Yeah, no – I guess if you live in the State of California where they have rolling blackouts during peak usage times this might be necessary. The last time they opened a nuclear power plant was 1985. The population increased from 26 to 39 million in the years since. If you live in Texas, 78 degrees inside would feel a lot better than the 105 degrees outside. I live in Georgia and 78 at 100% relative humidity is sweltering. Our temp setpoint is 72 degrees during the day and we turn it down to 71 at night. Don’t get me wrong, I love summer. I would rather sit inside with the AC on than sit inside during the winter with the heat on. I love baseball games, swim parties, grilling out and late sunsets. I would rather cut grass than shovel snow. Everything people claim to love about fall – hoodies, bonfires, pumpkin spice lattes, snuggling up in blankets – those are all just attempts to keep warm.

Shark Week – Discovery Channel started Shark Week back in 2010 and now claim it is the longest running annual event on television. I picked up the nickname “Clark the Shark” back in highschool, probably just because it rhymes. I don’t have an affinity for the ocean or eating seafood and I don’t shoot pool or play poker hardly at all so I can’t be that kind of shark. After highschool I went to college and figured that would be forgotten. But I have two friends that hung on to it over the years. I moved a short distance away, then to another state, but ultimately came back home. My wife teaches in, and my daughter attends, the same school system I went through K-12. Those two friends almost polar opposites in every measurable way. One of them teaches pre-K, plays in a Praise & Worship band and was ordained a year or two ago as a deacon in the local small town First Baptist Church. The other rides a Harley and drives a truck. So after many years I embraced it again, posing with the sign above, posing for pics with real sharks, sometimes wearing a giant shark head like some kind of sports mascot. There are lots of folks I keep up with, largely due to Facebook, but my best friend from high school has been sitting on the front row to hear me preach lately. And if he wants to call me “Clarky Sharky” then so be it.

History post of the week – I like to to feature a history related post each week but I’ve got several waiting in the queue. The picture above almost doesn’t exist. That actually looks just a little bit better than the actual photograph a lady at church was passing around. That was pic was taken in 1949 when Unity Baptist Church in Plainville broke ground on a new Sunday School wing. They added three classrooms, two nursery rooms and build a fellowship hall in the basement. When I saw the pictured I offered to attempt restoring it. I’ve been amazed in the past what can be done particularly with black & white. I told her I couldn’t make any promises…

…but we were all pleased with the results. Ella Ruth Manning is standing second from the right, holding a Bible and handbag in her left hand. She is in a nursing home now but up until just last year live was living alone and driving! She is the oldest living member of our church and she is proud of that fact, I’m not sharing anyone’s embarrassing secrets. I’m not sure of her exact age but she was an adult in 1949 and has to approaching 100.

Clint Howard was 7 when he first appeared as Balok on the original Star Trek in 1966. He has been in every movie Ron Howard ever directed but also pops up in other things, such as his recent guest role on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. He has guest starred in several iterations of Star Trek over the years. Sometimes you can spot him easily and sometimes he is a Ferengi.

Paul Reubens has passed at the age of 70. I’m not going to upsell Reubens as anything other than what he was. But if you grew up in the 80’s Pee-Wee Herman was part of Saturday morning TV. He had other roles but for many years only appeared in public and in interviews as Pee-Wee Herman. He appeared several times on David Letterman’s shows and gave Dave credit for launching his career. When Reubens was diagnosed with cancer six years ago he kept that information strictly private.

Truth stranger than fiction – Several folks have suggested that all you need to do to enter this man’s home is put his face on a t-shirt. That’s extra steps, just show the doorbell his image on a tablet. I’m thinking he needs to keep his door locked and raise the bar on what it takes to unlock it. Especially after this post went viral.

That 70’s Show – MLB referenced That 70’s Show when posting about the Atlanta Braves being the first team with 70 wins this season. It looked like the All Star break was going to break their stride but they seem to have pulled it back together. Max Fried returned to the mound with a crushing blow to the Chicago Cubs yesterday. More day games this afternoon and tomorrow at Wrigley Field.

That’s about it for this week. Years later I have never come up with a good way to sign off these Saturday posts. Disclaimer, I actually started this post last week and never got it done. Shark week has been over for a week but I decided to go ahead and share the stuff I wrote; it wasn’t really about Shark Week on Discovery in the first place. Family reunion this afternoon so I”m about to put the secret family recipe Brunswick stew in the slow cooker. It’s neither secret nor exclusive to our family but it’s a well understood fact that if I don’t bring that dish I better not show up at all.