Drowning in…something.

So, Father’s Day is upon us. Barely noon, and I have already tired of the social-media parade of World’s Greatest Dads. (Admittedly, I contributed.) Holidays like this turn us all into Mitch Albom; there’s just no room for shadows, even though shadows are what give figures dimension and make them more interesting.

My dad did OK. He could be a jerk, but he was my jerk, my dad, and he did well enough. That’s all you need to get a headstart in the world. Good-enough parents, not great ones.

And in the Department of Pre-emptive Apologies, I have a week’s worth of evening stuff coming up. And guess what it is? One of the women in my swimming cohort is training a few of us to be lifeguards. I’ve been thinking for a while now that I haven’t had a CPR refresher since I took a class in the ’80s, and my first aid is equally rusty. Tim, our coach, is 77 and creaky, and has said often that he’d really like to have some backup on morning swims, so here we all go. It should be over in a week, but I have another conflict Thursday, so it might take a little bit longer.

I did the qualifying stuff Saturday: 300-yard swim, two minutes of no-hands water treading and the infamous pick-up-a-brick exercise. That’s where you swim 20 yards or so, surface-dive to pick up a 10-pound brick in 10 feet of water, then take it back to the starting point, get it out of the pool and then heave yourself out behind it, all in a minute-forty. The last was harder than I expected, but I made it with plenty of time to spare. The two women I was testing with needed multiple tries, but then again, none of us are planning to get jobs as lifeguards. But you never know. The siren song of the red tank suit and the privilege of sitting on the high chair in mirrored shades may well lure me out of journalism.

Speaking of which, this is an outstanding “This American Life” segment on a 66-year-old lifeguard who sued New York City for age discrimination. A NYT account of the same situation.

Who knows, I may not pass the final. But I’ll be fresh on my CPR and first aid. I have this fantasy that my post-retirement career will be as a personal trainer to postmenopausal women. Step one!

Just one link today: Mark Bittman is doing regular food writing again. For New York magazine, no no registration, no paywall. Huzzah.

So, maybe see you guys on…Wednesday? That’ll work.

Posted at 1:31 pm in Media, Same ol' same ol' |
 

66 responses to “Drowning in…something.”

  1. Deborah said on June 18, 2017 at 5:03 pm

    More power to you Nancy, getting training to possibly save a life.

    Here’s something some of you might be interested in like Jeff tmmo since he knows the area. On Thursday a young college student in Espanola (20 miles from Abiquiu) tried to use the family pickup. His step father objected so the kid got in a fight with him, his brother tried to intervene so the kid shot both of them. Then the mother tried to intervene and he shot her too. He drove the truck away, shot a 62 year old man who had just retired, stole a car from the retired guy. He ended up at Bode’s at 8pm where the night watchman for the Georgia O’Keefe house was pumping gas. The kid shot him too, for some unknown reason. Five people dead before the cops caught the kid, they tasered him so he’s still alive. Nobody can figure it out because they say he was a decent kid, going to college studying science and in no serious trouble before. It has the people in Abiquiu upset because this is such a beautiful, peaceful place on earth.

    1007 chars

  2. Deborah said on June 18, 2017 at 5:23 pm

    I should probably clarify that Bode’s is a general store across the highway from Abiquiu village, where the Georgia O’Keefe house is.

    133 chars

  3. basset said on June 18, 2017 at 5:57 pm

    Our shooting situation here in Tennessee this weekend involved a couple of Georgia inmates who got loose on a prison bus, killed two guards, took their guns, carjacked someone who happened by and took off. They didn’t get far before they showed up at a rural home trying to steal another car and the homeowner held a shotgun on them till the police got there.

    Meanwhile… don’t care for this new typeface at all.

    419 chars

  4. alex said on June 18, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    I was surprised to see a new typeface on the second go-round. When this post came up earlier it was still in the old one. I think it’s a nice freshening up. Reminds me of one of my cookbooks, but that’s not to say I don’t like it.

