Random Observations

1. According to NPR, today is the 100th birthday of the Pike Street Market in Seattle. Happy Birthday to a place that gives Seattle its personality.


2. The hot weather has taken its toll here in the Midwest and my neighborhood has also been battered by the brutal heat. A water main broke right on the driveway of a house to the west of mine. For a week, you could see water pouring out of the blacktop and rushing to the sewer about a hundred feet away. Last night, the city water department repaired the main but in the process destroyed the concrete. I sincerely hope the city will foot the bill as the homeowner will have to rebuild the driveway. When I walked by the driveway this morning, I decided that the city did a mediocre job of repairing the main because there was still water coming from below the blacktop and draining to the sewer.


3. In another heat-related note, for the first time in four weeks I mowed my lawn this morning although there was not much grass to mow. The heat plus the lack of rain has caused my lawn to go dormant. After finishing the front lawn, I spot mowed the back yard realizing that there was not much grass to cut. We need two or three days of a good soaking rain in these dog days of August.


4. The Unshelved comic strip strikes the proverbial nerve as it pokes fun at libraries forced to reconsider their web page:
   


5. Finally, a belated Happy Birthday wish to my niece, who turned 13 a couple of days ago. Watch out Mom and Dad---She's a Teenager!!!