Randomness

[Cogito]

Well, it was 100 degrees in my parked car when I left work today, with 100% humidity. Dunno what that is in heat index terms, but all I can say is I know how you feel, SB.

So the air temp is the same as your body temperature, and it's so damp that sweating won't cool you down. Isn't that kind of fatal? Never mind being uncomfortable, how do you stay alive?

[Silverbullet]

Dis, our humidity is about 10 percent. VERY dry. Guess that makes the heat a bit more bearable. I remember in India the temp would be in triple digits and the humidity near 100 percent. Damned Monsoon poured buckets of rain on the country. Rivers ran down the street. I would wade home for lunch. My clothes would be soaked.

Anyway, it may only get up to 110 today.

I can no longer take extremes in weather. I lived in the Artic and in the sub-tropics when I was younger. The extremes didn't boher me but now they do.

SB

[Distracted]

Well, it was 100 degrees in my parked car when I left work today, with 100% humidity. Dunno what that is in heat index terms, but all I can say is I know how you feel, SB.

So the air temp is the same as your body temperature, and it's so damp that sweating won't cool you down. Isn't that kind of fatal? Never mind being uncomfortable, how do you stay alive?

We stay indoors in the air conditioning. And if we must go outside we carry water with us and we don't wait until we get thirsty to drink it, because by that time it's too late. You just have to be prepared and not go outside unless you have to.

I work indoors at the local university's student health center, and I rarely go outside for longer than a few minutes at a time this time of year, but people who must go outside and exert themselves are definitely at risk. We'll see a significant number of students with heat illness when outdoor football practice starts up next week no matter what precautions the coaches take, and I have no idea how manual laborers do it. I imagine they get used to the heat eventually, and the ones who learn safe habits like frequent water breaks are the ones that stay well enough to keep working. Heat exhaustion can make you feel really bad, like you have the flu. And of course heat stroke can kill you if no one recognizes the signs and cools you off immediately. Thank God for air conditioning, that's all I have to say. And don't vacation in south Louisiana in the summer if you can help it unless you want to spend your entire vacation indoors.

[Silverbullet]

Dis, at this time of the year (summer) everyone carries a bottle of water. Only some new transplants or visitors don't but they learn in a hurry. Stay hydrated. We don't go anywhere without a bottle or two of water. One in the cup holder and one in the cooler.

I hate Air conditioning but have to use it. I am not wild about water either but it is a necessity. Frankly, I wish I was back in the State of Washington. Green, cool and wet. But it is what I am useed to. Lived in that climate all of my life.

Wife insists we stay in Arizona. she is German and loves the Wild West or what she has read of it in the Karl May books.

SB

[putaro]

80ish and 75% humidity in Tokyo today. It will get more hot and humid in July and August. I look forward to the rain during the summer.

[marchale]

Our weather has been really sucky the past couple of days here in the Minneapolis-St.Paul metro area - mid to upper 90's (with a heat index of 105 and high humidity when I went grocery shopping this afternoon, that was definately not fun to be out in ) - luckily we had a good thunderstorm tonight putting an end to the hot spell. It's suppossed to be a great 4th of July weekend temperature-wise (low to mid 80's for Saturday, Sunday and Monday). I just hope the "potential thunderstorms" predicted for Monday night don't materialize, or that's gonna put an end to any fireworks displays thousands of people are hoping to attend.

[Distracted]

Fireworks are out for us this year. We can't in the city, and there's a parish-wide burn ban out at the camp because it's been so dry.

[Silverbullet]

Lots of bans here in Arizona. Hell, half of the state is on fire. Huge forest fires, hundreds of acres. Many square miles have alread gone up along with several homes and businesses. Fireworks are not needed. It is tinder dry in Arizona right now.

SB

[marchale]

Sorry to hear that, Distracted - that sucks! And yeah, I've seen the Arizona wildfires on TV, SB - thats really a damn shame and I hope they can get that under control soon.. About the only thing noteworthy happening in Minnesota right now is the state shutdown that went into effect yesterday, only emergency services are up and running now; and the rest of the state services won't be back till our Governor and the state legislature can reach an agreement on how to balance the state budget this year. Actually, most of the budget details have been settled - it's just down to the last 1.8 billion dollars they can't agree on. The Governor . . . thinks we should increase taxes on the wealthiest 2% of Minnesotans and the . . . legislature . . . wants that amount cut from programs trying to help those in need. Meanwhile a judge ruled that only emergency services remain open till it's settled, so Tuesday thousands of state employees will be filing for Unemployment and there's so many things you can't do here right now it's ridiculous. . . . I know today I got a rude reminder of how it's affecting people. I got on a Metro Mobility bus (to help a friend who's more disabled than I am do her shopping) and there was a note posted stating that they are operating without funding from the state at the present time and didn't know how long they could remain in service during the state government shutd own. Can you believe that? My friend needs Metro Mobility to take her to the store (and she needs help to do her shopping too), but I can't believe Metro Mobility might not be in service the next time she needs groceries because . . . . in St. Paul [they can't] keep the state running. Sorry, I know this isn't meant to be political here - which is why I didn't name the party who's controlling our legislature at the moment - but when I seen that sign on the Metro Mobility bus today, I didn't know whether to scream or cry or what. This government shutdown is insane to deal with and I'm scared wondering when and how this might end. . . . This is complete insanity going on here in Minnesota at the moment. Thank God my Grandpa isn't around to see this, he served in our state legislature for 28 years and would be horrified by this.