    Just tried out my new IKEA 15-quart pot and I must say I’m impressed. Handles high heat well without burning. In fact, it will take some practice to learn how to get a fond with this thing. The bottom of the pot has a mirror finish and it’s non-stickier than any non-stick pan I’ve ever seen. And so big! I browned four pounds of ground sirloin, then sautéed a ginormous bowl of onions and peppers, then threw it all together with some liquid and seasonings and it’s stewing into a fabulous chili.

    I could seriously pitch all of my old stock pots. Unless you’re boiling water in them, they inevitably get a char on the bottom that takes some serious elbow grease to remove.

    912 chars

  5. Dorothy said on June 18, 2017 at 6:57 pm

    Alex those IKEA pots are all we use now. Not expensive, sturdy, easy to clean etc. Everything you already said. I make chili in the 15 quart one. They look almost exactly how they did Shen we bought them around 10 years ago.

    225 chars

  6. David C. said on June 18, 2017 at 7:12 pm

    I don’t mind the new typeface. We might as well see a little bit of cursive before it’s dead and buried.

    104 chars

  7. Judybusy said on June 18, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    I love the new typeface.

    Here in the cities, decent folks are devastated with the Yanez not guilty verdict. His mom, Valerie, went on a ROYAL FB rant. I met her in January; she was so sweet but crushed by her son’s murder.

    Lots of cooking here this weekend. We had long-time acquaintances over for dinner last night. They guy is from Tanzania, and built a secondary school in his tiny village. We have supported the school for years–I am pretty sure I wrote about the gala we attended about a month ago. The woman was born and raised in Minneapolis, and it was so fun getting to know them and their story.

    Tonight, a gratin of zucchini and tomatoes. If I haven’t raved yet about the Cook’s Illustrated Meditarrean cookbook, I am now. Highly recommended.

    764 chars

  8. LAMary said on June 18, 2017 at 7:48 pm

    Have you ever listened to an NPR program called Dinner Party Download? They start with a joke. This week the joke was about two old ladies in a care. Marge and Ethel. Ethel says, “Marge, you just blew through a red light!” Marge says, “Am I driving?”

    Yay. Mark Bittman is back.

    281 chars

  9. Deborah said on June 18, 2017 at 8:05 pm

    The typeface change also has a subtle difference in the comment or names and the time/date, that’s nice. I think it had that before but I don’t remember it. Something about this new typeface makes it memorable. Also the new look is summery, which is appropriate as we are near the solstice.

    290 chars

  10. Dave said on June 18, 2017 at 8:09 pm

    I thought I’d somehow landed on the wrong site for a second. I wonder if my grandchildren will ever learn cursive writing.

    Shootings everywhere but it doesn’t matter, they’ll just continue until everyone is shot, I suppose. A Florida legislator this weekend, as quoted in the Tampa Bay Times:

    “Each one of those congressmen should be carrying a weapon,” responded state Rep. Dan Raulerson, R-Plant City. “We all should be carrying a weapon.” He didn’t respond to comments from the crowd that it would be difficult to carry a gun while playing softball.

    http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/florida-lawmaker-all-legislators-should-be-armed/2327546

    Meanwhile, the Florida Legislature just made it more difficult to prosecute a “Stand Your Ground” incident:

    http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/scott-signs-stand-your-ground-change-religious-expression-in-school-14/2326812

    937 chars

  11. basset said on June 18, 2017 at 8:32 pm

    Seems I’m outnumbered on the typeface… looks too much like Pinterest to me though.

