Gromnir

compared to volume o' mail handled by the usps, the problems oro mentions is negligible. again, for a national service provider to achieve 91% favorable/satisfaction is almost unheard o'. heck, in-n-out burger don't even achieve 80% much less +90%. 'course many o' the same folks parroting the conservative radio/florida man shtick 'bout post office fails look at ~1000 instances o' voter fraud and see a threat to democracy... just under 1000 instances o' voter fraud in state and federal elections in forty years. a federal judge in pennsylvania gave the trump campaign a deadline o' this past friday to show evidence o' current or the legit threat o' widespread voter fraud being prophesied. trump campaign predictable failed to produce such evidence. the thing is, the post office does have a money problem, and mnuchin is fixing the wrong way. as already mentioned earlier in the thread, for reasons which make no sense whatsoever in 2020, the post office pensions funding requirements need cover medical instead o' having medicare participation as does virtual all private and public sector jobs. is not a mystery why the post office is hemorrhaging money. the thing is, it will require an act o' Congress to fix the problem they created back in 2006. the post office, like most o' America, and europe and asia, got hit hard by the recession. however, is actual kinda impressive how in spite o' Congressional bungling the usps has managed to adjust to the serious loss o' first class mail revenue with a new focus on package delivery. but for the medicare/pension issues mentioned, the usps would, in spite o' the 2006 legislation, be cash positive... while maintaining the +90% favorable status no other fed government department or organization may similarly boast. republicans targeting the post office, particular during a pandemic, doesn't make sense unless one recognizes the more petty motivations o' the President and his ongoing feud with bezos. HA! Good Fun!

bs. ... not sure it takes more response other than to observe how at the other end o' the spectrum from "leftist shill" is florida man. Public Holds Broadly Favorable Views of Many Federal Agencies, Including CDC and HHS "Among the agencies viewed in positive light, the majorities viewing each favorably range from 91% for the Postal Service to 60% for the Justice Department." if oro description were at all accurate, would approval be 91%? so, am calling bs. HA! Good Fun! ps in all fairness, trump didn't appoint the postmaster. instead, he stacked the board of governors which then selects the postmaster. in february there were a meeting 'tween mnuchin and the board o' governors, but just the republican appointed board members, a meeting where no notes were taken. shortly thereafter, sh!te as we know it now hit the fan. regardless, dejoy is a freaking human piñata 'cause all he is doing is implementing all the crap ideas mnuchin came up with in his 2018 postal task force report.

know v. know how to google the definition of a word not the same. lord knows we do not claim to know the definition o' every word. is no shame in being ignorant. what is surprising is that given how easy the internet makes it to quickly dispel ignorance o' new words, functional vocabularies would appear to be shrinking rather than growing, at least as is represented to by national trends in scores from those standardized tests which is designed to do little more than reveal mundane knowledge. is also shocking to see so many misinterpret dictionary definitions. am suspecting many o' us have had an inigo montoya moment when perusing internet message boards. is more than a few people who appear convinced that dictionary definitions is kinda/sorta generalized suggestions. will have persons argue a word could mean something it does not 'cause o' their reading o' a dictionary entry is no less valid than professor bloom's or noah webster or... kids these days. HA! Good Fun!

... am hesitating to mention, 'cause am sure it will fuel a misconception, but the woman who were the caretaker o' our property in idaho (we sold her the house and a couple acres for $501 last year, but she still looks after our remaining land outta a sense o' misplaced obligation,) told us 'bout the badger which befriended her poodle. we had difficulty believing her. thought perhaps she were misinterpreting and not realizing what kinda danger her pooch were facing as the snarling mass o' fury and rage were likely being territorial and somehow this older woman saw the growling and digging as playfulness. on a visit to the property not too long past, we saw the old miniature poodle, who musta been near 20 years, sleeping beneath an old pine in a little nest o' fallen fronds. if not for the slow rise and fall o' its stomach to prove it were still breathing, we mighta' thought it were dead, particular given how the pooch paid no attention whatsoever to the +25lb badger which were invading the dog's personal space. the badger would get within six inches o' the dog and then begin rolling around on the ground, occasionally reaching out to touch the poodle and then scampering away only to return a few seconds later. clear playful and non threatening... at least non threatening to the dog. wtf? HA! Good Fun!

