Wingsuits Off Everest

This has to be one of those must watch events. CNN reports a guy plans to jump of the top of Mt. Everest in a wing suit. If you haven't seen those wing suits, they basically turn a person into a super fast glider. I don't see how he can make it, but I'll be watching. 

We watched a show on TV a while back about wing suits. Guys would jump from high cliffs and go flying down to lower elevations really fast- about 150mph. Awesome footage from their helmet cams. I don't have the guts to do it but it must be quite a thrill for those that do.

One of the guys featured on the show ended up getting killed later on. Ran into a tree or something. They didn't show that one.

Fukushima Science Denial?

The San Jose Mercury News reports on a couple prominent scientists who say radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown will likely be little, if any, threat to those of us on the west coast. 

As should be expected nowadays, the first comment to the story is from someone claiming the scientists are wrong, if not lying, and that one is just a shill for the nuclear industry. Where have we heard that sort of thing before? In this case, who is being the denier?

In fairness to that commentator, if the radiation were a deathly threat to the entire coast, what would we likely be hearing from the powers- that- be? Perhaps the same thing we're already being told?

North Coast Travelogue: 2/23- 2/24

Headed down to UCSF Sunday. We started on a different route than usual. Instead of going down Henderson to Broadway and then to 101, we went up F Street to Herrick Avenue. I thought it might be quicker. It didn't seem quicker. Anyone ever note the time or distance difference between those two routes?

I was actually surprised the rivers were as high as they were despite the recent rains. We even saw some boats on the Eel River. Still, getting to Southern Humboldt and Mendocino, it was sad to see so much brown. There was a bit of green, but the grass that was growing was awfully short. In patches, too. How can that be? It would be all brown but for a few patches here and there of green. Weird, but sad and scary.

I'd noticed right after we left Eureka that my Air didn't seem to be working right. It seemed a bit warm. I've only used the truck's air conditioner once. I usually just turn the dial on the dashboard button to Air and that's more than enough, even when the outside temperature is in the hundreds. This time it didn't seem cool and refreshing. It felt weak and almost warm. I thought at first it was just me.

I think it was around Laytonville I decided it was getting uncomfortably warm so switched to A/C- the air conditioner. That didn't seem to do any good, either. I mentioned to the wife something seemed to be wrong with the air conditioner. Maybe it lost it's coolant?

As we got into Willits and pulled into the Taco Bell, we heard this buzzing, whirling type sound, as if some pump turned on. I figured it had something to do with the A/C problem since the sound came from behind the glove box where I believe the air conditioner is. When we got out of the truck I noticed there was no pool of water forming under the truck as usually happens when we stop. That's from water condensing under the cooling coils of the air conditioner. Yep, I think the coolant leaked out.

So we drive the rest of the way with just Air on and it just isn't doing it. I was more uncomfortable than Connie, at first. I like to feel air flowing around me. It seemed to get worse when the sun was really blasting us. As we approached San Rafeel, Connie said she was getting a bit warm. Just have to suffer through it. At least it didn't seem to affect the mechanical operation of the truck.

We ended up buying dinner at the Willits Taco Bell rather than do the San Rafael A & W Root Beer. Good decision. Those 7 Layer Burritos really hit the spot. I wouldn't have been as happy with the skimpy A & W burgers and fries.

Later in the evening we thought about maybe having pizza delivered to our room at the Villa Inn next time. We'd never tried that in San Rafael. We checked the phone book and online and it looked like there were a number of places to order from, unlike Novato, where we used to stay. Some were a bit pricey, but Extreme Pizza caught my eye. Maybe we'll try that next time?

Speaking of internet, I don't know if it was my laptop or the WiFi connection at the Villa Inn. What a pain! It seemed to work well for the first hour or so. After that, it took minutes just to check a page. Then it just seemed to freeze up completely. I kept getting a message that some script wasn't running right. 

Next morning it seemed even worse, at least after I got through entering my sweeps. Then it would stall for five or ten minutes on one page. I finally gave up.

Got to  UCSF a bit earlier than usual- a good thing. Parking was fairly tight already, at least for the bigger vehicles. If we had a smaller car we we'd have more spaces available. As it was we found a decent spot. Always a worry for me, and a relief once we've parked.

