Is your Df the chrome or the black version?

The problem is not with cloud storage, but with FREE cloud storage. It is not enough to have a local backup (although I have that too). A fire will destroy your original and backup together. A paid cloud storage service is worth the protection and there are several reputable, well-established companies. I happen to use Backblaze both at home and at work and I love it.

We were in Neskowin the week the world fell apart this year. We ate at two of our favorite restaurants and then they were all closed the next day. Still, we had great weather and beautiful scenery. The first photo was later in the week. I walked all the way to the property line for our beach house (maybe 15 feet) to get this.

The second photo was actually the evening of our first day. We drove to Pacific City for dinner and arrived just in time for this sunset.
.

(Download)


(Download)

We spent last week near Newport, Oregon. I grew up not far away so this is extremely familiar territory. On Monday it was 90 degrees and almost as high on Tuesday. I had never experienced that before. On Tuesday we went crabbing out on Yaquina Bay and caught 21. Great feast that night.

One of my favorites spots is the Heceta Head Lighthouse, just a few miles north of Florence. We passed by again on Thursday in fog. Glad we got it in nice weather a few days before! Could have used some nice clouds, but I may add that later in PS.
.

(Download)

I have this exact bag and I love it. One of the best features is being able to just unzip the top and reach the camera body and lens on it.

This is an actual class action case settlement. I am not going to bother with a claim because the minimum per claimant is only $5, with a max $12.50. Not worth my time to figure out the claim process.

.
You will appreciate this "guide to yellow stripey things." The description of yellow jackets is dead on.
.

Not my photo. This was shot by my daughter-in-law in Hoi An, Viet Nam, a tourist area south of Da Nang. (How's that for jarring memories?) I have posted it because she captured a wonderful expression. Sometimes the best camera is your cell phone.

My best guess is this little guy is thinking he wants to get one of those phones!
.

(Download)

I agree that this is an exceptionally humbling place to visit. I visited there years ago with my father. (He is still going strong today at 94.) He did not arrive on D-Day, but in a more civilized way at a pier in Le Havre in January of 1945. He is a quiet, unassuming man, an excellent attorney in his day, and a person of politeness and kindness. A few days before our visit to Omaha Beach, we stood at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris. He took off the hat he was wearing and with tears in his eyes, saluted. On Omaha Beach, we stood by the German bunker just above the sand. He walked over, unzipped, and sprayed it! I wonder how he felt.

That is correct. The proper order is as if it had parentheses as follows: 5+ (2*5).

15 [5 + (5X2)]

1) To determine who decided on the phrase "social distancing" when "physical distancing" would have been FAR more accurate.

2) To identify all persons who hoarded toilet paper in March. (They may be a danger to themselves and others.)

3) To determine why masks are now required or strongly encouraged in many places, when virtually every study and authoritative source agrees the efficacy of most masks being worn is an excellent approximation of zero. (These masks may be the first ever examples of "wearable placebos.") The most rigorous study I have seen concluded any benefit from cloth (i.e., home made) masks was not statistically significant.

As an aside, restaurants in Utah may re-open. One of the requirements is patrons must wear masks to enter and order. They may remove them to eat, which would seem to nullify at least to some extent wh**ever good was accomplished by wearing them. However, zero benefit from the mask minus that same zero benefit results in zero change to the underlying risk!

My wife wanted to go to a large fabric store today. A large chain store. They were limiting entry to only 15 customers. That works out to about 1 person per aisle in the store. (If 6 feet is good, surely 60 is better.) The waiting line outside was a closely bunched group wrapping around the front and side of the building. What part of that makes any sense? In any crisis, common sense is banished first. That may be the ultimate explanation of each of the above numbered items, but I still call for congressional inquiry. (Maybe that way Nancy can engage in something else useless instead of pork barrel spending demands when the country has enough at stake to make her think she can bargain for something completely unrelated to the crisis, such as funding for an arts center.)

The second phase of a crisis is when decision makers are stampeded into adopting largely ineffective measures (see #3, above). I have to laugh every time CNN or MSNBC puts up a graphic of the SIX REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS WHO HAVE YET TO ISSUE A STATE-WIDE STAY-AT-HOME ORDER! For shame! (I appreciate our governor who has understood a state with five counties with no active community t***smission cases probably doesn't need such an order.)

On a serious note, the number of interesting and some would say, serious, constitutional issues that have arisen is fascinating. For example, can a state ban religious meetings? Our First Amendment states (in part) "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." (With relatively minor exceptions, courts have held the first 10 amendments were made applicable to the states through the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment, something called "incorporation" in Con-Law circles.)

In at least one instance a drive-in church meeting was broken up by police and the worshipers threatened with fines, even though the people remained in their respective cars, separated from others. (See the fate of common sense, above.) Can that possibly withstand judicial scrutiny?

We have seen serious separation of powers issues, false imprisonment questions, and so on. The treasury secretary said last week that publicly-traded companies who obtained funding (even though done in full compliance to the terms of CARES Act as drafted by Congress) who do not return the money will face criminal prosecution. That is never going to happen. There are no common law crimes at the federal level, and precious few in the states. A person cannot be charged with a crime when Congress drafted the law carelessly and the person acted in full compliance with the Act as drafted and was approved by the lender and accepted by the SBA. I am not even confident the treasury can force a return of the money or unilaterally change the terms of the grant/loan.

I am certain one day we will see an ad on TV:

"If you were exposed to excessive amounts of Lysol spray, hand sanitizer or other disinfectants during the C****-** crisis of 2020, you may be owed compensation! Contact this law firm immediately!"

One cannot make this wonderful stuff up!

This bit of RMD "relief" is a favorite of certain in Congress. It is a great example of "feel good" legislation. The people who actually benefit from it are not those who most need some form of relief. It appears to be something that will help those in need, but it provides actual relief to no such person. Those who depend on money from distributions will still be forced to take them. thus recognizing a larger percentage liquidation of their retirement account in a down market and shortening the remaining benefit from the retirement account. Those who don't need the money can skip the RMD. If you are fortunate enough not to need the distribution, your money will last longer by skipping the RMD.

The danger of liquidating in a down market is exactly why retirement account money aggressively invested is a ticking time bomb. Those who have been more wise also do not need the relief of this particular provision.

This is a beautiful place. Nitpicky, but it is Salzburg not Salzberg. (salt fortress not salt mountain)

I wish we could change the language we are using. We do not need even the slightest amount of social distancing. We need physical distancing and social unity, social support, social reaching-out, social pulling-together, as much social contact as possible. Just no physical closeness.