Good morning, Fire Pups!!!

Belated happy birthday, Karen. May you have many, many more.

Thanks, bystander!

Good Morning, KarenM
And, also belated Happys.
Which one is Paul? I can’t see the tuba in the photo.

Happy 58th, hope you enjoy social security one of these days, too!

Went to the fireworks, but it was so crowded we chose a more pleasant open space where the view was impaired, but it was calmer. Great display for a small town, and afterwards discovered that everyone there was on the phone, impossible to make a call for hours. Very much should have anticipated, but we connected with our group anyway.

The tuba player is in the left foreground. Paul plays the trumpet.

Since I’m over 55, SSI is not supposed to change for me… but we’ll see.

I didn’t do anything on the fourth except watch the Firefly marathon but I enjoyed a cookout on Sunday.
Good morning.

Can’t see a trumpet either. Is Paul wearing the red hat?

Hey, Peggy.
We had the Twilight Zone marathon on here.
A cookout? That proves that you are a Texan. Here, we call them barbeques, but my friend Nez used to say, Oh, you’re having a COOK out? I still miss her terribly.

About at age 58 I was seriously informed by a right wing economist at SMU that there was no way I would ever get social security. So hang in there, girl, we’ll get over this hump too.

Hey there, Ms. Calvo.
One of the advantages of living near the top of an alluvial fan is that we have a splendid view of most of The Valley. We watched about twenty firework displays…from a distance.

Was actually surprised to see lotsa fireflies in Michigan. And got my garden through being gone by putting many plants into baby wading pool, wicking water to my tomatoes with a piece of gauze. Most survived, to my surprise.

No, he’s on the far right.

Nice. Driving home from DFW, I saw a few high bursts of color on the 4th.

The evening of the fourth found me in my comfortable living room, in my comfortable pj’s watching fireworks on my tv. That’s what aging comes to.
I did, however, have an eventful Saturday night as I attended the double-wedding of 2 of my nieces. Beautiful affair.

Just wondering, don’t know how I feel about it, but do you have permission of that young man who is crying to publish his photo? Maybe all privacy is gone with the intertubes. I am I being too sensitive? out of date?

Warren Buffett on the deficit:

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/07/warren-buffett-i-could-end-the-deficit-in-5-minutes/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBigPicture+%28The+Big+Picture%29/?

“I could end the deficit in 5 minutes. You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP all sitting members of congress are ineligible for reelection.”

Lol.

I like The Twilight Zone too but I’ve been a Ron Glass fan since Barney Miller days and Nathan Fillion is a hottie. Plus the show was really well done for the tiny budget they had.

I had bar b q with friends and family, had some great tennis, and us boys got to blow shit up and use independence day as our x cuse

hey k emme, always great 2 c u, ….how goes it?

oh, so sorry to hear it…
;-}

Nice Ruth but I was talking about Firefly

Here ya go.

mornin DAWGS!!!

can’t stay long, going to work in a few minutez

He saw me take his photo… I didn’t have a chance to ask him for permission.

I could end the lack of living wage problem with;

“anytime congress wants a raise they have to give the same percentage raise to minimum wage law

Ooops. I was talking about the other kind, but glad you enjoyed it.

Oh, he is nice looking. If you like them young and cute, I mean. Ha.

I’m fine… just really tired. We got home late last night.

How’s your diet going? I haven’t been able to be here in ages so I’m seriously behind in everyone’s personal life.

kind of when you’re at a parade you have given permission for photos

aha

I c u recognized your name this week

tee hee

Just to look at demi. I harbor no illusions. :)

I was doing great, then had some family loss and regained half

now am back on the road to loss and only 10 lbs from goal

feel terrific too

THANX 4 asking

I think it’s just fine. It’s not like you’re making money off of his image, right?
Oh, and what perris said.

I like the other kind of fireflies too but I wasn’t watching those ones on the fourth.

But, you can still dream.
We ain’t dead yet, sister.

People in public places have no reasonable expectation of privacy. It’s why the cops keep losing these cases when they abuse somebody who is recording them. It’s nice to get permission where possible but in this case you don’t need it.

I haven’t seen fireflies in a very long time, when I was growing up they were there every summer

I was wondering if we fried them off with global heat raising

But, you can still dream.

