Friday Futurecast: Islands

Posted on August 10, 2018 by Linda Andrews

Sometimes, it takes a sarcastic comment to really drive an idea home.

A coworker of mine tried to introduce panic into a roomful of scientists by commenting on the current ‘Strawmaggedeon’ in California. Only a complete and utter moron would think all straws are banned in the state. (it is only plastic straws; you can get paper straws, should you be so inclined. It’s not a big price to pay to save some aquatic life and might help to shrink the size of the floating garbage in the Pacific.

Which leads to the sarcastic comment (Sadly, not made by me). Another coworker said we should plant our flag on the garbage heap and colonize it.

Naturally, my brain squirrelled and thought of those floating cities (Like in Stargate Atlantis). Why can’t we have floating cities?

With rising ocean temperatures and flooding of low-lying islands, wouldn’t this be a great solution at least as far as humankind was concerned?

And better yet, if you didn’t want to be part of the tyranny of the people, just break away from the mainland and drift away. Sorry, I couldn’t help it.

Until next time!

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The Fear is Real

Posted on August 8, 2018 by Linda Andrews

In Phoenix, we are in the midst of the monsoon season. Twice a year, winter and late summer, we get our annual rainfall. The last few monsoons have been lamentably dry but this summer we are getting rain.

Rain is wonderful.

Okay, there isn’t as much rain as I’d like (I don’t think there ever will be unless that whole 40 days/40 nights thing comes back:)). But there is rain. Glorious rain, that I go out and stand in whenever I can.

It is awesome.

Which leads me back to fear. Our Arizona heat is hell on windshield wipers. It warps and twists them, rots them where they sit until the blessed moment when the raindrops hit the glass and changes all that dust to mud.

Then the wipers smear it around until there’s only that one narrow strip that allows me to see where I’m driving.

So I need to replace the wipers. I know it; now you know it.

But I fear if I buy new wipers then the rain will stop, the wipers will rot, and I will not get to stand in the rain until winter.

Alas I’ve come to the conclusion that I must value my life more than the rain.

This weekend, I will go to the store and if there are any wipers for my truck I will buy one, maybe even two.

I just hope the forecast for days of rain comes true. LOL.

Until next time.

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Fire and Water

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Linda Andrews

The saga continues…

So we looked up on Wikihow for directions to change the burned out bulb in out spa. Hmmm.

We ignored them. Mostly.

And it was a good thing we did because the extra cord in the spa that was supposed to allow the light to rest on the cooldeck was short and we could only rest the light on the seat of the spa.

Electrocution wasn’t on my to do list.

So, I spent Friday with trips to HoDes finding a way to block water from filling the spa from our pool. Which I was mostly successful.

I was also successful at striping the corroded screws so the hubbinator drilled out 2 when he came home from work.

Which led us to the biggest problem of all. Seems the light didn’t burn out. It burned. The light was black and covered with soot. The glass cover was black and covered with soot. The interior of the light housing was black and covered with soot.

Which meant we had to pull the cord that ran from the spa underground to the power supply. But that sucker was stuck like Pooh leaving Rabbits house after binging on honey. Thankfully the guy at the pool repair shop recommended dish washing detergent as a lubricant.

Worked like a charm.

After 2 days and 114F weather, we managed to get the light installed, the spa filled, then as darkness fell, we tested it. Success.

Sadly, I forgot to turn the pool to recirculation and ended up draining about 1/3 of it overnight. Ah well, I’ll take our successes where I find them.

Until next time.

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When One Becomes Two

Posted on August 3, 2018 by Linda Andrews

We went on vacation last week, and, apparently, the house is jealous of us spending money on ourselves. Which means: something had to break.

In this case, we thought it was the pool pump that went bad. It happens. Around here, it happens every three years or so. We expect it.

And we expect it when a storm blows in turning the pool to mud on the bottom and clogging the lines with leaves.

But this time was a little different. I could get the pump to start after flicking the on/off switch a few times. Which I did while I was out vacuuming the pool, emptying the skimmer basket, and backwashing after Monday night’s storm. Since it was 430 in the morning, I had the pool lights and the backyard floodlights on.

Then a strange thing happened. The lights went out.

And the next time I turned on the pool pump, I got a nice spark across the plastic cover.

Hmmm. I turned off the power to the pool and went to work, planning to inspect the lights, when I had light to see.

My daughter texted me that she had no power in the bedroom. Now, we have been getting rolling blackouts and the next text said it was back on, I didn’t really think much of it.

Until I got home and the weather cooled down enough for me to go outside without electrocuting myself courtesy of my own sweat. I double checked that the power was out then inspected the wiring of the pump. One line was charred and looked like it had worked loose. I clipped it, re-stripped it, and tightened it into place.

The pump came on with no problems.

Then I checked the connections for the lights. Nothing loose. So we tested them again.

This is where the hubbinator noticed bubbles coming from the light in the spa. Electricity and water were mixing and not in a good way. And guess what, it tripped the breaker that powers my daughter’s room.

Currently, the spa is being drained of water and because it is attached to the pool, so is the pool. I’ll be looking for a closed eyeball when I go to the pool shop today.

I’m still not sure if the pump is good, but it is running.

