That's Life

Corky's back! To talk to us about bats, bats, and more bats! -- primarily the Mexican Free-tail Bat which is so plentiful under the I-80 freeway at the causeway. Size, shape, habit -- all the things that one can know about these insect-devouring friends -- that's what Corky Quirk has for us today. And then there are the mysteries that scientists still haven't learns. The crack in the attached image is less than 2 inches wide.

Starting about 15 into this weeks show, Lois interviewed Mark Blake, the owner of Blake's Heating and Air Conditioning. Lois asks him about how extremely hot weather affects the efficacy of your A/C, how to maintain your system to cost you the least, and operate the best. Listen to learn and enjoy!

Summertime 2009 brought songs from "Misner & Smith" off their brand new album -- which was the first of MANY! For current info, see MisnerAndSmith.com (Also, as our PSA, info about controlling mosquitoes in your yard.)

Today on "That's Life", Lois and Sharla Hardy talk about DCTV, SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism), brother Jim, art, history, and shared experiences. "Don't mix ammonia with clorox!" If you watched any of Lois' DCTV productions (from 1992 thru 2003), you saw some wonderful camera work by Sharla Hardy. She was part of the repetoire crew that helped me produced many shows and several series -- mostly running a camera, but occasionally on as a guest. Our last series was "Thoughtfulness" -- an eclectic production that ran weekly for several years. (Sort of like this radio program, but with moving images!) Sharla has been my friend for over 20 years and I thought it was time to catch up with her; so I'm doing that now and you're invited to listen in on our chat! Originally broadcast 2021-01-07; re-aired 2025-11-11and 2025-11-18.

A few of you were around in the 70s and 80s and knew John Denver. For you, here are some of his early songs. Some other listeners have never even HEARD of John Denver! For you, here is an introduction to one of the most influential singers of his time. I've included some history of John as well as some of his music. Today's songs are from his famous "Rocky Mountain High" album. (The CD was published by RCA, from recording of the 1972 album by BMG Music.) Original broadcast 2020-02-20. Re-broadcast 2025-10-30 and 2025-11-04.

Today on That's Life: Family History = Genealogy = the story of one's ancestors. Lois tells all! Well... Lois tells some. "All" would take much longer! Hear what the main documents are that folks use to find their ancesotrs and how they create profiles to store the info and share with cousins. Records of Birth, Marriage, Death, and the Census. Using the regular data -- as well as avoiding some common problems. FamilySearch.org is Lois' go-to place for both doing research and creating profiles. See you there?

Today on That's Life: Mike Davis, a retired professor from UCDavis, tells us a lot about everyone's favorite fungi -- Mushrooms. There are THOUSANDS of species in California. This fascinating show includes detailed instruction on how to grow your own! If you want to know more, look for his book "Field Guide to MUSHROOMS of Western North America". Originally aired on 2021-05-20. Re-broadcast in 2025 on Sept 2nd .

Today on That's Life: Happy summer! If you can't travel in person, travel in spirit! Today you can listen to some mellow island sounds with "Favorite Hawaiian Songs", a CD from the collection of host Lois Richter. When that's done, we add a few instrumentals from Jeff Peterson's "Maui On My Mind". (Original was broadcast on 2021-05-06. Re-edited and then broadcast on 2025-07-01.)

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. (Recorded and broadcast in 14 Oct 2021, re-broadcast 27 May 2025 and 3 June 2025.)

Today on That's Life: talking tech with Tamra Pica. 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! Broadcast 13 May, 20 May, 19 August, and 26 August 2025. Archived forever on KDRT.org

Today on That's Life: 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 Office Hours and the After Hours community. A good talk today! [First broadcast 03/17/2022; aired again 04/23/2025.]

Today on That's Life: author Bill Pieper. 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. [* for an interview with Scott Evans, listen to my 10-7-21 show.]