    84 chars

  12. basset said on June 18, 2017 at 8:37 pm

    Shooting… ya gotta get the blues:

    “Mr. pawnbroker, won’t you sell me me a 38
    I say mr. pawnshop man, won’t you sell me a 38
    I used to take a 44, but lately I been losin’ weight…”

    189 chars

  13. beb said on June 18, 2017 at 9:43 pm

    I’m sure there were shooting here in Detroit but the one thing that stands out was of a little girl savaged by a pit bull not a half-mile from our house. We were leaving for a graduation party and wondered about all the flashing lights further down our street. Then last night we read the news about it. The girl will lose her foot. The dog was in trouble once before and not put down. I hear that pit bulls really are nice dogs with children but around the ‘hood all people want are junkyard dogs to keep burglars away. And — apparently — little girls.

    555 chars

  14. Joe Kobiela said on June 18, 2017 at 10:45 pm

    Channeling our inner Baywatch there Pammy?
    Seriously good for you, hope it works out well.
    Pilot Joe

    102 chars

  15. Deborah said on June 18, 2017 at 10:59 pm

    Yep, I came back to the site and the new typeface definitely reminds me of peonies, summer dresses, garden parties. Maybe it’s because I just finished reading an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel.

    Which means come September you might want to rethink.

    245 chars

  16. Julie Robinson said on June 18, 2017 at 11:02 pm

    Joe, is that your idea of a joke? Because it’s mean. I think it’s marvelous that Nancy is taking this on. You can never have too many people around with life-saving skills.

    I like the new style. It has a retro, cozy-cottage feel.

    232 chars

  17. Julie Robinson said on June 18, 2017 at 11:03 pm

    Deborah and I are on the same wave length!

    42 chars

  18. Ann said on June 18, 2017 at 11:11 pm

    I loved being a lifeguard. Presbytery Point camp on Lake Michigamme, summer after my senior year of high school and again after my freshman year at Ann Arbor. $35 a week plus room and board. I was only the assistant waterfront director, so I got the deep water swimming area where everyone had already passed a swimming test and I got to sit in a rowboat and every once in a while blow my silver whistle on the blue and white lanyard I’d braided myself to make everyone stop and hold up their buddy’s hand. Maybe once or twice a summer I had to row over to someone in mild distress and let them hold on to the end of the rowboat while I brought them back to shore. Biggest challenge was the leeches. We kept a box of salt in the lifeguard box on the dock, but I learned to just flick them off before they grabbed hold of me. Nice white Jantzen suit with a red patch on the hip.

    But no way I could pass the third part of that test today. If I could still do the surface dive, there’s no way I’d be able to pull myself out of the pool.

    1046 chars

  19. Rana said on June 18, 2017 at 11:16 pm

    I like the cursive-style font. But I have to admit that I find the main text and the comments text a wee bit hard on the eyes. Don’t know why; maybe it’s that I’m reading it late in the evening and the contrast is off. I’ll have to see what it’s like in the morning light.

    272 chars

  20. alex said on June 18, 2017 at 11:18 pm

    Dorothy, the IKEA 15-quart is my new fave. Cleaned up beautifully and effortlessly and the fabulous mirror-like interior still looks just like new.

    I don’t know why I need any stock pots or dutch ovens hogging up kitchen space when they don’t cook as evenly or clean up as well as this. Thirty-nine bucks and it beats the living shit out of my Le Creusets.

    Strangely, it had one black crusty on the bottom when I rinsed it out, and that came right off without even touching it.

    I’m gonna snag onto some more of their cookware at the next opportunity.

    562 chars

  21. Jakash said on June 19, 2017 at 12:36 am

    The new typeface seems fun to me, though I agree with Rana about the contrast, particularly with regard to the links standing out from the text. But that’s hardly a deal-breaker. “LA Mary” certainly gets an interesting look!