So, I’m gonna focus on repairing that light. Wish me luck!

Until next time.

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Travels through Colorado

Posted on August 1, 2018 by Linda Andrews

Last week, we drove up the center of Colorado on the way to Denver.

It was a beautiful drive, but sadly many of the pine trees were killed by the bark beetle. In some placed whole mountains were covered in brown pine trees.

My sister said that unless there is a significant freeze for several years, Colorado will lose most of its pines.

It’s really hard to picture such devastation when you’re surrounded by pristine mountains.

But then we went boating on Lake Dillion.

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Those polka dots are pyres of felled trees, infested with the bark beetle. And there are hills just like this all over the area.

Until next time.

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It’s that time of year

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Linda Andrews

Back to school shopping.

I know I don’t have school-age children but this is the time when I buy all my multi-colored pens for editing. Yes, I do at least 2 edits on paper.

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The purple ones are used first, then I surprise myself and pick them up randomly.

This year, I also picked up the composition notebooks but got clever. Instead of looking for those paper covers that we used for our textbooks (it is very important to tell which book has your notes in a series at a glance instead of having to thumb through them all to find the stupid book), I chose different colored books.

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And following the hubbinator’s rules, since everything was on sale, I picked up a couple of duplicate pens.

All in all, a very good day.

Until next time!

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Speak up

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Linda Andrews

Like many people, I have my phone synced to my husband’s car. Primarily this is to listen to the music I like while driving.

But, it also comes in handy when using the gps/google maps app on my iPhone to navigate to strange places.

Which is cool, but not without its hang ups.

For instance, if I turn off the music either on my iTunes app or via the radio, no navigational commands come in.

But what is worse is that the music will be loud but Siri will speak softly. Nothing like two folks in the car asking each other what was that? Yes, we can look at the phone with its arrows and diagrams (no 8×10 glossy with a paragraph on the back tho), but doesn’t that defeat the purpose.

Ah, well. Maybe the great gurus of the internet will be able to solve our problem.

Until next time!

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Great Expectations

Posted on July 23, 2018 by Linda Andrews

I watched 2 pieces on Netflix the other day. One was a short, part of a Halloween series, dedicated to the horror genre. The other was a murder mystery set in Victorian London about a serial killer and the marginalized detective out to find the killer.

We watched the Halloween series first and in it, truly for the first episode, I was watching and thinking how like the others in its genre it was. Which isn’t bad. In many ways an entertainment is always about delivering to expectations. But somewhere along the way, there was that inkling in your head that something isn’t quite as it seems. And the feeling intensified, until you realized the victim wasn’t the victim but the hunter.

It was brilliant really, until I realized that kinda set the theme for all the episodes, then the novelty wore off.

The second mystery was very good as well. It starts mid murder spree and the switching of an up and coming for a side-lined detective, one who can be sacrificed on the altar of public opinion when the murders fail to be solved. It just so happens that one of the suspects has recently been poisoned by his wife (who is currently on trial for her life). The detective is sure to save her, if only he can determine that he husband was the killer and she poisoned him to save her life. All clues point to this, and more. But then there’s a twist, and it is revealed that she isn’t a lamb about to go meekly to the slaughter.

I loved it. The hubbinator hated it.

Which just goes to show you can please all of the people all of the time:D

Until next time.

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Friday Futurecast: Human Labor, part 2

Posted on July 20, 2018 by Linda Andrews

Last week, I talked about the machines taking over and humans being paid to keep out of business. This week is the other side of that coin.

I’m talking microbusiness. Each business in a community supports that community. No more big box stores but small mom and pop shops, where items at the hardware store can be printed on a 3-D printer. Raw materials will be available globally at the same price big business is now able to purchase items to enable capitalism to work its magic around the globe.

All foodstuffs will be locally sourced from nearby farms and prepared by onsite cooks/chefs, possibly ending the obesity crisis in children. Internet markets could sell or trade commodities, ie oranges in Arizona could be swapped for peaches from Georgia.

Manufacturing, when it happens, will be company owned by the workers, with open sales and competition on the internet. Technology would be introduced at the will and option of the owner/workers, not just managers whose pay is a multiple of the bottom line.

Arts and crafts will be taught and encouraged (the Craftsman bungalows were the inspiration to this way of thinking and a response to mass production). Internet sales will play a key role and keep competition healthy, but with owners and employees working, living, and playing side by side, all would have a vested interest in keeping the company solvent and competitive.

In other words, we’re going back to the early 1900s when communities were reasonably self-sufficient. This would have the bonus effect of limiting the fall out of natural disasters and increase the resiliency of our cities and towns and nation.

Until next time.

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Heading out

Posted on July 18, 2018 by Linda Andrews

I’m never sure if preparing for a vacation or returning from a vacation, makes work seem like so much work.

There is the anticipation of the vacation when I am master of my time. And let’s not rule out sleep.

That no one gets during the normal work routine. Not with time spent on weekends catching up with all the items that keep the household running.

But then there is the downside. You’ve had a vacation. You were your own master. And now you’re back in the yoke, accountable for the time spent on each project.

Both before and after suck.

But not enough to give up vacations.

Until next time

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