Cute

On an SUV:

Emotional Support Vehicle 

Court Grants Cert on Assault Weapons Cases

6/30/26 Guardian:

The US supreme court will consider whether bans on AR-15 rifles and similar semiautomatic firearms are constitutional.

The justices said on Tuesday they will hear appeals challenging bans in Connecticut and the Chicago area in the next term.

There have been enough statements by both pro- and anti-gun justices to expect these laws to collapse.

"We Fought a War for This?"

Our dogs are losing their sanity from the fireworks." In the closing years of the 19th century, cynics begin to make fun of the solemn speeches associated with the Fourth. I would like more of that and less of this.

Watching John Adams With My Wife

Really well done. Yes, I have to make little corrections because I have read Adams' defense of the Boston Massacre soldiers and see how the screenplay oversimplified it and left out the RKBA lines, but hey, being married to an historian is hard.

Moving is So Much Fun

We were going to use UPack to get our stuff cross-country.  We are not inclined to pack and load ourselves but UPack has an affiliated business that provides local pack and load services. 

I made a reservation with them. They do not bring or supply boxes, tape, or moving blankets to protect your furniture. So how many boxes will I need? I really do not want to buy 100 boxes and they only use 80. This is not something that I would expect professional movers to do, and yet this is a local moving company. 

SuperGrok thinks the full service movers can do it for about $15,000 (no appliances, 300 pound gun safe, not heavy but oddly shaped telescopes). I am getting estimates this next week. If it comes into that price range, it is only a few thousand more than UPack and whatever the local pack and load service would cost. 

Frustrations

The initial burst of showings of our Caldwell house had trickled down. I hope this is because of 4th of July.

That the first offer fell through because they were not really looking to buy a house was odd, but several realtors now have told of people who finally admitted (in one case after wasting 18 months of her time) that they could not buy a home. They just liked shopping.

Record Heat!

 Actually, no. This is the data on record high temperatures by state and in which year. I am trying to do what should be simple: plot a map showing year and maximum temperature by state. It is harder than it looks. Can any of you tell me how to do this?

State,Record High (°F),Year,Date,Location

Alabama,112,1925,"September 6, 1925",Centreville

Alaska,100,1915,"June 27, 1915",Fort Yukon

Arizona,128,1994,"June 29, 1994",Lake Havasu City

Arkansas,120,1936,"August 10, 1936",Ozark

California,134,1913,"July 10, 1913",Greenland Ranch (Death Valley)

Colorado,115,2019,"July 20, 2019",John Martin Reservoir

Connecticut,106,1995,"July 15, 1995",Danbury

Delaware,110,1930,"July 21, 1930",Millsboro

District of Columbia,106,1930,"July 20, 1930",Washington

Florida,109,1931,"June 29, 1931",Monticello

Georgia,112,1983,"August 20, 1983",Greenville

Hawaii,100,1931,"April 27, 1931",Pahala

Idaho,118,1934,"July 28, 1934",Orofino

Illinois,117,1954,"July 14, 1954",East Saint Louis

Indiana,116,1936,"July 14, 1936",Collegeville

Iowa,118,1934,"July 20, 1934",Keokuk

Kansas,121,1936,"July 24, 1936",Alton

Kentucky,116,1930,"July 28, 1930",Louisville

Louisiana,114,1936,"August 10, 1936",Plain Dealing

Maine,105,1911,"July 10, 1911",North Bridgton

Maryland,109,1988,"June 21, 1988",Conowingo Dam & Darlington

Massachusetts,107,1975,"August 2, 1975",New Bedford

Michigan,112,1936,"July 13, 1936",Mio

Minnesota,115,1917,"July 29, 1917",Beardsley

Mississippi,115,1930,"July 29, 1930",Holly Springs

Missouri,118,1954,"July 14, 1954",Warsaw

Montana,117,1937,"July 5, 1937",Medicine Lake

Nebraska,118,1936,"July 24, 1936",Minden

Nevada,125,1994,"June 29, 1994",Laughlin

New Hampshire,106,1911,"July 4, 1911",Nashua

New Jersey,110,1936,"July 10, 1936",Runyon

New Mexico,122,1994,"June 27, 1994",Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

New York,108,1926,"July 22, 1926",Troy

North Carolina,110,1983,"August 21, 1983",Fayetteville

North Dakota,121,1936,"July 6, 1936",Steele

Ohio,113,1934,"July 21, 1934",Gallipolis

Oklahoma,120,1994,"June 27, 1994",Tipton

Oregon,119,2021,"June 29, 2021",Pelton Dam

Pennsylvania,111,1936,"July 10, 1936",Phoenixville

Rhode Island,104,1975,"August 2, 1975",Providence

South Carolina,113,2012,"June 29, 2012",Columbia

South Dakota,120,2006,"July 15, 2006",Fort Pierre

Tennessee,113,1930,"August 9, 1930",Perryville

Texas,120,1994,"June 28, 1994",Monahans

Utah,117,2021,"July 10, 2021",St. George

Vermont,105,1911,"July 4, 1911",Vernon

Virginia,110,1954,"July 15, 1954",Balcony Falls

Washington,120,2021,"June 29, 2021",Hanford Site

West Virginia,112,1936,"July 10, 1936",Martinsburg

Wisconsin,114,1936,"July 13, 1936",Wisconsin Dells

Wyoming,115,1988,"July 15, 1988",Diversion Dam