Being early, we had a little more time to kill than usual so I went out to the truck and brought the laptop inside. I'd e-mailed Antich Automotive the night before asking for a ballpark figure on what it would cost to recharge the cooling system on my truck. I was hoping for a reply (never got one). 

Didn't work. The laptop actually seemed to be working fairly quick compared to earlier in the day, but I couldn't even come close to logging in to the UCSF WiFi. Hate their system, but whatever the problem was, I couldn't log in. The laptop radio showed I was connected  with a good signal. I just couldn't get online to log in. Waste of time.

Got out from the doctor appointment late. To add insult to injury we ran into a traffic jam shortly after getting off the Golden Gate Bridge. Probably didn't hold us back as much as it felt like but, since we were running late anyway, that was a bummer.

I wasn't looking forward to spending five hours or more in a truck with no air, but what else could we do? I ended up just cracking my window a bit. Wasn't really that bad, except the noise of the air and traffic was tiresome. Couldn't hear the radio very well, either.

So glad to get to Cloverdale. That's kind of a sign for me that we're out of Shitsville. Went to the Shell station in South Cloverdale and bought some drinks and food. I'm getting to like that place, but a little pricier than if we'd just bought dinner at the Willits Taco Bell.

Refilled with gas at Brown's at the south end of Willits. I'm tired of the Willits Safeway hassle. Prices are usually pretty close. I noticed as we drove by Safeway that the Arco station across the street seemed to have Safeway's prices beat. I believe they have last two times we went through there. Maybe we'll try that place next time?

We get to Eureka and the fog kicks in bit. Even before the fog kicked in the windshield started steaming up. I was thinking of trying the defroster. I'm not sure how much the defroster has to do with the air conditioner. I didn't want to make things worse, assuming running the A/C could make things worse. 

We really didn't have much choice so I turned on the defroster. I was surprised that I could feel the air coming back on me. I told Connie maybe we should have turned it on earlier when the Air wasn't working well. 

Then we hit fog and I had to turn on the wipers. Problem with that is my truck's wipers are almost worse than the problem as they streak so much. A real pain and, yes, I have replaced them a number of times. Got hard to see, but we made it into Eureka and the windshield seemed to clear up as we got into town.

Then a funny thing happened; As we're on Harris Street and stop at a light Connie says she hears the noise again- that buzzing motor type sound. Yep, I hear it, too. I was hoping the defroster wouldn't cause that same noise. Then, as we turn on E Street, we hear it again. We hear it 3 or 4 times. Then I realize the noise starts whenever I press the brake pedal. When we heard it in Willits I was breaking, too.

Hmmm??? I thought it was the air conditioner. Apparently pressing the brakes does something. I'll have to ask about that when I take it into the shop. The brakes seem to be working fine, but maybe something about the way the brakes work affects the air or fans running? Didn't hear the noise when the fans weren't running.

Oh, well. We made it back. If only there was an easier way to do this.

Dash Cams Are Good

Been out of town and the laptop was geeking out on me. That's why no posts for a day or so.

Reason magazine has a brief mention of a guy cleared by a police dash cam. He was facing 5 years in the slammer. Turns out the cops who stopped him weren't quite truthful but another police car recorded enough stuff to clear the guy and get the cops in trouble. 

Details are sketchy, which doesn't make me happy. I'd like to see the video that cleared him as I've often taken issue with others over how they interpret police videos. Regardless, the bottom line is videos can both help or hurt the police. That's why they're a good thing.

Flu Numbers Misleading?

The Sacramento Bee reports on more deaths from flu in the state. I've often wondered if the numbers are being hyped or taken out of context? Steve Murphy, over at Liberty Unbound, has crunched some of the numbers to show many reported flu deaths aren't from flu at all and actual deaths from flu might be considerably lower than reported.

Majority of Americans Conservative?

A recent Gallup Poll shows more Americans identified themselves as conservative than liberal in 2013. Of course, there are some states that are more liberal or conservative than others. 

I find the poll rather shallow. It's too general. It doesn't account for conservatives or liberals that might actually be more authoritarian or libertarian than the blanket conservative or liberal labels suggest.

Chiv And Lovelace

I generally avoid getting involved in the county General Plan Update, but I was amused at John Chiv's rather mellow slapdown of supervisor Mark Lovelace over the recent GPU back and forth.

