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Election Day!

Happy Election Day!

It’s a cold rainy day here on the mountain. On the plus side, at least I’m not having to walk through snow to the polling place and back. Yes, I’ve done that in past elections. It’s been raining enough here that if it was only a few degrees colder we’d have a foot or more of snow.

If it’s raining where you are, don’t let that stop you from casting your vote!

I don’t buy the hyperbole about voting for the soul of the nation. 

In fact I don’t care what your politics are, or your party preference. 

What I do care about is that you vote. Vote your conscience, vote for candidates that represent your beliefs, vote because it’s your civic duty.

If you can’t be bothered to do this one thing, then you have no voice and I’m not going to listen to you whining about the results after the election.

IVoted

Personally, I’m hoping to see Gavin Newsom tossed out, unfortunately here in California that won’t make much of a difference because there are a lot of bad ideas that have ossified into the dreaded, “We’ve always done it this way,” mindset in this state.

I would enjoy seeing Gavin standing there with his hair blown back in surprise. I know it’s kind of a cheap shot but I’d love to see his smug arrogance take a nice uppercut. For clarity’s sake, I’m not advocating physical violence to Gavin, I’m speaking metaphorically about his attitude and arrogance taking a hit.

There was a time when such disclaimers weren’t necessary, these days though, people seem to be searching for anything they can spin into something it’s not.

I pray that Newsom takes such a drubbing that any presidential aspirations he may have, get flushed down the toilet. The whole country knows what Newsom has done to California. I’m hoping that they remember it in 2024 and decide they don’t want the rest of the country to follow California’s lead. Let the wonder that is Kamala Harris be a warning to everyone.

I’ve been fascinated by the Democrat messaging over the past week or so. (Spending hours on end in a car means you listen to a lot of radio.) The message seems almost like they’re expecting to take a major hit. Some candidates sounded like they just expected to win without really putting in the work.

These candidates seem quite surprised that they’re being challenged strongly by their opponents. When asked why their opponent is doing so well in polls they’re unable to answer. To me that speaks to a profound disconnect between the incumbents and their constituents. In a nutshell, that’s the answer.  Many of them appear to be blindsided that their voters are interested in much more basic issues than special interest stuff. Most of us are really focused on basic necessities.

How can so many candidates have missed or ignored that?

The Republican Party appears to have capitalized on the concerns most Americans have. What remains to be seen is if they were lying to get into office or if the candidates really meant what they said on the campaign trail. 

Time and vote counts will tell.

There was a piece in Politico that says in part, “The 2020 presidential election was rife with allegations of voting machine hacks that were later debunked. Yet there are real risks that hackers could tunnel into voting equipment and other election infrastructure to try to undermine Tuesday’s vote.” 

That one was a head snapper. I thought there was no possibility that the election could be tampered with. Isn’t that what we were told after the 2020 election? So what’s changed?

More from Politico

Wireless modems enabling hacks of voting machines or vote tallies

At least seven states and Washington, D.C., use wireless modems to transmit unofficial election-night results to their central offices. These modems use telecommunications networks that are vulnerable to hackers, and malicious actors could exploit them to tamper with unofficial vote data, corrupt voting machines or compromise the computers used to tally official results.

Really? So are we to assume that since the 2020 election which was “perfect and secure”, that some states have taken steps to make the voting process more vulnerable? If these states haven’t made the process less secure, then can we assume that these states were as vulnerable in 2020 as they are today?

Does that mean that law suits filed by Trump which were dismissed as having no standing should be re-evaluated? 

I’m sorry, but I’m kind of a binary guy. Either something is a problem or it’s not, Politico seems to be playing both sides depending on which party wins. How about we just settle for reporting the actual facts, and let the chips fall where they may? That would seem to be a simpler way to deal with politics and life in general. 

President Biden’s speech may have muddied the voting waters as well. Listening to his speech I couldn’t help but think he was setting us all up for endless challenges about ballot counts and election integrity. As if we haven’t had quite enough of all of that over the past two years. What happens when the Democrats become “Election Deniers”? How does that play out?

If both parties become election deniers, does that mean both groups are domestic terrorists?

I’m looking for a change in this election.

