u/dogchowtoastedcheese

It seems like Yellowstone county officials and it's political machinery are fighting the will of the people at every step over the Broadview data center, and I'm not quite sure why.
Do they think the tax benefits to the county outweigh people's concerns? Or because of the jobs it might bring? I've yet to see anything official saying "We support the center because of X, Y and Z"
Or is it more nefarious? I know Big Time Money is involved here between Northwest Energy and Quantica. Their CEOs certainly stand to benefit. But how does that trickle down to our local officials for them to work so hard to see it happen in spite of citizen opposition? Are there kickbacks involved, bribes, intimidation, influence peddling?
It just seems so off center to me it makes no sense.

I've been watching the news and my heart goes out to all affected by the fires. Both the Canadians fighting it, and the Americans in the weather pattern bringing the smoke here. I feel particularly bad for my fellow COPD sufferers and wonder what you're doing to endure it? Any advice, fixes, ideas? I live in a northern border state and we have been spared, thankfully. But it occurred to me that I am ill prepared to meet this crisis if the winds were different. My little window AC keeps me comfortable, cool and breathing alright. I'd be sunk if our air had the same quality as the Great Lakes and East Coast states.
I did some digging into air purifiers and stumbled on a DIY purifier. A Corsi-Rosenthal box. I'm offering the link here in hopes it might be helpful to some of you in the thick of it already. I've ordered the supplies to have on hand if I needed one quickly, as supplies might be sparse or unavailable at the time. It can easily be built in a few hours and I can store the piece-parts in a closet till needed. What are those of you affected doing to cope?

**Along those lines, I'm amazed that no one has marketed a decent, tested and high quality personal/wearable air purifying device for use outside the home. One that is say under $500 and doesn't look like you just stepped away from your job at the iron foundry. During Covid I struggled with N95 masks. They felt suffocating and claustrophobic. And not for any political reasons! I wore them when it was prudent and ripped them off in a heartbeat when I was away from other humans. In the five years since, my COPD has gotten far worse and I know I couldn't wear one now. Am I missing something? Thoughts?

If I add an album to my playlist, how do I get it to shuffle among the other songs on my playlist? The album will shuffle, but plays the entire album. I'd like the individual songs to shuffle with the other songs I've downloaded.

I inherited my love of classic films from my mother. Growing up in Connecticut in the early 60's she'd watch all the old films coming out of stations from NYC, like channel 11 WPIX on TV. I'd often sneak out of bed while she was setting her hair in curlers for the next day. She'd allow me to watch for a bit sharing info on the actors. "Oh, that's Mike Mazurki. He always plays the tough guy," and so on before sending me back to bed.

My question though regards what I think she called "pay TV." We had a box hooked up to our television set that was roughly the size of a VCR player. It had an analog dial on it that required scrolling to a specific number much like a car's odometer. It took forever to spin the dial to the number as each turn clicked the total forward by one. It then printed some sort of receipt that dropped out the bottom of the unit and we were able to play whatever movie was in store.

It was the height of technology and I remember my extended family being dumbfounded and a few snide comments regarding my mother's wanton spending on this luxury. But I also remember my uncles gathering around in excitement for a viewing of one of the early Hell's Angels movies! I was shuffled off to play with the cousins as this was a "movie for grownups!"

This would have been the very late 60's or maybe very early 70's. Well before coaxial cable, digital TV or streaming services. I suspect we just had a TV antennae. Does anyone else recall such a device or technology. It's been a mystery to me for decades!

As my COPD progresses, I find myself mouth-breathing more and more. Consequently my mouth gets extremely dry and has a terrible 'metallic' taste. I'm scared of what my breath smells like to others and do my best to avoid close contact!
I'm looking for a strong lozenge that could help with the terrible taste and dryness, dragon's breath, and is formulated for dry mouth?
Using mouthwash throughout the day, rinsing with water, Altoids, Hall's, etc don't work well or last long for me.
Has anyone encountered a product that addresses these issues, tastes good and doesn't break the bank?