Coffee has been made and smelled good enough to get Marcia up and out of bed. It’s a bit cool and thus the morning fog is rolling through the cove like kids rolling an old bicycle wheel. Yup, it’s absolutely quiet outside, still waters, with some of the birds just breaking into song; altogether a lovely morning.

I might as well be up front about it. For the Women’s Soccer World Cup finals last weekend I rooted for the Dutch. It was primarily because the U.S. team began to mix politics with sport; something I felt to be totally out of line. Plus, some of the team began to forget the ‘team’ aspect and started making it about themselves – this combination became tiresome and annoying. I was proven correct watching some clips from their glory-tour of New York City:

“Just watched on Fox..critically injured U.S. Marine female Sgt..dbl amputee..43 surgeries..sight plus hearing problems..No parade for her..No Espy..She thanked God for the chance to serve America..Compare this to the Media adoration of Megan Rapinoe..Better role model??” ~ Bill (Willie) Cunningham – 700WLW Radio personality on Twitter

Having said that, Cincinnati area native, team midfielder, Rose Lavelle was outstanding, as was Alex Morgan. Their play was fun to watch.

AI – I happened to catch a business update on Deutsche Bank. Amongst the news on the bank was the fact that they were laying off staff. And it was stated that currently three people can perform the work formerly done by 500.

AI is a reality and yes a lot of training will have to occur to allow folk to slide into this new world. I also heard that Amazon has created a multi-Billion dollar pool of money set aside for the sole purpose of retraining their employees (private sector efficiency rules).

Anyway, to one degree or another, obsolescence has been ongoing for ages. The photo below is that of a Mary Smith who held the position of “Knocker-upper”. There was a time before folk had alarm clocks. So Mary and her fellow “Knocker-uppers” earned sixpence a week to shoot dried peas into her sleeping customer’s bedroom window and thus wake them up; all utterly necessary. Where are these ladies and their dried peas now?

Power Outage – Last Sunday our power  provider had a scheduled, morning long, power outage. Probably things would be okay, however, we do have a freezer and a refrigerator and I didn’t want to take any chances. No problem.

Out came our 128-pound brute with 4,000 Watts of generating power – ‘Binford’ style.

Mary-J – Canada goes whole-hog one way or another. No middle ground, just extremes. Hence, this year, cannabis is in – everywhere. Our local First Nation Aboriginal Tribe wasted no time. A nearby greenhouse complex had been sitting idle for years. No longer, now it’s proudly advertised as “Indigenous Biodiversity Complex” and its product sold on their nearby lands. As a revenue stream it’s the new Casino.

Busy, busy – Donn and Marlene had a very tall (80+ feet) tree hanging over a power line. The electric company eventually decided that it had to come down and that it would be on them. What ensued was a busy morning working on that tree – notice the grouping of us supervisors delighting in the proficiency of the worker-bees?

Finis – Marin is over-the-moon happy with the little birthday gift auntie Adrianne and uncle Tevita gave him. I don’t want to give it away, just look at what a yuugely smiling Marin is holding.

Our nearby Fox dens look like they have been used this season, just have not seen any Foxes so far.

After what our Coast Guard pulled off this past week (riding a submarine bucking bronco style) I have a whole new level of respect for them. Interdicting drugs is serious business to these guardians – thanks for your work!

Kirstin, Derek, and Kellen spent a morning getting through Texas heat. They floated for about three hours on the nearby Comal River. Does look good, doesn’t it?

Bob-the-Forester took us to an out-of-the-way stand. I bought a couple of quarts of the most amazing Strawberries I’ve had. Each one tasted better than the last. Summer Gold!

Donn and two of his kids (Nick and Joel) and two other family members set off this morning on their 1,300-mile “ Lake Superior Circle Tour” on their Vespas. Safe travels and as Chef John always says; “Enjoy!”

Make it a magnificent week.
Ciao
Dirk