hawing

After last week, I'm excited to see the Brewers not in Pittsburgh going into the 2027 all-star break. (Add whatever mental asterisks you need to reflect your belief in the odds of a 2027 season happening)

I'll be surprised if they don't play tonight. Rescheduling a game with a team that only has one series here would be a pain (and a doubleheader later this weekend doesn't seem like the air quality answer either).

Madison has kept up refuse and recycling collection (the trucks have automated arms to lift and empty bins, so the operators of those trucks aren't outside as much), but they closed the drop-off sites here too. I'm good with their prioritizing the staff who would otherwise be outside all day at the dropoff sites.

So, this UW-Madison chilled water break happened on June 17, though AC wasn't reduced on campus until later in June. Only yesterday (July 13) was this stated in a campuswide email: To give you an idea of the scope of the challenge, the pipe that broke is approximately 4 feet in diameter, buried 20 feet underground, and is surrounded by other buried utilities. Before repairs can begin, the adjacent infrastructure is being stabilized, and soil retention is being installed so the site can be fully excavated, and the entirety of the situation can be assessed. I don't question the need to stabilize the surroundings first. This explanation just seems like something I would have shared earlier. (They've been sending weekly email updates since the end of June, making this the third update.) This week is hotter outside, and therefore hotter inside the buildings that aren't healthcare/labs with living subjects but aren't closed. It's been 78 degrees in my library office all morning. Oh, and I was wrong about the fuel for the rented chillers. They're diesel fueled, or so is my guess based on the daily visits from the Dieselex fuel tank.

Randolph Mantooth, best known as paramedic John Gage on Emergency!, died on July 9 at age 80. He might not be considered a "TV treasure" by all, but Emergency! went a long way toward advancing the concept of paramedic care and inspired many people to pursue public safety work. A high profile example of the latter was Bobby Sherman, 1960s-1970s teen idol who was so impressed with the work of paramedics when he guest starred on an Emergency! episode that he left show business to be a paramedic and later to train paramedics.

UW-Madison experienced a large chilled water line break in mid-June, which significantly reduced its ability to keep campus buildings cool and less humid. Campus is understandably prioritizing health care facilities and labs with living subjects. UW-Madison has also closed (and stopped cooling) a bunch of buildings which were not being used between semesters or whose functions can be performed elsewhere. (List at https://news.wisc.edu/campus-cooling-issues/#building-closures) Among the buildings caught in limbo are the libraries, including mine. We have some chilling, plus extra fans and dehumidifiers (ServPro is gonna make bank off this situation). Other campus buildings have temporary chillers set up outside. These rented HVAC units are the size of a railroad car. Memorial Library, the main campus library and my building's neighbor, has half a dozen of these rented units between their building and mine and I can hear the low roar from the equipment all the time. They're reportedly fueled with propane, which of course adds more heat to the immediate area. Last week, when an excessive heat warning was in place, the extra equipment was struggling to keep up. From last Friday through Tuesday, it was more reasonable outside and the extra equipment managed much better. Today (Wednesday), I can feel the extra humidity coming back in parts of my building. Campus says to expect these conditions for a month, and the scuttlebutt is one month is the most optimistic scenario. It's just very low-key miserable in the meantime. It bugs me.

I'm not a UW-Madison employee, but my library is located on the UW campus and there's no indication that we'll be closing. We have some cooling and some humidity control but not enough of either. The extra moisture is not good for collections, and we're checking the stacks regularly for wet spots due to saturated pipes. Some of the campus buildings that are staying open have rented HVAC units outside that are semi-trailer sized. That temporary infrastructure is impressive. (Also, sorry NMF, I heard from someone in L&S that one month is the optimistic estimate 😬🤞)

You guys! This fruit-in-salad conversational turn has taken me back to the relish tray days. You have to be an OG brewerfan-dot-netter to remember. 💙

If I recall correctly, they've waited (for...reasons?) to announce the fan appreciation game until mid-season.

The bf.net veterans will get this. 🫶

Biggest hit *to date.* 🙂

Teamwork, makin' the dream work! 🏆

Yeah, looking at the other CCs revealed today, I'll count my blessings.

The official photos look more palatable than the originally leaked photo at the start of this thread. The script looks closer to white than to yellow. I do like the "base blue," the ball bobber and the Barrelman patch.

I'd be pleased to be wrong, but this feels like the part of that Simpsons episode where Homer says of the roasted pig, "It's just a little dirty! It's still good! It's still good!" 😬