71 thoughts on “September 5, 2017: Unofficially Official”

  1. I don't mind colder weather, but I mind not having my daughters around already. Summer left quickly. We did at least make it to the Fair yesterday, and used almost all of our water park punches.

        1. I need many 20º days with 12 inches of snow so I can put my snowblower to work more than the one frickin time I was able to use it last year.

            1. It worked like a charm last year. I bought it two days after a 10" storm. The one time I even sort of legitimately used it afterwards was for a weak, 2" dusting. Guuuh.

              1. When we bought our house I solicited recommendations for a small-engine repair shop. (This reminds me to schedule a service for the snowblower). A friend told me not to bother with a two-stage, but I got one because I didn't want to fool around on mornings after heavy snowfalls. The first night I saw them plowing my street with Caterpillar road graders & front-end loaders and woke up to frozen three-foot deep, three-foot high windrows, I knew I'd made the right choice.

                1. Oh man, does that friend actually live around here?

                  I don't remember the exact year you bought your house, but it was after the the two 100" winters, wasn't it? I did both of those winters with just a shovel. Ahh, to be young again.

                2. We got gifted a secondhand one stage snowblower when we got our house. I would never recommend one to anyone who lives more north than, say, Florida.

                4. The previous owners left behind an old lawnmower with the house (with our permission), but I'm guessing they used a service because it didn't seem to have been used in years. I somehow got it started, and it's stayed in working order, but I'm guessing I need to find someone to give it a good tune-up over the winter since I sure don't know how to. Wouldn't mind squeezing a few more years out of that thing.

                    2. All you gotta do is remember to put everything back in the same place it was before you took it apart.

                  2. I bought my lawnmower when we bought the house, 23 years ago. For the last lustrum or so, I've been vowing to buy a new one every spring, but as long as the old one keeps running I have a hard time letting go.

                    1. This was my ninth summer with this one and it still runs great despite, admittedly, slacking off on regular maintenance. Next year I think I'll actually change the oil and the air filter, I swear!

                    6. Peps,
                      I wouldn't reach for that construction given that it's most common use is 1000-year periods.
                      (Though as an adjective: biennial, triennial, quadrennial...)

                      Also: I'm back to one of my old walking routes from my bus to the office (until snagged by construction). Arrival times aren't what they used to be though. I've been walking through Cancer Survivors' Park as it's bird migration and I like to look at the window-impact victims.

                    7. Heh, I learned the word 2 minutes before I posted, so I defer to your expertise.

                      I was just wondering about your route on my way in this morning, so that's good to know. I do have something for you lurking in the depths of my work bag.

                    8. I wasn't saying "hemidecade" was to be preferred, it's just the one that would fall out of my vocabulary if I needed a word for five years.
                      First instinct was actually "semidecade", but I realized that was combining a Latin prefix with a Greek root.

                      My quick google makes it look like "lustrum" and "quinquennium" are both more commonly used.
                      One benefit of "hemidecade" though: should be immediately understandable.
                      "Lustrum" is completely opaque, and I wouldn't be sure at first if "quinquennium" was five, fifteen, or fifty.

          1. We're expecting much cooler weather today. Of course, this weekend, air molecules were stripped of their electrons to create a plasma. But cooler.

  2. This morning was crisp and delightful. I sincerely hope that all of my summer-loving friends enjoyed their favorite season. It's my time now.

    1. In a perfect world, I wake up to a crisp cool house, and it then hovers around 80F all day when I actually want to be outside.

      1. Heat doesn't bother me nearly as much as cold, but autumn is still my favorite season, in part because this is essentially what you get. I love turning on the heat on the drive into work and the air on the drive home.

        1. I love opening the sunroof on the way to anywhere. I love not turning on the house AC during the day and heat at night. I love being able to open the windows (allergy season excepted)

    2. Co-sign. I'm most content in fall & winter. This morning was about my ideal for summer – about 48º when I left the house, gradually creeping up to around 63* for the high.

      1. This year I have resolved not to complain about the winter. I don't expect to like it, but we have winter every year, and complaining about it does no good, so I'm going to quit whining.

    3. My set point is evidently quite different from most of y'all, but weather here this week should be about perfect in my book, too. The extended forecast calls for highs of 90 and lows of 65, with only not more than a couple degrees different on any day.

    4. I'm with nibs and CH - I much prefer the weather Fall-Spring to anytime between Memorial and Labor Day. Doesn't mean I hate summer, just that I'm happier in shorts and a hoodie than shorts and a tank top.

    5. I'm a man with no country. The depths of winter (which I loved) are now too cold for me, and the blazing heat of summer (which I loath) are too hot for me. I'm thinking San Diego would be about right, though I can't afford the rich people's weather.

        1. Aye, that.

          meat, there's still places a printer can live in San Diego. Or you could go up in the hills (e.g., Fallbrook) with the Wildings.

    1. I came across my (Great) Uncle Louie's recipe for pickles this weekend. Uncle Louie didn't graduate from 8th grade, so he dictated it & (Great) Aunt Nancy wrote it out. This is a good reminder that I need to scan it for preservation.

    2. We did that over the weekend. It turns out that Newbish absolutely adores the ones we make with my in-laws, so we had to make a few extra jars this year. Plus, the Habanero pickles are divine, and I get to have those all to myself.

    3. Nice. My mother-in-law makes fantastic (and fairly simple) pickles. We probably have 30 jars in the fruit cellar that we all (Philosofette, myself, the kids too) helped her with this year. M-i-l does the heavy lifting, and we reap the rewards.

      This year I've also canned a couple jars of jalapenos and I've got 3 jars left of mango jalapenos salsa. I'm hoping to can some tomato salsa tonight.

    4. We've made two crock-pots of apple butter this week and have a lot more apples still on the tree.

  5. I've read three reports (including the one on MLB.com) about the reduction of Gary Sanchez' suspension, and I still don't have a clear reason why his was reduced when he very clearly escalated an already physical confrontation.

  6. Here's the news that Marlins fans should've known was coming. All hail Huizenga Henry Loria ex-Cap'n Jetes! A $55 million payroll in 2018 would be laughable, and it says quite a bit about how much Rob Manfred must've wanted to be rid of Jeffrey Loria.

    Also, there's this:

    Derek Jeter is demanding a $5 million salary to run baseball operations, mostly to help him recoup his ownership investment and to cover expenses for is commute to Miami from Tampa. ... Theo Epstein’s first Cubs contract — which came after winning two World Series rings with Boston and laying the groundwork for a third — paid him $3.7 million.

  8. I made an IPA this weekend. The prior weekend I was taking to a guy at a party a neighbor was having and he gave me the idea to make a hop tea near the end of the boil. So, I drained about half a gallon and cooled it down, then added 3 ounces of hops and left it sit until I was done cooling down the rest of the batch then added it back in.

    I got home today and went down to see how the fermentation was starting and the entire basement smells AMAZING! I used a lot of citrusy/piney hops. Oh mama I can't wait until this one ready.

      1. "Could" is a great word, because all kinds of things "could" happen, but if the hurricane gets bad enough, they could just cancel the rest of the playoffs after it hits.

            1. I started calling them that a couple of years ago. Every time I try to type "rain delay" it comes out "rain dealy", so I decided to call it a rain dealy to save time.

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