Enjoy this mid-summer Saturday. I actually plotted to try and spot Comet C/2017 K2. Two days ago this mega comet passed its closest point to earth and thus was most visible to us. I read that this means that it is nearing; “the end of its roughly 3 million-year journey towards the sun from the outer region of the solar system known as the Oort Cloud.” The vastness of space constantly amazes.

Side note, I couldn’t spot old C/2017 K2 other than on photos on the web.

However, since my eyes were skyward this week, yesterday morning I did capture the July’s full ‘Buck’ moon, a ‘supermoon’; since it’s the largest of the year. I took this photo at 7:10AM yesterday morning when it was already daylight (taken with my little, rock solid, Apple series 7, smartphone and it’s ancient camera configuration).

Morning coffee Marcia must have smelled the coffee and asked if I’d been to bed (yes, I had and had just gotten up – a little late). The reason was that it had been 3:00AM this morning before I had gone to bed.

I needed to pick up Tevita, Adrianne, Vai, & Vili at the airport at 7:45 last night. After hours of some mechanical delay at their Denver stopover they were handed a new airplane. Their landing was now 1:00AM. Add to that a baggage issue and one quickly gets to a 3:00AM bedtime.

Coffee Trivia –:
Do you know what an ‘ibrik’ is? Answer, and this for Bulent in Canada who I’ll see in about three weeks, it’s a copper pot with a long handle, used for making coffee in Turkey. If you haven’t ever had Turkish coffee, be prepared for some very strong stuff and you’ll finish your small cup with a mouthful of coffee grounds.

Corner of Chaos & Mayhem Apparently we have the perfect corner, a – full stop – followed by a gentle slope, then turn 1 heading towards I-75 – for many it’s a race track. Next, I am grateful of our Police department for their faithful testing of the ‘track’ condition prior to the citizenry gunning through here.

Last Saturday, as I had just finished posting, I heard the test run followed by a thud. I should point out a light, misty, rain was falling. Result; one cruiser less on city streets, one replacement set of airbags setting sail in Japan.

”We are at present working discreetly with all our might to wrest this mysterious force called sovereignty out of the clutches of the local nation states of the world. All the time we are denying with our lips what we are doing with our hands.” ~ Professor Arnold Toynbee, in a June 1931 speech before the Institute for the Study of International Affairs in Copenhagen.

Going Dutch –, The Dutch Lion rises; as so in France, Canada, Italy, Sri Lanka, Portugal, the UK, Germany, Spain, Australia and the USA. The Globalist agenda has hit a roadblock. Governance by a handful of Davos WEF aficionados, and their lackeys such as Trudeau, Rukke, Boris Johnson, and the like, all promoting extremist views are done. In the UK Johnson is gone, in socialist Sri Lanka president Rajapaksa has fled, in Italy Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Thursday that he would resign. And so, the chips have begun to fall.

Here in our country Joe Biden’s “presidential approval rating is at record lows compared with the past 11 men to hold the office.” How long can he hold on?

Stats The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has the Consumer prices up 8.9% (as of May 2022 year over end). So what does this mean for any specific area?

• Food + 10.4%
• Chicken + 18.6%
• Eggs + 33.1%
• Seafood + 11%
• Bacon +11.9%
• Rice + 11.9%
• Milk + 16.4%
• Fuel Oil + 98.5%
• Gas + 59.9%
• Public Transportation + 23.7%
• Fresh Fruit & veggies + 8.1%

Graphically, this is what we’re seeing right now:

Fini –

• This week it was a Happy Birthday to Pieter. Plus, he got written up in his local paper for his volunteer work, investing in his community as a key player with KDRT 95.7FM Davis radio, especially his weekly “Listening Lyrics” show. Congratulations Pieter!

• Hard to find a parking place heading for Lowe’s mid-week.

• SpaceX launched another rocket this week. This one heading supplies to the International Space Station. Here’s a photo that’s shows scale. The bottom section lands itself shortly after launch and this one has already had several flights:

• Did you know that each wind turbine requires 900 tons of steel, 2,500 tons of concrete, and 45 tons of non-recyclable plastic to build. On average each windmill has a useable life of 25-years and needs up to 700 gallons of oil for lubrication every year. How’s that for the environment?

• Texas has asked Tesla and other EV owners to not charge their vehicles during “peak times” which are listed as being between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. The ‘idea’ of transitioning away from fossil fuels, and toward green energy alternatives is probably good; question though, how ready are we? Are we ready for ‘prime-time’?

• Since I will be heading north, solo, Marcia is exploring newer opportunities being on her own for a number of weeks. This week we discussed placing a test-run order:

• Rather than using one spray after another to control your friendly neighborhood bugs. Try exploring using these truly natural solutions and remember, Mint also keeps mice at a distance:

• I’ve had discussions with friends on the uptick of young males getting involved with murders, shootings, and robberies, and I think in large part this behavior is due to the lack of a father figure in their life. Look at this chart and then reflect on what occurred during during the period the graph jumps upward like crazy:

• Several years ago Vili found and assembled this stone figure while at the Lake. We brought it back here and placed it next to our condo’s entry walkway from where it can see these glorious Hibiscus flowers.

Ciao, sadly my three walks a day with Rugby have now come to an end. Maybe on occasion he’ll let me accompany him on a walk. Stay strong, stay involved, and stay happy. Keep on storming the castle. Pray for Peace.

Dirk