Springtime hereabouts......

The last week here has seen warm temps (65) during the day that pleases and confuses us.....it's fine, but no good will come of it.

So on Friday the weather took a turn for the normal.....getting cooler, then yesterday it started snowing around 6pm, though not cold. By morning there was an inch or so of wet snow on the yard and truck, but it was gone by noon and the sun came out once.

The bulbs that Emily planted in the front 5 years ago are still coming up, this spring a month early, and on the way uptown for breakfast I had to stop for someone unnecessarily plowing:

But, it's supposed to be 70 by Tuesday, and all the snow seen above is melted. This is typical of Spring here, but this year early in terms of temp. Our snow pack, so far, is good, and we should escape fire issues locally this summer.

The robins are here, the grass is greening up nicely, and real Spring should happen in a week or so. The first day of 70f.......and rather early at that.

Early in the week errata

Want to feel really depressed?  Read this: (highlight and right click...)

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/20/opinion/charles-blow-has-the-nra-won.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region&region=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region&_r=0

Unalaska, a town out near Dutch Harbor, has a until recently little-known author(ess) in the Sargent in charge of writing the activities of the police department.....a bit of her work:

Domestic Disturbance
A grown man asked an officer to tell his grown dipsomaniac son to go beddy-bye. The officer helped the drunk to bed, but declined the request to feed the family cat on the way out.

Or this one, about a routine animal complaint:

Petite piles of poo prompted protests to police.

a bit more:

 Public Safety (01:46 hrs, 11/9/11) — Officer watched three extremely intoxicated and giggling louts urinate on the road, on themselves, on one another, and on a taxi in front of the Harbor View Bar. The wet-legged men abashedly explained to the admonishing officer they had been kicked out of the bar before having an opportunity to use the restroom there.

 Domestic Disturbance (00:26 hrs, 12/30/11) — Drunken boarding house tenant reported that his equally drunken nemesis had taken his cell phone, and he wanted it back. Officers told both sots they would go to jail if they continued behaving toward one another in such a fashion.

We should all have such LEO's, eh? Oh, and thanks to the esteemed, recently-married Mr. Gray from a remote outpost in Wales for the tip some months ago about the site.

Now, gentle readers, tell me this:  Why, in the name of all that's good, do gun sales in the US increase dramatically after such things as school massacres, mass shootings, etc?  Why do we believe crime is on the increase when it's shown to be at a 20 year low?  Why, after proclamations that the racial issues in our country are all but past, does it seem like they are just surfacing?

Why oh why are we like this?

A rib for the road

Tomorrow it's point the truck east and set the autopilot for 11 hours. But first, a rib or two......

More from the higher and colder place in a day or two.

Random Thursday

I'm not quite ready to do a screed about Indiana/OK Police/GOP/resignedaboutH.Clinton, so here's some pics, chosen at random.

Bend Oregon, the year I was born, 1946. The Tower theater sign is still there, the rest not so much. 

My oldest, probably 5th grade, late at night in a bar in San Francisco. Kids those days........sheesh. 

The cook down the street, doing his day job......

Me in grad school, on a beach in Mexico with a tome of some sort.

Unfortunate fire

A little over a block away from my home is a restored Queen Anne style Victorian house. Built in 1880, it was home to some noteable Buttians over the decades.

I has four fireplaces, 14 cut and stained class windows, bays, tower and sumptious woodwork inside.

Alas, it burned yesterday. The renovation had only been finished a year ago with a gourmet kitchen. I was only in the house twice, but it was a marvel of century old elegance.

No word as to the cause; the mom and girl were home when it started but got out safely. I'm sure the insurance will compensate them, but the home will be impossible to replace.

Spoiler Alert

This concern's the 'Game of Thrones' serial television show. Want to know who ends up on the throne, ruling the kingdom?

Here she is:

The eldest daughter and son-in-law took her for a day or so to a convention they are part of, and along with George R.R. Martin, the author of the books, was the throne from the show.

Sorry if I spoiled the show for anyone, but I think Fiona will rule well, and keep them busy during the long winter.

A favorite place and meal

A prelude to the next travel story: I spent 3 weeks some years ago in Dusseldorf, actually in Neuss, a small community across the Rhine, consulting with a group of primary investigators on a project for a big pharma.

One of the docs, a real scamp.....

...took me to his favorite place, night after night.

We went in the early evenings, it was crowded every time.

They served one beer, and one beer only. They brewed it on the premise...

It was excellent. See the marks on the coaster? the X and I? That's how they keep track for billing purposes at the end of the evening. Sometimes the marks would encircle the coaster.......

There was a ample menu, but I only ever, in the multiple visits, had one thing. The Schweinhaxe:

A parboiled then grilled pig shank, served on a bed of kraut with potatoes on the side. It was heaven.