Saturday May 30

[Dan McLaughlin]

Have good ones.

[coachdoc]

Having a good one here.




Crazy hard cloudburst last night. As hard as I've ever heard rain fall, and only lasted about 30 seconds. Odd one. No wind, no thunder. Wicked noisy on the roof. The flowers in the raised bed seem to have not minded, so good for them.

[jdd2]

Mother-in-law came to our place for lunch today. An early birthday, she'll be 91 on monday.

[drlj]

Cool & sunny.
Enjoy what you can.

[brucemacneill]

Good morning.

The pool got opened but it will need some cleaning for the next couple of days. It was really green but it's getting bluer and I can at least see the bottom drain now. I got the leaves out and some of the dire down the drain but I'll have to vacuum it maybe tomorrow. The pool thermometer says 66 so I won't be swimming for awhile anyway.

On the up side I got the new credit card this morning and updated the on-line accounts. I wonder how long this one will last before it gets hacked.

Gonna go check the news which I'll probably regret.

Have a safe Saturday.

[Cornflake]

Good morning. We'll have more very hot weather but it's very pleasant now. Took a walk earlier. My newly discovered half brother wants to see some family photos so I'll spend part of the day scanning some old ones.

Have a good day.

[howard lee]

Good morning.

What a crazy night we had last night in Brooklyn, NY. Crowds of protesters right down the street from us. The Barclays Center arena is about a 1/2 mile down the avenue from us, and we could hear the roar of the crowd through our open windows. If you saw any of the video footage from the protest there, you have seen what went on, and then later, in Fort Greene at the 88th Precinct station house.

In typical, age-old fashion, the young people I hear and with whom I speak believe that burning things down is the only way to get the attention of the powers that be; the older people, like me, believe that peaceful protest in numbers still gets the message across and garners more sympathy for a cause. What is the solution here? I don't know, but I am feeling outraged, disturbed, frustrated, and helpless.

In the meantime, practical considerations close to home prevail. I will be figuring out the best way to install a floor unit a/c in the kid's room; two windows on a fire escape (it's an urban thing) and we have found no window unit that does not extend beyond the window well on the outside, thereby violating FDNY and DOB safety codes because they block the walkway. We'll need to install some hardware to keep some semblance of security, too. A good friend suggested that dowels jammed into the window tracks would work, and also enable quick disassembly for extry egress.

Well. It is a brave new world. I can't wait to hear what the Ministry of Truth has to announce today.

I hope everyone is well. Wishing you a peaceful Saturday.

[kenlarsson]

good morning

[Marty]

Good Morning

Everything is shutting down, Our Hy Vee is in North Oakdale, quite a ways from any riot areas so hopefully they will be open today.

Pine Island 89F.

[John B]

May 30, 2020 9:29:15 GMT -5 howard lee said:

Good morning.

What a crazy night we had last night in Brooklyn, NY. Crowds of protesters right down the street from us. The Barclays Center arena is about a 1/2 mile down the avenue from us, and we could hear the roar of the crowd through our open windows. If you saw any of the video footage from the protest there, you have seen what went on, and then later, in Fort Greene at the 88th Precinct station house.

In typical, age-old fashion, the young people I hear and with whom I speak believe that burning things down is the only way to get the attention of the powers that be; the older people, like me, believe that peaceful protest in numbers still gets the message across and garners more sympathy for a cause. What is the solution here? I don't know, but I am feeling outraged, disturbed, frustrated, and helpless.

In the meantime, practical considerations close to home prevail. I will be figuring out the best way to install a floor unit a/c in the kid's room; two windows on a fire escape (it's an urban thing) and we have found no window unit that does not extend beyond the window well on the outside, thereby violating FDNY and DOB safety codes because they block the walkway. We'll need to install some hardware to keep some semblance of security, too. A good friend suggested that dowels jammed into the window tracks would work, and also enable quick disassembly for extry egress.

Well. It is a brave new world. I can't wait to hear what the Ministry of Truth has to announce today.

I hope everyone is well. Wishing you a peaceful Saturday.