    D’oh! I hate posting the last comment on an old thread, 30 minutes before the new one! FWIW, I posted this Neil Steinberg piece from the Sunday Sun-Times, which has a bit of a Ft. Wayne connection. “A crumpled photo, and a daughter’s search for the father she never met.”

    http://www.everygoddamnday.com/2017/06/a-crumpled-photo-and-daughters-search.html

    596 chars

  22. Joe Kobiela said on June 19, 2017 at 6:33 am

    Sigh,
    Yes it’s a joke, you didn’t notice I said I hope it works out? I think it is great that she is doing the life guard thing, it shows she is strong,and I admire that.
    For God sake lighten up.
    Pilot Joe

    209 chars

  23. beb said on June 19, 2017 at 6:38 am

    I was ok with the cursive font until coming to Talrash’s post (#21) If I didn’t already know that that had to be “Jakash” I would never have known who it was. I’d rather have the names of the commenters in serif.

    212 chars

  24. alex said on June 19, 2017 at 7:06 am

    What happens when one of fake news’ lesser lights sits down with one of its heaviest hitters…

    Didn’t watch Megyn Kelly’s much-anticipated tongue-bathing of Alex Jones, but evidently it wasn’t fawning or deferential enough for his liking. A great takedown of them both:

    http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/06/18/megyn-kelly-pantses-alex-jones-215279

    365 chars

  25. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 19, 2017 at 7:21 am

    I like the fonts, especially on the comment bodies; the post-er’s names might do better in a sans serif? They’re a little hard to pick out as you scroll along. Deborah, that’s all heartbreaking to hear; it’s so easy for someone like me to think the lives in such a beautiful landscape should be as idyllic as the view, but clearly something is broken in paradise . . . in that case, a number of hearts. Espanola is a tough town, though, and as Sam Quinones sorrowfully describes in “Dreamland,” which y’all should read immediately, Chimayo is a hub of heroin distribution, which is just such a tragic contrast to what goes on around Vigil’s store and the Santuario.

    Between Cub Scout Day Camp, weddings, and all of our congregation’s 90 year olds dying or “transitioning” this week, no worries about me posting any of my overly long ruminations. Plus we’re completely revamping my court job over the summer, for which I may have a few comments on a calmer day . . . so I’ll apologize in advance for those posts next month!

    1025 chars

  26. Jolene said on June 19, 2017 at 8:38 am

    I preferred the old fonts. It’s possible that’s because they were familiar, but the body text in the current format seems too spacy and the cursive identifying text too decorative. Also seems a bit rude for me to say this, but since others have commented . . .

    260 chars

  27. 4dbirds said on June 19, 2017 at 8:48 am

    Father’s Day here was clouded in violence also. Much of our neighborhood was blocked off by police. A group of Muslim teenagers were attacked, three managed to get away but the fourth, a 17 year-old girl, was later found dead in a pond. The suspect is Hispanic. Was supposedly in a car and had an altercation with them. I am not being naive when I say things such as this don’t happen here.

    395 chars

  28. alex said on June 19, 2017 at 8:56 am

    The script fonts look crisper and more legible on Firefox on my Windows computer than they did on Safari on my Mac. No Talrash here. The body text doesn’t have that “spacy” look on this computer either.

    4Dbirds, I read about that earlier and it about curdled my blood.

    272 chars

  29. Deborah said on June 19, 2017 at 9:11 am

    Jeff tmmo, I will check out Dreamland, I’d heard about it before but had forgotten. I knew that about Chimayo. Espanola is the armpit of the world, I’m sorry to say, such incredible surrounding landscape but the town itself is hideous and as corrupt as can be.

    261 chars

  30. Connie said on June 19, 2017 at 9:16 am

    Having watched my kid do the lifeguard class thing, over 50 hours of it not counting the first aid, I is hard for me to believe you can possibly be qualified as a lifeguard after five evenings. It’s way more than a basic swimming class with CPR. In fact the level of first aid certification required of her also qualified her to work as an EMT. And you do have to fight off and save a crazed fighting drowning person in order to graduate. I am curious how all of that fits into your class.

    490 chars

  31. Dorothy said on June 19, 2017 at 9:28 am

    I’m in favor of any and all font changes. I really love them. Honestly I can barely tell there’s a difference in the comments themselves – I just noticed our names and the date/time stamp are vastly different. I’m in favor though.

