That Portland heat dome was brutal, my friend in Beaverton recorded 116 on his porch. The scary part is calling it a "concrete heat island effect" is actually a bit off. The main driver is the atmospheric high pressure system, the dome itself, that traps hot air. The concrete just makes it way worse in cities by absorbing and holding that heat. My dog needed cooling mats last year and it's a real wake up call.

That Tacoma call out is a good lesson. I cope all my inside corners on quarter round now, even for paint grade work. It takes a bit longer with the coping saw, but you get a perfect seam that won't open up later. I just cut a straight 45 first, then follow the profile to back cut the rest.

Oh wow, I totally called it a fort when the news first broke. Seeing that floor plan with the bathhouse part is a game changer though, you're right. It's way too fancy and laid out wrong for soldiers. I guess I just got used to every Roman find here being a fort or a road.

Read an article last week about cities in the southwest paying people to rip out their grass. The whole "perfect lawn" thing is a holdover from when water was cheap and everywhere. Mr. Henderson has a point about the Arizona heat, but it's also your yard. Maybe there's a middle ground with some drought friendly plants mixed in.

Found mine super helpful, @milarodriguez.