is no reason to go to chernobyl to get what you need, but am gonna assure you, it ain't what you want. american badgers is ferocious with more than one nature movie or hunter anecdote revealing how the badger drove off a bear or some other large predator. bear slinks away with an injured snoot, overwhelmed by the snarling fury o' what is essential an oversized weasel. american badgers is already super badgers, but you will never befriend one. HA! Good Fun!

Mandrake: Now look, Colonel... Bat Guano, if that really is your name, may I tell you that I have a very, very good idea, I think, I hope, I pray, what the recall code is. It's some sort of recurrent theme he kept repeating. It's a variation on Peace on Earth or Purity of Essence. E O P. O P E. It's one of those! not every name can be, colonel bat guano. once we accept the futility o' matching such genius, it is perfect acceptable to choose instead a name which is inoffensive and simple and instead focus on far more important aspects o' game development... such as overseas marketing. wasn't sure we were s'posed to take serious following the, "A good name is 50% of the sale," claim. HA! Good Fun!

the good thing is everybody who read a Gromnir post related to obama or trump insofar as their authority over state and local police should already be aware the President has no such authority over, in particular, local sheriffs... though am suspecting that bit may have been lost in the not infrequent wall o' text. Kris Kobach claimed he spoke with 'enthusiastic' Trump three times about border wall project at center of fraud investigation oh, and am not sure why it is ok to ignore the recent findings o' the bipartisan senate investigation regarding russian interference. o'bannon were already referred to doj for criminal charges related to russian interference and william barr decided to do nothing. barr's curious bungling o' the firing o' the us attorney for sdny is a bit less puzzling. what trump has been doing for four years is not possible save for fact he has done so again and again and again and again. if the senate, in particular, won't stop him, he can get away with just 'bout anything. HA! Good Fun! ps the reason why the firing o' the us attorney sdny didn't work for barr/trump is 'cause, of all people lindsey senator graham made it known he would enforce senate committee traditions and give the ny senators veto power over any trump replacement candidate... and there were no acting loophole for barr to exploit as exists for cabinet positions. deputy were next in line. period. what happened with barr's attempt to fire geoffrey berman is how things is s'posed to work as 'posed to the exception. would we be talking 'bout the o'bannon arrest today if lindsey graham hadn't done his job?

spent the day breathing ash. ... we said "ash" you sophomoric collection o' beavis and butthead clones. https://ucanr.edu/sites/fire/Safety/Current/ air quality is terrible and as am such a delicate petunia, we didn't even take the dogs for a walk this AM in spite o' fact it were a bit cooler. the dogs do not like change. run upstairs. run downstairs. bark at the nothing they do not see or hear in the backyard, then they run upstairs. run downstairs. repeat for hours. has been a whole lotta panting, slobbering, barking as well as the thunder o' tiny hooves on our stairs, none o' which is direct attributable to Gromnir for a change. HA! Good Fun!

