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It’s July!
Summer.
Sure it’s going to be hot as a pistol, but c’mon it’s summer. Swimming, hiking, biking, fishing, summer camps and dancing under the stars. Watermelon, sweet corn, strawberries and cream.
Arguing with your second cousin Tony about Red Sox-Yankees, arguing with your other cousin Tony about just about everything.
In fact, the only thing the three of your agree on is how much fun it is to receive the latest issue of…This Just In…
Enjoy.
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Yes. Brilliant sand art. No. We don't know who did it. | |
Five Books Bill Gates Thinks You Should Read This Summer | |
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He said they were, “heady and serious, but that you should consider them for your reading list this summer." Briefly they are:
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The Power by Naomi Alderman
This 2016 sci-fi novel by Brit Naomi Alderman made the billionaire “think about gender equality in new ways.”
The book explores gender roles, sexuality, and power imbalance between the sexes, giving Gates “a stronger and more visceral sense of the abuse and injustice many women experience today,” as he writes in his blog.
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Why We're Polarized
by Ezra Klein
While Vox cofounder Ezra Klein’s 2020 work primarily focuses on political polarization in the United States, it’s also a “fascinating look at human psychology,” according to Gates.
“If you want to understand what’s going on with politics in the United States, this is the book to pick up,” Gates writes.
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The Lincoln Highway
by Amor Towles
American novelist Amor Towles previously appeared on Gates’ reading list in 2019 with his bestseller, A Gentleman in Moscow.
This time around, his follow-up novel tells the story of two young brothers who leave Nebraska in 1954 on a cross-country journey in search of a better life.
“Towles takes inspiration from famous heroes’ journeys and seems to be saying that our personal journeys are never as linear or predictable as we might hope,” Gates writes.
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The Ministry for the Future
by Kim Stanley Robinson
Set in an apocalyptic world, this cli-fi, or “climate fiction,” novel narrates “the consequences of failing to deal seriously with climate change,” Gates writes. “It’s as harrowing a scene as any I’ve read in a science fiction book—because the events depicted in it could very well take place in the real world,” Gates writes.
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How the World Really Works
by Vaclav Smil
Vaclav Smil is known to be one of Gates’ favorite authors. The book explores the scientific basis of human life and how to sustain our well-being through turbulent times. While Gates admits that works from Smil tend to read more like textbooks, this latest is a “tour de force” and “never dull.”
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Wait...
5 Books WE Think You Should Read
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River of the Gods
by Candice Millard
For millennia the location of the Nile River’s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe – and extend their colonial empires.
Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. Burton spoke twenty-nine languages, and was a decorated soldier.
He was also mercurial, subtle, and an iconoclastic atheist. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer determined to make his mark, passionate about hunting, Burton’s opposite in temperament and beliefs. And there’s more.
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The King's Shadow
by Edmund Richardson
Beneath the plains of Afghanistan lie the remains of a fabulous city: Alexandria Beneath the Mountains, founded by Alexander the Great. For centuries, it was a meeting point of East and West. Then it vanished.
In 1833, it was discovered by the unlikeliest person imaginable: Charles Masson, spy, archaeologist, deserter, and the greatest of nineteenth-century travelers.
On the way into one of history's most extraordinary stories, Masson would take tea with kings, travel with holy men and become the master of a hundred disguises.
He would spy for the British East India Company and be suspected of spying for Russia at the same time. He would starve, talk his way out of prison and flee assassins. He would see things no westerner had glimpsed before and few have glimpsed since.
You know you want to read this one!
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A Pitcher's Story. Innings with David Cone
by Roger Angell
There is no big league pitcher who is more respected for his skill than David Cone.
In his stellar career Cone has won multiple championships and countless professional accolades. Along the way, the perennial all-star has had to adjust to five different ballclubs, recover from a career-threatening arm aneurysm, cope with the lofty expectations that are standard for the games highest paid players, and overcome a humbling three-month, eight-game losing streak in the summer of 2000.
Cone granted exclusive and unlimited access to baseballs most respected writer Roger Angell of the New Yorker. The result is just what baseball fans everywhere would expect from Angell: an extraordinary inside account of a superstar.