    We had such a fun day on Saturday fishing on Indian Lake in Russells Point OH. Mike bought minnows and worms in Dayton and then we drove the 75 minutes or so to the lake and rented the boat. First thing he did after we rode to our first spot was drop the anchor, and then he needed to get the minnows in the water. This is a ‘sinking’ kind of minnow bucket. We were always fishing from the shore, rarely in a boat. So he thought he had triple checked the knot between the holey bucket and the outer bucket. Well he didn’t check the knot enough, because the stupid holey bucket unraveled itself from the outer bucket (which was sitting on the boat edge) and promptly sunk. He was beside himself, he was so mad. BUT – we continued and caught three catfish with the big fat night crawlers we had. An hour after we lost the bucked I reeled in a line we hadn’t checked, to see if the worm was still on it. To our utter amazement, I snagged the plastic rope on the minnow bucket and raised the little sucker out of the water. Nothing could have amazed us more, unless we pulled a shark out of the water. We laughed so much and we were texting our kids about it and we all had such a laugh over this. I hope this isn’t a case of ‘you had to be there’ and none of you think this is funny. It’s the best fishing story I think I’ll ever be able to tell.

    1589 chars

  32. Suzanne said on June 19, 2017 at 9:29 am

    Dreamland is on my “to read” list, but I have not gotten to it, yet. I finished Lincoln in the Bardo and am now reading Saunders’ Tenth of December. Good writer, but Lordy! The short stories in Tenth are depressing as heck. I would not want to be reading it in December when it’s dark and cold.

    Jeff (TMMO) we are having people dying too lately at our church and friends of parents and the like. What is the deal? Yes, mostly elderly, but such a cluster of them. I guess the old saying that when it rains it pours.

    517 chars

  33. Sherri said on June 19, 2017 at 9:37 am

    My immediate reaction to any change is always negative, because it disrupts all my patterns for looking at a site. But once I get past that knee-jerk reaction, I try to sit and wait with a new site design to see how it feels in a few days before deciding. Right now, there are things I like about the redesign (it feels brighter) and things I’m less sure about (not so sure about the cursive; feels like it takes up too much space).

    Looking forward to hearing about the new organization of the court job, Jeff(tmmo). I’m off to San Francisco tomorrow, for a couple of days of touristing and then the conference and awards banquet. My plan is to stay off Twitter and news sites for the trip, though I may drop in here occasionally, and get some reading done in my downtime.

    775 chars

  34. Julie Robinson said on June 19, 2017 at 9:39 am

    I think it’s great you’re doing the writer thing, Joey.
    Especially when you are so obviously unqualified.
    That’s a joke. Hope you get it, for God’s sake.

    I’m so tired of people thinking it’s okay to say cruel things in “joke” form. It does not for one second take away the cruelty. We’ve seen it all too much from our President, but like most of his other behaviors, he is no role model there.

    I know jokes. I like jokes. And that, sir, was no joke. Please don’t attempt to mansplain it to me.

    501 chars

  35. Icarus said on June 19, 2017 at 9:53 am

    I don’t mind the new font, but would gladly trade it for the ability to edit my posts for any spelling/grammar issues.

    For the better part of 5 decades, Father’s Day meant squat to me and now people are wishing me a happy one. Strange days indeed.

    251 chars

  36. Kim said on June 19, 2017 at 10:45 am

    Pardon the interruption of book/lifeguarding/sad and getting sadder world news talk, but the family is heading to Portland, OR for what was supposed to be a wedding (til the confession a month ago they’d gotten married in a fever nearly four years ago) but will now be a celebration. We have a day-plus between celebrating and heading for four days in Olympic National Park. Suggestions between Portland and the park? Y’all are such a reliable crew – thanks!

    458 chars

  37. brian stouder said on June 19, 2017 at 10:46 am

    I nominate Dorothy’s excellent fish-story post for the Inaugural Fancy-Font Thread Win!

