The spiral vs. the cycle (6/29/2021)

 I recently had an encounter with one of my neighbors.  This gentleman is a fanatic conservative, and whenever you have a friendly talk with him he will find a way of steering the conversation into politics in one way or another.  He knows that I am a fervent liberal, and that makes me one of his favorite targets.  Surprisingly, we still get along, and at times I like needling him.  We even used to be drinking buddies; although, my wife and I have been avoiding this couple in the past few years exactly for the reason detailed above, actually ever since the election of tRump.

During our recent encounter, my friend tried to convince me that whatever we are currently experiencing in our climate is cyclical.  He was obviously not referring to what they are experiencing in the northwest.  I have a feeling if I let him loose there and he would tell that to folks over there, he might get beaten up.  No, my friend (who shall remain nameless) was telling me that when he moved into our neck-of-the-woods years ago, springs were cold and unpredictable and then all the sudden they turned warm and predictable.  Now according to him, the weather again turned cold and unpredictable in spring these past two years; and his conclusion to me was: “see, it is cyclical.”    

I can be somewhat quick witted at times, but this time he caught me off guard.  I kinda smiled and tried to walk on.  My friend reminded me that we used to do a lot of debating and drinking together and that we desperately needed to repeat this.  I just shouted at him from a distance to have our brides make the arrangements.  

A little further during my walk, I all the sudden figured out what my answer should have been to this old friend about the cyclicality of the weather.  Yes, I could have told him that climate and weather are two completely different things.  Weather is what we are currently experiencing (yesterday and maybe tomorrow).  Climate is defined as the long-term average weather.  So yes, the weather is cyclical, just as every day is cyclical, it gets light every morning and dark every evening.  

However, in my eyes if there is a cyclical pattern in our climate it is a spiral and the climate is spiraling out of control.  Spirals go round and round as well, they can get tighter or wider.  Spirals get back to a similar pattern as well, but usually more exaggerated.  That is what we are seeing thanks to global warming or climate change.  I am sure that the Pacific Northwest has had heat waves before.  But never like this.  

I really think that this should have been my answer to my friend.  Honestly, he is one of the most intelligent persons I know (and that for a Republican) and I bet he would understand the spiral.  Although I think an interesting discussion would have followed.  Yes, the same conditions will repeat maybe for shorter periods, or more exaggerated, but they will eventually spiral out of control.  An interesting, but disturbing concept to consider.  But one thing is certain, climate change is real and we are stuck in a spiral.

I chose this picture today as a representation of the ultimate spiral.  Hurricanes are expected to increase in numbers and intensity with global warming. 

Sorry, I have tried (06/04/2021)

I have tried! I really have, tried to stay out of politics in this blog. But, I can’t stand it! Looking back at my posts this year, I have the label “politics” on my post from April 9, although I do not mention much about my feelings or opinion in there. I write about COVID and racism on February 25 and about how the elected Republican officials are only in it for the short term by not wanting to impeach tRump for a second time on February 17. On inauguration day, I promised I would write more about my life, the environment, and less about politics. Crazy, but here I am again and need to pour my heart out again.

Why can’t I? It seems now that the Republicans are not in for the short-term as I mentioned in my February 17 blog. This is a long-term gambit. By pushing and pushing this lie that the election was stolen; that it was somehow fraudulent and that Joe Biden is an illegal president, Republican legislators throughout the country are now feeling empowered to rewrite the election laws and restrict voting. In other words, they know that they will not be able to win fairly so let’s make sure that they can win at all cost (unfairly or by cheating). Others call it “Jim Crow 2021.”

Here I thought it would go away, and folks would forget tRump after a while. But no, they are talking about a military style coup, to justify the means. They actually had a much longer goal in mind than I was thinking. They are dangerous. Come to think of it, tRump is actually giving a speech this week where he is built as “the legitimate president.” It is dangerous.

When we lived in Uganda in 1979, my wife and I made a plan in case the marauding Idi Amin soldiers killed me. We were there during the civil war and I was among the few who always needed to meet with them when they visited our compound to loot us. I have had some horrible experiences at times, I am still surprised that I lived through them. The plans we made were, what she would do and where she would hide or flee to, if that (my murder, at the ripe old age of 25) would happen.

Let me tell you, this week, we sat down and actually discussed what to do in case of a civil war or a military style coup. Are we just crazy? I wonder in how many homes this discussion is going on, and whether this is in liberal or conservative homes. All I know is that we need to think about it all in the long term and protect democracy, fight what these states are doing and protect equal rights and the voting rights for all citizens.

A New Car! (06/03/2021)

Sitting at the car dealer waiting for a few things to be done to the new vehicle we bought feeling again that we probably have been had and paid too much. Why does one always have that feeling, when buying a car or buying a home, you feel like you just paid too much?

We needed to buy a different vehicle. The one we replaced was a 2001 Honda CRV, one of those with the tire on the back and a picnic table in the trunk. The tire in the back actually had a wren nesting in it and I am sorry but the brood went once a week for a day to the office and grocery shopping at times. It makes you wonder if the eggs were still viable when we discovered them. That CRV had 270,000 or so miles on it. The other car we own is a Honda Accord from 2007 with 330,000 miles on it. So you can see, we do not have a terribly reliable vehicle for extended road trips. On top of that, the newspaper reported on the skyrocketing car rental prices, so that did not seem to be an option either.

And here it happened. My 94 year-old father-in-law was at the dentist to have a tooth extracted and when he got back into his car, yes he still drives, he started bleeding profusely. He is not very ambulatory and called the dentist on his phone. The dentist came running out to the car and fixed him up, not before my father-in-law had blood all over himself. As a result, he did not feel well enough to drive and my wife needed to go out to get him in her 20 year-old CRV. On the way home her car broke down, a hose broke. It was a rare 90-degree (30+ degree Celsius) spring day. Here my father-in-law gets out of the car in the parking lot of a grocery store covered in blood with my wife standing next to her. The only thing missing is a big butcher knife or a hatched.

I realize that buying a new car is foolish. You lose value the minute you drive it off the lot and that is it. We understand that. However, we tend to maintain our cars and keep them for a long time. Since our return to the U.S. from our overseas assignments we have owned a Honda Civic 4WD wagon, which one stayed with us for 15 years; a Toyota Pickup with we had for 25 years, and the two vehicles about which I have been writing above, 20 and 14 years, respectively. We tend to drive until they fall apart. At least we know who drives them and takes care of them. I am not sure if that is a good thing or not, but we think so.

We have been talking about going more environmentally friendly, and I told my wife that my next car would be a Tesla. The compromise was a CRV hybrid. I am happy to say that the first tank of gas is about half-way done and the gas millage is 38 miles to the gallon or more than 16 kilometers per liter. Not bad at all. We really wanted something that used less gas, but my wife was still weary of all electric. However, the time will come that we will make that switch.

The new and the old; left to right.  Of course with the old and the young in the middle.

So here I am sitting at the dealer having a roof rack installed, and having a little buyer’s remorse or should I call it just wondering if we have been had; paid too much. I am still not sure why car sales folks do this to you, but darn that feeling. However, I am sure that 10 or 15 years from now we will not remember this, maybe only when looking back at this blog post. I am sure we will have fun with this vehicle while being a little protective of the environment.