success o' biden and the dnc should be measured in part based on their goals... although am having to admit we believe the goals were misguided. over the course o' four nights there were a whole lotta obama nostalgia on display. given how biden were vice president during the obama administration, am understanding why capitalizing on obama popularity with democrats makes sense. however, like it or not, trump is correct that the reason he is in the wh is in part 'cause o' obama. too many o' those lower middle-class rust belt/battleground state voters who bought obama's message o' change in 2008 felt complete betrayed by 2016. yeah, rose and vol is talking nonsense. Trump Tries To Appeal To 'Housewives' And White Suburbs, But His Views Seem Outdated Trump appeals to 'Suburban Housewives of America' "The Trump administration on Thursday repealed the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, which was implemented in 2015 and required localities to draw up plans to address housing discrimination to receive certain federal funding." is one o' many examples o' the obama admin addressing needs o' poor, minorities, children and women, an effort trump is seeking to destroy for pure political reasons. in a choice 'tween obama nostalgia and trump, is doubtful most minorities will need agonize. nevertheless, obama were soundly and legit criticized by minorities for not being a more vocal advocate. no doubt vol will contort himself like a pretzel when he fights Gromnir's observation that obama were justifiable raked over the coals for his tepid and tardy response to the michael brown situation. the thing is, the 2020 dnc were complete tone deaf to their 2016 mistakes, which were not limited sole to clinton being the candidate for President. may be hard to believe given the relative impotence o' trump in 2017 and 2018, but both houses o' Congress were republican those years. weren't just clinton who lost. if the democrats and biden wanna heal division and appeal to independents (and wavering republicans) in battleground states, they gotta sell more than obama nostalgia. yeah, am getting how the protests is a divisive and charged topic and the democrats don't wanna alienate the more extreme elements o' their party by saying anything other than a blanket and generalized condemnation o' all violence everywhere. such cowardice is only a little better than trump's claims o' there being good people on both sides at charlottesville. the lower middle class rust belt factory workers and midwest farmers who has financial suffered the most under trump is nevertheless complete loyal to trump and that is at least in part due to the fact that they feel ignored by the democratic party. good reason to feel ignored if you don't merit a mention by almost every speaker over the course o' four days. point out fail o' covid-19 is likely enough to get biden the win in november. flu season will have already returned by mid/late october and we will be in the midst o' the predicted second wave which hasn't yet arrived in the US. old people, regardless o' party, will have much reason to fear more years o' trump and unless william' barr's contrived investigation results in a true jaw-dropping scandal, we don't see a way for trump to extricate himself from the mess he created, regardless o' how much fear and division he peddles. fear o' covid-19 will be far more immediate and real as 'posed to ideological hobgoblins conjured up by conservative radio and trump loyalists. am nevertheless disappointed the democrats made so little effort to heal wounds. claims o' being the inclusive party ignores reality the democrats is willing to look past those portions o' the map which is current bleeding red. fail, in spite o' fact the democrats likely achieved goals o' the dnc. HA! Good Fun!

am a product o' our training. Rule 608 – A Witness’s Character for Truthfulness or Untruthfulness evidence which tends to diminish a witness' trustworthiness is admissible. prejuddical impact may overcome probative value, but is a given that one may attack the character o' a witness when such has a tendency to reveal lack o' candor. ... we make no claims regarding who is or is not a doppelganger, though am suspecting sharp_one is still posting regular. *insert eye roll* regardless, am thinking evidence o' doppelganger shenanigans is relevant here for same reason evidence o' lack o' trustworthiness is relevant in every US local, state and fed court. liars tend to lie. on topic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, citing threats against her and her family, defended a police presence outside her Northwest Side home where protesters are being blocked. at the very least, not good optics. any person in a neighborhood where protests has been anything other than perfect peaceful will no doubt question why the safety o' their families and property is needing be sacrificed on the bonfire o' liberty while the mayor uses police force to ensure her own security. HA! Good Fun!

