RDM

Awesome view of the Horizon CAPE. Really miss having a decent LOS to watch inbound events. We're surrounded by tall trees and can't hardly see a thing except a couple of slivers of the sky to the W and NE.

Great video CAPE - you would have loved some of the thunderstorms we had in India and Thailand. In India, the air would get electrified by static electricity of dust storms from the Rajastan Desert. At times the L&T was a continuous roar for hours.

Hats off H2O. Had a similar situation and environment growing up in Ohio. Our school district was overwhelmingly Caucasian with only a couple minority families in the entire district. Yet, we somehow knew who had linage to certain ethnic groups, but somehow some lines were "ok" but others weren't. It didn't make sense to a 6 year old. I still remember the uproar in our small town about welcoming a few families from SE Asia who escaped the turmoil in that region in the early 70's. They left with nothing but was on their backs for the hope of a better future in America. Couldn't understand then why everyone was so upset - those families had kids "just like me" (in my eyes at the time). Recall the desegregation riots in the early 70's too. All at a time I couldn't understand what was going on, but felt strongly even at that young age we're all the same, somehow, and that we lived in America and should be thankful for that first and foremost. Couldn't understand then why all the partisan opinions promoted one side as good/right and the other as bad/wrong. It seemed so contrary to the basics being promoted at the time in elementary school - that being "The Golden Rule". Remember thinking, didn't all those people go to elementary, they should have learned the same thing we did about The Rule. If only we had a lot more of the Golden Rule these days...

Radar filled in a lot the last few mins over NVA and PGCO. Just had a rumble of thunder IVO Vienna/Oakton...

Let's hope the negative tally is not something that can be carried over into next "season" (I'm loath to use the "W" word). Geeze... here we are in the middle of June; still basking in the aftermath of last year; peering ahead to what may lie in store for us 5+ months from now. We need some exciting weather of some form to shake things up...

Next winter has to look up as it can't get much worse than last winter. Even using the term "winter" to describe last year's season is a stretch by any measure. Hard to subtract anything from near zero - the result is still near zero. Any winter where trace events are counted and/or fractions of an inch have any relevance is like trying to paint a turd - it still smells awful.

That looks mouthwatering Mrs. J. Reminds me of the pies my mom used to make back home in Ohio, all from fresh ingredients. We'd go pick strawberries at the lock u-pick farm near Troy, OH (normally about 80 quarts a year). We were fortunate they didn't weigh each of us before and after we picked (it was 4 in the basket and 1 in your mouth etc.). We grew the rhubarb in the back yard next to the gooseberry bush. Gotta ask, do you make gooseberry pie too? We'd pick wild blackberries along the railroad tracks at the edge of town, get blueberries from Michigan, peaches from Georgia, make applesauce from the apples on our apple tree, and cherry jam from our cherry tree (got over 30 gallons off that tree one year) and grape jam from our grape vine. All of the home grown stuff from a 1/3 acre lot. Back then in the 60's, you bought or picked whatever you could when it was in season - there was no such thing as year around oranges and strawberries like we have now.

Good to have you back PSU. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Wow - 11+ hours without a comment in Banter? Is everyone hung over from too many IPAs?

Yea - we had an old Craftsman push mower for 30+ years back home. Dad bought it in the late 60's. Was a plain-Jane model with 21" cut and automatic push (that being me!). Had a cast aluminum deck so it was very light and easy to push. We changed the oil every few years and it never missed a beat until long after I moved away. It was pre-safety BS too - no blade interlock or any of the other stuff that is just more things to break. All the junk on mowers these days is just more stuff to wear out. I still have my two Gravely walk behind mowers too - one is a 1962 and the other a 1969. Don't make them like that anymore too. No safety stuff other than the owner's manual between the operator's ears. I still use them on occasion for nostalgic reminiscing. The triple gang reel mower attachment provides a 75" width of cut, and endless gawks from passerby's. That said, they can't compete with my Kubota BX - no cup holder on the walk behinds. (profile pic shows the winter setup).

Happy Birthday youngster, and many more!

Cool - keep it! That $800 bucks will go far compared to payments on another truck. That's where I'm at too. Costs almost nothing but to drive it. Replaced both tie rod ends and the idler arm on mine a long time ago. However, all the bushings are still original and the shocks too, although as a group they are shot. Been contemplating having all bushings replaced with urethane, replacing the shocks and the brake lines too. Even if it costs a few grand, still a lot cheaper than payments. Plus, I'll be paying for my wife's vehicle for a couple more years - the 7th of 7 that I've owned. Bought her a one year old SUV 15 months ago. Since then it's been driven 62 miles...

Yup - agree. Something 2-3 years old is still barely broken in. With the rapid depreciation of new vehicles these days it's hard to justify buying something new. I'm nearly 60 and have only owned 7 vehicles in my entire life. Still own 5 of the 7 now. Oldest is my 91 Chevy Silverado I purchased new in July 91 for $17K loaded. Only reason I purchased new one then was A.) couldn't find any used worth buying and B.) knew I was going to keep it a long time. Didn't think I'd still have it 29 years later. It has no rust, 185k on the odo and the only thing major I've done is rebuild the tranny and replace the intake manifold gasket. Needs some new seals and a gasket here and there, but overall is in good shape. Would love to have a newer truck, but the sedimental attachment is too strong to part ways with the one I have now.

Looks scrumptious Mrs. J. My wife is Asian-born and makes all kinds of curry. She has curry from Japan, Thailand and India. It's so darn good I always overindulge. What you have there looks like some of the curry my cook in India used to make. He had about 20 kinds of curry powder in my kitchen. Ranged from medium to beyond hot. He used to get a read on how I was feeling before cooking to get the spicy right. India has the best carrots in the world too (they are red, not orange), which go great with all curry. Same thing when we lived in Thailand. Our cook had all kinds of curry powder. They have various kinds of green, red, yellow, brown and orange curry - and some of it will light you on fire. What you have there in the picture just looks fantastic.

Wow - already up to 76 here with 68dp.