Category: Climate

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Okay, I’ve Gotta laugh…

The dog is “Mr Fabulous” after his grooming.

The majority of the excess fur he wouldn’t let me brush is gone. I didn’t have him shaved or anything but I did have a lot of the heavier fur clippered off so he looks a lot better and cleaner. He also seems happy about it.

That’s all good. This morning I see in the long range weather report that an actual hurricane has formed off Mexico and the storm track makes it look like Southern California is going to take a direct hit.

This means that within a few days… The dog will of necessity, be a muddy mess. (I haven’t been able to teach him to use people toilets.) Kiss that grooming money goodbye! LOL

A hurricane? Really? I’m conflicted… A CAT 3 or 4 storm might wash a lot of the ills of the cities away but then we’ll have to hear about it for weeks on end.

We’ll also have to hear from the climate change people how this is further proof that we need to destroy ourselves on the altar of reducing carbon emissions.

I ask this question. “We’ve been reducing pollution and carbon emissions for decades and the storms have gotten harsher in that period of time, so maybe we shouldn’t be reducing our carbon emissions?”

I know that logic is so full of holes I could drive several presidential motorcades through them. But I can’t help using the same flawed logic as a lot of the climate change nuts whenever there is an odd weather pattern.

You can’t point to a particular storm or weather event and say “Climate Change”, you have to back your focus out to trends over decades. When you do, you’ll notice that weather is overall a bit less harsh or destructive, but that you still have strong storms that are outliers.

I’ve lived in Southern California long enough to recall other hurricane systems hitting the area. I recall storm systems that lasted weeks as hurricanes rode up the gulf of California. Several of them entered the gulf as CAT2 or 3 then rapidly lost their punch, but the rain the hurricane carried with it was funneled right into San Diego and Los Angeles, then ran up the Central Valley bringing water to the farms we depend on for food.

Sure, a few ill thought out homes fell off cliffsides… whatever!

I have no more sympathy for people In those homes than I do for people in KY & TN who park their trailers next to a river that floods every year. It’s fairly predictable what’s likely to happen so the problem isn’t the storm, or whatever, it’s humans having no common sense!

This storm could present a problem for my neighborhood depending on how much rain we get. The San Bernardino Flood Control District has done a lot of “Work” uphill from us. Part of their “improvement” has been to change the angle of a dirt road they use. Now instead of the mud and debris from a heavy rain running into the wash that runs next to the dirt road as it should, all the mud and debris runs into the road in front of our houses and in some cases into our yards.

If the storm brings a lot of heavy rain suddenly, it could be a problem. I’ll be out there taking pictures because ALL of us on this street are trying to get the county to take responsibility for their screwups. I’m not holding my breath, the layer upon layer of bureaucratic protection on the part of the county is impressive. Photographic or video evidence is useful in driving the point home.

The other half forbade me from talking to the county. I took offense at the way they tried to defend themselves. They kept saying they were following the direction of X, Y, or Z department. When you followed up with any of those departments they claimed their orders came from higher up. None of them however could point to an origination department for the order. Apparently the decision to screw over a bunch of folks appeared on a computer one day and nobody knows how or why.

Needless to say this kind of thing really pisses me off. Someone has to have originated the command to the flood control district and authorized the expenditure. When you look for that person all you find are the authorizations to pay for ongoing work.

I told the country people exactly what I thought…

The county really doesn’t like being told that NAZIS at the Nuremberg trials consistently claimed, “I was only following orders.” Apparently county officials take offense at being compared to NAZIS. I can’t imagine why…

However, from then on the other half wouldn’t even take me to county public hearings. I suppose I was too volatile? Mercurial? Outright Hostile?

I probably should lay in some supplies. Charge the portable stuff and the like just in case, the idiots at Edison can’t keep the power on.

That storm is a CAT 4, moving slowly north. I doubt it will hit California as a CAT 4 because the Pacific cools off pretty fast as you head north. Hurricanes typically need warm water to maintain their strength. I think we’re going to see a lot of wind and rain maybe some thunder and lighting.