Howard, have you considered a portable A/C unit that is inside the room, with only a flush vent in the window? It's what we used in CA.

Here's one I picked at random because it looks like what we had:

www.amazon.com/dp/B07TFKK76K/ref=s9_acsd_otopr_hd_bw_b50Ws_c2_x_4_i?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-2&pf_rd_r=GE6CV193FZP0HBPBN3YJ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=0da6807f-9d15-412e-8aba-757c20b627e8&pf_rd_i=1193678

[TKennedy]

Cool and breezy but sunny. Not bad.

There was a hazardous waste pickup at our township hall this AM. I went through years of accumulated cans of paint, stain, blah blah in our garage/basement/ shop and dropped off about 100 lbs of crap. Amazing how that stuff accumulates.

Very cathartic

Weeping for the Twin Cities.

[Marty]

May 30, 2020 10:43:17 GMT -5 John B said:

May 30, 2020 9:29:15 GMT -5 howard lee said:

Good morning.

What a crazy night we had last night in Brooklyn, NY. Crowds of protesters right down the street from us. The Barclays Center arena is about a 1/2 mile down the avenue from us, and we could hear the roar of the crowd through our open windows. If you saw any of the video footage from the protest there, you have seen what went on, and then later, in Fort Greene at the 88th Precinct station house.

In typical, age-old fashion, the young people I hear and with whom I speak believe that burning things down is the only way to get the attention of the powers that be; the older people, like me, believe that peaceful protest in numbers still gets the message across and garners more sympathy for a cause. What is the solution here? I don't know, but I am feeling outraged, disturbed, frustrated, and helpless.

In the meantime, practical considerations close to home prevail. I will be figuring out the best way to install a floor unit a/c in the kid's room; two windows on a fire escape (it's an urban thing) and we have found no window unit that does not extend beyond the window well on the outside, thereby violating FDNY and DOB safety codes because they block the walkway. We'll need to install some hardware to keep some semblance of security, too. A good friend suggested that dowels jammed into the window tracks would work, and also enable quick disassembly for extry egress.

Well. It is a brave new world. I can't wait to hear what the Ministry of Truth has to announce today.

I hope everyone is well. Wishing you a peaceful Saturday.

Howard, have you considered a portable A/C unit that is inside the room, with only a flush vent in the window? It's what we used in CA.

Here's one I picked at random because it looks like what we had:

www.amazon.com/dp/B07TFKK76K/ref=s9_acsd_otopr_hd_bw_b50Ws_c2_x_4_i?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-2&pf_rd_r=GE6CV193FZP0HBPBN3YJ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=0da6807f-9d15-412e-8aba-757c20b627e8&pf_rd_i=1193678

We have two of that type and I must say they are a hell of a lot easier to install than typical window units. Just put the intake/exhaust panel in the window and close it. It helps to have the unit elevated on a small table for the drain to do it's job, then you don't have to use a catch bucket.

[billhammond]

May 30, 2020 10:38:49 GMT -5 Marty said:

Good Morning

Everything is shutting down, Our Hy Vee is in North Oakdale, quite a ways from any riot areas so hopefully they will be open today.

My neighborhood Cub Foods store that was closed yesterday was open today, 8-5 hours, same thing tomoro. Shocking to see that the very busy Speedway station near me, in a very safe neighborhood, was all boarded up and closed. Need to call Trader Joe's and see if they are open -- they were closed yesterday, also in a very safe neighborhood. So today I went to the butcher shop and got some weenies and buns, then motored over to Culver's for cod sammich, broccoli and black coffee -- God, I am an old man.

[t-bob]

I don’t have much to say.
It’s probably the same old beautiful day. PV in Mexico
There’s no rioting. 77° Enjoy your days and here’s a prayer.

[Russell Letson]

Two specialty (science fiction/fantasy) bookstores are victims of the rioting: Dreamhaven was broken into but apparently rescued by local fans, who boarded it up; but Uncle Hugo's/Uncle Edgar's (the latter the mystery half of the store) was burned down. Uncle Hugo's was the longest-running SF store in the country, already established when we moved here in 1977, and its owner is probably close to my age, so it's not coming back.

