Scorpions. We have them. Lots of them. It's interesting that they glow brightly under UV light. I have a UV flashlight and I can see them from across the yard at night.

 

Ya, I saw a bunch of them out there during my visits to my relatives. You've got me curious now, I wonder if all species of Scorpians glow under UV, or just certain ones?. Interesting creatures, but I can do without them.

 

Yeah, but they don’t ask us what we think of them.

 

Lots of people in Asia eat them. There’s an interesting theory by a researcher at Univ of OK postulating idea the bio illumination influences their ability to visualize in blue-green spectrum influencing their eyes ability to perceive light/dark by 1,000 times I think it said. Helping to find shelter I think I read?

 

Yeah, they'll be having us all eat bugs here before long. I have a leaded solution for that.

 

Yeah, arachnids with tail stingers. No thanks.

 

Cool Kenneth you can play CSI with that flashlight. Not sure I'd want to find what's out there.

Jamesbo you were asking about a GPA not long ago. I just ran across one that drives but doesn't swim, and the guy wants north of 96. Also there's a renowned DUKW guy selling his long time DUKW in Oregon for 100. This guy put tons of money into his truck and took a wrong turn off a [Liberty?] ship and sunk it. He then recovered it and put all that money back into it. I suspect the second money belonged to the insurance company.

My friend is all checked in to fly out here this evening. Got lots planned. It should be a good time.

So we tried something new this morning. I have to take Mom to the doctor this afternoon after work, again. But of course she fell for their we only have a 3oclock appointment bit, so I have to rush home and we'll be late anyway. So she suggested I drop Tiger off on my way to work, so I can just go right there and Tiger doesn't have to be alone for an extended amount of time. It works out for him, he gets his regular breakfast and can go out anytime during the day. I don't think Mom thought this through, as I had to take the pickup and now she will have to navigate the step stool to get in.

Okay break. Gotta go get a snack. Hope everyone has a good day.

 

Mike, Did you get any storm damage? Blew pretty good here and worse further north.So many trees blocking roads my open/close company may be late for 1000 funeral I lost 1 big oak on the back property line. Its a shame ylou cant give away firewood [until and ice storm comes]

 

No we got some rain around 730 last night but not a lot of wind. A little thunder and lightning. Weather report calls for more storms today but didn't say what part of town. It did cool things down a little.

 

I can definitely tell where the rabbits whizz on the driveway.

 

Glad we don´t have this scorpions here and the snakes . We have just one snake to look up for but nothing
compare to rattlesnakes and others you have.

 

I think Arizona (specifically Phoenix) has the highest concentration of snakes - maybe the highest concentration of venomous snakes - I don't recall. While some other states have the highest number (not certain if it's the highest concentration/human habitation) North Carolina has the highest number of venomous snake bites. Copperhead ranking as #1 most common snakebite.

• Copperhead
• Cottonmouth
• Timber rattlesnake
• Pigmy rattlesnake
• Eastern diamondback rattlesnake
• Eastern coral snake

 

Good morning guys,

Woke up to a very nice change in the weather this morning. Right now it's only 63° at 0700 and headed towards a high of 83° this afternoon. Essentially no chance of rain, so it should be a great evening to hang out at a cruise-in this evening.

Never could get my wife to tell me some place she would like to go or something she would like to do today. Ah well, I tried. She is focused on her furniture right now and that's OK with me if that's her preference.

No other big plans in the near term. We're headed for a week of +95° heat after tomorrow so I'd better enjoy today while I can. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

Norm - Very interesting chart. At my previous house I had a rocky, heavily wooded hillside that came down within 15 or 20ft of the pool deck. The Copperheads would come out onto the pool deck and sun themselves, especially during the early spring and late fall, also on my black asphalt driveway. Despite my love of snakes, I would end up killing probably around 6 a year because they were just too dangerous to be around the kids when they were out at the pool or out in the yard playing. You know kids, they just aren't very aware of their surroundings when they're playing.

 

Oh yeah - kids (especially) will pick up anything.

 

Norm - If you're interested at all, Google Map, 1269 Rocky Meadow Drive, Barnhart, MO 63070 and pull up the satellite image. It's a great shot of the property/pool and the heavily wooded area behind the house. I loved that house, 8-acres and alot of blood, sweat, and tears into it before my divorce, including building the pool and a pool room/sunroom addition to the house after the pool was done. It was an easy decision not to fight for the house during the divorce, it was my girl's "home", the only one they'd ever known.