    87 chars

  38. Sherri said on June 19, 2017 at 10:52 am

    Mt St Helens, Kim! It’s amazing.

    Also, don’t miss Powell’s City of Books when you’re in Portland.

    100 chars

  39. Deborah said on June 19, 2017 at 11:02 am

    Some people say font some say typeface. Honestly as a graphic designer for 32 years I never knew which was the correct way to refer to them. Back in the day when we had to order out for typesetting we had thick catalogues of the myriad of variations. Now they come with your software programs and if you want something else you can order from places online like Fontshop which is run by a friend of a friend of mine.

    416 chars

  40. Bitter Scribe said on June 19, 2017 at 11:35 am

    Boy, when you decide to break with sans-serif you don’t mess around, do you, Nance?

    Fonts (or typefaces, whatever) are a matter of relative indifference to me. If it’s compelling content, like this blog, I’ll read it in Comic Sans if I have to.

    247 chars

  41. Jolene said on June 19, 2017 at 11:57 am

    Returning for a second visit, I see that the sidebar has appeared, which hasn’t been visible in Safari on my iPad for a long time, so that’s an improvement. The body text seems a bit more appealing in the narrower column too. Still dubious about the headings.

    259 chars

  42. Sherri said on June 19, 2017 at 12:02 pm

    I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me earlier, but I’m glad it did now. There’s a certain very hot musical I’ve been dying to see playing a national tour in San Francisco, and while I have tickets to see it next year in Seattle, I’ve promised to take my daughter to see it then, and my husband wants to see it too, and he’s been really stressed at work and really needs this break, soooo…

    I just went online and was able to get tickets to Hamilton! I can’t wait!

    468 chars

  43. ROGirl said on June 19, 2017 at 12:06 pm

    Definitely retro, I’m getting used to it. I would rather discuss new fonts than the latest shitty news cycle

    108 chars

  44. Heather said on June 19, 2017 at 12:13 pm

    Wow Nancy, that sounds pretty intense. I would have a hard time diving to the bottom, but I guess you can work up to it. And I still haven’t worked up the courage to practice a flip turn. Maybe someday.

    Chicago’s outdoor pools opened this weekend and I had my inaugural swim at the pool that is about a five-minute bike ride from me, ahhh. This year they’ve added a couple of lap swim lanes during open swim hours, which was nice for me–I had a lane all to myself–but given how busy the pool gets with kids, not sure how long that will last.

    546 chars

  45. Peter said on June 19, 2017 at 12:15 pm

    Sorry for being a sourpuss, but this new typeface is going to take a LONG time to get used to. I keep scrolling and expecting to see the deserts and drinks menu.

    Good luck on the lifesaving class! I got mine many decades ago, and I got to tell you – there’s no way I could pass that today.

    The guy I had to rescue out of the pool weighed more than 300 pounds (and I’m not exaggerating). I had to swim under him and push him up and out like I was a tire jack. My back hurts just thinking about it.

    506 chars

  46. Dorothy said on June 19, 2017 at 12:26 pm

    Bitter Scribe – my daughter’s long time boyfriend has a very old tee shirt that says “Ban Comic Sans”.

    102 chars

  47. Talrash said on June 19, 2017 at 12:45 pm

    Might as well see what Talrash actually looks like. ; )

    “I keep scrolling and expecting to see the deserts and drinks menu.” And that’s a bad thing? I could use a few more desserts and drinks to accompany the daily national menu of depressing news, myself…

    I carus, I didn’t even realize you were Roman. Are you related to “I Claudius?” ; )

    And, yeah, that was a delightful fish tale, Dorothy! Pretty small, perhaps, but that’s a lot of fish to “catch” at one time…

    — Jakash

    497 chars

  48. Scout said on June 19, 2017 at 1:45 pm

    Good morning, just had to post so I could see my name written in the new font.

    It was hotter than hell in Phoenix over the weekend, but we still enjoyed several hours of morning yard puttering and watering. Tomorrow it is supposed to be 120. Much above that, they close the airport.