I’d like to see someone tap the brakes on the excessive spending in Washington.

Instead of hiking the interest rates to curb inflation, how about we fix the supply chain issues? More products on the shelves and in the pipeline would also curb inflation.

I hope that our politicians pay more attention to the immediate issues that we’re all facing.

Go Vote, and have a good day!

 

The rain has picked up quite a bit. The normally dry creek bed behind the house is roaring, rocks the size of small cars are tumbling down the mountain. It’s causing the ground to shake almost as if there’s an earthquake.

When I think of all the water rushing down to the desert floor, I’m hoping that it makes it into the ground and replenishes the aquifers a bit.

Before all the streets and rain culverts, water ran down and soaked right in. On old aerial maps a perfect example of an alluvial plain was clearly visible. Today, with all the streets, parking lots, and pavement, localized flooding is becoming more common at the base of the mountain. Builders and City officials literally paved over the alluvial plain and now spend tons of taxpayer’s money combating the flooding. It would have been simpler to take the hint from nature and not allow building there in the first place.

For all our knowledge, humans miss the obvious more often than not.

I’ve often thought there should be wilderness buffer zones between communities. I picture areas that provide habitat for wildlife and access for runoff to soak into the ground. Zones as I envision them, would provide places for walking, hiking and communing with nature. I’m not talking about miles wide buffers, I’m talking about 1/4 of a mile or so green belts.

I guess the problem is that some people would see wilderness areas as places to dump their trash and do bad things.

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Finally Back!

Got back to my mountain late yesterday.

I am beat. I’ve got laundry running, the car is filthy and there’s rain and snow predicted for this week. Hopefully, I’ll be able to catch up on chores around the house before Winter really sets in.

On the plus side, since I was traveling across time zones during the few days leading up to DST. That doesn’t seem to have hit me as hard as usual. I don’t know what time it is and haven’t known the time for at least the past two weeks.

Election Day is tomorrow, I specifically told the family that I needed to be back to vote, (A little white lie…). I’ll be voting in person and producing my ID even though it is not required. I want to make a statement. My statement will be ignored, but at least I’ll sleep secure in the knowledge that I made it.

Driving across country is always enlightening. When I left California, I made sure that I bought only enough gas to get me across the border to Arizona. 50 miles over the border, I filled my tank with 93 Octane for 4.50 a gallon. An immediate savings of about 2.00 and my car gave me a range of over 550 miles with that fuel blend. When the computer in the car said that was my estimated range I thought something was wrong. In California with their 91 Octane blend, I’m lucky to get 380 miles per tank. As it turns out, the computer was correct. 500 miles later I stopped to refuel.

Tell me again, how shitty gas saves the environment? It seems to me if you go further using less fuel and that fuel is burning efficiently that you’re doing more for the environment. Less drilling, less emissions, lower costs. But I’m just one of the unwashed morons what do I know?

When I got to Florida the Octane was still 93 and the cost per gallon was 3.80 The Floridians were complaining about the cost of fuel and I just smiled. There was one guy who saw my smile, I pointed at the California Plates on my car and shrugged. The man laughed and said, “I guess it’s a matter of perspective.”

I’ve also decided that TX is not for me as a possible place to escape the insanity of California. Every single time I’ve driven through TX, they seem to have more roads torn up than actually in good repair. Houston, Dallas/FtWorth, San Antonio, even Amarillo are terrible. 

Coming back to California, the last 30 miles of the I-10 in Louisiana all the way through Houston was a solid mess of construction, and traffic jams that were worse than Los Angeles at rush hour. San Antonio was a shit show and by the time I got there all I wanted was to find a straight country road to take me off I-10. I easily lost a day of travel just because of poor traffic management due to construction.

New Mexico, I blew through both directions. Last year they were still doing all the bullshit covid masking kabuki theater when I went through, and this year there was still some evidence of that. Plus their gas prices were noticeably higher than either Arizona or Texas which leads me to believe they’ve got some dumbass state taxes on the books that, like California aren’t being used to keep their roads in good repair. Fortunately, the gas range on the car meant that I only had to stop once. 

