Friday's Dispatch

View out your window of the cabins at Lake Murray. Ha, I got you- it is a painting silly.

• Lena Dunham is pervasive and even refers to herself as a celebrity. I do not know who, what or why she is- and I'm OK with that.
• The Treaty Of Tripoli is a fascinating document and I'm surprised it doesn't cause more of a stir.

  

  Mastodon tusk

  
  

  

  Cylindrical shaped fossils are the stems of an ancient relative of lilies.

• It was 16 degrees this (01/08/2015) morning. My son left his coat at school. That was one long, cold drive until the truck warmed and walk to class for him I bet.
• There were signs on the road last night, " Road crews preparing for winter conditions- expect delays." In the past the state and local governments got caught with their pants down when they should have known conditions would be bad and prepared accordingly. Now, they go on a freakout and prepare for an Iceocalypse whenever a cool breeze blows. There wasn't any precipitation in the overnight forecast. It wasn't going to happen- not a chance was there going to be icy conditions on the roads.
• Next year conditions will be right and there will absolutely be weather coming that needs preparation for a massive response and officials will shrug and say, Last year we had roads prepped and materials stockpiled and paid workers overtime to be on standby- for nothing. Meh.
• What is wrong with us?

  

  This

  
  

  

  is covered with this. Stupid.

• Women: one of the few things I know about them is if you don't want to argue with them when they want to fight- they assume they've won and you knew you were wrong all along.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  My ginger daughter is a natural at skateboarding.

• The number of Bill Cosby's accusers stand at something like 30-31 now. The sheer number, the perceived credibility of most, the number who have something to lose- by making the allegations, the variation in backgrounds and strata of the accusers and the fact I haven't heard a dollar figure that any of them want make me think- he is guilty as sin.
• A bonus: his holier than thou attitude always seemed at best disingenuous to me especially as it has long been known he was not faithful to his wife. Another thing about this issue- I looked the rape subject up a minute ago for the first time. Otherwise, I have only relied on random newscasts and reading one or two blurbs by the accusers so I am not overly saturated on the subject making me think he seems guiltier than he is.
• Once I saw in print the question asked, "What did he use to drug them?" to which no good answer was provided. I'll make a wild guess- either chloral hydrate or dilaudid or even a combination of the two. The combo would seem plausible as accusers report the effects were both quick acting and long lasting. They both come in liquid form and chloral hydrate at least in the past was surprisingly readily available.

  

  In this droughty apocalypse in which we live these cleats are almost comically sad as a boat couldn't get within a hundred feet of the dock.

  
  

  

  Drag marks where guys have drug their boats down to the water.

  
  

  

  Animals have (probably) died of thirst making the trek down to the new shore of Lake Murray.

Snake Roundup Time- Meet Titanoboa

"From the fossilized vertebrae, the researchers conservatively estimate the snake weighed about 2,500 pounds and measured nearly 43 feet nose to tail tip." msnbc This extinct species lived in South America and the fossils of this particular one were discovered in Colombia. Presumptively, it lived a life like modern Anacondas.