history, in our opinion, is taught complete wrong in most public schools, particular given the realities o' 2020. recognizing all the physical and digital resources available, is not difficult to find facts. hurl can keep posting bloom's taxonomy, but he is also compelled by state requirements and standardized tests to teach kids an enormous amount o' facts in a relative short period o' time. like it or not, kids have shorter attention spans nowadays, though they process information faster... which is why is all bass ackwards how we insist kids learn every important person and event in american and world history, with "important" changing from state-to-state and even district to district. you says you learned more 'bout confederacy through 10 minutes o' self study than you learned in school. am suspecting a smidge o' the hyperbolic or a recognition you were a terrible student, but such an admission should not actual be a problem if history were taught better. goal shouldn't be to make certain kids learn facts but to know how to learn. most folks believe they got critical thinking skillz. *snort* research skills is also a bit more complicated than google searches and is apparent from observing these boards how poor educated many people (not just americans btw) has been insofar as research skills. analysis is kinda a linchpin in spite o' fact bloom and other learning models like to make all categories and modalities and whatnot equivalent/balanced. analysis is where we apply logic fallacies if you know 'em, and is where at a fundamental level the student recognizes facts v. opinions. ... two or three major events per semester should be max covered, and during that time kids should be taught how to genuine self educate, 'cause once they got such skills, they may go forth and learn for themselves 'bout the confederacy or turn o' the century evolution o' US labor. forcing kids to learn many hundreds o' facts, which is a soul numbing pursuit regardless o' the age o' the student, cannot be the most constructive use of finite time and resources. instead give students a chance to make necessary connections 'tween, for example, those issues the founding fathers were discussing during the constitutional convention and what is occurring today. evaluation and creation is kinda the post analysis aspects o' bloom. is not difficult to see even a class o' middle schoolers creating their own better constitution after recognizing what succeeded and failed with the US Constitution... and make sure to not skip the possible fails, though is more important for the students to reach their own conclusions 'bout where the founders were mistaken than to be told what were errors. didn't learn 'bout confederacy? shouldn't care. we should want to know what the kids did learn. if the students in an eighth grade class learned little 'bout the confederacy but instead covered, pure random, the influenza epidemic o' 1918 to a meaningful degree where students were taught research and analysis and how to construct and write coherent arguments and... whatever. we shouldn't give a damn 'bout what facts and events and people kids failed to learn 'bout while they were for reals becoming able to self-teach and think critical and creative as they acquired necessary writing and research skills which would benefit them a lifetime as 'posed to being relevant to a single state standardized test. *descends from soap box* oh, and am not pretending teaching kids is easy. particular daunting is the task o' attempting to teach a group o' kids, some o' whom is gonna be resistant to learning unless is an honors/ap class. more contagious than covid-19 is knucklehead behaviour in a group o' kids. try and teach multiple different classes o' a few dozen kids who got a wide range o' ability and motivations and backgrounds and claim is ez would be surprising to Gromnir and am thinking the teachers who do such well is much underappreciated. that said, am nevertheless convinced most teachers is doing it all wrong. HA! Good Fun!

ian mckellen doing the winter o' discontent monologue from richard iii were impressive, but am gonna suggest cary-hiroyuki tagawa's linked shang tsung is high water mark. HA! Good Fun!

is as if you have never seen gd and vol posts. HA! Good Fun!