    286 chars

  49. Charlotte said on June 19, 2017 at 3:10 pm

    I had to take Lifesaving twice my senior year, because I blew off the test for “Senior Ditch Day” (Cubs game) and swimming was a state requirement if your school had a pool. So I took it again over the summer, at the swim club my mother was running at the time. (Teach day camp, take lifesaving, change and work the grill all evening). The guy I had for panicky swimmer was an AAU breast stroke champion — I’ll never forget the terrifying sight of Scott’s enormous chest coming at me. I am *not* a strong swimmer, so it was a slog, but I was also leading canoe trips in the BWCA with kids, so it was pretty necessary. Between that and raft guiding, I’ve got a good background in whitewater rescue — but I need a refresher CPR course. No breathing these days I hear? Just chest compressions?

    (I’m fine with the redesign … like the airy cheerful look).

    858 chars

  50. brian stouder said on June 19, 2017 at 3:15 pm

    Too hot to fly? Does it affect the fuel?

    That was my first question, so I Googled “too hot to fly” and was lead directly to this:

    http://komonews.com/weather/scotts-weather-blog/too-hot-to-fly-120-degree-temperatures-could-disrupt-flights-in-phoenix

    Which was illuminating.

    An excerpt:

    Air density on a 90-degree day in Denver at more than 5,000 feet elevation is similar to a 120-degree day in Phoenix at 1,100 feet above sea level, he said.

    In 1990, amid a similar heat wave when Phoenix hit that record 122 degrees, flights were cancelled at the Phoenix airport because there was too much uncertainty about how the heat would affect aviation performance. Now, airlines have a better understanding, but the heat is still a concern — primarily for smaller, regional jets.

    To that effect, American Airlines is warning passengers that it may have to ground flights in Phoenix and is letting passengers flying during peak heat times through Wednesday to change flights without a fee.

    1011 chars

  51. Deborah said on June 19, 2017 at 3:57 pm

    I always thought it was because of blowouts upon landing in excessive heat situations. But what do I know.

    106 chars

  52. Jerry said on June 19, 2017 at 5:02 pm

    Scout at 48: 120 all I can say is “Good Grief”. Here in sunny Sidcup it’s been 80+ and I’m finding it too hot for comfort.

    Just hope it’s cooled down a little by the end of the week when we welcome our eldest son and his son over from Australia for a three week holiday. We can’t wait.

    289 chars

  53. Deborah said on June 19, 2017 at 6:30 pm

    It’s 96 in Abiquiu, with little wind. This is the hottest and driest time of year here, before the monsoon season. I’ve decided to stay in Santa Fe the next few days where it’s a few degrees cooler because it’s a few hundred feet higher. The stillness is the killer, usually there’s wind which makes it seem cooler. I must say I have complained about the wind in the past but you won’t catch me doing that again, it’s what saves you from baking. It’s still better than heat and humidity, the difference between dry roasting and boiling I guess.

    544 chars

  54. Rana said on June 19, 2017 at 7:26 pm

    Well, looking at it earlier in the day, I’m fine with the commenting text. Must just have been tired/aging eyes. (Presbyopia is no freaking joke; I was surprised by how fast it came on, and how decidedly. I’m nearsighted so I can actually read things without my glasses, but my ability to focus in dim light is shot.)

    317 chars

  55. susan said on June 19, 2017 at 7:37 pm

    I consider swimming not drowning. Being in small boats on big water makes me really anxious. Sailing? Acccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkk! No way. White knuckles and close to comatose. Walking on “solid” terra firma (that’s relative, what with the Yellowstone Hot Spot and plate tectonics), now that’s the ticket!

    (And yes, I do know how to swim, though badly, and I can float.)