Libertarians Edge Out Greens In CA

Richard Winger reports via the Ballot Access News that the Libertarian Party has the Green Party beat in statewide voter registration rolls for the first time in recent memory- .64% to .62%. Not great, but still not bad for a party few pay attention to:

"Among the parties that were qualified during 2013, the new percentages for each are: Democratic 43.58%, Republican 28.73%, American Independent 2.66%, Libertarian .64%, Green .62%, Peace & Freedom .43%, Americans Elect .0197%."

The Libertarian Party of California seems to be almost crowing about this in their most recent mailing. I'd suggest the gains might have been made in spite of LP of CA rather than because of it. I don't recall the party ever getting involved in voter registration drives.

They're saying next goal should be to beat the American Independent Party. A worthwhile effort but much easier said than done. The conventional wisdom is many, if not most, AIP voters think they're registering as independents, which isn't the case. I don't see that as likely to change.

Transparency & Paranoia

The Daily Caller reports the Obama Administration will no longer release information on drone strikes, at least to the public. I'm sure there are some that think they should never have released such information in the first place.

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Writers and readers at the Huffington Post seem to be poking fun at Fox News' Megan Kelly for her concerns about having government "researchers" inside news rooms determining whether news is biased. I only saw one comment that got it right: Many, if not most, of those ridiculing Kelly would be screaming bloody murder if it was the Bush Administration proposing the same thing.

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Reason magazine's Damon Root takes a look at yet another writer upset about "paranoid libertarians". Call me paranoid but I certainly am a bit frightened, especially of those who keep telling us that government power is nothing to worry about.

Suzanna From *******

Sunanna asked me to pull her plug. Apparently such things are against her company's policy and it could get her in trouble, or so she told me, anyway.

The Freddy Going Down In Flames over Prayers?

The Times- Standard reports this morning on the lawsuit over Eureka City Council's prayer policies. Looks like I might end up being a double loser in this one.

The court already ruled in December that there wasn't a problem with religious invocations during city council meetings. I agree precedent supports such prayer. I just find them annoying and would like to see them done away with- sectarian, or not. So much for that, unless the next mayor changes policy.

Next is the attack on the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast. I support the Mayor's privilege to hold or attend pretty much any event chooses. Looks like they're working on an out of court settlement. I'll probably end up losing on that one, too.

I'm used to losing and wouldn't mind losing one or the other, just not both.

Ruth Lake at 71% of Normal

The Mad River Union reports the recent rains brought Ruth Lake up to 71% of normal. Good news, but I don't think forecasts for rain today and tonight will amount to much. Doppler radar shows only a few sprinkles in the area right now.

Old Hardware Store in Henderson Center

Not sure if it will do any good asking this here because even the wife can't remember and she's lived here her whole life:

I'm trying to remember what hardware store used to be on F Street in Henderson Center back in the late 70s? As I recall it used to be on the west side of F Street between Grotto and Harris Streets and took up 3 or 4 of the current business spaces there. Right about where the Bank of America branch is now.

I was thinking it was Ace Hardware, but maybe not. Connie suggested maybe it was Kress, or some such, but I don't recall a Kress in Henderson Center. Maybe it was?

Reason for wondering is I got to thinking of the first vacuum cleaner I ever had, which I believe I bought there. Problem is, I don't know that Ace Hardware ever sold vacuum cleaners. I also bought a bb gun there. I still have both the gun and the vacuum cleaner. 

The vacuum is a Eureka canister vac. Great little machine. I'm wondering if I can still get bags for it. I bought it as a result of my maggot attack emergency back around 78 or 79. Feel free to ask if you want to hear that story.

Eureka Seniors Downtrodden?

Pretty shameless guest opinion in the Times- Standard this morning from a gal(?) who doesn't think she gets the right kind government assistance. She complains about living in public housing and of landlords not accepting her because she's with Section 8. Not sure of the specifics of Section 8, but it's some government housing assistance thing.

She never mentions MediCare, social security, the Senior Center, Meals on Wheels or any of the other things old folks get. I'd suggest to her she not be looking gift horses in the mouth. I've used various forms of government assistance in my life, too. I don't believe I've ever complained because I didn't get enough.

