Well, it's still warm.

Yep, summer in the great desert is still warm.  But that's not to say it can't be pretty.  Especially in the early morning when it's not too hot!

I'm always saying that looking at those mountains is one of the reasons we like living here and it's certainly true.  Driving around and seeing people with Trump 2024 flags is certainly NOT one of the good things but I guess they get to have their opinions too.  

A few weeks ago I posted a photo of our front door with tons of dead crickets on the floor.  A few days later I saw this series of photos posted from northern Nevada.

At least we aren't the only ones with the problem!  I'm hearing one of our neighbors using a blower almost every day going around his house blowing the darned things away.  However the bug population at our house has dropped to almost zero so I'm hoping that the problem is going/has gone away.  

Our outside temps are dropping a bit but I'm sure that's just a momentary thing.  Still, there is quite a difference between 104F and 112F (40C and 44.4C).  It will be another month or so before the drop is to the point where you want to be outside!  

A couple of years ago we contacted our local electricity company (Valley Electric aka VEA) and asked about solar panels for generating electricity.  They have a subsidiary that they want you to use (gee!) so we ended up spending about $25,000 on solar panels.  Our house faces north so the panels, mounted on the south side, aren't visible when you look at the house.  And, do they work, you ask.  Yep.  Here's the usage info from the bill covering 6/23 to 7/23 of this year.  It's stupid I think but the power from the panels is sent to the company and then the company sends out power to our house.  It turns out that the panels are almost covering our electric needs even when the a/c is on 24/7 (actually our house is all electric; no gas at all).  In fact, over the year we end up with about 3 months of extra energy created vs energy used.  Of course they take that and sell it to others but that's the way things work when there is no competition.

I'm being obsessed the the Presidential election.  I'm not sure why; I never had any idea that Kamala Harris was alive until she became President Biden's VP.  Never heard of Tim Walz or JD Vance either.  Still a couple of those people are going to be running our country in something under 6 months.  I was worried that President Biden was getting a little old to be running the country but Mr. Trump isn't any spring chicken either!  Actually, him having Vance as his VP makes me a little afraid because there is at least say a 20% chance that some illness might happen to Mr. Trump.  And then Mr. Vance would be acting President/the next President.  Yeah, that does worry me.  I've been following a blog that is pretty anti-Trump and it makes some really good points quoting printed articles and sharing cartoons from all over the place.  For sure it's not a pro-Trump site but I like it!

Well, that's the news from this corner of the desert.  Have a great day and keep washing those hands and staying away from the sick people!

Summer, what fun!

No, not really!  Not in southern Nevada anyway.  Our dog has been limiting himself to one run out to do his bathroom duties; first thing in the morning.  Well, I kind of knew what was going on but this?!?!

Yeah, that's the temp of those rocks that fill the back yard.  That's 160F or 71C.  Well, hell, I wouldn't want to walk on that in my bare feet either!  I was expecting something warm but that is just way warmer than I was expecting.  Good dog!

I got my shot last Thursday which was supposed to help my spinal nerve problems and I have to say it did change things but that's not to say fixed them!  It just kind of moved the pain around a bit.  We'll see what they have to say when I can get in to talk with them again.  

The Presidential election is about all that's on the news these days and I have to say I'm pretty happy about how it is moving along.  I should say I'm originally from Iowa, a Republican state, and even today my wife and I are registered Republicans.  Actually that is simply so we can have some voice here.  There will be 4 people running for a position in the county government, all Republican, so whoever wins the primary will automatically get the position.  There just won't be a Democratic or Independent candidate.  It says something about the number of Democrats in the county for sure!  ANYWAY, we will certainly be voting for Kamala Harris for President and are, so far, pretty happy with the choice of Tim Walz for VP.  

One of my HUGE problems with Mr. Trump is the whole Project 2025 thing.  There is some serious crap in that.  Things like purging civil servants, pardon everyone in the Jan. 6 invasion of the capital, enact an abortion ban, reverse student debt forgiveness, cut social security, cut Medicare, abolish the Dept. of Education, ban books, attack LGBTQ+ people, end climate protections, deregulate corporations and the oil industry, put immigrants in detention camps and more!  OMG!  It makes me think that living in another country might be better!  Well, I guess that is one way to reduce the number of people who want to move to this country.  Shit!

We do have some fun in our lives though.  We were going to a supermarket for something the other day and saw this official vehicle.

Can't you just see it in a speeding chase?  LOL  Well, actually, it was being driven by a couple of the sheriff's civilian helpers.  They were apparently helping the supermarket folks with something or maybe just buying donuts for the real cops.  

Anyway, that's all the news that's fit to type from around here.  Hope you are having as much fun.  Keep washing those hands and staying away from the sick folks.

Just weirdness....

My wife and I aren't political.  We've joined both the Democratic and the Republican parties when we lived in areas where one party was dominant.  Here, for example, you will have 3 or 4 Republican candidates for a position and either 0 or 1 Democrat.  If you want to help chose a candidate you feel will support things you personally prefer you'd better be a Republican.

For example, we both strongly feel that a woman's body is her own and her decision to have an abortion should be hers.  If she is married or in a long term relationship of course she should take the father's opinion into account but in the end it is her body.  My wife donated to a couple what you might call feminist causes last year and that is about the only reason we can imagine for a piece of mail we received today.

The front of the card shows some happy Democrats (President Biden was way over on the right and I didn't bother to include him.

 

So when you turn the card over you learn the supposed reason.

Apparently the folks sending the card think that if Mr. Trump is the candidate the Democrats will win control of the government.  You can't read it on the photos but the card was sent out by Americans for Prosperity Action - www.afpaction.com.  I don't have a clue if any of the things they claim are true and I certainly can't even guess who the Republican nominee will be.  But I must say I did enjoy the wild claims!  (And I can't help wondering if Mr. DeSantis is associated with the card.)

I have to admit that I don't like the idea of re-electing an 84 year old President but I don't care for any of the alternative candidates either.  I like my President to be in the 50's or 60's; moderate in politics and not entirely oblivious to the dangers of war.  I would have thought that finding such people wouldn't be difficult but clearly I'm wrong.  Anyway, that's our exciting mail for the day!

Otherwise we are having a quiet day.  My wife trying to mend and I am trying to help her.  We have another doctor's appointment a week from tomorrow so we'll see then.  No one is expecting her to walk on her 'boot' then but it would be great to have all the wounds finally closed!

Thanks for stopping by.  Keep washing those hands!