And do! :)

@Perris: Yes, I did…

Carrying a sign implies wanting to make an effect, it would be absurd to claim privacy then.

Most of them in southern and central Texas were eradicated by fireants. They’ve been making a comeback in areas where UT released anti fireant nematodes though. I’ve seen some dragonflies too lately.

Though I use no sprays for insects, I still get many fewer fireflies here, but we’re having droughts every summer now, which I see as the indirect effect of all the chemicals.

Must get some of them.

before I go off to work I want to subtly pimp my diary

http://my.firedoglake.com/perris/2011/07/08/obama-producer-and-author-of-the-debt-problem/

I would like this or something like it on the front page, we MUST begin blaming obama for the “debt ceiling problem”

he CANNOT bring the rain and then complain about water (a cute saying and I can’t find the original author, I think it was in chicago or something)

anyway, I am going to continue being subtle while pimping my diary

http://my.firedoglake.com/perris/2011/07/08/obama-producer-and-author-of-the-debt-problem/

see if you can figure out when I am pimping the diary that’s over here

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

http://my.firedoglake.com/perris/2011/07/08/obama-producer-and-author-of-the-debt-problem/

I’m collecting dragonfly earrings, lately.

Neko’s being weird. She didn’t wake me up this morning at all. I found her under the dresser. She doesn’t act like she feels bad but her behavior is most unusual. It makes me nervous when animals act nervous!

Are you really? I know a lady in Lubbock who is into dragonfly everything.

Yikes!

Just earrings for me.

And, speaking of Jane Austen, I finished a nearly 500 page Stephen King book this week, The Stand.
(For those who aren’t familiar with the current PUAC etiquette…Ha, you’ll have to ask.)

Oh, he is nice looking. If you like them young and cute, I mean. Ha.

DARN it, that means i am out…uggg

got to go

C ALL L8TRE

My Cleocatra moans when she’s about to throw up, hides when she hears strange noises. Maybe a critter dug in your flowerbed early this a.m. I get armadillo noises.

Yer making me think of that song…must have been the right place, but the wrong time.
We’re taking a break here…well, trying to anyway.

Oh, I should go put a Jane Austen comment in my art diary. Which I won’t pimp right now, since you all know I do art on Saturday.

I love king’s writing but have always hated how he resolves his novels

it seems he gets enamored with his own writing, then gets tired of the story and simply ends it with something along the lines of

“and that was it”

I would love to have a long discussion of “it” though

anyway, see all later

Good morning, KarenM. Happy Birthday – so you were nearly a 4th of July baby!

We took the gradnkids to a carnival on the 4th, filled ‘em full of food and ice cream, and delivered them (tuckered out) back to their parents!

I remember The Stand. When I got pneumonia in circa 1980, I was sent home from work by a doctor. I stopped by the book store on the way home and bought a nice, fat Stephen King to read while I was sick. It was The Stand. Irony reigned that day.

Oh yeah! And Happy Birthday KarenM! Many, many more to you.

Not quite… I wanted to wait a few more days.

Thanks, Margaret!

Jane Austen was a genius!

The Stand didn’t really end like that though I feel you on The Dark Tower series. Those books are the ones which made me not read Harry Potter at all until the seventh book came out so I wouldn’t be waiting forever for the next one.

Good morning all, and Happy Birthday KarenM. No firework sales this year, thanks to the drought. The city put on a fireworks show, but they ended up starting a fire themselves. We had a nice barbecue though.

It was really late last night when we got back home. Thankfully, we had power again. It was off when we left. I am still yawning…

Oh my gosh. That is some irony.
I wonder why I’m drawn to the horror/creepy/weird. Hmmmmm.

I can’t read the horror/creepy/weird.

If you don’t have your usual jam-packed schedule today, I would suggest a nice nap later. (I love naps.)

I still love you.

Missed it by THAT much! (just had to say that, rented the movie Get Smart this week – Max’s favorite line).

I love horror/creepy weird though my tastes are not limited to it.

Was that any good? It wouldn’t be the same without Don Adams, Barbara Feldon, Bernie Koppel and Ed Platt.