Slight edit by jT above (see elipses): You are right, we can't be political. The members of Triaxian Silk are very diverse and we learned long ago it leads to fights and hurt feelings. We think you are great however. Don't feel bad.

[Silverbullet]

Didn't sleep last ight. Other than the fact it didn't get below 80 degress F I have Tinnitus. My ears were howling all night long. Kept me awake and unable to concentrate on writing. Couldn't run the TV as it wakes up my wife even with the sound off (glare from it) so I spent the night thinking. This morning I am not in a great mood.

SB

[Cogito]

80F would be 27C if my sums are right. It's pretty rare for English weather to get above that during the day. I can't begin to imagine sleeping in those temperatures.

[marchale]

Slight edit by jT above (see elipses): You are right, we can't be political. The members of Triaxian Silk are very diverse and we learned long ago it leads to fights and hurt feelings. We think you are great however. Don't feel bad.

No, that's totally fine and understandable, and I know we can't get political here (I was actually trying not to get political about it) and I apologize for that needing any editing there - guess I'm just reacting like "B'Elanna in a bad mood" about this because along with so many others, almost everyone I know will be affected by it. (But on a personal note, I should probably state for the record that I'm not a member of either political party involved in this problem - and my Grandpa wasn't either when he served in the state legislature).

Oh and an update on the state shutdown, I read in today's paper that there will be 20,000 state employees needing to file for Unemployment now because of this, that Metro Mobility decided to remain in service (to provide transportation for the elderly and handicapped who need it) even though they aren't receiving funding from state during the shutdown (hopefully the state will reimburse them for that once it is up and running again) and that our Governor tried to compromise with the legislature by saying he would only increase the taxes on the state's 7,700 millionaires instead of the wealthiest 2%, but that the legislature turned down his compromise on that. Okay, I won't get political here by stating my opinion on that, but I think it deserved mentioning to point out what's at stake here and how many folks in Minnesota are being affected by it, even the folks wanting to get their driver's licenses, go camping in state parks, play the lottery, buy a fishing license, etc have to put their plans on hold for the time being. Its just very maddening for everyone having to live without a state government here now. (and as a grand-daughter of a politician who worked very hard to protect the rights of the poor for 28 years, I find it next to impossible to not be extremely upset by this, especially when I've heard stories over the years from my Grandpa about things going on in the legislature that the average citizen isn't aware of - but I won't get into that because it is politics)

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

How Harper Seven Beckham Got Her Name

Feh! Why don't the Beckhams just admit they're closet Trekkies, or at least VOY fans?

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

The world's luckiest Marine:

EXCLUSIVE: Mila Kunis Says She'll Accompany U.S. Marine to Corps Ball

And that's not all. It turns out Mila is a "massive Trekkie" too:

...And She's Funny, Too: A GQ&A with Mila Kunis

GQ: When did you get into Star Trek?

Mila Kunis: I got into it in my late teens—18, 19, 20. Something like that. I got into it later than most people. But let's not talk about it in the past tense. I'm still a Star Trek fan. You never stop being one. Let me give you my rundown of the series in order of most favorite to least favorite.

GQ: I definitely have my answer to this. Let's hear it.

Mila Kunis: Okay. You should know this list is an ongoing argument between Seth MacFarlane and myself. But I have it: The Next Generation; the original series; then Voyager—

GQ: Okay, you're already wrong.

Mila Kunis: frak. You and I are in trouble already. This always happens with Star Trek fans. After Voyager, then I have Deep Space Nine. Then last is Enterprise.

GQ: Did your Star Trek fandom extend further than just watching the show?

Mila Kunis: Uh, I went a little bit further.

GQ: How so?

Mila Kunis: I went to the Star Trek Experience in Vegas maybe five years ago. I hung out with a bunch of fake characters inside Quark's bar. [Ed note: Quark was the name of the Ferengi bartender on DS9.] There were all these actors there pretending to be the different characters from the different shows. Yes, I loved it.

So what if her order of the Treks are wrong. I'm in love already!

[Aikiweezie]

I have shingles. Started feeling a painful burning sensation on my back and chest, and numbness in my fingers on Friday. Rash broke out Monday morning. Got on anti-virals Monday afternoon. Got very little sleep last night and the pain meds my doc gave me, tramadol, makes me goofy so I plan to avoid them. Couldn't work on "Boss" because of this. Not sure how long I'll be out of sorts.

Not happy.