    366 chars

  56. Sherri said on June 19, 2017 at 8:34 pm

    Useful advice in the age of trump:

    But on a more personal level, rampant and persistent displays of hypocrisy and insincerity can be useful and clarifying. A person who flaunts their lack of core values and consistent views is a person you never have to to take seriously ever again.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2017/06/19/trolls-hypocrites-and-performance-artists-are-trying-to-hack-our-lives-dont-let-them/

    441 chars

  57. Deborah said on June 19, 2017 at 8:51 pm

    When I looked up when the solstice is this year Google said the 20th, so tomorrow. Seems to me like it’s usually the 21st?

    122 chars

  58. Colleen said on June 19, 2017 at 9:09 pm

    We were in Phoenix over the weekend for a memorial service. Hot as an oven. It is a different heat from the midwest and Florida, what with 3% humidity in Phoenix. But it is still damn hot.

    188 chars

  59. Suzanne said on June 19, 2017 at 9:11 pm

    I have a cousin who lives in Phoenix. He says when it hits about 120 weird stuff happens to the asphalt on the runways.

    I don’t mind the new font. It’s dandy.

    161 chars

  60. Sherri said on June 19, 2017 at 9:19 pm

    Rebecca Traister talks to the newly created activists in GA-6: suburban white women.

    https://www.thecut.com/2017/06/jon-ossoff-karen-handel-georgia-race-white-suburban-women-activists.html

    191 chars

  61. Sherri said on June 19, 2017 at 9:30 pm

    Some links about airports and heat:

    http://www.12news.com/weather/heat/airport-shutdown-asphalt-melting-what-happens-when-phoenix-hits-120/449465340

    https://lasvegassun.com/news/2012/jul/11/why-extreme-heat-makes-life-more-difficult-airline/

    American had to cancel some American Eagle flights today because the maximum operating temperature for the smaller Bombardier jets those flights used is 118 degrees.

    416 chars

  62. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on June 19, 2017 at 10:53 pm

    Bitter Scribe @ #40 . . . I’m not sure I’d read Thoreau or Hemingway or Iris Murdoch or even Toni Morrison in Comic Sans. There’s a discreditable kneejerk reaction that I don’t know where it came from. It’s like religious material in Papyrus: I have trouble taking anything seriously once I see that font in the headers. And that’s surely some kind of snobbery of some sort, but there you are, or rather there I am.

    As the sage said: embrace change, because sooner or later it’s gonna eat you anyhow.

    504 chars

  63. Deborah said on June 19, 2017 at 11:39 pm

    We had a crisis in Abiquiu as we were getting everything squared away for bed, we’ve been sleeping on the roof because it’s much cooler at night. On the way up to the roof deck my husband spotted a tarantula on the upper landing. He came downstairs where I was and told me he had some bad news and said he was afraid I’d want to go back to Santa Fe immediately but my response was “let’s get it”. We grabbed a bottle of windex and squirted it with that, it was obviously in distress, then I got a dish towel and my husband captured it and took it way outside. I know that tarantulas are harmless to humans but they’re big and creepy. Anyway I think my husband was more afraid of it than I was and that surprised him. It was about 3″ in diameter, hairy but that’s actually kind of small, so maybe it’s a teenager and there’s a whole family somewhere. Shudder, but again they’re harmless to humans. I’ll probably get used to them eventually and so will my husband. Hopefully.

    974 chars

  64. Sherri said on June 20, 2017 at 12:31 am

    I think the Dems are too gutless to do this, but they should: https://newrepublic.com/article/143391/democrats-can-restore-faith-political-process

    Might not work, but they’re doomed otherwise.

    196 chars

  65. Sherri said on June 20, 2017 at 12:47 am

    I swear, I’m going cold-turkey from Twitter tomorrow, but one last link, to a tweetstorm by a former GOP staffer: https://twitter.com/Zathras3/status/876799163018731520

    169 chars

  66. Suzanne said on June 20, 2017 at 6:47 am

    This is pretty amazing
    https://mobile.twitter.com/timjhogan/status/876967541318537216

    87 chars