Also, for what it's worth, pretty much all the seniors I know, maybe even myself(?), seem to be doing ok.

Yet Another Paywall

Damn it all! I just noticed yesterday that my  favorite blogger of all,  Radley Balko, is now behind a paywall. I recently announced here that he was now blogging via the Washington Post. I was in seventh heaven. Then the other day I couldn't get to any of the links he posted. Took me a few tries to realize there was a message saying I'd used up my free views and had to pay to continue.

I don't know how many free views I'm supposed to get, or when I can start over again. Balko, or not, I'm not going to pay $14.95 for yet another online subscription. Not unless I cancel all my other ones.

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Speaking of digital subscriptions, I'd advise staying away from the San Diego Union- Tribune. Some of you might recall I bit the bullet and subscribed to it so I could read another one of my favorite writer's (Steve Greenhut) stuff. I made the mistake of thinking the $3.95 was the full cost when it was just an introductory rate. The regular rate is $13.95- more than I was willing to pay.

Nothing but trouble with their site. The main thing was they wouldn't let me read but one or two articles despite the upper corner of the page saying I was logged in. It kept sending me to the Subscribe/ Login page. I'd try to log in again and it said I was already logged in!

I e-mailed them once and they told me to keep trying. It didn't work so after another e-mail or two I called them on the phone asking them to cancel my subscription. The gal said she cancelled it yet a week or so later I see my credit card billed again. 

I go back and forth with e-mails again. One reply told me they really didn't want to lose me and to try a certain login. I didn't even have to try that login. All of the sudden I could access all the stories... for about six days. Now I'm getting sent to the Subscribe page again.

I finally sent another e-mail once again explaining the whole situation, saying enough is enough. Please cancel my account. I never received a reply. I'm waiting to see if I get charged again.

New Death Penalty Initiative

The Times- Standard reports on a new death penalty initiative being proposed for circulation. This one will speed up the appeals process for death penalty cases. I doubt I'll be signing it.

I'm generally opposed to the death penalty, but you won't find me out in front of San Quentin protesting planned executions. I think some death penalty cases are richly deserved. I'm just not sure I trust our government and justice system to apply it properly, never mind the idea of an innocent man being convicted.

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I've wrote before here I wonder whether confessing to the crime in question beforehand should be considered as grounds for dropping the death penalty? Take Richard Allen Davis- The guy who confessed to killing Polly Klass. He admitted to it earlier on and probably saved us all kinds of money and process by doing so. Why not just give him life since he fessed up to it?

Then there's Gary Lee Bullock, the guy accused of killing Rev. Eric Freed. They're considering the death penalty for him. The guy's goose is cooked as the evidence seems overwhelming that he did it, or was at least involved. Yet he's pleading Not Guilty at this point in time. If he fesses up and saves us a lot of trouble, I'm not averse to dropping the death penalty in his case, either.

Ed Snowden Clemency Petition

Ron Paul has started a clemency petition for NSA whistle blower Ed Snowden.

Addendum: I just noticed there's a White House petition available for Snowden clemency. It already has over 100k signatures but no harm in having more.

Not For Public View

I agree with this cute list of ten things not to do in public. The one that really gets me is #9: Making a scene. Not that I ever do it, or has anyone done it to me. I'll just never understand those that get into shouting matches in public. I've seen it happen on the sidewalk by our house every now and again. I just don't get that.

Need We Conserve Water Here?

The Times- Standard looked at Humboldt County's water use yesterday. We use less water than most areas of the state but some want us to work harder on conservation efforts. I'm wondering how necessary that really is, at least for those of us getting water from the Mad River via Ruth Lake?

I know. I know. Heresy, but hear me out.

We don't get our water directly from Ruth Lake. In other words, we don't suck our water directly from the bottom of Ruth Lake. We get our water from wells beneath the Mad River near Blue Lake. Ruth Lake loses water by releasing it to the Mad River. We get some of it way downstream. The vast majority flows into the ocean.

We might get our water from beneath the Mad River but, even if we took it from the river itself, it's going to go into the ocean anyway. Once it's in the ocean it's of essentially no use to us until it comes back in the form of rain. We might as well take it while we can.

