Saturday Share: Fix Doors That Won't Stay Open

There's a bedroom door in our house that simply won't stay open. You can open it all the way and unless you put a book or other weight against it then it will gradually close.

I was told it would have to be removed from the hinges and replaned in some way to make it hang better on the hinges.

Who wants to tackle that? Not me. So I did a little research and asked the all-knowing Mr. Google how to fix a door that won't stay open.

Surprise! The answer was simple—an amazing door stop that looks like a normal door stop but uses magnets to hold the errant door open.

Introducing the Wedama Stainless Steel Magnetic Door Stop

This amazing little invention is only $7.99, and it's a Prime item meaning free delivery for subscribers. Even better you can get this in a variety of finishes. I got the brushed stainless to match the metal in the room.

You mount one part on the baseboard or wall like a conventional door stop and mount the other piece on the edge of the door. It looks great and works beautifully.

Use the included Adhesive Tapes to installl it or use the included  Screws for Stronger Mount, i.e., if the door is really heavy.

I was simply amazed at how an inexpensive solution worked so well and looked so good. I wish I'd taken action earlier instead of feeling constantly frustrated by this door that simply wouldn't stay open.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

The little annoyances in life eat away at your sense of tranquility. Don't allow that to happen. There's a solution for just about every problem. Find it today. 


Thursday3Some: 3 Amazing Free Websites

I'm always looking for free services and tools that might help readers.

Today I have 3 websites that may offer a service you need.


This website offers free webpage creation. You can create your own webpage using their templates. You'll be amazed how easy it is especially if you want a mobile-first approach to website design. They also offer a hosting service for a minimum fee.


Looking for free video footage for a project? This website offers stock footage for personal and commercial projects. Amazing, right? It's true. Sign up for an account and get started.


This website lets you edit photos or videos without setting up an account or downloading software or jumping through any hoops.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

I hope one or all of these websites will prove useful to you. Have a great day!

10 Gardening Tips for Fall

Fall is coming. This is a great time to get your garden ready for fall and winter.

Presently, it's 6-8 weeks before the first frost date in most parts of the country.

This gives you plenty of time to plant cold weather crops if your climate supports that, or time to put your garden to bed for winter. 

10 Gardening Tips for Fall

1. Analyze what's going on in your garden. Does it need to be cleaned up with spent flowers and dead vegetable plants removed? Is the soil in good condition? If not, add compost and/or a good organice fertilizer. Does it have any kind of infestation of vegetable-damaging insects or slugs? If so, clean up the site and take care of the creepy crawlers.

2. If you use some kind of edging around your garden, check to see if it needs to be repaired or replaced. If you don't use garden edging, maybe this is a good time to add a stone border or something else durable and attractive that suits your yard decor.

3. Till the soil well. Pull oout those pesky weeds by the roots.

4. Water the garden well to let the soil settle.

5. If you have perennials in your garden that need dividing and/or transplanting, this is a good time to do that.

6. Personally, I love a mix of flowers and vegetables. Plant some cold-weather veggies like kale, mustard, spinach, carrots, and turnip greens along with some blooming flowers that love the cold like pansies and mums.

7. Now is the time to design a watering system for your garden. Cool weather is a good time to lay water lines for drip irrigation so that next summer watering isn't such a chore.

8. Prune shrubbery and trees. If you have fruit trees, pruning in the winter means vigorous growth in the spring.

9. Now is also a good time for you to tend to your gardening tools. Clean them well and dry them. Sharpen the edge of anything that cuts with a file. Sand off any rust spots. When they're all clean, fill a bucket with sand and a bit of oil and mix well. Insert the business end of the implement in this bucket of oily sand to protect them from rust. By the way, this is something you should do each time you use them.

10. Last, layer mulch over the entire garden. That's like laying a blanket over a bed to stay warm in cold winter nights.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

If you're looking for a good vegetable gardening book, you can't go wrong with Vegetable Gardening from the Ground Up by Master Gardener Stephanie Suesan Smith.

Joan participates in Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, affiliate advertising designed to provide a way for websites to earn advertising fees by linking to products on Amazon. She may receive a small commision at no extra cost to you.

