IT's Decorative Gourd Season, M-F'ers!!

If you enjoy 'bad language,' here's a good post from McSweeney's Internet Tendency.  You can order a T-shirt with this inspiring motto from McSweeney's Store, too.  I just may do that. 

Wot Th'....???

My stovetop espresso maker has quit working. How did this happen?  I haven't done anything different, but the coffee no longer rises to the top container.  It's there, all right, but it stays in the bottom container.  It's not plugged or misassembled.  The rubber gasket is just fine.  It just doesn't work.  I've had it for almost 10 years, and I'm flummoxed. 

All the problems with stovetop espresso makers cited online say virtually the same thing.  It works and then it doesn't, and nobody can figure out why.  The other commenters say it works even without adding the coffee grounds, and I just tried that.  True.  There's a little button on the bottom container, and that moves freely if I poke at it.   I do have a second one, but it's 1/3 the size, and I prefer a nice big mug of coffee/espresso in the a.m.

This

Cute but not this

The coffee grounds (always Bustelo, preground) are wet and looking a bit strange after this happens.  And they smell funny, too.  Perhaps they're adding a bit of dirt to the blend.  Perhaps this is why there are sales in so many places on this particular brand.  2 10-oz vacuum packs for $5.  Ordinarily, it's $4.79 each. I keep the opened pack in the fridge.  Nothing unusual there.  Hmm....

...OW!

Every country has its woes.....

Thanks for the above image goes to Belgian Waffle.
Today marks the author's hiatus in US political and other pressing topics. If you want to read anything significant in that respect, please go to Informed Comment.

African Violet!!

African violet, [copyright] Linda Delk

 My multi-talented friend Linda Delk took this photo today--or was it yesterday?  She said this about it:

Here is a picture of my African violet. Seven flower stalks shot up a couple weeks ago. I have been feeding it, and I think that makes the difference. About half of the buds are open now. Picked this up at Frager's Hardware on PA Ave back in the fall as part of a DC [DC=Daily Challenge] challenge. It's turned out to be a lovely bloomer and very cheery to have in my window.

Thanks, Linda, for letting me post your photo here.  Linda has many talents.  Maybe I can persuade her to show us one of her knitting projects, too.  

Wind Chill table from Fargo WDAY station

Wind chill was something dreamed up by Canadians when I was a kid.  They never talked about it in the US
on the radio or in the newspaper.  You can see why.

Let's say it was -10F one morning when I left for school, and the wind was a nice, normal 15mph--pretty typical for Fargo.  That put the actual temperature at something like -35F, well into the frostbite danger zone.  Our mothers knew this from past experience, and they got out the woolen scarves.

Most of us went to school wrapped in scarves--over our hats so that our foreheads were covered and around our necks and up over our mouths and noses--so that only our eyes were not covered. Some kids did not have scarves or earmuffs, and if you sat behind them in school, you could see the tops of their ears bleeding from frostbite. I remember one kid....Richard Dahl....and he always had frostbite burns on his ears. As spring approached, the tops of his ears would peel a bit as the frostbite healed.  He was not the only one, but we sat in alphabetical order, and his desk was right in front of mine.

Anyway, it's not so cold where I live now (or even back in Fargo these days).  Today's local temp is 20F, and the wind is 8 mph.  That puts the windchill somewhere between 9F and 13F--out of the frostbite warning zone.  Still, it's very cold here compared to what we usually have.

Stay warm!

Wind(mph)	Temperature (Fahrenheit)
0	35°	30°	25°	20°	15°	10°	5°	0°	-5°	-10°	-15°	-20°	-25°	-30°	-35°	-40°	-45°
5	31	25	9	13	7	-1	-5	-11	-16	-22	-28	-34	-40	-46	-52	-57	-72
10	27	21	15	9	3	-4	-10	-16	-22	-28	-35	-41	-47	-53	-59	-66	-77
15	25	19	13	6	0	-7	-13	-19	-26	-35	-39	-45	-51	-58	-64	-71	-81
20	24	17	11	4	-2	-9	-15	-22	-29	-35	-37	-44	-55	-61	-68	-74	-84
25	23	16	9	3	-4	-11	-17	-24	-31	-37	-44	-51	-58	-64	-71	-78	-87
30	22	15	8	1	-5	-12	-19	-26	-33	-39	-46	-53	-60	-67	-73	-80	-89
35	21	14	7	0	-7	-14	-21	-28	-34	-41	-48	-55	-62	-69	-76	-82	-91
40	20	13	6	-1	-8	-15	-22	-29	-36	-43	-50	-57	-64	-71	-78	-84	-93
45	19	12	5	-2	-9	-16	-23	-30	-37	-44	-51	-58	-65	-72	-79	-86	-93
50	19	12	4	-3	-10	-17	-24	-31	-38	-45	-52	-60	-67	-74	-81	-89	-95
55	18	11	4	-3	-11	-18	-25	-32	-39	-46	-54	-61	-68	-75	-82	-89	-97
60	17	10	3	-4	-11	-19	-26	-33	-40	-48	-55	-62	-69	-76	-84	-91	-98

	Increasing Danger (Frostbite in 30 min.)
	Heightened Danger (Frostbite in 10 min.)
	Great Danger (Frostbite in 5 min.)

Fog pix....by Linda

My friend and former co-worker Linda took these fabulous photos earlier this month, but she hasn't been able to download them on her blog.  I'm going to see if I can download them on Snoozeville, which hasn't seen much by way of photography for a while.  She took them one morning while out for a walk.

Fingers crossed, Linda.

Watergate & Kennedy Center (copyright) Linda Delk

 Key Bridge (copyright) Linda Delk