in the words o' vol, "no." *shrug* went against thomas jefferson, and a few others, but hardly 'gainst founding fathers in general, who numbered more than a few clergymen amongst them. chaplains opened both o' the initial houses o' Congress with prayers... 1789. is more than a few founders who took it as a matter o' faith that of course the US supported christianity, just not any particular denomination. Justice thomas, who has been forced to hide his worship o' original intent following the near universal adoption o' textualism by the less activist elements o' the Court, believes the establishment clause, based on comments by more than a few founders as well as earlier drafts o' the First Amendment means the US cannot establish a state church, and nothing else. the establishment clause is poor understood in part 'cause the founding fathers weren't in agreement as to what it meant. *sigh* gonna use aclu site for sh!tz and giggles HOW DO YOU KNOW THE GOVERNMENT IS "ESTABLISHING RELIGION"? In 1971, the Supreme Court decided Lemon v. Kurtzman which created three tests for determining whether a particular government act or policy unconstitutionally promotes religion. The Lemon test says that in order to be constitutional, a policy must: Have a non-religious purpose; Not end up promoting or favoring any set of religious beliefs; and Not overly involve the government with religion. Justice Scalia, who tended to disagree with the majority on establishment cases, wrote as follows: "Like some ghoul in a late-night horror movie that repeatedly sits up in its grave and shuffles abroad, after being repeatedly killed and buried, Lemon stalks our Establishment Clause jurisprudence once again, frightening the little children and school attorneys of Center Moriches Union Free School District. Its most recent burial, only last Term, was, to be sure, not fully six feet under: Our decision in Lee v. Weisman conspicuously avoided using the supposed test but also declined the invitation to repudiate it. Over the years, however, no fewer than five of the currently sitting Justices have, in their own opinions, personally driven pencils through the creature’s heart (the author of today’s opinion repeatedly), and a sixth has joined an opinion doing so. The secret of the Lemon test’s survival, I think, is that it is so easy to kill. It is there to scare us (and our audience) when we wish it to do so, but we can command it to return to the tomb at will. Such a docile and useful monster is worth keeping around, at least in a somnolent state; one never knows when one might need him." confused yet? other than J. Thomas, who sadly has gained a couple o' ambivalent disciples to his curious reading o' the establishment clause, there is two kinda general notions o' church v. state and sorta a spectrum in betwixt and 'tween. absolute wall of separation-----------------------------------------------------non preferential wall of separation weren't actual adopted until 1947 btw. "The “establishment of religion” clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another […] No tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions, whatever they may be called, or whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice religion […] In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect “a wall of separation between Church and State.”-- J. Black, everson v. board of education the aforementioned lemon test fundamental altered establishment clause jurisprudence, so in spite o' fact every US school child learns "separation of church and state," most school teachers is educating based on a reading o' the Constitution which ain't been law of the land since 1971. non preferential may have a kinda gut-level appeal for many folks given the widespread presence o' Religion and Faith in our federal institutions which would take us a long time to fully enumerate. assume for a moment you is a good god fearing person who thinks the State should be able to support and regulate non religious aspects o' private schools. as long as the State support affects all private schools, regardless o' religious affiliation or denomination, then perhaps is okie dokie with the first amendment? such a perspective has been a popular view o' the establishment clause by the Court... from time to time. check out la county courthouse lawn during holidays. if the government allows a nativity scene on the lawn, then every other religion and faith gets their space too. in la and elsewhere you may see dozens o' different faiths and beliefs with their holiday displays sharing lawn space with baby jeebus. current state o' establishment clause is a bit odd as scalia's ghoul is not lemon, which he proper describes as a pathetic monster incapable o' instilling fear in even the most panic'd libertarian weeping over an imagined parade o' horribles fated to never sees the light o' day. nope, the ghoul is J. Thomas, who perhaps is a bit too remote for even gorsuch and kavanaugh to fully embrace, but he is the guy who posited in more than one dissent over the years that barenaked existence o' a religious symbol or practice which has managed to exist in spite o' the establishment clause, somehow confers legitimacy after some unspecific amount o' time. a religious display erected in 2020 might fail to meet lemon test minimal burdens, but if the display were constructed in the 1950s it might survive a Constitutional challenge. and so on and so forth. regardless, founders, regardless o' what you and others may have been taught in school, were not having a singular notion as to what were separation o' church and state, and that phrase didn't even gain widespread usage until the late 1800s. "in god we trust," or some variation, were okie dokie with the great majority o' founders and am suspecting most took it as no less than a simple reflexive axiom as 'posed to advocacy o' religion. if it makes you feel better/worse, the dalai lama opened senate with a daily prayer in 2014. HA! Good Fun!

the "in god we trust" was a concession to the republican party of mississippi. we argue it were a concession which proves a fundamental flaw o' character, but regardless, were a bone thrown to old guard who felt they needed something/anything to show their constituencies that they didn't just cave to all those namby-pamby progressives in jackson. again, were a token. no need to rub it in by making sure the verbiage is legible from the ground 100 meters away as the flag does furl and snap in an autumnal breeze. from a practical pov, your concerns is valid. sure, if you can't read it, then why have it? however, the issue is politics as 'posed to practical. words weren't added to be legible. were added to keep a disappointing large % o' mississippi republican voters from taking out their anger on mississippi legislators. HA! Good Fun!

