I'm posting this early: there's a storm pounding away overhead. Lately I've come to expect that a big storm knocks out the power, even though it doesn't happen much. But once is too much. When the power goes out you're dumped into that no-fun dark zone where you have to read your Kindle by candlelight, or something.

It was heading in when I went out for provisioning, and as I left each store the skies were more interesting than when I went in. When I left CUFBuh (The store is CUB, which stands for Consumers United For Bargains, so I call it CUFBuh to be accurate) this was the view from the parking lot. It's like Independence Day, without the part about the invading ships using our satellites to communicate and coordinate their attack. Because that was really stupid. How did they make it this far without ship-to-ship communication? Gee, I really hope the next planet has an advanced orbital communications system we can co-opt, or we're going to look like fools.

One of the joys of summer. If you don't lose power or your roof.

`I've been enjoying "Stranger Things," somewhat. Not a lot. Don't mind it; think it does what it does well; just doesn't rock me back on my heels, which is good because I'm watching it from the kitchen table and I'd put my head though the window. What happened? Why is there blood everywhere? You're bleeding! Yes, yes, I know, I was watching this show, and its canny updating of 80s horror movie tropes combined with a genuine affection for the source material just rocked me back on my heels, and since they're round, I had no way to brake my fall.

You need stitches!

Yes, but I also need to know if those synths are vintage instruments, or recreations. They have a tone, a warmth, I don't associate with the era.

The reason I'm not jumping up and down is because it seems so familiar - slobbery growling monster escaped from a Government Lab, missing kid caught in the netherworld, Mysterious Child of Powers, and so on. It would be a rote movie, but it's better when spread out over 10 hours. Which seems counterintuitive, I know.

The music (and the glowing title font) does put you in mind of the 80s - not because I saw these movies in the theater, but because I rented them at the video store. As I was tweeting about it the other night, the 80s seem quite distinct from our own era - and in fact they felt different quite quickly, as I imagine the 50s felt different once the 60s began in November, 1963. The 90s had cable, peace, computers, sloppy grungy music, and a different kind of paranoia. Everything was going to be okay, more or less, so we could worry about FEMA and UFOs and wander along amusing ourselves until the planes slammed into the towers. The Oughts had a mood, something akin at first to the 40s - or what we thought the 40s were like - but it turned into sour civil war soon enough, and after the poison was done flowing it was time for a decade of Pretending.

It may surprise someone who mythologize the 80s, but to be Smart and Engaged during that time, you had to hate your era. You had to hate the start of it because Reagan was a maniac who was turning the country into a wasteland of poverty and shuttered factories and trying to goad the poor, put-upon Russians to start a war, and then everything was suddenly pretty good and you couldn't enjoy that, because that was "patriotic" (eyeroll) and rah-rah and USA! USA! and all the other proto-fascist things that were due to turn us into, oh, I don't know, the FIFTIES all over again. And we all learned our lessons about the 50s. Cool cars and Elvis, but mostly women locked in kitchens, prodded at regular intervals by the Kelvinator In-Sem-in-8-or Mark IV.

What we have now at the presidential level is the last gasp of the 80s and 90s staggering to the finish line with no idea what comes after the ribbon's broke.

At least the 80s nostalgia in "Stranger Things" is affectionate. Only took them three decades and change, but there's something to be said for a time when grown-ups were in charge.

Our final joke of the week proves that humor is perishable, and somtimes things that are funny in 1926 are resolutely unamusing today.

Although it's possible this wasn't funny then. In fact it's quite likely.

Named after Frank Redmond, an early settler. Incorporated in 1910, with a current population of 27K or so.

A perfect example of a sign that exceeds the style of the facade:

That wretched mixed-brick look had a brief vogue, and we should be lucky it didn't infect too many structures. As for the sign, a Google search reverals that it was also a sporting-goods store. And that it's closed now.

Someone knows the virtue of a classic downtown painted sign, and the wisdom of keeping it maintained:

It was a hobby shop. Annnnd it's closed.

Anything classic in Redmond that's still a going concern?

Lynch & Roberts:

From its historical plaque:

Business partners M.A. Lynch and J.R. Roberts built this store in 1917 to house their general merchandise business. In 1923, in order to accommodate their growing business, the partners added a matching wing to the south. Plans had been originally made to add a second story to the structure, but engineers found this was not feasible. This building was also home of the Redmond Potato Show, forerunner to the Deschutes County Fair.

Second floor not feasible, eh? Someone skimped on the foundation. From a story about the partners:

The building was enlarged to the south in 1930 and in 1931 J.R.’s son, Maurice, joined the business, though he had worked in the grocery since he was a schoolboy. The business was divided in 1946, with the Robertses keeping the grocery department, women’s wear and domestics, and Lynch taking the men’s shop, which by 1960 was known as Rogers & Lynch. The brick building still shows evidence of the split, with the facade reading "Lynch & Roberts" on one side, "Lynch & Rogers" on the other.

Indeed:

Grandeur and respect on the cheap:

Interesting capitals on the columns - they look Egyptian, which is quite likely. Now and then they came back in style, but not for long.

People didn't like them.

Sometimes I snap a scene just because it has a certain bleak poetry.

What's frustrating sometimes is the inabilty to line up the picture the way you'd like. I'd prefer the tree was right between the windows, but there was nothing I could do.

Once upon a time, you knew it was the hoppingest spot downtown. New and modern! Glass block AND a circular window? Practically Buck Rogers:

I can never remember why I chose a particular town to visit, let along why I took some pictures and not others. Must have been in a low mood that morning, and these empty blank places spoke to me.

Yes, that seems possible.

I think I'm all better now.

That concludes our Thursday time together, and you're hereby invited to enjoy some motel postcards. As is our wont.