Review: Fubar on Netflix

I finally decided to review Fubar, a Netflix original series starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

If you're looking for something reminiscent of one of his biggest hit movies, True Lies, you'll find this series somewhat entertaining.

It mines the generation gap for comic relief and is one of the many movies and series featuring the "old guy" who still has his/her skills and smarts. Dare I say this has become a genre of its own?

As an author of a certain age, I'll confess to finding these movies that pit the old woman/man against the young whippersnappers who think they know everything rather delightful. 

F.U.B.A.R.

In case you don't know, FUBAR is an acronymn for F**ked Up Beyond All Recognition.

This American action-comedy TV series was created by Nick Santora for Netflix and is Schwarzenegger's first leading role in a scripted live-action TV series.

Produced by Skydance Television and Blackjack Films, it debuted May 25, 2023. After only a month, it was renewed for a second season because it had an 87% audience approval rating even though it had a 50% Rotten Tomatoes rating.

WHAT'S IT ABOUT?

Luke Brunner (Schwarzenegger) and his daughter Emma (Monica Barbaro) have lied to each other for years, with neither of them knowing that the other is a CIA operative.

When they both learn the truth, they realize they don't know anything about each other.

When their CIA handlers demand they work together on dangerous operations, Luke treats Emma like a child and wants to protect her from danger and questionable relationships.

ASSETS

Obviously, the above mentioned cast is experienced. Just as obviously, they need some fresh and original material to sink their teeth into. 

The supporting cast includes Travis Van Winkle who was excellent in The Last Ship, Fabiano Udenio as Tally, Luke's ex and the mother of Emma, Jay Baruchel as weird boyfriend Carter Perlmutter, Fortune Feimster as foul-mouthed Roo, and Tom Arnold as Norm Carlson.

MY 2¢

I didn't watch the entire series. After the first couple of episodes, I watched bits and pieces of other episodes including the last one. I found the situations and conflicts repetitive and clichéed. I also thought  Perlmutter as the boyfriend was an odd choice for  Emma's alpha female character. 

If you don't have anything else to watch, try this. It's pleasant with a few good lines of dialogue tossed in.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

One can only hope Season 2 will be more original and compelling because it's a shame to waste such a talented cast.


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Didn't Read Terms of Service? CYA App for You

Mondays are too manic to worry about Terms of Service and the guilt created by not reading them before checking the I AGREE box so you can use the app. Right?

You know you should read them, but do you? If you don't, you may be signing on for something you never wanted.

Today, I'm sharing Terms of Service, Didn't Read, an app that interprets Terms of Service in easy to read and understand language. (It's free, but they take donations.)

As it says on the TOSDR website, "I have read and agree to the Terms is the biggest lie on the web. We aim to fix that."

When you visit the login page, you can see examples from many popular websites like Facebook that shows what you sign up for when you agree to their TofS.

This app is easy to use. Simply type in the website you're thinking of using. If it's in their inventory of websites, TOSDR will show you their grade and what the Terms of Service really mean.

If they haven't logged a particular website, no data will display.

This was a bit scary when I checked the websites to which I belong and realized the extent of the tracking and privacy invasion a user authorizes by joining.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Gary Kovacs, former CEO of Mozilla, said, "Privacy is not an option, and it shouldn't be the price we accept for just getting on the Internet."  Be forewarned. Check this app before you sign up for a website.

Sunday Thoughts About Rain

Why am I thinking about Rain? Because we finally got some on Friday which was the first time since May!

Yikes. Yes, no rain in June, July, August, and the first 2 weeks of September. The subject of Rain became of great interest to us.

Lack of rain combined with triple digit days for 106 days straight took a toll of our yard even though we watered every day until water restrictions started in August.

Our area is allowed to water our yards only 2 days a week. Our days are Thursday and Sundays, and watering is allowed only between 9:00PM to 5:00AM. Even with limited watering, our water bill soared to over $250.00, and our St. Augustine lawn has patches of dead grass now.

I wondered how long we could go without rain so I did a little research and discovered some fascinating...

RAIN: SPRINKLE, DRIZZLE, DOWNPOUR ETC.

