Remind me.  It was Labor Day recently right?  Paula and I made a visit to Costco to get some gas and salt today.  Strolling down the aisle a lady up ahead was promoting their Fresh Country French bread.  Getting nearer I thought was seeing things.  Kinda’ like a distant mirage.  There in the cooler next to the bread lady were pumpkin pies.  Good grief we just wrapped up the first week of September.  Add this to the pre-seasonal holiday marketing hype.   Now not only are Halloween costumes showing up on Labor Day but so are Thanksgiving pumpkin pies.

I’m wondering if Costco stocking up on pumpkin pie filling is going to cause a shortage of jack-o-lanterns this October.

You guessed it.  We left with two loaves of bread and one pumpkin pie in our cart along with the salt!

Sitting here housebound today since I do not like the idea of venturing out in our certified Very Unhealthy smoke infused air with 1 1/4 mile visibility.   Glancing out the window my neighbor is mowing his lawn.   Good grief!  Me I am pondering the cause for this new annual 5th season.  Over the years the quality of air caused by fires has dramatically gotten worse during the Dog Days of Summer.  Can’t say if the actual number of fires has increased.  My thinking is that there is significantly more fuel for fires once started.  Could that be do to grazing and forest management restrictions?  Just a thought.

Oh, silly me I am sure it is all because of global warming.

Carry on.

How will you be celebrating the Great Eclipse of 2017?  Rather then risk the expected/hoped for hoards of people heading north I am staying in Boise.  We are approximately 50 miles off the edge of totality but hey that is close enough for me. I will be heading up to join Paula at CM’s office on higher ground for the viewing.  Gonna throw out the lawn chair, set up a camera, que up Dark Side of the Moon at the predetermined time to sync with peak totality and chill.

Hmmmmmmm?  So the meteorologists got the recent prediction of a snowstorm of historical proportions hitting the east coast wrong.  Blame was put on the computer models used for predicting weather and poor communications among the various weather gurus.  Curious thing is these are some of the same folks involved with all the climate change forecasting.  What you don’t hear though is how the models they use are known to be deficient just as the models used to predict this storm have proven to be.   Based on this forecast the various east coast public officials made calls for preparedness for naught that I’m sure cost taxpayers extra and inconvenienced citizens.  Just as the current politicos and environmentalists are trying to force new regulations on industries that will cost billions of dollars and all eventually borne by the consumer/taxpayer based on inaccurate computer climate models.

So let me see if I understand this.  Military personnel deployed to Africa to aid in the ebola problem,  who are not in direct contact with infected people, upon return are being quarantined for 21 days.  Yet folks such as nurses and doctors who are in direct contact with infected people are not being quarantined.  The official explanation is that military people are under the thumb of the generals and the military has higher standards.  Civilian “heroes” on the other hand threaten to litigate.  But isn’t who the individual is irrelevant?  Seems the intent is to contain the threat.  Better to error on the safe side I feel.  Is there something we are not being told?  Yea, ya’ think!