The New House

Subtropical climate means too hot to spend much time outside. My son-in-law describes it as only tolerable on a body of water or with a cold drink in your hand or preferably both. I added with a cold drink in a body of water.

The plus side is quiet it is. Cicadas and tree frogs are the only noise at night. 

Forest Primeval

Copperhead in Shop

Exterminator Time

When We First Moved to Northern California

We stayed in a hotel in San Rafael. The clouds around the hills were magical. This area is similar.

Downtown Kingsport

Depressing Architectural History

Today's mass murder history incident is an arson that killed 19 and injured 28. An unemployed laborer resident in what had been a nice hotel in an earlier era vented his drunken anger at other tenants by lighting a flyer that burned down the hotel. It was part of that fortunately short-lived architectural design with open staircases that "acted as chimney flues, shooting the flames to upper floors within minutes." (This was the initial report. A few weeks later, as they finished excavation, the death toll rose.)

If you watched the original Blade Runner, you saw an interesting structure with these open staircases: the Bradbury Building. 

It has appeared in many films. I was called to eleven incredibly boring days of jury duty in downtown Los Angeles in 1980-1982 period. During the long lunch breaks, I walked all over the area, visiting the Bradbury Building and the iconic City Hall.

An exhibit there showed 1900 city election ballots. Only three parties were on the ballot: Democrat, Democratic Socialist, Socialist.

Will I Need a New Category for Elected Official COVID Fraud?

 7/30/26 CBS News:

A Georgia state lawmaker pled guilty in court on Thursday to making false statements in order to illegally collect nearly $18,000 in COVID-19 pandemic unemployment benefits while she was serving as an elected official.

Democratic Rep. Sharon Henderson, who represents Georgia's District 113, is the third member of the state House to plead guilty in connection with benefit fraud during the pandemic.

According to prosecutors, Henderson began applying for the benefits in June 2020, when she was still a candidate for the Georgia House. Investigators say she claimed she was working as a substitute teacher for Henry County Schools, even though she had not worked for the district since 2018, when she worked for five days. During that time, prosecutors say she also signed an acknowledgement that she was not not eligible to draw unemployment wages as a substitute teacher.

Investigators say Henderson falsely reported in her application that she worked for the school system throughout 2019 and as recently as March 10, 2020, and that her workplace had shut down because of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

She then allegedly filed weekly certifications claiming she could not report to work due to COVID-19 quarantine restrictions. Court filings show that even after she was sworn in, Henderson submitted eight additional certifications around June 2021. She was elected in 2020 and reelected in 2022 and 2024 to represent western Newton County and part of Covington.

In court, the 67-year-old lawmaker pled guilty to making false statement to obtain funds administered by the U.S. Department of Labor.