1. The driest place on earth is the Atacama Desert in northern Chile and southern Peru, averaging only .019 inches (half a millimeter) of rainfall each year. According to NASA, it's the driest non-polar desert in the world.

2. The rainiest place on earth is Mawsynram, in India’s Maghalaya state. It averages 467.4 inches of rain a year.

3. Virga is the name for raindrops that fall but never reach the ground. This happens because rain falls from clouds, but if the air is very dry, raindrops can evaporate during their fall to the ground.

4. Petrichor is the word coined by Australian scientists in 1964 for the distinctive smell of rain.

5. Raindrops are not really tear-shaped. They're round.

6. The height of clouds from which raindrops fall may vary, but raindrops fall at an average speed of 14 mph. Large raindrops fall faster at an average speed of 20 mph.

7. The record for the longest rainfall in history was recoreded at Manuawili Ranch, Maui, in 1939-40. Yes, over a two year span, it rained 331 consecutive days of measurable rainfall.

If you include just a trace of rain, that was also set in Hawaii at Honomu Maki, Oahu. From 1913 to 1916, it rained 881 consecutive days.

When it rained Friday, I felt like dancing in the raindrops, and I called everyone to report that it was raining at my house. Saturday, it rained again—a double blessing. If you're in a drought, I wish you rain!

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Nature possesses the power to heal. I'm happy to report the dead spots in our lawn look not so dead today.

Second Chance Reads from Summer 2023

If you're like me and you're constantly bookmarking posts you want to read but find you never go back and click those links, this post makes it easier.

Here are some great posts from around the internet collected this scorching hot summer.

HAPPY AND HEALTHY






SUCCESS




INTERNET SUCCESS




11 Tips on How to Grow Your YouTube Channel in 2023 from Neal Schaffer

Why Countries Are Trying to Ban TikTok from NY Times (several hoops to jump through but good article)


ODDS & ENDS




TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Leave a comment if you find any of these links especially useful.

Review - Slow Horses on Apple TV+

If you haven't seen Slow Horses, an amazing series from Apple TV+ based on the Slough House series by Mick Herron, you're in for a treat.

One of my readers told me about the series, and it's everything he told me he would be.

Naturally, when we found Slow Horses on Apple TV+, we were interested and hoping it would be as good as the books. With Gary Oldman headlining the cast, that was a good bet. We binge-watched the first 2 seasons a month ago. Now, we're eagerly waiting for season 3.

(Promo image for series Slow Horses, Author or copyright owner Unknown. Source is  (WP:NFCC#4https://9to5mac.com/2022/03/31/slow-horses-spy-series-debuts-on-apple-tv-starring-gary-oldman/)

The title of the TV series comes from the first book of the series, Slow Horses, which is a play on the name Slough House. Their department and the spies who screw up and end up there are called Slow Horses. They're denigrated by one and all in the British intelligence community.

Slow Horses, a television spy thriller, premiered on Apple TV+ April 1, 2022. Season 2 was Dead Lions on December 2, 2022. The series was immediately renewed for a third and fourth seasons.

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

Slough House is where MI5 screw-ups go to live out the rest of their careers. In return they don't get fired, they just end up in purgatory and are ridiculed as slow horses.

They get the boring paper-pushing jobs with a hefty serviing of insults from their peers and vocal abuse from Jackson Lamb, their equally miserable boss.

Lamb, compellingly portrayed by Gary Oldman, expects them to quit because boredom and frustration are daily reminders of their dead end careers. However, somehow the agents of  Slough House get involved investigating plots that endanger the UK.

These dysfunctional MI5 agents and Lamb, their boss who was once among the best, manage to survive the crosses, doublecrosses, and subterfuge of the espionage world where nothing is what it appears to be on the surface and still ably defend their country from those who would destroy it.

REMARKABLE CAST

In addition to Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, the other cast members are spot on in their portrayals of slow horses.

River Cartwright is played by Jack Lowden.
Diana Taverner is played by Kristin Scott Thomas.
Catherine Standish is played by Saskia Reeves.
David Cartwright is played by Jonathan Pryce.
Roddy Ho is played by Christopher Chung.
Louisa Guy is played by Rosalind Eleazar.
Shirley Dander is played by Aimee-Ffion Edwards.
Marcus Longridge is played by Kadiff Kirwan.
Peter Judd MP is played by Samuel West.