Texas may always have roads torn up, but at least there aren’t potholes that you could lose a city bus in. New Mexico on the other hand…

Most of Arizona is also out of the running for me personally as a retirement location. There are some very pretty places in Arizona. I’m fond of Flagstaff and the surrounding area. Coming through Tuscon and Phoenix felt like I was already back in California, just further from the beach. Flagstaff is a maybe, the rest of AZ not so much.

The sad part of the trip for me was that I’ve been driving across country for years. I can remember when the I-10 was a smooth ribbon of concrete. You’d often notice you were in another state because the road surface itself was a slightly different color. In Arizona for example, the I-10 had a reddish color I always thought that color was because of the color of the sand from the state. Now all the roads are gray and nondescript. What variations there are now, are from tar patches filling in the potholes. 

Approaching the California border there seemed to be a lot of U-Hauls heading East. Doing 70 behind a long line of 18 wheelers I wondered if those people apparently leaving would remember to leave their California attitudes behind or would they recreate the same conditions that led them to leave California at their destinations. 

I suppose only time will tell.

When I finally get to leave California for the last time, I’ll be sad. But I will do my best to leave all the California bullshit politics, bad ideas, and baggage at the border.

Bad ideas aren’t a crime, not recognizing a bad idea and continuing to double down on something that isn’t working is a crime. California seems to have done a lot of doubling down and not a lot of introspection.

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In Northern Florida

Made it to the Tallahassee area.

My Brother was at work when I arrived but I know the secret handshake to get into his place.

It was so nice to walk into a silent house where the temperature wasn’t 83 because unlike at my parent’s house the A/C was on.

I made myself a drink and sat down on the couch listening to quiet music. I guess I fell asleep because I lost some time. The sound of the garage door opening, woke me. I feel so at home in my Brother’s place. Everything is neat and orderly unlike my house, and certainly my parent’s place.

But most wonderful of all was that the dang TV isn’t always blaring. My Brother, like myself only turns on the TV when he’s actually going to watch a program. Neither of us are big on having shouting matches over the racket of the TV. If you’re going to have a conversation, turn off the TV and set aside your phone.

I drove him to work today and will pick him up tonight when he gets off. My being here allowed him to have some work done without needing to take a day off. I’m glad I’m not creating an inconvenience for him. I really like this part of Florida and wish that I could just leave California altogether. 

I’m hoping to be able to do exactly that in the next few years. 

Sitting here in my Brother’s living room I’m catching up on stuff. The ticking of his ships clock on the shelf behind me is comforting and oddly calming. On some level, I’m working through the issues that I observed at my parent’s place. It is only a matter of time before my Mom will be too much for my stepdad to handle. Neither of them are spring chickens and both of them ingest a pharmacological cornucopia with each meal.

I suspect the number of drugs they take will be increasing in the coming months or years. This might be why my Mom is hungry/not hungry a lot of the time.

Speaking of hunger, that’s something I hadn’t been until today. I’m thinking about going out to find something to eat, after that I’ll probably come back and see if I can finish a story I’ve been working on.

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In Florida

I came to Florida to visit my parents. They’re both getting up there and my Mom isn’t doing well.

She calls it a vacation, this is not what I call a vacation. To me a vacation is going someplace that I want to go, and doing stuff that I want to do. Something like hanging out at the beach, or diving a reef, or wandering through a national park.

Her idea of a vacation is having the TV blaring and shouting over it to have a conversation. Her other idea about vacations is stuffing your face all the damn time. As a rule I eat when I’m hungry but that is not allowed here. I think part of the reason I eat only when I’m hungry is because everyone in the family is pretty obese. I do not want to be obese, so I eat in a way that’s dependent on activity. If I’m very active burning a lot of calories, then I’m hungry.

Sitting around blocking out the noise from a TV at 75% volume screaming to have a conversation as if I’m in a bar is taxing but not overly physical.

I’ve not been able to write because if I go into another room to reduce the volume of the TV, then I’m apparently being antisocial. Truth is, I can’t think clearly with the noise, and my stepfather droning on and on about something that is only obliquely related to a question I asked 25 minutes ago. Typically, the question I asked has not been answered, and I’ve forgotten what I asked in the first place.

