Tuesday.

Hoping for a clear day today.  I want to get some cuttings started and a couple of plants moved.  Also have a couple of containers I should clear out and get ready for winter.  I know it is only the second day of September but the plants are done producing and, even if they decided to bloom again, they don't have time for a second crop to mature.  I cored and seeded the Lipstick peppers which are now in the freezer.  One plant still still has a few peppers ripening.  The first of the Cornu di Toro Rosso peppers is in the fridge waiting for the next three which should be ripe this coming weekend.  Mom plans to stuff them with chorizo and cheese.

The broadcast news made a big deal of this in their usual sensationalist manner that provided no useful information.  I think the first lines are pretty accurate: are you less secure than you were?  No, you were never as secure as you thought to begin with.  I have distrusted the "cloud" from the day I first heard about it.  I don't use any of the "cloud" services.  I am not so concerned about "sensitive" information making its way into unfriendly hands but I don't like the notion of being at the mercy of the service to get my own info.  It is bad enough when our internet service is interrupted for some unknown reason.  Anyone remember a couple of stories over the last couple of years where people and businesses lost access because the government seized the servers to investigate possible criminal activity?  Far more non-criminals were locked out than criminals were inconvenienced.

Interesting piece on the Guardian's Environment Blog.  The paragraphs on temperature sensitivities are especially interesting.  Translating: 20C = 68F; 25C =77F; 30C = 86F; 35C = 95F.  But we don't have to worry about heat alone.  Last year we had record breaking heat here with 40+ days over 90F.  This year only 4.  We have had a very cool summer so far--almost as cool as one about six years ago when I seriously considered getting seeds for a cold adapted tomato.  But then a couple of years, like last year, were so warm I was thinking of a heat tolerant plant instead.  I haven't gone with either and have actually had some pretty good harvests given how little space I have.  We were talking to one of the venders at the farm market who said that all his customers and fellow growers have commented on how strange our weather has been.  All we can do is be as flexible as we can.

This cartoon says a good bit of truth about our higher "education" "system."  My own advice to prospective college students: think twice--and then think again.  The diplomas aren't worth what they once were worth, and many aren't worth the time and money you will spend on them.