The store was only a couple blocks north of the main line of rioting and burning along Lake Street, and I now realize that only a few blocks farther north is a big cluster of medical facilities--a hospital and clinics, including my neurologist's main office. If non-political disturbance (freelance, opportunistic looters and the provocateurs who are thought to be encouraging them) get to that neighborhood, it could get even uglier.

BTW: I've been skeptical of the "outside agitators" notion for as long as I've been seeing riots, but there is some evidence that there really are not only local yahoos but provocateurs and race-war fans showing up and urging destruction. Our local St. Cloud housebreaker who urged looting was perhaps not just an oddball but responding to ideas circulating in a network of far-right-wacko sites. If this is the case, we're in for a very nasty few weeks--or worse. (On top of the disruption likely to follow on the next wave of Covid-19 infections.)

[epaul]

Cool and sunny. Might hit 70. Record high in GF for May 30 is 93, record low is 29. Makes where we are look pretty darn good.

[howard lee]

May 30, 2020 11:01:37 GMT -5 Marty said:

May 30, 2020 10:43:17 GMT -5 John B said:

Howard, have you considered a portable A/C unit that is inside the room, with only a flush vent in the window? It's what we used in CA.

Here's one I picked at random because it looks like what we had:

www.amazon.com/dp/B07TFKK76K/ref=s9_acsd_otopr_hd_bw_b50Ws_c2_x_4_i?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-2&pf_rd_r=GE6CV193FZP0HBPBN3YJ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=0da6807f-9d15-412e-8aba-757c20b627e8&pf_rd_i=1193678

We have two of that type and I must say they are a hell of a lot easier to install than typical window units. Just put the intake/exhaust panel in the window and close it. It helps to have the unit elevated on a small table for the drain to do it's job, then you don't have to use a catch bucket.

Gentlemen: Yes. That is the type we ultimately purchased. It has a panel that goes into the window with a hose attached. This one is evaporative, so every so often exhausts the moisture. It also can be turned around and used as a heater in the wintertime. But the window is on a fire escape in a kid's room in Brooklyn, so there has to be some extra attention paid to security issues. It also needs to be timed so the aforementioned kid isn't feeling too oppositional and cranky, so we can enter the premises and do the necessary work. Teenagers. I'm ready to wait until she begs me to install it, because I am being rapidly depleted of patience, sympathy, and energy.

[Dub]

May 30, 2020 11:15:36 GMT -5 billhammond said:

…God, I am an old man.

Not yet you ain’t.

[Russell Letson]

Edited from the description posted on Facebook by the owner of the now-burned-down Uncle Hugo's bookstore. His security company sent an alert, but the building--and the dentist office next door--were already beyond saving when he got there at 3:30 a.m.:

Every single building on both sides of Chicago was blazing and dozens of people dancing around. As I pulled into the dentist's lot I could see that flames were leaping out the front windows of the Uncles. It looked to me like they had broken every window on the front of the Uncles and then squirted accelerant through each broken window. . . . Some of the rioters were busy breaking every pane of glass in the transit hub. The former Sheraton did not seem to be on fire yet, and there were guests who were staying there. It looked like somebody may have broken a window on the first floor along Chicago and started a fire, but it could have just been a reflection of the flames from the Uncles. I didn't notice anything going on yet at the Global Marketplace, but the rioters were headed in that direction. There is no way a mere fire could bring that building down, but it could wipe out all of those businesses, and there are hundreds of people who live above the Global Marketplace who could be trapped by the smoke. Since Chicago Ave. was full of dancing rioters, broken glass, and flaming debris, I went down the alley and took Lake St. home. There were blocks of Lake St. where every building was blazing. No sign of any cops, national guard troops, or any help.

This goes way beyond a spasm of rage by long-abused citizens, let alone protest (which seems to have been carried out in mostly non-destructive ways in many places).

[Marshall]

May 30, 2020 10:16:40 GMT -5 kenlarsson said:

good morning

HA ha. Does it come in sunburst?