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A Molecule Away From Madness: Tales of the Hijacked Brain
by Sara Manning Peskin
Riveting stories of the brain on the brink, from an acclaimed cognitive neurologist.
Our brains are the most complex machines known to humankind, but they have an Achilles heel: the very molecules that allow us to exist can also sabotage our minds. Here are gripping accounts of unruly molecules and the diseases that form in their wake.
A college student cannot remember if she has eaten breakfast. By dinner, she is strapped to a hospital bed, convinced she is battling zombies. A man planning to propose marriage instead becomes violently enraged, gripped by body spasms so severe that he nearly bites off his own tongue. One after another, poor farmers in South Carolina drop dead from a mysterious epidemic of dementia. Heady stuff indeed.
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Deacon King Kong
by James McBride.
(Our favorite!)
From the author of the National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird and the bestselling modern classic The Color of Water, comes one of the most celebrated novels of the year.
In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known as Sportcoat shuffles into the courtyard of the Cause Houses housing project in south Brooklyn, pulls a .38 from his pocket, and, in front of everybody, shoots the project’s drug dealer at point-blank range.
The reasons for this desperate burst of violence and the consequences that spring from it lie at the heart of Deacon King Kong, James McBride’s funny, moving novel.
In Deacon King Kong, McBride brings to vivid life the people affected by the shooting: the victim, the African-American and Latinx residents who witnessed it, the white neighbors, the local cops assigned to investigate, the members of the Five Ends Baptist Church where Sportcoat was deacon, the neighborhood’s Italian mobsters, and Sportcoat himself.
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Finally – please tell us what you will be reading this summer. Tell us here – we’ll buy one special book for one lucky person.
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It is with great sadness that we report the loss of the great Magoo. He was John’s dog but he belonged to everyone here at Daniels. He brought a smile and laugh with every wag of his tail and he will be missed terribly. | |
7 Ways to Cool It This Summer | |
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Trying to cut energy costs in the summer can be tough. There are so many – see the illustration above. Here are a few – easy to do – things that just might save you a dollar or three.
Raise the thermostat to 75. Or even 78. Turn off the a/c altogether. The smaller the difference between outside temp and inside temp the less energy you will use.
Use fans to cool the house. Get a whole house fan for your attic. Amazing how cool they can keep your rooms upstairs. And – remember – reverse the spin on your ceiling fan to counter-clock wise to push cool air down!
Clean your AC air filter. Or change it out – especially during the summer. It will be more efficient when you do run the AC
Heat your food in the microwave -not the stove. It will generate far less heat in your home.
Skip the dryer. Let the sunshine dry your clothes – and they will smell so much better!
Turn down the temperature in your hot water heater. You’ll be looking to take cool showers to begin with – and you’ll save money!
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The earliest known use of glasses to protect eyes from the sun was the Inuit use of “sun goggles” to shield their eyes from the blinding glare of light reflected off the snow.
These were made from carved driftwood, bone, walrus ivory, or caribou antler that formed a strip worn across the eye area, with thin slits that the wearer could see through. The goggles were cut so that they fit tightly to the face, and often soot or gunpowder was rubbed on the outside to absorb the light and further cut down on glare.
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The use of these goggles dates back to around 2,000 years ago, and as a bonus, even improved the wearers vision as the narrow slits helped focus eyesight. | |
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Snow goggles of caribou antler, 1850/1800
(From the collection of British Museum)
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Eskimo sunglasses dating back to between 1200 AD and 1600AD. | |
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Quiz #1
Where In The Heck Are We?
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Think you know? Be specific and tell us here and you may win a gorgeous (if we do say so ourselves) $25 Amazon gift card.Last month nearly 300 of you played with us. The most in the history of the quizzes. Thank you. More than 200 of you recognized Diana Rigg and Anthony Hopkins so David selected four winners: Marge T, John H, Mark R and Gail S. As for recognizing The Eurythmics Dave Stewart only 30 or so got that right – including: Juan P. | |
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If you are thinking about heating your home – ok, we know it’s kinda early – but we thought we’d put a flea in your ear. Everyone is looking for ways to save money on heating their homes.
