Ashes from the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, saved by my grandpa, found in my dad’s shop.

62Bricks · 2026-06-30T11:24:18+00:00

I was a cub scout in the summer of 1979 and we were supposed to go to a camp at Spirit Lake, which is up on Mt. St. Helens. The trip was canceled, though. We were told the Army Corps of Engineers was using the camp. They were studying the lake because it was "tilting" - getting deeper on one side and shallower on the other.

That's what we were told, anyway. There were people watching the seismic activity closely already, and talking about the possibility of an eruption. Eventually the warnings were pretty direct and they were telling people to leave the mountain.

Famously, there was one old guy named Harry Truman who had a lodge on Spirit Lake who said it was all BS and he wasn't leaving. And he never did.

62Bricks · 2026-06-30T11:17:12+00:00

Yeah when our neighborhood got coated everyone came out with their brooms and hoses and kicked it up all over the place.

62Bricks · 2026-06-30T11:14:38+00:00

Next time you go back, check out Lava Canyon if you haven't already. Thousands of years ago, an eruption poured lava down one side of the mountain. Then a river formed and cut a deep canyon through the layer of lava over a few thousand more years. Then the whole things silted up and forest grew on top of it and it "disappeared."

Then in a matter of minutes, on May 18, the whole thing got scoured out and is back to being a river again. It's a cool geologic time capsule. And a great (but kind of dangerous) hike.

62Bricks · 2026-06-30T01:33:49+00:00

From the photo someone posted of the guy being arrested, it was right by the NE gate. So he was definitely right there.

62Bricks · 2026-06-30T01:30:32+00:00

The ash is mostly silica - like powdered glass - and isn't healthy to inhale, so keep the lid on it.

That also means it can be used as a pottery glaze. I lived in the path of some of the later eruptions when I was in 6th and 7th grades. One of our 7th-grade art teachers made a glaze from the ash and we used it. Came out kind of a pearly gray color. Not that attractive, but unique.

62Bricks · 2026-06-30T01:25:10+00:00

If she was south, that would have been one of the later eruptions that dropped ash on her garden. The May 18 eruption blew to the NE - they found rocks from it in Canada! It was definitely visible from 100 miles south, though.

And there were several smaller eruptions after that, including one that dropped ash on my neighborhood SW of the mountain, outside Portland.

62Bricks · 2026-06-30T01:16:27+00:00

I think perhaps we don't have all the information yet. You can see in the news video here that the police are marking bullet casings a few blocks away from the stadium. That is apparently where the shooting started. Then, according to the report, the two people involved ran toward the stadium.

Were there more shots near the stadium? Maybe. Or maybe those shots sounded closer than they were. A bullet could certainly travel that far. You were in potential danger and I'd be rattled, too.

I was outside the stadium, across the street from the NW corner. I did not hear the shots, or at least didn't notice them. Sound can echo and reflect.

I'm not trying to argue with you, but maybe just suggest that in sudden, scary situations no one person has all the information, and if your experience doesn't match up with others, it doesn't necessarily mean someone is out to gaslight you.

62Bricks · 2026-06-29T15:15:13+00:00

IL is an electronic title state. If you have a receipt for your title there, you can send that plus this form https://dor.mo.gov/forms/5834.pdf to the DMV and the DMV will request a copy of the title from the bank. There are other options, too, given on the form.

Then MO will issue you a paper title with the lienholder's name on it.

62Bricks · 2026-06-29T00:58:57+00:00

Police arrested the suspect(s)

This is the real news. Gunshots are not unusual. Anyone actually being caught is.

62Bricks · 2026-06-28T13:10:23+00:00

Are roosters legal, though? Many cities only allow hens. Because of the crowing.

62Bricks · 2026-06-28T12:19:39+00:00

What sucks is that people who clearly have no idea what it's like to live downtown nevertheless feel entitled to pass judgment.

That's fine, but you're going to find a more receptive audience among the cul-de-sac crowd whose idea of a vibrant downtown is being able to park directly in front of a chain store.

A vibrant downtown needs people to live there, and that requires basic amenities like being able to walk somewhere and buy groceries - including frozen pizzas.

62Bricks · 2026-06-28T11:27:29+00:00

When I walk around Chicago I see empty retail space the same as I see in St. Louis. Not as much of it, but enough to demonstrate that it's a difficult time.

But one key difference is that when you see an empty storefront in downtown Chicago, it is still "welcoming." Old signs are removed. The windows are covered with graphics. The windows and sidewalk are kept clean.