If I seem caviler about it, remember that I’ve got a range of fairly high mountains between me and the coast. It’s likely when the storm hits this area, it will expend a lot of energy on the other side of the mountain.

I wonder how LA and San Diego will handle the homeless. The tents will probably be alright, but the cardboard boxes will get soggy and moldy pretty quick. It’ll be interesting to see how LA Mayor Karen Bass deals with the situation or indeed if there’s any plan at all.

In any case, I hope you all have a great weekend and if you’re in Southern California you might want to make sure you’ve got some provisions close at hand if you need them.

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Gentle Rain…

Last night soft rain began falling just as I was heading to bed. I love the sound of gentle rainfall and often use the sound of rain on the HomePods in the bedroom to fall asleep.

Last night the fake track wasn’t necessary, Mother Nature provided a natural soundtrack all night long.

Although about 1 or 2 am, the natural soundtrack was interrupted by a bunch of noise from jackass central where Crazy Pants and the other transient trash live.

I suppose that as much of a pain in the ass as it is. I’m going to have to start making noise complaints.

My hesitation about that is if I’m not going to be living here for much longer do I really care? Another consideration is if I start a “war” with those idiots, it could impact my ability to sell my house because if their behavior gets worse, it could scare off potential buyers. Fortunately the eye sore that it their property is mostly concealed by trees and other structures that don’t look like cover photos for “Homeless Beautiful, Your definitive guide to shitty living”

I love that the police are always so concerned about Crazy Pant’s rights, but when asked what about the other neighbors rights they shake their heads. Technically it’s not fair to place the police in that metaphorical vise. It’s not their job to decide. Since Crazy Pants and everyone else in the neighborhood have equal rights, it’s for a judge to determine where the line is.

Eventually the noise died down at Crazy Pants place. I can only hope that they drugged themselves into a stupor or death. I know there’s no such luck on the latter so I’ll take comfort in the former. Once their annoyance quieted, the rain was back. The sound seemed a little louder, as if the intensity of the storm increased.

Perhaps Nature was just trying to drown out the shenanigans so the neighborhood could sleep soundly.

On thing of note about the noise was that the dog didn’t budge from his spot on the bed. When the noise started, he looked up, groaned, and went back to sleep. That’s a comment on the frequency of the disruptions coming from Crazy Pants place. Even the dog is disinterested. He’s a classy dog & they’re trashy primates.

It’s cool and overcast this morning. There’s a slight chance of more rain but I doubt it will happen. I’m thankful for the break in temperature and the quiet of the morning.

I won’t have to water the trees and there may have been enough rain to rinse the dust off the solar panels. That’s one of the things the brochures don’t tell you. Those panels on the roof have to be rinsed from time to time, dust and pollen have a measurable effect on the panel efficiency.

I’m sure there are additional chores that I need to do around here. With watering and rinsing off the list, I think I’ll have another cup of coffee and enjoy the morning a while longer.

Besides, the weather station here in the living room says we could have some thunderstorms. I’d like that, but I’d also be content with more gentle rain.

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I don’t know what to make of this…

This is a maple tree in my neighbors yard that is often pretty accurate in predicting the seasons. This one leaf is autumn but the rest of the tree is still summer green.

I suppose it could be a misfire, or perhaps Winter will be early and long this year. Great! NOT what I want to deal with. After last winter I could do without snow for a while.

I’d hoped to be well into securing a new place to live by now. Trouble is Keyboards are a royal pain in the ass to dispose of. The harps are at least at a consignment store, but I haven’t found a consignment store to put the keyboards in. It’s not just the instruments it’s all the music all the paper work etc. I’m only one man and honestly, I’m having a tough time remaining motivated. I hate cleaning up someone else’s mess. I’m shitty at cleaning up my own messes! LOL!

As an aside, a couple of the harps have been sold already which is super nice. From the sound of it, the harps have gone to people who will play them and love them that’s a good thing, not that the other half likely cares.