A couple things might muddle up my suggestion/ question: 

Is the aquifer we pump water from beneath the Mad River just a sitting body of water that's fed by the Mad River? If so, I suppose conservation would still be warranted since it would essentially be a limited amount of water. But that might not be an issue until the river itself actually ran dry and couldn't feed the aquifer anymore.

If those sand beds beneath the river are pretty much an underground river that goes to the ocean just as the surface Mad River does, it's also going to flow to the ocean anyway. It shouldn't matter how much we use. It might well go dry even if we don't pump water from it.

Another thing: I'm not sure if the water district releases water from Ruth Lake to compensate for low flows, as is done on other rivers with dams. I suppose if water being pumped from the sand beds causes lower flows (does it?) then it could be argued we'd be increasing the drain on Ruth Lake by taking more water from the river thus requiring them to release more. 

If there's minimal or no effect on river levels from us pumping water out of the sand beds, then how much we use doesn't matter. Same as if the aquifer water runs out to the Mad River. Use it or lose it.

Of course, there's also the fish in the river, but they've survived throughout the millenia with probably longer droughts than we're having now and they didn't have us to worry about them or Ruth Lake to ensure adequate flows.

I suppose it would make more sense to just call the water district and see if they can answer my questions.

Shirley Temple, RIP

Child actress and U.S. Diplomat, Shirley Temple, died last knight. Awwww...what a shame. Who couldn't love Shirley Temple?

Who wants to bet at least one television network will start a Shirley Temple movie marathon within the next day or so? Will you watch it?

Skeptics vs. Believers

Nope. I'm not referring to global warming here. I've been going back and forth on the CNN web site with others for days over the story of that guy that supposedly spent 13 months at sea, showing up a bit over a week ago in the Marshall Islands.

I'll certainly concede he might well have done what he claims. There is evidence that supports his story. I"m also very skeptical if only because of his appearance. I've looked worse after a day at the beach. He should have open sores covered with bandages from sun damage for one thing.

Some believers have said he was probably naturally light skinned and that accounts for his light skin color. Sorry. If he was light skinned he'd probably be in even worse shape. Don't light skinned folks get sunburned faster than dark skinned folks?

A couple of other commentators pointed out he had a cabin on his boat to protect him from the sun. If so, he'd still have to spend a substantial amount of time outside the cabin searching for food,

Then yesterday some commented he was in an open boat, without a cabin. Yet today I hear someone still saying he had a cabin. The picture on the left was taken from the CNN web site and is supposedly the boat he survived in. No cabin, but from the markings that can be seen it seems to be from a spanish country.

No biggie. I'm fascinated by such stories, but still skeptical. What does bother me a bit are those that seem to take everything they read in the news at face value.

Our Daily Water Usage

Just got my water bill from January so decided to check what our daily usage was as I alluded to in an earlier post. Unless I'm getting it wrong, my figures show 49 gallons per day on average. Not bad. I just called City of Eureka Water to confirm my figures but got an answering machine. That pissed me off until I realized today is Saturday. 

So here's how I calculated it: It says they recorded 200 cubic feet on the meter last month. I cubic foot equals 7.48 gallons of water, so 200 x 7.48 equals 1496 gallons. Divide total gallons by 31- the number of days in January- and it comes to 48.26 gallons, assuming I'm doing it right. 

Ooops! just noticed they say on the bill how many days they're billing for and it's 33 days instead of 31. So, that comes to only 45.3 gallons. Hard to believe we only use 1496 gallons a month, but when I think of it by day I could see it. Of course, in the summer, depending on how much water goes to the garden, we'll use more.

How much do you folks use?

Nationwide Pot Law Round Up

Reason magazine takes a look at marijuana law status and proposed changes across the country.

Our America Initiative Seeks Volunteers

Our America Initiative is seeking volunteers to help build their local infrastructure. You can learn more about them and add your name to their list here. As their web page says, the organization's purpose is simple, albeit not very specific:

"To redefine the liberty movement in America. We aim to restore human respect, personal liberty and economic freedom as the true American values, to coexist as individuals who respect the sanctity of all persons, and to foster an environment that allows each person to pursue his or her individual dreams and happiness without the burdens of bureaucratic dictates".

I'll probably add my name soon. The main thing holding me back is I don't like the name- Our America. I hate those populist, airhead, generic names. Just like that one they had for Gary Johnson- the organization's "Honorary Chairman"- when he ran for president last time: The People's President. I hated that.