I picked my first ripe tomatoes this week. Yum in salads and sammies.
The grapes are ready too. My son started volunteering at MEND this week in the kitchen, interning under the (gourmet) chef. We took a whole bag of red grapes in and the chef said Marvelous! I’m going to use them in my pasta sauce. Really, says I. He said oh yes, they’ll sweeten it right up.
Just sharing.

Link seems to work for me. I don’t think it needs TinyURL.

Happy birthday, Karen …

I’m trying to decide between a nap or a visit to the gym. I suppose I could do both.

Thanks, dirigo!

It isn’t about it working, it’s about making it a more reasonable size but whatever. I was just trying to help. I won’t annoy you by trying to assist you again.

I have to say that emigration looks better and better, given the upcoming changes in entitlements.

We enjoyed it. I thought Steve Carrell did a pretty good job. Overall it had the similar over-the-top feel as the TV series, and I thought it had some pretty funny moments. But Steve Carrell doesn’t deliver that line like Don Adams.

the Get Smart show was one of my favorite as a kid.

It’s getting harder and harder to post here. I just refreshed this page with F5 and it took me to the comments in Attaturk’s last post.

It was pretty funny, I agree.

demi… I think I’ll take a short nap and then go to the gym.

Scroll, baby, scroll.

Nobody can deliver a line like Don Adams.

Yep. It’s what I get for trying to be helpful.

Sorry about that chief. I was having all kinds of problems this week, including getting a ton of error messages.
This morning I rebooted before PUAC and I haven’t had any problems yet.
Don’t leave……..(in my best whiney voice.)

Good for him, and you. And I picked lettuce for the veggie/fruit drink the friend I visited in Michigan is making for breakfast these days, wonderful mix.

Good girl. I’ve been threatening to go down the hill to the pool all week. Haven’t made it yet, though.

Good morning KarenM and Firepups *waves to all of my FDL friends on this thread*. Just a (very late) drive-by, because I have a LOT of perennials to plant in my back yard landscape project before it gets too hot, and a volunteer gig at the Performing Arts Center this afternoon. Every day I don’t get the plants in the ground I risk having them wilt in their small pots.

Happy birthday, Karen! You’re just a youngster (I’m 10 years older), but I think age is a state of mind!

My feelings are mixed. Family came here from Costa Rica, which has much better conditions than we now have. Go back or work for better here, a big question.

You’re right about that.

So do I, msmolly!

He’s only doing one day a week, but I think it’ll be good for him. It’ll look good on his resume – both for college and professional. He asked me if I was going to pay him. Ha!
Here’s a link for my favorite gourmet.

Hi ya, Molly. It sounds like a wonderful project.
It was over 100 and hugely humid here all week. Seems to have broken, though.

Morning firepups,

The small villages around here each had their own fireworks displays and three different parades with all the art and food tents and live music. Bratwursts and beer available at every turn. I bicycled to two of them to avoid walking a mile into two of the celebrations (car parked out for that far from each village access road).

Yes, the pay is in credit on the resume. A Habitat build might be a plus, as well.

I’m not leaving. :)

I saved many garden plants by leaving them in a kiddie wading pool while I was gone. A piece of gauze wicked water from the pool down to tomato plants. All lived in very bad heat.

Great idea. Me likee.
He’s got one more year of high school. Got a pretty good report card for the last semester 3.85 gpa. My daughter is flying in from DC right before school starts, to attend a wedding, and she and I will take him to visit several colleges.
When I first found out about his Asphergers, I was afraid I was going to have a 40 year old in my basement eating cheetos, but he’s doing just fine, better in fact. He wants to be either a scientist or an engineer.

Ah, bicycling and beer, tha brings back fond memories. As I recall, after about 3 or 4, the bicycling part didn’t go so well.

Whew!
Did you follow my “gourmet” link? I was working with him when I was downstairs and we became friends. He’s a real peach!

That’s great news, good for you both, again. My son and I did a Habitat build and it was terrific for many things, one of them being learning how healthy young and old folks do in groups together.

Morning, nonquixote!

Michigan is near my digs, this past week was decent summer weather. Nice to hear your tomatoes survived. We are anticipating our four day of near 100 degree weather at the beginning of the new week. Fourth day for the whole season that is.