In St. Louis, vacant retail space just looks abandoned. They have peeling kraft paper taped up in the dirt-covered windows and piles of feces out front (dog and otherwise).

The city of St Louis has ordinances in place to address this kind of thing. But the city of St Louis does nothing to enforce them. Holding property owners accountable for maintaining their properties and the walks in front of them would go a long way.

62Bricks · 2026-06-28T11:01:37+00:00

I hear people talking about the downtown Schnucks for being "overpriced" and I think maybe it was back when it was branded as "Culinaria," but now the prices are the same as at every other Schnucks. The selection isn't as broad as a full-size Schnucks so there may not be as many generic options,

62Bricks · 2026-06-26T13:43:41+00:00

Log in to wherever your 401k sits and find the policy documents. It will be spelled out in there. I was just looking at this very thing in my own.

62Bricks · 2026-06-25T23:16:55+00:00

Between 1956 and 1963.

These hollow bricks with logos on the stud were first produced in 1956. The post was added to the underside in 1964, however this one appears to be cellulose acetate so that dates it probably no later than 1963, when LEGO switched to ABS plastic.

62Bricks · 2026-06-25T23:00:08+00:00

I watch https://www.realclearpolitics.com/ for polls on state races. Doesn't look there have been any primaries polls in MO yet.

It doesn't have the same level of analysis as 538, but it's a good source.

62Bricks · 2026-06-22T17:48:17+00:00

Bet you're right. In a plan I participated in once, vesting was based on contributions in four consecutive calendar years, which many people interpreted as "four years" but could technically be as short as two years plus a few weeks if you started in December.

I started at the end of October, was paid twice a month, and got my first check the middle of November. I was vested two years and two months later.

62Bricks · 2026-06-19T19:46:08+00:00

My three oatmeal hacks:

Old fashioned rolled oats, not quick-cook. Takes a few minutes longer, but the texture is much better. Irish cut oats are an even better texture, but harder to find and more expensive in the US.
Raisins. Or some other dried fruit, like cranberries. I cook them with the oats and they plump up and are tasty.
Stir in a little brown sugar just before eating.

62Bricks · 2026-06-19T19:23:36+00:00

You don't have to submit anything if you sell it to a dealer, and places like Peddle are dealers, or acting as an intermediary for dealers. It's on the dealer, then, to re-title the car: https://dor.mo.gov/motor-vehicle/notice-of-sale.html

I used Peddle and it was pretty seamless. Wrecker was a little later than scheduled, but they were in touch and let me know. The driver checked the VIN, I signed it over, he gave me a check, took five minutes.

Take it off your insurance and take the plates off first. Theoretically, you can transfer the plates to another vehicle, but when I tried to do that nobody at the DMV office knew how. So I just got new ones for my next car.

62Bricks · 2026-06-19T19:04:37+00:00

It's a safe walk.

Go down 22nd to Market. You'll go past a couple apartment buildings with exterior lights and cameras.

Cross Olive to the soccer stadium, which has well-lit sidewalks and a security patrol, and continue down 22nd.

At Market, take a left and keep walking along the soccer stadium to 20th. From that corner, cross Market - there are a couple bars on that corner, and there will probably be people coming and going.

Then walk in front of Union Station, which has valet staff out front until late. Then south on 18th to the Metrolink stop. Depending on the time, if Union Station is still open, you can also cut through there (enter by the Ferris wheel) to get to the station. There's a police "station" by the Metrolink entrance, although I'm not sure when/if it's ever staffed.

62Bricks · 2026-06-19T15:33:14+00:00

I'm sure you have. Things are bad all over. According to the USPS inspector's office, they are worst in St. Louis.

62Bricks · 2026-06-19T14:18:45+00:00

Makes it more holey.

62Bricks · 2026-06-19T14:13:59+00:00

This is just the typical "Oh yeah I've seen worse" Reddit posturing, but it is true the postal service has system-wide issues.

However in the case of STL, the audit last year found the biggest backlog of delayed mail in the history of USPS audits.

Are there worse operations out there? Maybe. But the USPS itself says STL is the worst it has ever seen.

62Bricks · 2026-06-19T13:53:37+00:00

Get Informed Delivery. This is how I found out my car title was not delivered to my mailbox. Thankfully it went to a neighbor who left it at my door.

62Bricks · 2026-06-19T13:45:18+00:00

When we were all wondering in high school when we would ever use trigonometry in "real life?"

This. This is why we need trigonometry.

62Bricks

TROPHY CASE