Not much to recap from last week. Consumer borrowing costs moved higher at the beginning of the week but recovered the losses by the weekend. This was despite the stock market posting a healthy rally indicating the rates market remained disconnected from stocks. It appears this disconnect is continuing this morning. The par 30 year conventional rate mortgage has been holding in the 4.375% to 4.625% range for quite some time as market participants are hesitant to drive mortgage backed securities...

In 2010 :
Lo : 78 °
Hi : 97 ° Heat Index : Felt Like 116 ° In the Shade at 2 p.m.
Rainfall : 0.00 ”

In 2009 :
Lo : 70 ° Normal
Hi : 91 ° Normal
Rainfall : 0.00 “

In 2008 :
Lo : 70 ° Normal
Hi : 96 °
Rainfall : 0.11 ”

In 2007 :
Lo : 67 °
Hi : 90 °
Rainfall : 0.03 ”

In 2006 :
Lo : 66 °
Hi : 94 ° ...

We've seen them in every part of the country, every state. Boards in storefronts, dust covered windows, empty streets. We walk main street, peek in the windows, looking for life. We visit the few open shops.

This time, it was Metaline Falls, WA. It was a mining and timber town. In '96 it was one of the 100 Best Small Arts Towns. Now, it's empty except for Cathy's Cafe (great food), the gift/quilt/wine shop next door, a grocer, a hardware store, and a beautiful old-time hotel. Miles...

This morning we left the last of the coffee in the pot, to take Bigun out for a walk before the heat hit. We made it seven miles -- a mile short of his preferred distance on non-dog park days, but he seems to be accepting it.

The hot weather that has burned the country for weeks has finally caught up with us, here in Chewelah, WA. The weather service reports our current weather at 92 degrees. (Panting.) I braved the heat to go for groceries after lunch, and the effort sapped me....

I did finish grading my exams much to the dismay of myself and I know, come tomorrow, my students. The exam was out of 132 total points, the high was a 114, the low was a 49 and the average was 71.5. Remember a time when an A was actually a 90%-100%, a B was 80%-89%... etc and an F was anything lower than 59%? According to that rubric, 12 out of my 16 students should have failed. The killer is that I was actually very VERY generous with partial credit. Even when a student made a really stupid...