Yet another group trying to restore liberty to the country. I'll likely join one of these days. Anybody want to beat me to it?

Maggie Fleming Campaign Site

I see district attorney candidate, Maggie Fleming, has her campaign web site up and running now.

Our Totalitarian State

I almost always enjoy hearing from former Governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura. What I found most entertaining in this Politico article about him was the following comment made after some back and forth over what kind of country we live in:

"Communism, Fascism - same thing. It's totalitarianism no matter how you slice it.
There are two political philosophies to pick from - freedom and tyranny. America started out with the intent to adopt freedom, but since FDR we have decided tyranny is better.
Hope you all enjoy it."

That comment had 284 up votes, and 10 down votes last I checked. That's good news.

Humboldt Deputies Back Fleming

John Chiv reports the Humboldt Deputy Sheriff's Organization has endorsed Humboldt County district attorney candidate, Maggie Fleming. If true, that's a biggie. Endorsements from law enforcement groups carry a lot of weight with most people.

To me, such endorsements aren't necessarily a good thing. Do we really want the ones arresting us also telling us who should prosecute us?

This and That

A short video shows how to open a can of food without a can opener. I'll have to try it someday.

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Some guy is suing NASA for not taking a closer look at an odd formation on Mars. It is a rather remarkable formation. Even more remarkable that it apparently wasn't there earlier on.

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I'm not convinced yet on the story about a guy that claims to have drifted from Mexico to the Marshall Islands living on turtles, fish and birds. It took 13 months, he says, and claimed the life of his fishing partner. Fascinating story, if true, but I'll play devil's advocate:

The basic story sounds believable and some evidence supports it, but I can't get over the picture of the guy. If someone spent 13 months at sea his skin would be much darker- more likely almost black. Look at his face and hands in the picture. He's pretty much white. I've spent a day on the beach and come out looking a lot worse than that. 

Someone replied to my comment to the story that the guy's boat had a cabin on it. Good point, but he'd still have to spend a substantial amount of time outside the cabin looking for food. He should be half baked by now.

Paint me skeptical for that reason alone.

Sports

I'm with Stephen Cox, of Liberty magazine. I don't understand the interest in sports. In fairness to the rest of the world, Stephen had Russell Hasan try to explain that interest.

It makes no sense to me. I still couldn't care less about sports after reading his explanation and, no, I won't be watching The Game.

Average Household Water Use

I was worried when I read this Sacramento Bee commentary that I was wrong in my recollection of the average household's water use that I used the other day in a comment. I thought I'd read around 180 gallons a day. Actually, I wasn't too far off. Here's the figures given:

For Sacramento: "Per capita water use has fallen to 218 gallons a day, down from 279 gallons per person in the mid-1990s and early 2000s". But Sacramento’s use still is above the statewide urban average of 196 gallons per person per day. It’s significantly above Los Angeles’ 152-gallon, and San Diego’s 166-gallon per capita daily use."

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/02/02/6119201/dan-morain-a-call-long-ago-to.html#mi_rss=Opinion#storylink=cpy

Maybe the 180 gallons I remembered is the average for Eureka or the county? 

I'm wondering how much water we use on average in our house? I try and only take one shower a week to save water and we flush the toilet only when necessary. I'd like to think we're below average use for Eureka, except in summer when we're watering the garden. We don't water the lawn.

I'm not sure if the monthly bill gives enough info to determine that. There doesn't seem to be anything on the city water department's web site. I'll have to call city hall on Monday and ask.

Fred's Water Idea Flops

I brought up my idea of using dehumidifiers to provide water the other day on the Lost Coast Outpost. At least a few people commented and an interesting discussion ensued. One of the guys, puff n tuff, had a dehumidifier and decided to test the idea.

It didn't work. I believe he tried it during the afternoon, too. Apparently the coils froze over soon after he started the experiment. So much for an easy way to test the viability of the idea. Not that it wouldn't necessarily work. After all, these guys claim to be using dehumidifiers to provide water in Africa.

Shame, as if we could have shown an at least partly workable operation with one of the home sized units, maybe some organization with more assets and equipment might have been able to develop a fully functioning outdoor model.