Cooler Mornings

 Not quite as hot and the days aren't getting off to such a warm start. But still uncomfortable and no rain in sight. Back to that dismal pattern. 

Living in the past never felt so good. In fact, it is necessary. The present and the future offer so little!

Coping With The Heat

 We are all doing that. I find that I can be quite comfortable with the thermostat set on 80, given ceiling fans and air circulators. Light clothing helps. I pretty much run around in a lightweight cotton t-shirt and gym shorts. The kind of heat we have is dry. Heat index is usually lower than the actual temperature, due to dry air and wind. I drink a lot of iced tea and iced water indoors during the day. I don't use the oven or stove top during the summer. If something needs to be heated there is the microwave. Cold chicken or ham salads work. Cheese salad, especially the kind they serve at Fawlty Towers is good. And, unlike at Fawlty Towers, if you make it yourself, you will actually get what you want! So, there are strategies to cope with the heat and minimize discomfort. 

Sometimes I wonder whether there are still people who are waiting for a certain loser to be "reinstated". If there are, I hope they are all holding their breath!

The Heat Goes On

But what can you expect? I'm starting to get some new photos, despite the heat.

I've been watching videos in which people take inexpensive audio exciters to make speakers from flat sheets of insulation board. None of them have very good bass response, no matter how big you make them. Interesting idea though. If my bookshelf speakers ever wear out I might try making my own speakers. But I've gone to the trouble of replacing the woofer foam surrounds and the tweeters should last forever, and these vintage JBLs cost me only $25 for the pair, at an estate sale. When we went to estate sales I found tons of vintage speakers and amps and receivers. Cheap. But I find I can get excellent sound from inexpensive "class T" amps. Lots of those around. Pyle and many other brands. I'm using a Pyle, 45 watts per channel and it is great! Runs cool and only draws as much power as it needs to meet demand. Very compact and it has a tone direct switch and that's what I use: wire with gain mode works fine. 
 

Temps Still High

 We seem to be pulling out of the triple digit stuff, at least. Rain chances nil. New variants of Covid are spreading rapidly and apparently these mutations can evade vaccine immunity. But the cases they cause tend not to be severe, except among the "vulnerable". Unfortunately, more cases of Long Covid are turning up as well. This is just another variation of "The Population Bomb". That book was spot on. It just took a bit longer than Ehrlich predicted. But I think the crash will be more rapid, now that that bomb is finally beginning to explode, than Ehrlich anticipated. Factor in global warming, food supply vulnerability, and sheer human numbers. Those who are optimistic about the future do not have a clue. It's good to be old. I pity the young.

For solace I can look to the past. The young have no past, and they won't have much of a future. If you are still in denial, check this video-- this is a water source for 80,000,000 people and it is GOING AWAY. Lake Mead

105 F Yesterday

 It'll be a scorching week with no relief in sight. The heat waves ten to fifteen years from now will be much worse than this. And in 20 years or so they might not be survivable. How long does Las Vegas have? Water critical and their drought might be the new normal. Welcome to the shithole that humans have made of Planet Earth. It will only get worse. 

Of course, some people might opt to commit suicide on Mars or the Moon. Gee, there are easier and cheaper ways to do it... multi-planet species? It won't happen. The earth might be a nasty shithole in the future, but it'll still be better than a stone dead frozen wasteland bathed in deadly radiation.