That’s a funny thing. When I first lost the other half, I was adamant about the instruments going to people who would play them and love them. Now I’m not quite so driven about that.

It’s moved to the “Nice to Have” column and out of the “Necessary” column.

My view is evolving, I think that’s because the wound isn’t so fresh. Now, I’m recognizing that he’s beyond caring and perhaps I shouldn’t or don’t need to care so much either. Is this me being a bad person? Or me breaking faith?

I don’t think so, I think I’ve moving toward my hallmark pragmatism that my other half always liked.

He also knew that underneath my hard outer shell, I’m a sentimental softy. So either way, if he’s interested in Earthly affairs anymore he’ll be tuning in and laughing at me. On the one hand I’m my pragmatic self, on the other hand I’m all sentimental. He knew being caught between the two really pisses me off!

When the house burned, he was astounded at quickly I disconnected from the possessions and wrote everything off. I wasn’t un-caring but I didn’t’ want to spend time fiddling with things that would never be “Right” again. I was in “Toss It & Move On” mode.

I need to move into that Mode again.

I may also have to accept that I’m not going to be out of this place this year.

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Something I never thought I’d say…

I suppose there are a lot of those things.

In this particular case, it’s I’m happy with how long my computer battery lasts. I’m also somewhat impressed with the iPad battery too.

The computer is insane. I’ll use the thing for days. I’ll be surprised when I get a low battery warning and then think, “Oh Yeah, it’s been a while!” This is very different from the older machines I’ve had. I lived by their power monitors and always carried spare batteries or adapters.

I’m still working on settings on the iPad to minimize its power consumption. My Computer and iPad both use the M2 chip but the iPad is more in line with a day or day and a half of use. I think that’s because there are background applications that wake up or are running on the iPad that aren’t as “busy” on the computer.

I believe I can probably trim more of the iPad background applications out of the background and realize more power savings.

The point is, when I started using laptop computers years ago, a 2 hour battery life was considered good. Now I’m talking about 2 day battery life between charges. I’m using the machine as I normally would, I’m typing blogs, surfing the net, working on stories, (although not fast enough there,) attending video conferences or watching lectures. Through it all, the computer doesn’t seem to care or get winded. I don’t think I’ve heard the fans come on, ever.

For the first time I’ll leave the house with my machines in my brief case and leave the chargers behind.

I suppose this is on my mind because today the computer asked for a bit of power. I plugged it in, and it said okay I’m charging to 80% quickly. (That would have actually gotten me through my typical day with ease.) The computer then switched over to a holding pattern at 80% and will finish charging by about 1:30PM.

This means that the machine has figured out my general habits and is using the charging feature Apple designed to extend battery life. It’s cool. I can override it if I want, or need to, but why? I’d rather have a battery that’s healthy in two or three years (like my iPhone 12 Pro) than force the issue. Besides, I’m using the big monitor in the office. I like this monitor a lot but I like working with the computer on the back deck more.

For the past 24 hours the wind has been kicking up to crazy gusty levels. I don’t feel like sitting out on the deck in all the blowing dust and pollen. Even though the sun is shining and the temps are nice.

It’s been all I could do to keep my sinuses open and the poor dog literally snorted a patch of pollen he thought was a food wrapper (I think). He’s been sneezing 5 or 6 times at a go for the past two days. I laugh at him… Then he saunters down the hall trying to look dignified, until another sneezing fit hits and he sneezes himself into a wall or something. My continuing to laugh gets me a dirty look and he retires to his “Room” where he can be alerted about food but doesn’t have to look at me.

All of which is to say that the amount of pollen in the air is so high that getting it into a keyboard would not be such a good thing. So I don’t need to be sitting outside for my sake, the keyboard’s sake, or the dog’s sake. All of us are quite comfortable inside.

I’ve got the leeward side of the house open for the fresh air but every once in a while the wind will shift just for a minute or two and blow a new batch of yellow joy into the house.

