track of temperatures, salinity, flow rates, and the AMOC.  47 in his infinite wisdom is having all of the buoys removed.  Now NOAA can't surveil the oceans.  This is just devastating for the US and the rest of the world.  Here is an unlocked article from NYT.  Of all the things that man has done, this has hit me the hardest, stupid just stupid.  Here is an AP article that's slightly better.

This is what NSF had to say about the reasoning behind this.  “…aligns with N.S.F.’s wider strategy to have a nimbler approach to prioritizing support for evolving scientific priorities and emerging technologies as well as a deliberate approach to smart life cycle management within its portfolio of research infrastructure.”

Iran has quit talking to the US.  They have the Strait of Hormuz, we have nothing to threaten them with.  When asked how he felt about this, 47 had this to say.

"I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less."

That's also what he said when asked about how he's feeling about the current US cost of living and people struggling to pay for gas and food.

Then there is this from Larry Ellison, supreme ass hat of the entire universe.  I'm not sure exactly who gave him the job of global surveillance.  

There is just so much about which to be outraged, but I think I'm just going to give it a rest.