With plenty of twists, turns, and surprises, Slow Horses is intelligent, moody, and occasionally shocking in its portrayal of the intelligence community. Truth or total fabrication? I've been told by someone "in the know" that its too close to the truth for comfort. 

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Read the books, watch the series, and judge for yourself. 

Joan participates in Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, affiliate advertising designed to provide a way for websites to earn advertising fees by linking to products on Amazon. She may receive a small commision at no extra cost to you.

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Happy Labor Day: The Value of Hard Work

Yes, today is the day in the U.S. of A. where workers are honored.

THE VALUE OF HARD WORK

Here are half a dozen great quotes about the value of hard work. I hope they inspire you to work hard and enjoy it—because you spend more time each day working than playing.

At least you do if you want to be successful in your endeavors.

"The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work." – Harry Golden

"A lot of hard work is hidden behind nice things." – Ralph Lauren

"You can’t just will your dreams to come true. You have to work hard. You have to give ’em wings, arms, legs—whatever it takes to make your dreams come true." – Dolly Parton

"Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen." – Conan O’Brien

"Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven’t planted." – David Bly

"The dictionary is the only place that success comes before work." – Vince Lombardi

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Enjoy your holiday and get ready to grab success by the horns when you show up at work tomorrow.

Image, Labor Day USA by Tumisu, Courtesy of PixabayImage, Labor Day Holiday by Tumisu, Courtesy of Pixabay.

VISIT JOAN ONLINE

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Saturday Share Recipe - Marry Me Chicken

I haven't shared a recipe in a while because I've not cooked a lot this summer. I think you'll like today's recipe called Marry Me Chicken.

Yes, it's supposed to be so good that it may wring a proposal from your significant other. It truly is delicious, but even better, it's easy to make.

You can serve it over your favorite style of pasta or rice. Add a salad and a crusty bread, and you have a hearty delicious dinner that family and friends will rave about.

This dish is rustic but serve it on fancy china and it's elegant enough to serve to the most persnickety guests. 

Marry Me Chicken

Ingredients

3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced lengthways so they're all the same thickness and then cut into 2-3 cutlets from each breast

1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper and 6 tablespoons AP flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1-2 cloves finely minced garlic

1 cup of chicken stock

1 cup of heavy cream (don't use milk or light cream because the sauce won't thicken)

1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese (you can use the stuff in the green can but grated fresh from a wedge is so much better)

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/3 cup chopped sundried tomatoes

1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves, garnish

Instructions

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper and dredge in the flour. Shake off any excess.

2. In a large skillet or heavy pan, heat the olive oil on medium heat then add the butter. Make sure the mixture evenly coats the pan.

3. Brown the chicken a few pieces at a time. Don't add all of it at once to the pan because it will steam instead of browning the pieces. Takes about 3 to 5 minutes on each side depending on the thickness to get golden brown and cooked through. 

4. Transfer pieces to a plate and cover to stay warm.

5. Saute the garlic about a minute, being careful not to brown or burn it. Add the chicken stock to the pan, scraping all of the flavor bits from the pan.

6. Turn heat to medium low, add the cream and the parmesan.

7. Let the sauce simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, then add the oregano and thyme.

8. Adjust the seasoning as needed then add the tomatoes and return the chicken cutlets to the pan.

9. Simmer a few more minutes until the sauce has thickened.

10. Garnish with the fresh basil if desired.

11. Serve warm over rice or a pasta of choice.

Takeaway Truth

If this gets you a proposal, be sure and let me know in Comments. Good luck and happy eating.

VISIT JOAN ONLINE

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5 Fun Friday Facts About Pencils

When I was writing a back to school post a couple of weeks ago, I came across some fun facts about pencils.

You'll like these because we all started school with pencils—or at least I think we did.

1. The modern pencil was invented in 1795 by Nicholas-Jacques Conte, a scientist serving in Napoleon's army.

2. The average pencil can write about 45,000 words or draw a line 35 miles long before it’s down to a nub.

3. Low-tech pencils can be used in zero gravity and even underwater. They can also be used to write upside down. Isn't that cool?