I was originally going to use a photo of my hand but when I looked at the photo I realized that you could easily see all of my fingerprints. Probably not a great idea to broadcast that kind of biometric information across the internet! With a little work I could convert the image into usable prints, so you get the swiffer. If the FBI ever needed non carbon fingerprint dust, I can recommend pine pollen.

I hope you all have a nice Monday. I’m hitting the sinus spray again!

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Just how much of Canada is burning?

The smoke is covering the East Coast as far south as Myrtle Beach. My goodness! Have Canadian Patriots lit the place on fire to cover a Coup? Under cover of smoke are patriots dragging Trudeau out of parliament?

One can only hope!

Will Canada pay reparations to the United States and / or carbon credits to the EU to offset this?

I know I shouldn’t be making fun of the situation but when you take the whole green thing to its insane conclusion then we have to ask these kinds of questions.

The smoke cover is also going to be reducing the efficiency of solar panels and causing more carbon to be produced because of unusual demands on the electrical grid.

OMG! Canada’s ESG Score is going to take a hit!

It is not my intention to be mean to Canada. The Canadian people suffer under Trudeau. They have my sympathy.

I use this event to highlight the absurdity of carbon taxation and ESG scoring. Because neither system can be enforced and neither system appears to account for those events we used to call “Act Of God”. Since God is dead in the minds of the WEF attendees there can be no “Acts Of God” and therefore someone is responsible.

It’s well known, it can’t possibly be the government, or the super wealthy, or the movers and shakers in the entertainment industry.

The only people left who can be punished, are the taxpayers.

I’ll bet 6 months from now there’s going to be some tax hike in Canada that will be called wildfire mitigation and the funds will go anywhere but into proper stewardship of the land.

I can make that bet because California has tried to implement exactly those kinds of taxes. They’ve failed but for a time it looked like California was going to tax people living in “higher risk” zones for additional fire fighting resources.

They almost got away with it, until someone pointed out studies that proved the worst wildfires originated in California State Controlled & “maintained” forests.

Yep, the wildfires were originating in areas owned by the State of California and in many cases the California Department of Forestry hadn’t been allowed to do the proper maintenance to remove dead trees or undergrowth because they didn’t have their full appropriation.

Logging and other forestry management, in some cases, was blocked by environmentalist groups doing impact studies, often for years. Until a fire swept through the area being studied and well, I guess there wasn’t a need to do an impact study anymore.

Uh like yeah Professor Moonshaft-Sunbeam-Jones, the forest burned really hot. Like all our equipment is toast. The entire colony of inverted 9 toe hermaphroditic spotted periwinkles flew off when the fire came toward them. Too bad about Alboneus & Groompa being burned up, I liked Zem both… They kept saying the fire wasn’t real while the rest of us like, uhh ran.”

Perhaps I’m too mean toward the academics but over the years I’ve heard some truly astoundingly stupid things being said by supposedly educated people.

We know that dead trees in a forest are a fire hazard, we know that lots of brush is a fire hazard, we know that people wandering through the forests can become a fire hazard if they’re careless with camping or smoking or just suddenly fascinated that hitting two rocks together can cause a spark. (That last one I’ve actually seen an adult male doing.)

On the plus side, on that occasion I got a glimpse into what early hominids looked like discovering fire… That I was seeing this in 2022 was terrifying.

My point is that most countries and states within those countries have fire mitigation procedures. The question we should be asking is; why aren’t those procedures being followed?

In California it appears it’s about money not getting to the agencies who are tasked with the job. I’d suggest our Canadian brothers and sisters, ask their respective government agencies what’s going on.

Equally, I’d say for them not to take the government statements that the fires are being caused by climate change as gospel. Yes, climate change may be partially responsible. But if we’ve known climate change is happening, why haven’t more resources been allocated to forestry services to proactively mitigate the problem?

Could it be that government wants to use wildfires for their political and financial benefit?

Just a few questions that run through my mind.