Daniels has two ideas: Think propane for replacement – and think:
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or the dependable and wickedly efficient Energy Kinetics System 2000 boiler. | |
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Either way they will both deliver up to 95% efficiency, (as opposed to your current 60-70% efficient system) saving you thousands over the next 20 years.
Plus propane prices – and availability have not been as volatile or subject to the dramatic swings we’ve seen in the rest of the energy market. So, yes, it’s early. But never too early to plan on saving. Got questions? Call Daniels at:
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A Poor Daniels Almanac Entry | |
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We want to remind you to use the Daniels Customer Payment Portal when making payments on your accounts.
We’ve heard of a number of instances where scammers are creating “look-alike” payment portals which are then directed to fraudulent actors who abscond with the cash. Just a word to the wise.
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The Salad -
How
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Make tomato salad dressing: In a mixing bowl whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, honey, parsley, basil, oregano and season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Toss tomatoes and mozzarella with dressing: In a medium salad bowl toss together tomatoes with dressing. Add mozzarella and toss.
Tips
- Don’t let it sit too long
- Use best quality tomatoes for optimal flavor. If you happen to get tomatoes that are on the tart side add a little extra honey.
- Make sure tomatoes are nicely ripe.
- Careful not to overdue it on the salt
- To allow flavors to infuse further let marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator, tossing once halfway through.
Or just:
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Some people find space travel and discovery fascinating. If you do…take this trip with Cassini | |
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Poor Daniels Almanac -
Part 2 - Proverbs
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1. “If the goose honks high, fair weather. If the goose honks low, foul weather.”
This proverb has nothing to do with the pitch of a goose’s honk, but rather the altitude of its flight. If the goose “honks high” — or is flying at high altitude, it’s an indication of high barometric pressure, and therefore good weather. If it’s flying lower in the sky, barometric pressure is low, and poor weather is foretold. This is because geese are incredibly adept at flying with optimum air density. When air pressure is high, that optimum level is high in the sky, and the reverse is true for low pressure.
2. “When pipes smell stronger, it’s going to rain.”
To understand this proverb, we need to go to the molecular level. In dry air, aromatic or “smell” molecules (those that carry scent to our noses) are “naked” — they are floating around in the air on their own. In moist, humid air, water molecules attach to the aromatic molecules, and the scent becomes hydrated. This allows those smell molecules to better attach themselves to the moist surfaces of your nose, which makes their particular scent stronger.
When the air is moist like this, humidity is increasing, making rain more likely. So if your tobacco pipe has a stronger smell than usual, you might predict that poor weather is on its way.
The same effect can be noted with lovely-smelling flowers (“Flowers smell best just before a rain”) and also offending manure fields and ponds (“Manure smells stronger before a rain” and “When ditches and ponds offend the nose, Look for rains and stormy blows”).
3. “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky in morning, sailor’s warning.”
While this weather proverb (and its many variants) is probably the most well known in our culture. A red sky at night can indeed mean fair weather, but particularly if the red appears in the eastern sky.
A red night sky in the east likely means that the light of the setting sun is passing through the low atmosphere and reflecting off clouds. If this is the case, it’s possible that rain has already passed, and you’re in the clear.
A red western sky at night can mean a couple things, depending on the shade of red. A more pinkish hue can portend clear, fair weather, but a deep red sky at night to the west can mean that moisture is collecting in the air, and a storm system is forming.
4. “When dew is on the grass, rain will never come to pass.”
Dew forms when grass gets colder than the dew-point temperature (the temp at which dew forms). At night, grass cools when heat from the ground radiates upward. In a clear, dry atmosphere, this heat escapes the atmosphere and rises into outer space. In a moist and humid atmosphere, water vapor absorbs some of that heat and can redirect it back down to the ground, warming up the grass, and thus keeping it dew free. Dew on the grass is therefore a sign of a high pressure system, and good weather.
5. “Doors and drawers stick before a rain.”
Doors that stick in the frame upon opening or that are troublesome to close are indicators of high humidity, portending rain. Just know that wood expands when the air humidifies. Humidity is a sign of low pressure and incoming poor weather, so when doors stick, look for showers.
