Some people will go anywhere to avoid email, like the four who just returned from two days in orbit.

It’s been a couple of weeks since Hurricane Ida flooded most of Louisiana, so now it’s time for Tropical Storm Nicholas to dump a half-foot or more of rain across parts of Texas and most of The Soaked State. Luckily, these newsbits are waterproof.

One resource that continues to grow and multiply is billionaires with “interesting” ideas. Go to space, like Bezos, Branson, and Musk? Old hat. Own a basketball team? Go, Steve-o. Floating city? Peter Thiel is outside your jurisdiction. Build a $400 billion city in the desert?

NFL Fantasy fans, start your spreadsheets! The newly-shortened preseason, now three games rather than four, finished Sunday.

Does anyone have the warranty paperwork for Year 2021? When tropical storms come ashore in Rhode Island, things are weirder than usual, even for our trouble-laden 20s. But the 20s are doing their part, so searing heat will now head to the Northeast to make things more, um, interesting.

August already? Gee, summer seemed less fun than usual this year, so spend the time you have remaining before Labor Day making memories with your tribe while you can.

The 2020 Olympics start on Friday, July 23, 2021, because of the pandemic delay. Six new sports are featured: surfing, sport climbing, skateboarding, karate, and men’s baseball and women’s softball.

There’s a new competition among billionaires, more expensive than the largest yacht contest that was so 2010s. Now they’re challenging each other to see who can get highest. No, not in their custom, air-conditioned tents at Burning Man, but into space.