4. Before pencil erasers were invented, a piece of white bread was a popular way to get rid of pencil markings.

5. After the invention of pencil erasers, teachers resisted the use of them because they thought erasers would encourage kids to make mistakes.

Takeaway Truth

I'll end with a fun fact about pencils from the movies. In the first John Wick movie, the villain said John was so lethal he used a pencil to kill a man. In John Wick 4, a character in the movie also used a pencil to kill a man.

VISIT JOAN ONLINE

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Saturday Share - Baking Soda in the Kitchen

Good morning! It's a hot, sunny summer Saturday here in Texas.

I'm sharing more tips for using baking soda in your home. 

If you missed my previous posts about baking soda, here are a few of them:

12 Reasons to Keep Baking Soda Handy

10 Thrifty Tips to Save Money

Natural Air Freshener

5 Organic Air Fresheners.

Baking Soda in the Kitchen

1. If your dishclothes still smell funky even after washing, prepare a bowl of cold water with a couple tablespoons of baking soda and soak the dishcloths in the mixture for a couple of hours. Rinse the cloths and toss in the dryer. They should smell much better.

2. Hate the smell of raw fish? Soak the fix in a mixture of baking soda and cold water for an hour. Refrigerate while doing so. When you're ready to cook, simply rinse the fish first.

3. Does your dishwasher smell a little stale? Add a tablespoon of baking soda to your cycle. It will soften the water, make the dishes come out cleaner, and make your dishwasher smell better.

4. Like to keep a vase of fresh flowers in your kitchen? I do. I cut flowers and place them at the kitchen window over the sink. I put a teaspoon of baking soda in the water in the vase, and the flowers stay fresh longer.

5. Have a litter box in the laundry room next to the kitchen? Sprinkle baking soda in the bottom of the litter box to reduce odor.

6. Remember my tip about cleaning the drains? Do that  once a week to the kitchen drain. Run the water until it's hot then pour a couple of spoonfuls of baking soda down the drain. Flush with plenty of hot water.

7. Most coffeemakers advise you to run white vinegar through them at least once a month. If you think it takes a lot of rinsing to get the vinegar smell out, make a slurry of a few teaspoons of baking soda and 4-6 cups of water. Run that through the coffeemaker. Rinse thoroughly before brewing coffee.

By the way, I use baking soda regularly. Rather than buy the little box at the grocery store, I order it in bulk. You can get a trio of 1-pound boxes at Amazon, with Prime shipping, for only $11.42.

Takeaway Truth

Sometimes the tips from our grandmothers work as well as commercial products—for a lot less money. 

Joan participates in Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, affiliate advertising designed to provide a way for websites to earn advertising fees by linking to products on Amazon. She may receive a small commision at no extra cost to you.

VISIT JOAN ONLINE

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5 Friday Fun Facts About Back to School

School started here last week. If you drive through a school zone, do NOT speed and do NOT use your cell phone.

Pay attention to the kids on the street because there are still many who walk or bike to a nearby school.

5 Fun Facts About Back to School Time

1. From kindergarten to college, there are more that 78 million kids who head back to school every fall.

2. There are more than 8 million teachers in the United States.

3. The fear of going to school is called Didaskaleinophobia.

4. Even though school buses started running in the early part of the 20th century, the bright yellow color wasn’t adopted until 1939.

5. If you still use pencils, you'll be glad to know a pencil can be sharpened 17 times.

By the way, I still use pencils. There's something satisfying about writing and drawing with a pencil.

I bought an X-ACTO KS Manual Pencil Sharpener to sharpen my pencils to a fine point—just like I did in elementary school.

As I wrote this, the sharpener I bought is on sale for much less than what I paid—$13.30. Get it before it goes back to regular price.

Takeaway Truth

I guess I should have waited until back to school sale days to buy my pencil sharpener.

Joan participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, affiliate advertising designed to provide a way for websites to earn advertising fees by linking to products on Amazon.
She may receive a small commision at no extra cost to you.

VISIT JOAN ONLINE

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Review—Lone Star Law on Max

If you have Max, you have a free ticket to binge watch Lone Star Law, a series from Animal Planet that is fascinating for so many reasons.

