It's so goddamn hot here, all I can stomach for breakfast is some pineapple and yogurt with some cranberry juice. Brutal.

Heading back to Burlington/Plattsburgh in the morning for a few days. With high temps around 80, going to feel like winter to me compared to what it has been here for....ever.

today i made a smoothie with strawberries, raspberries, some honey, crushed flax seed, crushed vitamins, and a spoonful of sugar.

ABC must be dead set on making Meet The Press look good.

It's not like the competition is very stiff.

crushed vitamins?

on a hot day, fruit tastes really good.

I had no idea Chuck Barris wrote "Palisades Park".

supposed to hit 107 here in big d today and 106 tomorrow

12 of next 15 days are forecasted with a high over 100

that sounds unbearable, although we are having a pretty cool summer...not that I'm complaining.

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/97217

It's 82 here, and we just got back from swimming in Lake Superior. I don't know how you folks live down there.

well of course they don't have 9-month winters.

Yeah, get back to me in January when it's in the 50's down here.

But yeah, it's brutal right now.

It's 59 and raining.

That's summer at 55 ° N for you.

Sad thing is this is as good as it gets until April.

It was 101 at the Beach when we left and its 105 now. Teh SWEAKING.

It's in the hundreds all week here. Then time to get the hell out and get back to Colorado, thank god.

or vitamin powder or something. i don't ask i just follow the head chef (aka mrs. bort)'s directions.

anyway it was delish.

Has anyone ever hired a moving company and NOT felt like they were volunteering to be treated like the smallest dude on the cellblock? Even with recommendations from friends, this whole process gives me shivers.

i'd rather deal with a few months of sweltering heat staring at beautiful women on the beach than a bunch of months filled with shitty rain and cold.

Quoted for truth. I did it for 30 years and that was enough.

there's a crew in chicago called starving artists that is accurately named. most of their movers are musicians not on tour. (one of my friends has used them twice and both times one of the guys from mahjongg was in the crew.) i used them last year and was really pleased - reasonable rates, punctual, took exquisite care of everything (especially stereo gear and records that they obviously flipped through), etc. i'm sure most major cities must have something comparable.

Few observations:

1. Shark Week while yr on vacation is pretty boss.

2. Temps here in W. Mass are awesome compared to back home. I'm actually chilly here right now.

Haha - you have no idea. We don't get rain... we get fucking SNOW. We average about 140 inches each winter up here... even michigander trolls like Chad can't appreciate the snow totals in my area.

That said, I wasn't trying to start some climate pissing match. I was roasting at 82, to the point where a dip in the still-frigid waters of Gitchegumeee was the only relief. I can't imagine living in 100 degree weather for months at a stretch.

If you're talking cross-town moving, I've never paid anyone to do that. If it's cross-country, I've done THAT too many times and yeh, it can be a shitty experience, and usually is, particularly when it's corporate paid for- the moving company knows they've got their money regardless, and they normally have a fuck you attitude. The one exception I had was moving back from Las Vegas in 2006- the move was handled by Atlas. They were courteous, professional, and went out of their way to accommodate the narrow time window I had to get it all done. Along with that aspect of service, it was the ONLY time I've been moved long-distance that not a SINGLE thing was damaged, including some rare and expensive (at least to me) stereo equipment. Even though it was another corporate paid deal, I saw the bill, and while it seemed pretty pricey to me, I think they earned it.