kinda weird needing to present gd with stuff 'bout southern democrats, but... What Makes Southern Democrats Unique we don't have recent numbers, 'cause am no longer practicing and am too lazy to do the research, but as o' 2014, 4% o' people in mississippi did not believe in God and 1% were uncertain. even if all the non-believers in mississippi is voting democrat (unlikely) you still got a whole lotta democrats who is believers, and particular in the deep south, those christians is more likely to be fundamentalists. yeah, the "in god we trust" language were made conditional as part of mississippi republican party compromise to abandon the confederate battle flag design, but it didn't take any real arm twisting to get agreement on that point. we sense a kinda criticism in gd's observation, but am gonna need admit that in our estimation mississippi's republican intractability insofar as abandoning the confederate battle flag w/o a token nod to the divine, charon's obol stuffed in the mouth o' the south's corpse, to appease their bigoted constituency who continue to venerate a symbol o' slavery is a bit more worthy o' condemnation, no? HA! Good Fun!

another example? though in all fairness we haven't read anything but news stories as 'posed to the report itself. unfair to reach conclusions at this point. https://www.axios.com/senate-intelligence-russia-interference-971619a8-a806-470a-9de6-1416220ab35b.html?stream=politics&utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alerts_politics is 966 pages, so will take us some time. curious is fact fox is not doing their spin, at least not headline. usual if you have a report o' this length, it is not difficult to cherry pick, which is why we made our earlier admission. fact fox has not chosen to release a more trump-friendly reading o' the report is odd. HA! Good Fun! ps don't stop at the headline o' the axios story. is a whole lotta findings o' what an ordinary person would conclude is equating collusion, not to mention recognizing, as did mueller, how the President were not honest in his responses to a fed investigation... which should have us remembering more than a few republican senators who were justifiable angry when bill clinton lied about sexual relations with an intern as 'posed to collusion with russians to interfere with a Presidential election.

the thing which we find most interesting is how the basic technology o' rocket science hasn't changed at a fundamental level since late 19th century. refrigeration capable o' liquifying gasses occurred in the late 1800s and the thermoflask (which were invented by either james dewar in 1892, or possible a bit earlier by a french guy with a name we forget) to store those liquid gases for extended periods o' time, is what made it possible for three guys (russian, german and american, if your nationalism button needs a push) to independent and almost simultaneous invent "modern" rockets. honestly, other than size and efficiency, the core technologies o' multi-stage rockets have been little changed since the 1920s. we tend to think o' rockets capable o' breaking earth orbit as cutting edge tech, and on the micro level they are just that-- pinnacle o' what human ingenuity may accomplish. however, unlike computers and medicine and so many other human endeavours, little has changed 'bout rocket propulsion since the early 1900s. oh, and the physics which makes space trips to the moon and mars possible ain't the kinda wacky mind bending stuff o' lorentz, einstein and heisenberg (which curious is kinda where physics also plateaued) but the more basic newtonian math many o' us were exposed to in high school classes. "I think Isaac Newton is doing most of the driving right now."-- bill anders, apollo 8. HA! Good Fun!

would also help if he knew what is a strawman fallacy. oh, and just for funsies, am recalling a carlin quote which might be relevant. "So I want to thank the Pentagon, the Soviet Union and the military-industrial complex from the bottom of my heart. Without them, I could never have become the man I am today." george were a big fan o' soviet style oppression. *eye-roll* HA! Good Fun!

your narcissism is revealing. is not as if carlin were some kinda fringe comic unappreciated by the public in his own time. heck, in 1972, carlin's seven words you can never say on television were receiving national radio airtime and the resulting court case also garnered widespread attention. warning: sweary also 1972... not the movie, but the actual real life events. is as if some people forget what were happening in this country in the late 60s and early 70s. carlin were speaking to his time not in spite of it. think you are woke? *snort* HA! Good Fun!

housing bubble 2006 kinda a cheat on the date. "aught-six" is hyphenated, so... less practical? hmmm... "bueller life fast" at eighteen, we would understand the reference HA! Good Fun!

