We buried our cat 3 feet deep, with rocks over her, and the coyotes still got to her. Rural area of Southern California. 

Most jurisdictions have especially tough laws about contaminating bodies of water. You've been warned. 

 Not in San Francisco's back yard.

We used to live in Southern California. Although we were considered to be in the Mojave Desert, we were actually more in the foothills of the San Bernardino mountains at about a 4300 feet elevation. With single pane windows in the 1987 house, we found it increased our warmth considerably to either tape up enough…

Sigh. I can't be the only one.....Giz, I  don't have steady enough internet to get most videos or podcasts....could you please provide the transcribed text at the end of your article? Many podcasts do. Thanks if you have mercy on us.

Maybe in Joshua Tree NP they’re fragile, or maybe that species is more fragile. We had a property in San Bernardino County that was thickly covered with joshuas; really the whole valley was. Then the Blue Cut Fire swept through, and its ferocity killed maybe two thirds of the ones on our 5 acres. We spent months…

Tip: should anyone find themselves obliged to stay in a Red Cross or other shelter once you’ve been evacuated, try and locate a cot near an electric plug! I didn’t have a portable power block with me; just had charger and cords since I thought I would be on vacation. Two telecoms brought charging setups for evacuee…

Improve recycling. Seriously.  I'm in my mid sixties, and I predict that landfills will be mined for metals, glass and other resources within my lifetime. On a hopeful note: I read this week that wind turbines with at least one blade painted black were reported to kill 70 percent less birds.

“Murder hornets" is the media name. 

Wow, I truly had never heard of your level of myopia. Dioptre-wise, I think my max prescription was -8.0 in one eye, and-7.5 in the other. By now I’m at -7.5 and -7.0. I wear contacts most waking hours, and they effectively cause farsightedness, so I have a lot of cheap reading glasses all over the house and in our…

My bad, you are completely right to point this out. Those are definitely bad outcomes. But, my impression is that retinal detachment is the most common of those outcomes, and I can’t help but wonder just how common it is. I have always  been warned about it at my level of myopia, but haven't had it or known anyone who…

Is preventing the progress of myopia so very important? I’ve been very nearsighted since first grade. I’m now in my mid sixties. My nearsightedness stopped worsening in my late fifties; it continues to lessen a bit each year now. I grew up with the knowledge that I would be needing a new vision prescription every year…

There are these things at hardware stores called furniture dollies.....not very expensive, not huge....or you could rent a hand truck.

For readers of mysteries and whodunits: Cat in the Stacks mysteries by Miranda James, starring a Maine Coon cat who loves to walk on a leash, named Diesel. And featuring his owner, a librarian named Charlie Harris. I can only hope that the author has encountered real cats like Diesel, who look forward to leashed…

Fitness devices for humans are supposed to be adjustable for strides of different lengths....maybe there were adjustment instructions in the fine print somewhere?

COSTCO gives out free, simple masks to those entering barefaced. (At least in Billings,  Montana.)  If Walmart doesn’t, I don’t think they have any chance at all for compliance.

The only reason that huge utility projects keep getting suggested is so that some company can make money, without regard for the fact that deserts are actually living,  delicate ecosystems. I've always wanted to see the hundreds of thousands of roofs in SoCal get employed for solar energy production.  Energy close to…

No prisoners are forced into fire service.  And my husband knew a fire captain who had once been a prisoner on a crew. He served his time, was more familiar with how firefighting works because of his crew experience,  worked his way up through the fire ranks and made captain while still a relatively young man.

They choose to fight fires. Getting out of the prison environment,  better food, a chance to eventually get into firefighting after prison, and a chance to be respected for hard work are among the motivations. Not all are eligible; it depends on the crimes they committed.  Fire captains who specialize in working with…

We were at a small auction where the cast iron offerings were carefully separated from more common items. I didn’t think about this, until one Griswold 13 inch fry pan sold for $1300, and other items also sold for impressive prices.  I had never heard of collectible cast iron; what an eye opener!