 

Chris - One heck of a pool.

 

Ya, it is a beauty, 20' x 40'! My Ex still lives there, and to her credit she has taken good care of it. At least my kids and grandkids are still getting joy out of it. By the way, my youngest daughter, husband, and the 2 grandsons live in the last house at the east end of that street (deadend). I live only 3-miles from there. I purposely bought the house I'm in now so close by because we had a totally open custody agreement where the girls could be at any given parents house on any given night upon mutual agreement. It was never an issue. Luckily the girls had the benefit of having us both close all the time.

 

Smart decisions - good on you.

 

I definitely saw more snakes on the Gulf Coast than I do here in the desert. Back there the snakes would hang out under cars in the parking lot at work, and would climb the stair handrails at apartments. A friend routinely found snakes near his front door on the second floor landing. The most unnerving thing was fishing on the river and having snakes drop out of the tree branches hanging over the water as the boat trolled along order the branches.

 

When I lived in Arkansas I routinely had snakes drop into my canoe along the Buffalo National River - big ones. Very, very difficult to determine a banded water snake from a cottonmouth in the short amount of time they fall on your head, shoulder, leg, arm & into the boat. I've had maybe 20-30 fall into my canoe over a period of five years - always while navigating the rapids between pools canoeing downriver under the low hanging branches. Fortunate a cottonmouth was never one of them, but you're scurrying like a bandit to get out of their way.

 

Chris,
lucky you with the cooler weather. We’re on day 23 of 110 and above with no end in sight.

This is the most recent image I could find. Thursday and Friday were in the same 117-119 range.
And as you can see in the forecast we’re gonna cool down to 113 by mid week. Yea for cooler weather!

 

Ya, we've got a really nice break today. I've been following your crazy hot streak on the national news and it's nuts! Honestly, I don't know how you stand it. Have you thought about relocating to someplace cooler when you retire? I could not stand to live someplace where it's that hot for that long where you can't stand to be outside. I feel for ya!

 

I have lived my entire life in areas like that. Gulf Coast with heat and high humidity and now low humidity but high heat. Growing up we ran the AC at Thanksgiving and Easter. I guess I don’t know anything different.

 

Norm - Have you watched any of "The Open"? I'm watching some of it on NBC right now. The leaderboard is bunching up, so it should be an exciting final round tomorrow. I love watching those guys play on those links style courses with those crazy deep pot bunkers.

 

Chris - Yes, but only briefly. I'm going to watch more after a couple errands. The pot bunkers are something aren't they?

 

Ya, those pot bunkers are really something, the kind of hazard that can destroy a round, or a Championship, in one fell swoop! I'll say no more more about what's been going on today, don't want to spoil any of your viewing.

 

Chris - I "think" I might be able to view the game - not sure. What views I watch are "clips" which have been posted elsewhere YouTube, other sources. I'm like Mike - I don't have a cable T.V. subscription (I don't think I have the basic Cable TV) - there is absolutely nothing on television (especially cable T.V.) which has my interest and which I'm willing to pay for. I have so many other activities which hold my interest far more than broadcast or cable television. I do have excellent high-speed Internet - that's all I'm willing to pay for. I can get the various Roku assemblies e.g. Netflix, etc. Remember, I refuse to buy an HDMI T.V. when I have a perfectly functioning 32" CRT T.V. I'm like a F'ing dinosaur.

 

We don't have cable either. We have Firesticks, then pay for Hulu streaming service that includes our local major Channels (CBS, FOX, NBC, ABC) and many other channels, plus we have Netflix streaming. That's more than enough for us.

 

Good morning guys,

Well, the cruise-in yesterday evening was kinda, sorta, a bust. Got there a little early like I usually do, but noticed right away there weren't as many early birds as usual. About a half hour later when it was officially supposed to start at 5pm, the Manager of the Raising Canes restaurant sponsoring it sent an employee out to let us know it had been canceled because the host/DJ had hurt his back and was in the hospital. At this point there were only about a dozen cars there, but cars continued to wander in and by the time I left around 7pm there were probably about 30. Normally there would have been probably 75 to 100 or more. Since the location is in a very large shopping plaza area, there was a pretty fair amount of spectator traffic, so not a total bust, plus the weather was perfect to sit out, have a couple cold ones, and talk cars with the folks who were there.