We started watching because of its title—Lone Star Law. It turns out that the law in question is Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Game Wardens.

The cases they work are surprising, the scenery is stunning, and the human nature on display is equally stunning.

I'm amazed by how many people don't bother getting hunting and fishing licenses and horrified by those who think it's okay to go out and kill an animal just to be killing it for kicks.

It's one thing to hunt an animal to harvest it for food. It's quite another to "thrill kill" and leave the dead carcass lying in a field.

Then there are the boaters who think nothing of inhaling a 6-pack of beer—or more—then getting out on a lake in a boat full of family and friends.

Boating while intoxicated is a real thing and very common. So is lack of completing boaters ed, the on the water equivalent of driver's ed, failure to have a life jacket for each person aboard, and failure to have "live" fire extinguishers.

Wardens make drug arrests in the great outdoors and battle the cartels who try to sneak in and cut down old-growth trees in the dense woods in order to sow marijuana fields.

Wow, how the world has changed.

Background

Lone Star Law debuted on June 2, 2016, on Animal Planet, and there are now 11 seasons available. Set in Texas, the reality show is unscripted and follows numerous game wardens of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department from various regions of the state.

The Intro to each episode, A Texas Game Warden's Job, is spoken by Warden Randolph McGee.

About Lone Star Law

Texas Game Wardens are an elite force of law enforcement professionals who have the same powers as State Police—and then some! 

They protect and patrol more than a quarter million square miles of the state’s natural resources—plants, animals including snakes, alligators, birds, and fish.

Those quarter million square miles are filled with deserts, lakes, piney woods, bayous, plains, and the Gulf Coast.

They investigate poaching, relocate alligators and other wildlife that threaten encroaching homes, write citations, save flood victims, bust up illegal smuggling rings, rescue injured wildlife, make drug arrests, and do all the things State Police do. The episodes are composed of multiple stories that jump from one county to another, sometimes thousands of miles apart.

Takeaway Truth

This series is fascinating, and it gave me a new appreciation of game wardens whose mission is to protect the plants, animals, and the environment of my state from those who would abuse and/or destroy it.

Hit Songs of Summer for Last 10 Years

In the Summertime, the music is fine. Each generation has its own list of most popular songs of summer.

Here are the most popular songs from the last 10 years that hit it big in the Summer.

2013 —  Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell — YouTube Video

2014 —  Fancy by Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX — YouTube Video

2015 — Bad Blood by Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar — YouTube Video

2016 — One Dance by Drake featuring WizKid and Kyla — YouTube Video

2017 — Despacito by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber — YouTube Video

2018 — In My Feelings by Drake — YouTube Video

2019 — Old Town Road – Remix by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus — YouTube Video

2020 — Savage Remix by Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé — YouTube Video

2021 —  Butter by BTS — YouTube Video

2022 — As It Was by Harry Styles — YouTube Video

2023 — WATATI by Karol G, featuring Aldo Ranks. Barbie Movie Album YouTube Video

Confession

Of course these are not my favorite songs from the summers of the last 10 years. Most of the summer songs I love are fun rather than angsty, and most have the word summer in the title. 

These may not be your favorites either, but have some fun and look your favorites up on YouTube and enjoy them all over again. 

Takeaway Truth

Music is a time machine. Listen to a song you love and chances are you'll be swept back in time to when you first heard it. 

VISIT JOAN ONLINE

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Summer Heat by the Numbers

How hot is it?

Well, so far, 2023 is the 3rd hottest year on record through July. According to Climate Central, July was the hottest year on record.

Considering August has been even hotter, I can't wait to see those stats!

Through July, Global temperatures were 2.32° F. (1.29°C) above the baseline established from 1881-1910.

I guess we can blame this extreme heat on El Niño which kicked on in May. El Niño years get an extra increase in heat because the warm phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate pattern.

According to everything I've read from climatologists, the earth is in a warming phase. The disagreement seems to be about why. I've read a lot about this subject and there seems to be much evidence that carbon fuels aren't the problem.

Anyone know about HAARP, the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program? I saw a documentary about it several years ago on Discovery I believe. It was scary.

