All the news that we cannot use for anything other than entertainment……

On the local front…..my A/C crapped out…..but at least for now the weather is mild so it may not be as unbearable as it could be….

There are a wealth of people that are all consumed with the American West….what were the choices for grub of our famous cow pokes?

When you think of cowboy food, what comes to mind? For many of us, it’s a tired and dusty cowhand sitting by the fire with a pot of beans and a cup of coffee. Though beans and coffee were staples of their diet, a cowboy’s daily meals weren’t always as mundane as you might think, especially for anyone who rode with a chuck wagon.

The term “chuck wagon” is a Southern term, according to America Eats (via Montana State University). It was known as the “mess wagon” on the Dakota prairies. The Dutch oven was often the preferred cooking tool. The cook held great power, meaning that cowboys would do favors for the cook so they could get a little extra food in the evenings. The cook had so much influence in the group that even the mighty trail boss often deferred to him.

According to Legends of America, the cook (or Cookie, as he was sometimes called) brought easy-to-preserve items in the wagon, such as beans, cured meats, coffee, lard, and potatoes. Because they were driving cattle, beef was readily available, but many also hunted and foraged along the way. So, what did the trail drive’s VIP do to keep hungry cowboys fed and morale high? Here’s what Cookie served up on a regular basis.

Read More: https://www.mashed.com/992116/what-did-cowboys-really-eat-in-the-old-west/

If you have a canine friend…. are you walk him/her in the proper way?

Walking your dog seems simple enough—it’s just you, your pup, and the great outdoors. But without the right equipment and approach, a much-anticipated W-A-L-K can be disappointing.

Search for “walking a dog” online and you’ll find pages of photos with people holding leashes attached to a collar around a dog’s throat, which is exactly what the experts we spoke to advise against.

“I’m not a big fan of anything around the neck that’s pulling,” says Anna Mynchenberg, a manager at Bark, the company behind BarkBox. “I can’t imagine having any pressure on my neck, so I wouldn’t want to do that to my dog.”

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-right-way-to-walk-your-dog

Okay enough with the mundane…..now we move onto the eeewwww category…..

First what is it with not shaving the underarms?

There’s an old adage about fashion being cyclical. What came and went out of style will be back in again, in due time — and we’re not just talking about clothes. Makeup trends, hair-dos, and even the way we keep our body hair are all subject to change with the passing of time. This time around we’re seeing a revival of some of Woodstock’s famous looks — long locks, bell bottom pants, and a little pop of armpit hair.

How women keep or don’t keep their body hair has a long history of public scrutiny. In fact, a 2004 study published in Psychology of Women Quarterly reported that body hair on women elicited a disgust response in both male and female participants. However, much like they did in the 60s and 70s, some modern women have tossed out their razors as a symbol of rebellion against that notion (per Wall Street Journal). Others leave their underarm hair simply because it’s their personal preference to do so. Whatever the motivation, there are a few good reasons science supports not shaving your underarms.

Read More: https://www.healthdigest.com/991480/the-health-benefits-of-not-shaving-your-armpits/

And now for a real eewwww moment…..

There have been many reports but how our fresh water may soon run out…..what will we do if that event arrives?

Garden hose bans are in place across much of Britain, where rivers and reservoirs are at unusually low levels following months of low rainfall. In the future, part of the solution will be “to reprocess the water that results from sewage treatment and turn it back into drinking water,” James Bevan, head of Britain’s Environment Agency, writes in the Sunday Times, urging Britons to become “less squeamish” to the concept, which is “perfectly safe and healthy.” Though recycled drinking water isn’t used in Britain, it is in Australia, Singapore, Namibia, and parts of the US, reports the New York Times. And with climate change triggering more severe droughts, more US cities are looking to sign on.

For decades, cities have used water derived from a system called indirect potable reuse, or IPR. Here, sewage water goes through a wastewater treatment plant, an advanced purification facility, then an environmental buffer, like an underground aquifer. Direct potable reuse, or DPR—legal in Texas and “on a case-by-case basis” in Arizona, per CNBC—skips this final, expensive, and time-consuming step. According to experts, the water that exits the advanced purification facility already meets or exceeds state and federal drinking water quality standards and can be sent directly to a drinking water system. Residents of Big Spring and Wichita Falls quickly got over the ick factor as the Texas cities utilized DPR in response to severe droughts in 2014.

Some 96% of citizens who toured a demonstration facility in El Paso in 2016 were also on board, leading to plans to build a large-scale facility, which will produce 10 million gallons of drinking water daily, by 2026. “It’s a way to make sure that El Paso will thrive 50 years out from now,” Christina Montoya, communications and marketing manager at El Paso Water Utilities, tells CNBC. “We can’t just be planning when an emergency happens. We need to be planning all the time for the future.” Other states, including California, Colorado, and Florida, are formulating regulations to legalize DPR, and Los Angeles plans to open a demonstration facility in 2024. In Britain, there will be a public consultation on wastewater recycling proposals in November, per the New York Times.

Speaking of urine…how about a little history on this Saturday…..

But Rome certainly needed many taxes in order to pay for the organization of its vast empire and the military machine which had won it. This public purse also paid for landmarks in Rome such as the Colosseum, more properly known as a Flavian amphitheater.

The Flavian emperors may have built it, but they did not pay for it: that cost was shouldered by the citizens they ruled. And in order to fund all these projects, taxation needed to get more and more creative.

One of the most peculiar of these taxes the Roman empire turned to in apparent desperation was the Urine Tax. But where did it come from, and what did it do for Rome?

The Urine Tax of Ancient Rome: A Novel Income Stream?

I told you it was absolutely worthless news….

Enjoy your weekend…..

Peace Out my friends.