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A Special Verbal Challenge! | |
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In a 1993 segment on National Public Radio, Will Shortz challenged listeners to construct sentences that use only two consonants, such as “Can Connie, a nice niece in Canaan, can-can on a canoe in uncanny innocence?”
The winner was “See Tess taste-test Sissy’s sassy tea to attest to its tastiest status.” Other entries:
- Beddy-bye, baby boy! Bid Daddy bye-bye!
- Babs’ boss, Bobb, sobs as Bea’s base beau, Bubba, abuses sea bass.
- A good guide dog did guide Dad.
- Did dull addled Lady Della deal old ally, idle loaded Daddy Leo, a leaden dolly load o’ dilled eel?
- Dear Radio Reader: Did Eduardo, a rodeo rider, dare ride a rare red doe, or did Dario, a dour dude, roar “I rode a ruder, redder deer”? Adieu, Dierdre.
- At tea, a tattooed idiot did ode to a dead toad (a tad odd!).
- Otto, Thea! Out to the auto to toot to the heath! Tote the tot that hath the teeth to eat the hat! (Uh-oh, it hit Thea.) Aha, tie the hat to the tot! Ta-ta!
- Sally, a sassy lass, says “Susie is a souse — also loose”. Sly Susie says “I’ll sue!”
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A little tale to titillate — title: Lolita.
- At a roar in a ruin near our nunnery, I ran in a rare noon rain.
- Sue supposes Pa possesses poise as Pa passes Sue pea soup. Sue, pious as a spouse, passes Pa pie.
- “Wow,” we roar, “we are aware we wore wire a wry way. We’re a wee raw! We rue!”
So we’re going one step further. Send us a winner – we’ll publish the one we select next month – and you’ll get a $25 Amazon gift card.
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In The Ouija Book (1979), Gina Covina writes, “Whatever your work or field of interest, it brings an added richness to your Ouija sessions, and Ouija will return this richness by sparking new ideas and reflecting imaginative perspectives back on your field of interest.”
One day, “in a particularly domestic mood,” she sat at her Ouija table and found herself copying down this recipe:]
Mix together equal parts peanut butter, honey, and nutritional yeast. Add raisins or nuts. Make into balls and roll balls in coconut.
| She calls it “Goo Ball,” “an excessively healthful candy that provides all the B vitamins in doses larger than you’ll find anywhere.” Where it came from, exactly, is unknown — proceed at your own risk. |
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Summer Escape, by Vincente Romero Redondo | |
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"I am a Spanish painter, born in Madrid in 1956. At that time, it was not unreasonable for a family of modest means to be able to send their children to university for higher education. This was true in my case, and in 1982 I finished my degree in sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid. More here: https://artist-authorized.com/pages/vicente-romero
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Last month nearly 300 of you got the quizzes correct. I clearly haven’t made this hard enough. So, please tell us here who you think this is and you may win a fashionable gift card. | |
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Some of us always wanted to be a lumberjack. Go figure. Had we been, this is how we’d have spoken. Talked. Mumbled.
Two streaks of rust: a logging railroad
Cougar milk: Prohibition-era woods liquor
Quinine jimmy: a camp doctor
Bunch it: to quit work
Kegging up: getting drunk
Tree squeak: an imaginary bird to which the noise made by trees rubbing together was attributed
She’s a rainbow: What a day!
House of hesitation: a jail
Traveling dandruff: lice
Iron burner: the camp blacksmith
Sawdust city: Eau Claire, Wisconsin
“It’s five a.m. and the Gabriel blows. The bark eaters fall out of their muzzle loaders and head for the chuck house to bolt down a pile of stovelids with lots of blackstrap, some fried murphys or Johnny cake and maybe some logging berries.
They dunk their rolling stock into their jerk water, growl at the hash slinger, pull up their galluses and had for the tall timber.”
Lumberjack argot, from L.G. Sorden and Jacque Vallier’s Lumberjack Lingo, 1986:
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Daniels Energy: CT License S1-385517 HOD#19 /
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