That being said, I’ve finally come to realize that he’s always been this way, which is why it was so hard for me to get my homework done, and so hard for me to read my schoolbooks when I was a kid living under their roof. I was one of those kids that hated homework, It was a real effort for me to put in the work because I’m easily distracted. So some of this is absolutely on me, but some of it is on them because they didn’t recognize the problem. 

They were both quick to tell me I was smart so there was no excuse for me getting poor grades. It became a no win situation so getting through school became increasingly difficult because my logic is, “If there’s no possibility to win, playing the game is pointless.”

By the time I got to my middle years in high school I’d stopped asking him or my mom for help or clarification on assignments because it always devolved into some weird conversation that didn’t answer the question I’d asked and left me completely confused. 

This was particularly true in math. Asking if I was doing an algebra equation correctly led to all the ways one could do an algebra equation, and how calculus was better anyway. But because the answer was all over the map, instead of looking at the equation on the page and confirming or correcting my process, I didn’t build up the fundamentals and was never sure if I was right or wrong until I got the quiz back.

All this time, I’ve thought I was simply a moron. This is perhaps why I had very little interest in college. 

If you’ve got kids, I beg you. Answer their questions about their homework in a simple straight line fashion. They don’t need to know about all the ways a problem can be solved, binary theory, or the history of the planet, if they’re asking about (a+b)-a*b.

Just a thought.

At the moment they’re at a doctors appointment. I’ve turned off the TV, am doing my laundry, have taken out the trash, and cleaned the place up a bit. I’ve caught up on e-mail,, text messages, and calculated the costs of my trip out here. It’s amazing what I can accomplish if I’m able to hear myself think.

My parents aren’t bad people, they’re just oblivious. My stepfather is a good guy but very self involved. Everything always has to circle back to him and something he’s done or seen.

So everyone in his sphere is minimized and he’s always the most experienced, most intelligent, most wonderful person in the room.

That’s not really good for children who are trying to build a sense of self worth. Sometimes parents need to step back and just acknowledge their children’s accomplishments without comparing them to their own personal accomplishments. Unfortunately that’s now how I was raised when my stepfather came into the picture.

My sister, and my deceased brother who lived in this house much longer than I did are, (or were,) damaged in similar ways.

Like me, my sister has worked very hard at developing her own sense of self and value. I don’t think my deceased brother ever did. I think he might have tried to fill the hole in his heart with sex, (I still don’t know how many times he was married,) I suspect that part of his fantasy world, and substance abuse may have been him self medicating. I don’t know, we didn’t talk and had very little contact through the years.

When they get back, I’ll not be able to write because as soon as I start writing one or both of my parents will want to have a conversation. That’s reasonable since I’m here for a visit. The problem is that it’s kind of the same conversation over and over again.

I’ll hang out until Halloween because it’s one of the holidays that my mom likes, and it will lend itself to family time, the day after halloween I’m probably going to bail. A week of this is enough and I’d like to see my brother in Northern Florida. I can spend a couple of days with him and be in a more normal environment. Then I need to get back to California before Winter really hits.

There’s so much I haven’t gotten done around the house this year. Maybe I’ll be able to do some of those chores before it gets too cold to do them. Then again, maybe we’ll have a warmer year this Winter. 

Guess that’s one of the perks of Climate Change…

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Planning Some Travel

Finally I’m moving toward taking a long overdue trip.

I’ve been holding off for a lot of reasons. Excessive heat across the country, the activation of the solar panels on the roof, other little projects and my knees are only now getting to the point that they’re not swollen at the end of the day.

I wasn’t looking forward to wandering through an airport (or airports) at random, as flights were subject to cancellation. I don’t like being bounced all over the country when I expected travel time to take 10 hours.

Even driving daily short distances was a problem.

Everything is finally healing and I could probably deal with either mode of transportation now. I’m probably going to drive it so I can have some time to myself and see the beauty of the country.

While it will take about $90 in gas to get the hell out of California. Once I get to the border the cost for gas will drop by at least half. I think the car would do well having several tanks of gas run through it. It would flush out old stale gas out of the tank and the injectors. There are some states where 93 Octane is easy to come by, my car really likes high octane fuel.

If I driving, I’m going to choose a more northerly route in hope of seeing some fall colors.