July 2021 Chat Thread

[Bean]

Straight off the blocks today - happy July everyone! We're officially halfway through 2021 already, and closer to next Christmas than the last one (just a little fun fact in tribute to Jo!).

My mission for this month is to take some photos.

[3piggles]

Happy July July 1 was Canada Day, which I totally forgot to note on Facebook. I'm just not on Facebook all that much, and when I am, I'm usually trying to get caught up with important things, or things that keep that person or page in my news feed. July 4 is our Independence Day. This is a list of July holidays and observances. I'm only posting it because the use of observances has obviously gotten out of control

nationaltoday.com/july-holidays/

[Bean]

They've got some pretty bad fires over there are the moment haven't they? Caused by lightning. And a surge in deaths from a heatwave. Hope they're in for a break very soon.

Can't believe I missed 'National Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day', but hope my kids miss that it's 'Disobedience Day' today!

[3piggles]

I've missed National Obedience Day every year, lol I always find out it's ice cream day after the fact, too We need to go to Ben and Jerry's in Vermont, as they give out free ice cream on National Ice Cream Day

The fires are part of a natural cycle, but so many people have moved into the forested areas, they and they're properties get caught up in the wildfire cycle. CA is a very dry state. We have about 56% humidity to their 18% humidity, which means they don't even get enough dew falling to make a dent in how dry fallen leaves and dead grass are.

Part of that cycle, which is also bad, as that once all the vegetation is burned away, it finally rains, usually torrentially, and washes the sides of hills and mountains down into the valleys. Paradise isn't all it's cracked up to be I'm not sure what they could do, and figure anything they could do, such as wet down the forests before the lightening strikes, is too expensive. Surely fighting all those wildfires has to be exorbitantly expensive, so it seems as if prevention would be worth the money.

Every state has a company that provides municipal insurance. That covers things like lawsuits. That insurance can be withdrawn, if a state has too many safety violations, or the state's rating can drop. They means if the state tries to fix the problems, they'll have to pay top dollar for every loan, if they can get a loan at all. CA is bankrupt, for all practical purposes, so their rating isn't very good to start. With all these wildfires and mudslides every year, CA is caught up in a cycle of having such a bad rating, it can't even get the money to improve anything, and get a better rating. Not at all sure what they're going to do. Pete Buttigieg, who is secretary of transportation under Pres. Biden, is pushing a bill for a huge amount of money for infrastructure renewal. It's about 100 years overdue, so we have money failing infrastructure than good infrastructure. Of course, the republicans don't want to pay for it, which is why it never happens, and why more and more bridges and roads get closed and stay closed, every year. If it passes, CA might get some money to make some desperately needed improvements that would help their rating, and their ability to improve even more things. All digits crossed that it passes. After all the billions spent on pandemic relief, I'm not sure it will.

[Bean]

We always hear about the fires in CA, but not so much Canada, so I wasn't aware it was a regular thing there. Things are only going to get more difficult in California with climate change, so I have no idea how they could counter it, even with tons of money.

We had some dramatic thunderstorms here last night. Loads of lightning and the floor was rumbling with the thunder at a few points. I was absolutely tipping it down for hours too.

[3piggles]

Ooh, some excitement from Mother Nature! Cool!

Our 4th of July dinner. BBQ country style pork ribs, corn on the cob, and coleslaw. We have watermelon and homemade cookies for later. I posted about the cookies in the Food thread. So easy. Right out of a box. Just add cream cheese and butter. No-bake cookies The ribs were fabulous. Hubby did an outstanding job of grilling them

[Bean]

Oh I forgot to wish you a happy 4th of July yesterday - my brain's not switched on properly when I come on here first thing! Glad you had a lovely time. The table looks great and I love that you've made it all look so nice too - I rarely make any effort setting out tables, but it does make it special!

[3piggles]

By limiting what I have to use, making things match is easier Nothing expensive, just went with red as an accent color, since it's in the plates

It was a great meal, and despite getting over 4 inches of rain since Friday, the rain cleared long enough for Hubby to grill the ribs

We are officially out of our drought

I didn't get around to wishing anyone a happy 4th, either. I totally forgot Canada Day July 1, and have a lot of friends in Canada. Sometimes life just gets in the way

[bazookagoof]

My garage has been leaking during the storms this year, and already one attempt to plug the leaks failed. Today I got home earlier than usual from work and took another shot at the holes in the roof. 

This weekend is supposed to rain both days, so we'll see how my repairs hold up.

I initially tried spraying rubber coating on top of the roof, but the holes are too large and I ran out of spray fairly quickly. My second try is to employ rope caulk to fill in the gaps from below. (This way I don't have to clamber all over the roof, which is falling apart anyway.) 

[Bean]

Fingers crossed it holds! That reminds me, we had a small leak in our shed roof - I don't think it's got loads worse as we've had some heavy rain and I haven't noticed any pooling, but I should check up on it.

