The Yard and Current Events

The wildlife people have been flying helicopters very low to the ground.  As it turns out, they're doing deer management.  So, they fly really low, when they spot a deer they shoot it with a tranquilizer dart.  Then one guy jumps out, attaches an ear tag and a radio collar.  Pretty cool.  We had two in the back yard yesterday, no collars were seen, however.

Look at the size of those ears.

Now that the saga of the irrigation system is done for now, we don't have much to do in the yard.  Since we don't know if we're going to be rendered poverty stricken by President Elon, we're holding off on the rock refresh until next year.  Our rock is looking pretty sparse, it gets ground into the ground and eventually you have to put more rock down.  Our irrigation guy also does rock, I am too old for that.  So, today we washed the car, cleaned some in the house, went back out, washed the bikes and then it was time to use the rowing machine.  It was a productive day.

This is the Brittlebush I mentioned awhile back.  It's hard to get a decent photo, the sun is too strong.  It looks like it will bloom soon.  You can sort of see the hints of yellow.  He's very happy to be on a drip line.  The neighbor's looks like it's half dead.

This is some sort of a cactus.  The long white curly things are its protection from herbivores.  It, too, is difficult to photograph.  I'm pretty sure it's alive, it's tough to know.

Oleanders, highly allergenic and poisonous.  The roots, stems, leaves, flowers, seeds, fruit, nectar and sap are all incredibly toxic to people and dogs.  I guess maybe I should wear gloves when pruning.  They make good hedges and they flower.  These were planted to screen the utility boxes in the corner of the yard.  We also have big ones in the back, who are much happier with their lot now that the giant Sages are no longer blocking the light, and they're on drip lines, too.

Here is a quote from Steve's blog that resonates with me.  I am not going to write about this every day. I am not, I am not, I am not.  And yet, these are things that I will want to recall later.  When I go back to what I wrote in the first reign of terror, it's interesting how much I don't remember.  So, here are highlights.

Feb. 5

Musk people invade NOAA.  NOAA employees receive a directive not to talk to or work with foreign nationals.  47 wants to sell NOAA off, and make people pay for weather reports. 
Musk people are in the Medicare and Medicaid payment software.
Head of DOT says this:

47 now says Palestinians won't be relocated permanently, they'll be able to come back.  He has changed this story about building a Gaza Riviera, I think it's a distraction.
The CIA sent an unencrypted email to the White House listing every person they've hired in the last two years.  This is a major security breach.
The US Military Academy, West Point, has disbanded clubs for women and minorities because no DEI.  I assume the KKK club is still OK.  This is just cruel, petty bullshit.  Cadets need a safe place to congregate.

Feb. 6

A 23-year-old representative from Elon Musk’s DOGE was granted access to the Energy Department’s IT system on Wednesday by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, sources told CNN. This despite objections from people in the agency, which controls access to info about the US nuclear weapons.
47 says we're going to replace the Air Traffic Control system.  All at once, using a single vendor.  What could go wrong?

The dismantling of USAID continues to reverberate. 

So, that's $2B that will not be paid to US farmers.  People will starve, kids will die.  But hey, it was a corrupt agency.  Not.

That's it!  That's all I have to say.  There's more, much more that could be said.