Morning, diosnomeama!

I didn’t spend the $5 a glass but tried a few of the more healthy food options. My summer health program has me down almost 14 lbs from my pathetic (non)health program last winter.

The health program is simply smaller portions and more deliberate movement.

Good job!

How wonderful! Sounds like a great diary, hint, hint.

Wasn’t that a wonderful idea? You go Ruth.

Thanks to everyone who dropped by today… please feel free to talk amongst yourselves.

I have to take that nap now and then get me to the gym.

You may recall that when some of you were talking about the snow last winter, I was basking in 75 degree weather, but was dreading the 100 degree heat for days in the summer. It’s about that time now. Yikes. I can handle it when it’s dry heat, but the humidity from the storm in Mexico has made it fairly miserable.

Sweet dreams and don’t pull any hamstrings, will ya.

Have a good nap and workout KarenM! Thanks for another PUAC.

I enjoyed being told it was really hot at 89F, when that’s a low temp here.

Not a bad idea. No doubt, sometimes it’s good to do reflections on things done right.

Have a good day, KarenM.

It worked well for both of us, though I must admit I feared disaster as a possible result, found out that many of our group thought there’d be a blow-up during the trip. Thanks.

I just googled and found that Habitat For Humanity has an office in Pasadena, pretty close for me. Will check into volunteer projects here.

Morning Karen and Happy Birthday!

Thanks and working the garden gets my activity level up. Fresh beets cubed and roasted in the oven last night, sweet treat, the first plantng of lettuces is nearing the end and starting to bolt, the second is just kicking in. Almost 20 lbs of garlic scapes harvested, shared and I should be digging bulbs in about 14 days. It is doing great this year.

Rearranging the garage, a 14 by 20 foot area to access and hang the crop to dry, is my goal for the afternoon. The nails are still in the rafters and I position a squirrel cage blower in the window to move air to eliminate the chance of the stuff not drying properly when it is hung in bundles.

Good to here from you Demi, It is hard for me to complain about the weather where I live, even when there is snow. To everything there is a purpose. Good on your son for volunteering.

Rearranging the garage is So Romantic. (I kid, but you know what I mean.)
And, you and I have different planting seasons. I do my lettuce during the winter. We have the perfect virtual relationship, I think.

Turn, turn, turn.

I recommend highly a working experience. Wishing you a great time, too.

we have a PW post up above. and I got a comment from Jane at my art post, yay!

Thanks Demi, that’s what I was thinking of.

Sorry for the delay in responding, rural communications, both wired and wireless take a hit and can’t deal well with increased user levels when the seasonal crowd is here. County population is roughly tripled over year-round levels. Eight minutes to refresh the page. Off to the great outdoors, thanks and best wishes to all.

Good morning all and happy birthday Karen. Kinda depressed about this SS Mediscare BS from our president. Being 58 and on disability and probably can never work again is scary when you have a 7 year old and a wife to take care of. She works but if she loses her job well….enough of the buzz killington talk. Just wanted to vent.

Very well written and precise diary. You need to post that everywhere you never know whose mind you may change. Thanks for the post.

I could have sworn that I heard about a Harvard study that July 4 parades are only for patriotic Americans.

So what are any liberals doing there? They are the definition of anti-patriotism.

You obviously either made an error or don’t know what the hell you’re talking about….

or both.

But, being the helpful person I am, I’ll help you out a bit.

It’s the conservatives and those on the right wing of the political spectrum that are so anti-American that they wouldn’t know patriotism if it bit them in the ass and left a big PATRIOTISM scar on their backside.

Conservatives believe in torturing innocent people. Completely un-American. Conservatives believe in guilty as soon as the government brings charges. Completely un-American as in America the rule is “INNOCENT until PROVEN guilty.”

Conservatives propose and support all kinds of laws LIMITING the right to vote. Absolutely un-American.

Conservatives believe taxation is a form of thievery. Totally un-American when you consider that the very first power listed in the Constitution for powers of the Congress is to raise taxes.

I could go on and list plenty of other obvious un-American sentiments that conservatives espouse, but this is probably enough for most readers out there to realize how in error you are.

Hard to be more un-Patriotic than being adamantly un-American and oppose all of those things America stands for.