It's all about the football here - England have made it through to the final of the EUROS so there's no other news! (Makes a change form covid I suppose?!) They're playing Italy, and as little interest as I have in football, I know Italy are no strangers to winning this competition. But there will be lots of happy people if we do win!

[bazookagoof]

Jul 10, 2021 6:50:29 GMT Bean said:

Fingers crossed it holds! That reminds me, we had a small leak in our shed roof - I don't think it's got loads worse as we've had some heavy rain and I haven't noticed any pooling, but I should check up on it.

It's all about the football here - England have made it through to the final of the EUROS so there's no other news! (Makes a change form covid I suppose?!) They're playing Italy, and as little interest as I have in football, I know Italy are no strangers to winning this competition. But there will be lots of happy people if we do win!

I still laugh at how we Yanks call football "soccer" over here. 

[3piggles]

I hope your attempts to plug the leaks work! Roof leaks are such a pain!

We already had a sport called football, which wasn't the same as the football played in the rest of the world, so that game of kicking and head butting the ball had to be called something else. I guess that's just one more example of how different English-speaking countries call the same things by different names.

[bazookagoof]

Jul 10, 2021 20:04:00 GMT 3piggles said:

I hope your attempts to plug the leaks work! Roof leaks are such a pain!

Still waiting for a decent rain to show how my efforts went. So far, all we've had is some very mild misting/drizzle, not enough to reveal any leaks.

[3piggles]

For the first time in years, we're getting the rain Waiting for a few hours of sunshine before more rain moves in this evening. I love getting the rain, and ending the drought, but could really do with even one night of low humidity. I don't think the outside humidity has dropped below 74% in days!

[Bean]

We've been just below 30c for the last few days and another few days of that to come - for us this is shockingly hot weather! I normally love to sit in the sun, but have been lurking in the shade where possible. Having rare thoughts of wishing we had A/C, or at least a swimming pool in the garden!

[3piggles]

Compared to you, we're a bit cool right now. 70sF instead of 80s and 90s, but the humidity just won't quit. We don't need the a/c as much as we need the fans. Do you have fans? Often that's all you need, if it's not humid. Humidity is currently 85% Maybe a kiddie pool, so you can take a dip when you get really hot I've thought about it, myself

Saw pics of the flooding in Germany Some wild weather

Had some of our own, yesterday, Just after the NASCAR race started, it started to pour. Two cars wrecked, and others got minor damage. While that was happening, some communities were flooded, with roads washed away, and people needing to be evacuated from houses. I live about 10 miles from the track, as the crow flies, and we didn't get any of that. We got more rain last night, into this morning, so we're almost at 3", but no torrential rains. I'll take it!

[Bean]

Sounds dramatic! Must be fun watching the racing on tv and waiting to see if the weather comes over to you!

We had a fan but I gave it away - someone else really needed one and I had thought it was a little too noisy to leave on overnight (back in days when I was a light sleeper, I'd probably be fine with it now!). There are so few days a year where we feel like we need one that I never actually get round to going anything about replacing it, but if we get enough nights like that I'll move my bum!

[3piggles]

Usually fans and a/c units fly off the shelves during the first heatwave of the each season. We have a lot of fans, but it does get hot enough here, and more than humid enough, to need them to create a wind chill factor. That's the only way to cut down on the a/c use. I've managed to keep the a/c set to 72F since the heat and humidity arrived, and had it set to 73F before that, when we didn't have the humidity. I'd have to set the a/c down in the 60sF without all the fans. It will be nice when we can finally turn them off, and hear ourselves think. It's not that any one fan is loud. It's just having so many fans going, it's like constant white noise.

[bazookagoof]

I'm feeling somewhat insufferably pleased with myself these past few weeks- our flyswatter broke after about twenty-five years of service, and I keep forgetting to buy a new one.

But, I've had incredible luck in setting insects free that I don't mind. My wife & daughter always manage to let in flies during the warm weather season, and so far I've been able to liberate five in a row to the outside!

If one wanders into the bathroom or office, I can shut the door and open the window/lower the screen- eventually they manage to find their way out and I quickly close the window after they've gone.

It's easier to smash them, but I just don't want to do that anymore. Not if there's a chance of them getting out again. Even a fly deserves a chance.

Just call me a softy. 

[3piggles]

I'd call you a good person. There's just no need to kill anything just because it's in the way, or being an annoyance. I would like to take the slithery things off that list, but hubby tries to toss them back over the berm, rather than kill them. Grrr, they'll just come back! Anyway, it's not their fault they wandered in to my yard.

We've been getting a lot of house flies, which makes me wonder if that's what the maggot was that I found, and nothing to do with the hay or the flies that came out of it. Hubby isn't great at closing doors. He goes in and out the slider, pushing it in the general direction of shut, but it never seems to actually be closed. I'm surprised we haven't gotten chipmunks and squirrels in, with the door partly open. I think we look pretty silly trying to coax a house fly out the open door, but it's worth it