I must admit those who think these HAARP research programs carried on by our country and Russia may have a point that the bombardment of the upper atmosphere with ultra-high frequency radio waves created climate change.

Russia began their high-frequecy experiments first, and the U. S. followed. Russia allegedly shut theirs down in 2008, and the U. S. military's research program was shut down in 2014.

If you don't believe me, just do a Google search for HAARP. You'll find several documentaries about it and just as many alarmist views of it. 

Takeaway Truth

I'm reminded of an episode of Stargate SG-1 in which a planet had a device that controlled the weather. Without that device, all hell broke loose with the weather. 

5 Friday Facts About Hot August

Is it hot enough for you? Yikes, it's been triple digit temperatures herre every day since July. I'm wishing and hoping for rain, but so far, no joy.

Did You Know...

1. August is when we have the Dog Days of summer because this month is the hottest and most humid. 

Why Dog Days? Because this month is when the "Dog Star" Sirius is closest to the earth.

2. August originally named Sextilis, or 6th month, because it was the 6th month under the Roman calendar, and it did not have 31 days then. In the Julian and Gregorian calendars, August is the 8th month. 

3. The Perseid Meteor Shower, associated with the Swift-Tuttle comet and named Perseids  because they appear from the general direction of the constellation Perseus, occurs in August. If you weren't watching the sky between August 12 and 13th, you missed it.

4. The full moon in August has many names specific to various cultures. The Celts called it the Grain Moon or the Dispute Moon. Grain Moon because that was when they harvested grain, and Dispute Moon because that's when they settled disputes. 

Each of our Native American Nations had a specific name for each month's full moon. I think the Tunica-Biloxi nation of Louisiana appropriately called it the Hot Moon.

5. August is, of course, named for the Roman Emperor Augustus, which in Latin means inspiring reverence or admiration.

Takeaway Truth

Be careful out in the heat and stay hydrated.

VISIT JOAN ONLINE

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Review: Suits on Netflix

I'm probably the last person on the planet to watch the TV series Suits, an American legal drama that premiered on the USA Network in 2011.

As I told you before, I spent the summer sick and mostly watching TV shows and movies on our big flat screen.

My Blurb

I sampled a little of everything including TV series that have made their way onto streaming services. One of these was Suits, an engaging train-wreck of a legal series with charismatic characters who make one bad decision after another and with each leading to complications and other bad decisions.

 The Official Blurb

Set at a fictional New York City law firm, Suits follows Mike Ross (played by Patrick J. Adams), who uses his photographic memory to talk his way into a job as an associate working for successful "closer" attorney Harvey Specter (compellingly portrayed by Gabriel Macht).

But Mike is a college dropout who never attended law school. (He did pass the LSAT multiple times as an illegal proxy, and that's the backstory and conflict playing throughout the series).

Suits focuses on Harvey and Mike who win lawsuits and close cases—always struggling to keep Mike's secret. 

The other characters who populate the firm are Jessica Pearson, the firm's managing partner (the fabulous Gina Torres), manipulative Louis Litt (the always good Rick Hoffman), and the awesome Donna Paulsen, Harvey's legal secretary and confidante (awesome Sarah Rafferty).

Meghan Markle (yes, now Duchess of Sussex) is Rachel Zane, an ambitious, skilled paralegal, and Ross's love interest.

This series which ran from its 2011 debut through September 2019, has great writing which produced the drama, humor, and compelling stories that make for great television.

Writers

Suits was created by Aaron Korsh who wrote the first episode and another couple of dozen too. There are dozens of writers in various classifications for this show that ran 134 episodes.  I'd like to mention them all, but that would make a really long post. 

My 2 Cents

I love this show, but I did get tired of the constant arguments between characters as well as their inability to rise above their respective emotional baggages and "grow" as characters.

Yet, once I tune in to an episode, I can't not watch another episode and another so be warned that it's a time suck if you have other things you should be doing.

I'll confess my favorite character is Donna who sees all, hears all, and knows all. Ms. Rafferty made her character completely memorable.

Takeaway Truth

Suits broke streaming records for a TV series. I watched it on Netflix, but they currently don't have the 9th and final season. Suits also streams on Peacock so I'll check there for season 9.

VISIT JOAN ONLINE

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