That's Life Archives

That's Life -- brought to you by California's Water and Soil!

Soils and water and other things are fodder for this episode.  Lois is talking to guest Don Shor (of Davis Garden Show fame!) -- about so many things that we won't try to list them all here.

Understanding our water -- where it comes from , where it goes, how it's used, and by whom -- is vital to knowing what to expect in the future.  Understanding how our soils were formed and how the various soil typesinteract with that water is the basis for many of our gardening and farming decisions. 

Why who got what soils.  Davis is in the Sacramento River watershed.  It was either marsh or grasslands before Europeans arrived.  Because we had annual flooding, our rivers and creeks developed natural levees which overtopped each year and deposited gravel, sand, silt, and clay on the surrounding land -- the lighter particles travelling further than the heavier material.  So your yard might be sandy-loam, silty-loam, or clay-loam -- depending on where in the county you live.

"That's Life" broadcasts every Tuesday at 12 noon and replays every Wednesday at 5:00 pm, PacificTime.

Tamra and Lois talk about tech every Thursday evening on the video show "The Rundown" with David Paskin and others.  To hear THAT, go to TheRundown.show and follow the link.  

But that's then and this is now. 

Tamra Pica agreed to be on Lois' radio show to talk about non-tech things; but we slipped and fell into tech talk as well.  **Sigh.**

So here is the first hour of our chatting together.  (There may be more later!)  

Enjoy!

Another fascinating story from a friend on After Hours.  A self-proclaimed "dungeon master", John Puett leads a very active adventurous life while sitting down.  "Dungeons and Dragons" is his game of choice and he not only plays D&D, but also designs, hosts, and teaches it.  Join  his Discord server or view his YouTube channel to learn more about the game.

John does a lot more than play, though.   He has a company that does "cyber security".  Not sure what that means?  Lois wasn't either, so listen to this episode to find out what it is -- and isn't.  We touch on many other things and, again, we had more than an hour's worth of conversation.   John is a photographer and is also very active in the Office Hours / After Hours community.

A good talk today!

Local author Bill Pieper is today's guest.  He has published many works -- mostly short stories.

His most recent book -- Borders and Boundaries -- is a series of ten short stories which reads like a novel.  While each story could stand on its own, the thread of characters and locations ties the book together into a greater whole. 

Listen to him reading from Borders and Boundaries  along then hear Bill and Lois talking about ... well, just about everything.  Bikes? Yup.  Drumming? Yup.  Publishing in the midst of a pandemic? Yup.  Sci-fi porn? Yup. Reading books onstage? Yup.  The effect of places on people and culture? That, too.

Bill lived in Nevada City for many years, and his stories often are set in a western locale.  Now he lives in Sacramento and comes to Davis weekly to be part of the Blue Moon  -- a writers' group hosted by Scott Evans*.  

Bill Pieper is working on writing a new book (no date  set as of 2021 recording); and he hopes to resume the promotion of Borders and Boundaries  once restrictions ease and a new tour can be arranged.

You can see a list of his books at:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/708305.Bill_Pieper

That includes his popular Belonging - A Tale of Downieville and California's Modern Gold Country  and Forgive Me, Father: Twelve Stories.

But if you want to walk on a wilder side, read his most-popular-story-ever, at: https://www.redfez.net/fiction/sci-fi-alien-dreams-616

PS: This episode also aired on Thanksgiving, 11-25-2021  and on 2025-04-09.