November 2019 -

This just in: In an almost punitive move, PG&E has taken to cutting off power when it gets windy. They blame powerlines being blown down as the cause of fires. No one disputes this. Just as no one disputes that PG&E has spent decades not spending to fix this problem.

A couple of weeks ago, PG&E gave us 24 hours notice that they would be shutting off our power. Somehow, this failed to register as a big deal with me. After all, my neighborhood would lose power about once a year for about 2 to 10 hours. A mild inconvenience at worst.

This was different.

First of all, the timing was surprisingly bad. We knew the power would go out at night. What we didn’t know is that the power would go out while our beds were up in the sitting position as we watched TV. Yes, we have these beds that move your back or legs up as desired. We were in a full sitting position when everything went dark. “No problem,” we thought as we reached for the electric control to lower our bed.

That was the moment when we discovered that our bed would be sofa-shaped until power was restored.

The next morning we discovered that our electric oven wouldn’t be working any time soon. The outage was scheduled to last for several days.

My refrigerator and freezer, upon discovering that power was gone, immediately began to generate heat. It was like appliance revenge. “This will teach you to not appreciate us.”

We couldn’t cook. All of our food went bad.

Two things that made this even worse: (1) It was going to last for days and (2) Power was out everywhere.

If I wanted a cup of coffee, I would have to drive 20 minutes into San Francisco where they had power. I went to the local Safeway and found it looked like something out of a movie. The store was open but the lights were out. Everything that required refrigeration was off the shelves. Dry goods were going fast. I wanted some instant coffee but that shelf was empty.

So…how did I survive?

Step one. I ordered a jar of instant coffee from Amazon and it showed up the next day.

Step two. I broke out my camping stove and did all of my cooking on that. This actually worked out quite well as I have a good stove and lots of propane.

Step three. I ran an electric cord from my car’s A/C outlet down to my bed (about a mile away) and used that power to put my bed back into a “bed” position.

Step four. I then used my car A/C to charge a powerstrip which powered all of our computers and phones.

So I survived, just short of resorting to cannibalism.

These power outages will continue into the future. It will take PG&E forever to fix their powerline situation.

My plan is as follows: (1) Get a home battery that will be used to keep our refrigerators and freezers cool. (2) Solar panels to power the house and recharge the battery. Estimated cost: $30K.

Not cheap but it will eventually pay for itself and increase my home’s value. And most importantly, it will protect me from the inevitable rise in power costs and PG&E funds the much-needed work ahead.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim

This just in: I’ve been quiet for some time now as this season of Trump plays out. However, I need to let off just a bit of steam.

Let’s ignore that Trump says, “You can grab them by the pussy if you’re famous.”

Let’s ignore Trump trashing a Gold Star Family.

Let’s ignore Trump saying, “I like soldiers that weren’t captured.”

Let’s ignore the affairs and the payoffs.

Let’s ignore the “I love Putin” behaviors.

Let’s ignore that daily lies.

Let’s ignore the complete ignorance of how an economy works.

Let’s ignore the breaking of treaties and the damage done to NATO.

Let’s ignore the abandonment of the Kurds to Turkey’s genocidal mercenaries.

Let’s ignore the increased nuclear threat of North Korea and Iran.

Let’s ignore the corruption and the imprisonment of nearly everyone associated with this administration.

Let’s just focus on the latest scandal. The scandal that says the president of the United States withheld desperately needed arms and funds from Ukraine unless they would help smear a political rival.

This started with a whistleblower; a person of no further relevance since everything this person said happened has been verified by several other sources with not a single source denying the claims. Yet….the Republican Party wants to “out” this person in clear violation of Whistleblower laws. There are two reasons for this. The first is a Distraction. They want you to focus on this one person and ignore all of those that followed. The second is Witness Intimidation. The Republican Party wants to send the message that if you defend the Consitution of the United States against this president, you will be put in danger.

Think of the whistleblower issue this way: A person sees a bank robbery in process and calls the police. The robber is caught red-handed. There are videos and witnesses. In comes the defense for the robber. This defender says, “You can’t convict my client because he can’t see the person that called in the crime.” This is the Republican stance.

So we started with a whistleblower and the Republicans screams, “Rumors! Hearsay! No proof of Quid-Pro-Quo (Latin for extortion and bribery)”

Then we got first-hand testimony. That got rid of the “hearsay” but still no quid-pro-quo.

Then we got the quid-pro-quo and the Republican defense became, “Well, he did try to do this but he never actually pulled it off because Ukraine got its support.” This is like saying “attempted murder” is not a crime.

Republicans cried about closed hearing; a process that was created by Republicans in the first place. When the hearings became public, they complained that it was a big show.

Republicans complain that the witnesses are not involved “directly enough” to count. When the Democrats try to get testimony from those that are directly involved, the Republicans defy the subpoenas.

Republicans have ridiculed military service members and career diplomats. Their strong arguments include “He was wearing a bowtie” and “He looks like a nerd.”

I watch all of this and ask myself “Why?” Why would anyone act like this? Why is the defense of Trump so strong, even in the face of overwhelming evidence that he is guilty?

The answer is fairly simple: Trump is offering his base and the Republican Party exactly what they want…

They want a White and Christian America.

Keep that last line in your mind any time you question the behavior of a Republican and it will always explain their actions.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim

Monthly Archives: November 2019

Power Outages

Lowering The Bar