No big plans for today. Hope you all have a great rest of your weekend!

 

I have ~6 golf ***** found on the course I think I'll practice a new swing position & bang them into the field behind the house. If the swing appears a nice improvement I might head to the range for more practice after attending to some outdoor landscaping, trimming, etc. activities. It doesn't seem quite as humid outdoors. Think I'll check on upcoming weather.

 

Norm Why not a flop shot to the roof and into the gutter? That few ***** isn't gona last long

 

My father's neighbor while I was growing up was a Baptist, a woodworker, and a golfer. Good man. Tail gunner on a B-29 near the end of the war. Draftsman as a later career. Mr. Jansen would routinely practice swing by hitting old ***** or found ones into the lake. I would politely watch.

 

If I had a lake it would be full of golf ***** by now. I estimate w/ no exaggeration I have ~2500 - 3000 golf ***** in the field right now.

When practicing my short game I'll flop shot to the roof. Doesn't work well for the long game.

 

Yeah it's a little hotter here in the Dallas area than normal, a little earlier this year usually August is our "dog days of summer" Been here most of my life and still here after the "heat wave of 1980" So what do I believe about the former so called global warming and now climate change? The climate change crisis is nothing more than a religious belief. It’s dressed up in science, but there is no real evidence that man-made climate change is real. The people pushing it are basically in two camps: a tiny group of elites that stand to make staggering amounts of money selling immature technologies that couldn’t possibly solve the threat of catastrophic climate changes even if they were real. And they’re not. The other group consists of indoctrinated acolytes who worship Gaia and love to control other people’s lives. Bye for now...

 

Hey guys,

Watched, or at least had on in the background, the entire final round of the "Open Championship" (British Open). There was a little drama at the beginning when the leader (Brian Harman, U.S.) bogeyed two holes and his lead was cut to 3 strokes, but no one behind him really made a legimate charge, and he ended up winning by 6 strokes. He played masterfully, and I was really glad an American won!

It was not as cool as yesterday, but not brutally hot so I got out for about a 2-hour ride. Still love being out on a bike, blasting some tunes, it's very relaxing.

My wife usually packages dinner meats in portions for two. However, she is on a salad kick, so I ate my portion and 2/3 of hers. Pile-o-bbq pork steaks, cracked wheat English muffins, and green beans. Yum, yum!

 

Chris Looks Yummy

 

Chris - Brian Harman (Savannah, GA) has been having an excellent season. I spent the entire day on yard work - didn't watch any of it. Hoping to get eighteen in this afternoon, showers/thunderstorms moving through the area at the moment. Pork steaks + muffins looked good.

 

Going next Saturday to pick up my truck! Yep it's all painted. I have seen a few pics and I am really excited. It looks great. I'll get some pics up when it is back. I plan to use the truck as a summer driver and I hope I do. I know after the Olds was restored/ painted I don't use it as I should- needs to be clean--- bla bla... I hope I stay to my plan and let the truck get scars, etc.
The 09 Furd truck has got me so pissed I was ready to take a sledge hammer to it. So it is sitting behind the barn as I cool down and figure out what to do with it- at this point I know I am going to lose my *** on it....
I am helping my grandson replace the exhaust manifolds/cat converters on his 2009 Nissan Titan truck. They are known for this. The manifolds are more like headers- not cast iron, but thin sheet metal and the primary catalytic converters are part of them. They crack and eventually making a very loud truck! Pretty big job, have to lift engine, etc. But worst part of job was with me fumbling around I caused rusty brake lines to leak, so now we have to replace brake lines and bleed brakes, etc. It is a good thing they started to leak here in the shop instead of blowing out on a panic stop! Ahhh the joys of working on 15 year old vehicles in salty, wet Michigan!!

 

Good morning guys,

Jim and Norm - Thanks for the compliment on the BBQ, it was tasty. With Harman leading the Open all day of course you got his complete biography from the announcers. It's a nice story to see a guy win his first major at 36-yrs old, and in such convincing fashion. Plus, he doesn't have the physical attributes of the protoypical professional golfer, being only 5' 7" and 155 lbs. Just goes to show you what a great short game and excellent putting can do!

Greg - I am super excited to see your old green truck when you get it back. Loved that color you chose from the moment I saw it!

We're headed for more blistering temps this week, +95° and above, not looking forward to that, but hey, it is late July in St. Louie.

Hope everyone has a great week!