the thing is, am certain numerous persons from nevada, utah, new mexico, arizona, west texas, etc. look at the ca central valley situation and shrug with indifference. am recalling speaking with a uk journalist who followed the first obama presidential campaign and we asked him 'bout impressions o' the US. his First comments were 'bout the weather. tornadoes, hurricanes, mud slides, heat waves, blizzards, flooding, forest fires. etc. the reporter believed american psyche were affected not just a little by our extreme weather. we were kinda surprised by the answer 'cause we didn't genuine expect weather to be so prominent 'mongst his impressions o' the US. dunno. we got a unique perspective as we grew up in a place where winters were genuine lethal to many due to ubiquitous inadequate shelter and heat. with all kinda modern conveniences it is easier for many to ignore weather save for when the genuine catastrophic occurs. tough to explain the primal dread o' a multi day blizzard to most people who live in the burbs. HA! Good Fun!

don't forget all the cows and farms, but yeah, is not exactly ideal living. nevertheless, and in spite o' not nearly enough water to support current needs, the number o' new housing starts, even with covid-19 in full swing, is eye-popping. The Vision of John Wesley Powell--Explorer Foresaw Water Issues That Would Plague the West what a sane map o' the west would be if designed with water in mind more than a few californians seem to share the curious notion the state is the coast and perhaps 50 miles inland... with the sierra nevadas and tahoe existing in some kinda quasi alter dimension accessible only during ski season or for perhaps a summer camping trip. HA! Good Fun!

yeah, california is a big place, so hurl generalizing is a bit misleading. ca got a top 5 snowiest place in america as well as three o' top five places in the US with most +100 degree days... huge range o' variation. and we wish it were only 1 hot week per year in the sacramento valley. https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/d1be3e5aec1726d0df2d6c19f21655d886415ee60ff0e8f14afe8ff7f57c9e5d has been averaging 110F for the past week and is looking like next week will see a slight cooling trend so that by thursday/friday we may only be topping 100 each day. worst part is our dogs hate going for walks when is over 80 degrees-- lightweights. the thing is, it only gets down to 79/80 for an eyeblink length o' time at about 6am. the little white dog gets excited when we pick up the leashes, same as normal, but last couple mornings she has pretty much locked her legs as we get to the door to the garage. wants no part o' even the 6am walks. oh, and grass fires and forest fires, which make air quality so pleasant, is the norm in august and early september in the valley. last couple years we has started to see more fire tornadoes. ... am not a fan o' the ca central valley weather during the summer. is one reason we were considering retiring to our place in idaho, which is in the east portion o' state and gets negligible snow... at least negligible compared to stuff we is familiar with from youth. oh, and our allergies... *snort* am old, so should be expected when we complain 'bout the weather and kids these days and how the price o' _______ is outrageous. HA! Good Fun!

have had a few smart dogs, but smart is relative. beyond rabbits, deer, play time and dinner, am certain the smartest o' our border collies had little interest in topics which might make us curious. am satisfied our dialogues with canines will remain, for all practical purposes, monologues followed by dogie displays o' pleasure or guilt or whatever is appropriate. the thing is, in spite o' our certainty we would be underwhelmed by whatever ideas our dogs have on a whole host o' topics, we do wish they would be better at communicating the nature and degree o' their infrequent discomfort. when our pups is feeling unwell, they may not show it in overt ways, and even when we do notice, the dogs is not forthcoming with useful details. perhaps the little black dog is noticeable less enthusiastic than normal and does not wish to play as is his normal waking state. when we ask him what is wrong, he gives nothing. unhelpful. we would pay a fair amount for a mechanical device which would translate dog-to-english. could tell us it is his stomach which aches, or perhaps his head. feeling cold? feeling hot? any particular food would make him feel better? do we need go to the vet... well, am knowing the answer to that one would be "no," even if he had a massive wound and his intestines were literal spilling out on the faux-wood laminate we got in the hallway adjacent to the kitchen. *shrug* am interested not at all in the musing o' our canines, but we do wish they could talk just so they could tell us what, if anything, is wrong. *shrug* only bring up 'cause far too often we has wished our dogs could talk when they is not well. downside is am knowing if we could understand 'em better, we would need listen to incessant drivel 'bout snacks and itches and toys and... whatever. is why am wanting a mechanical translator-- so we could turn it off 99.99% o' the time. HA! Good Fun!