Today I noticed something different at the riverfront here in Harrisburg. Unlike two days ago, the Spotted Lanternfly has reached the brush along its sidewalk.

A lone grasshopper leaped ahead of my path there at the time. The grasshopper aside, summer bugs along the riverfront tend to stay abuzz in the brush. The Spotted Lanternfly, on the other hand, collides into you from the shrubbery. 

Or without it, like in downtown.
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So far, I've seen the Spotted Lanternfly -- an invasive species -- mostly downtown. Last week, I noticed columns of the Federal Building plastered with yellow adhesive. On the adhesive were remnants of the red and black insect, which looks like a moth or butterfly. (Maybe the Capitol Complex across the street was treated with a repellent, insecticide, or something.) I've also seen the bug Uptown and, this week, on either the Hill or the South Side.

"Kill it! Squash it, smash it... just get rid of it," says the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Come fall, these plant-killing pests are expected to lay dozens of eggs each. Dauphin County and surrounding counties are under quarantine for the Spotted Lanternfly, which is native to Asia. The department requests that counties not under quarantine call 888-4BADFLY to report a first sighting, or do so online. 

But first thing's first: If you see one, "Kill it! Squash it, smash it... just get rid of it."

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​If you or someone you know needs a refresher in basic Linux (BASH) or PowerShell, this quiz might help. It's kind of hard, but most of the answers are in the notes linked at the wee-bottom of the page.

A post on "Related: Operating Systems (Quiz)" (J. ExWilliams). 

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Please join the #CheyneyChallenge, a monthly donation campaign for America's first HBCU. I made my most recent donation of $18.37 today.

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania
cheyney.edu
Est. 1837
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The Cheyney Challenge is an initiative of alumnus Mr. Bright. I committed to it in 2015, and began my donations the following year. ​

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Circa 2016, Harvard students were protesting the university's investments in fossil fuel companies. At the time, I was curating stories for my then-website on student movements and other events at major research universities in the U.S. Divest Harvard was one of a wave of student organizations and student actions calling for campus disinvestment.

What if Capital Area Greens disinvested from natural gas for household electric power generation? What if Capital Area Greens did so before the General Assembly reconvenes in late September?

Perhaps you have already. If not, and you use a public utility, the following is an excerpt from "Renewable Energy" about my conversion 16 months ago.

In Pennsylvania, you can choose what company supplies your electricity. Unless you choose otherwise, your utility company is your supplier as well. However, you can shop around for a better rate on natural gas (Read/Read/Read the fine print), or switch to renewable energy (solar, wind, blended, etc.). Your utility company doesn't change, so your bill comes from your utility company. That's because the supplier uses the utility company's pipes and other infrastructure to distribute its natural gas or renewable energy.

Think of your utility company as a Walmart, Target, or regional superstore. The superstore (utility company) doesn't change because it stocks different brands of hand sanitizer (supplies/suppliers). Nor does it stop selling its store brand of hand sanitizer (natural gas).

If you're interested in clean electricity, then visit oca.state.pa.us or papowerswitch.com for suppliers. And share your own conversion story with the Green Party of Dauphin County on Facebook, or at the next meeting. See the FB group for details.

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I'm really happy for Wally Funk.

And what's her secret to staying motivated after witnessing a lifetime of historic milestones in space? Was she ever disillusioned since her own journey began six decades ago?
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For 60 years Funk sustained her desire to fly into space. In 1961, she was the youngest volunteer of a cohort training women to become astronauts. That was several years before the first manned mission to space in 1969, when Neil Armstrong became the first person to step foot on the moon.

In the meantime, Funk was a pilot and flight instructor with close to 20,000 flight hours to her credit. She even bought a ticket for Virgin Galactic, which is scheduled to launch the world's first flight in space tourism on July 11.

At the invitation of Jeff Bezos, Funk, 82, will make history before the world as a founding passenger of the space-tourism rival Blue Origin.

Bravo, Wally! See you July 20.

A comment on "Jeff Bezos selects 82-year-old woman who trained to be an astronaut six decades ago to join him in space" (B. Sapienza).

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It took 35 days, but I got my toilet fixed this morning.

A plumber came by and said my toilet was leaking into the apartment below.

As he worked, I thought back to five weeks ago. I submitted an online "maintenance request to stop the water from running in my toilet nonstop. In the meantime," I added, "I have shut the water off halfway."
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Management called me immediately (within 15 minutes). I also called management to remind them of my request a week later. A one-week wait turned into three, and three weeks into five.

At least it did for my request.

I called management a few hours after the plumber left. The representative said she found out yesterday about the leak he fixed today.

The lack of follow-through to my requests started with my first one -- for management to review surveillance footage of mail theft. Ultimately, I was in the middle of 21 days of no mail received. And ultimately, I received no confirmation; negation; or declination to that request. Or to two more similar ones.

My maintenance request was ironic, because I opted for a plumber on my own dime a few days before. He arrived the next day, after 6 p.m., but found no parking downtown to keep him close to the tools.

I was hiring him because the submission form on the apartment manager's site generated error messages. The voice mail, on the other hand, said to call back during the workweek.

My first year as tenant, the building underwent three management companies -- including the owning company now. Regardless of future management, I notified the owning company two weeks ago that I won't renew a third year.

P.S.  The plumber had great customer service. He didn't bang on the door. He waited for me to answer. He apologized for waking me up. (And I had a long night completing two weeks of manual data backup.) He asked if he should knock when returning. And he asked if I wanted him to lock the door when leaving.​

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