Plenty of flooding up here in NH and MA plus we had a record high tide in the middle of the storm that flooded a lot of coastal communities. TV interviews consisted of flooded residents who invariably said something like, "I've lived here xx years and never saw this much water."

We'd better get used to year-round extreme weather events as our "new normal." I live on a small river with my house situated about 50 feet from the 100-year flood line and I've seen the river rise above that line 4 times in the last 25 years..

Just about any extended warranty plan, for cars, electronics, appliances, etc. is basically a scam. Consumer Reports generally tells you to ignore largely them for the reasons you cited. I once purchased an extended warranty for a car and never needed to use it (as the warranty company fully expects). 10 years after selling the car, the warranty company is still sending me multiple letters, each warning me this is my last chance to renew the policy on that car.

It was a sad day when Linda left the rock world. Then again, she put her incredible voice into more great vocals recording Mexican songs, doing Broadway plays, singing '40's orchestra tunes like Nelson Riddle and more. Even sadder that a brain disorder now prevents her from singing. Such an incredible talent.

Another black mark for Boeing. They took an old airframe and tried to update it into the Boeing 737 Max (this is the model where two took dives into the ocean because of the faulty autopilot feature) by adding bigger engines and other modifications that included sealing over the door that blew out. They found the door in a teacher's back yard and I'm betting the NTSB will find the seal design or installation at fault. The sealed door supposedly doesn't require any sort of attention so poor maintenance is not the cause. I wouldn't be surprised if investigations reveal covered up Boeing internal memos indicating a problem but Boeing thought it too expensive to fix.

Jug's absolutely correct. I enjoy UHH just as much for the social aspect as for the photography posts. I have little doubt the majority of Hoggers are baby boomers and Gen Zers like me and it's good to share humor, philosophy, complaints, etc. with people who are clearly of a like mind as me. I belong to a radio control airplane club with the same membership demographics as UHH. Sadly, membership is dwindling as younger "kids" are focusing on RC cars that much, much easier to operate than aircraft the same as kid now-a-days seem mostly satisfied with smart phone cameras rather than spending the money and time to master a DSLR. Hopefully, UHH will be around for the rest of my life although in my case, that might not be terribly long!

I agree. I have the 5600 and it offers all the capabilities I need but it's not that much of a leap from a 3400. When I purchased the 5600, I also considered a 7200 but the 5600 had all the bells and whistle I needed and it's lighter. I always thought of the 5600 as the "high end enthusiast camera" while the 7xxx series as an "entry-level professional camera." Buckley's right; figure out exactly what you need and let that guide your decision.

Whoa; if it weren't for the chit chat section, what would Jerry and the rest of us do?

I kinda agree although the masks, shutdowns and lockdowns were the best the medical community could offer while waiting for v*****es to be developed. I mean, what were they going to say in 2020? "Well, we have absolutely no strategy to protect your lives; a lot of you will simply die while we try to come up with a remedy." They had to offer us something and those strategies probably did save a limited number of people (like my friend who lived like a hermit for two years). Masks were never about protecting the wearer; they were to protect others from the wearer's cough, sneeze and spray.

The 5-second rule is just a rationalization; we all know it's not the particularly true but we don't want to waste food. Oh wait; that's a rationalization, too.

BTW from the TV show "House": "A white lie is a lie we tell others to make them feel better. A rationalization is a lie we tell ourselves to make us ourselves feel better."

One would expect Amazon or Google to exercise at least a tiny bit of discretion by rejecting such a blatantly faked photo/advertisement but I suppose it's a slippery slope. How many products should they play consumer protection for? It's simply not their job.

As usual it's buyer beware when on-line shopping. Oh for the days when you'd walk into your local hardware store for this heater and ask, "Does this thing really work?"

BTW if you think a cheap $15 dollar resistance heater is going to heat your room almost for free, I have a perpetual motion machine I'll sell you.

"There's no crying in baseball!" and "Of course it's hard; if it was easy, everyone would do it" ...Tom Hanks; A League of Their Own.

"A hospital?! Doctor, what is it?"
"A place where sick people to to get well but I can't talk about that right now"

"Surely you jest!"
"I'm not jesting and don't call me Shirley" (And a dozen more) Leslie Nielsen; Airplane

The cartoon's "New Year's Eve Blowout" description couldn't be any more accurate.

I heard a number of fireworks being set off around us on the stroke of midnight but they didn't last any more than 5 minutes. Our pets got a little nervous but I don't begrudge anyone a little celebratory noise.

Happy New Year, everyone.

I was a health inspector and our cops would occasionally give me a ride in the back of their squad car. The first thing you notice, is that there are no door handles and no window or lock buttons (or if they're there, they don't work). Once in; you're pretty much a prisoner until they let you out and it feels pretty weird. Luckily, they always let me out.

And part of their charm is the over-acting by mediocre actors although a good actor will occasionally join the mix (I always say they must have needed to make a couple of mortgage payments).

Inevitably, there will be a "manly man" law enforcement or military type who teams up with the brilliant and beautiful physicist or biologist and both end up close-quartered in some ridiculously impossible craft heading to space, the bottom of the ocean or the center of the earth, to save the world. The last scene is usually the two of them wrapped in each others' arms and in a lip lock as the sun fades on a beautiful, new world.

As ever, Calvin and Hobbs reduces a complex issue to a humorous, easy to understand one while making a profound statement about the human condition. Thanks for posting.