Monday, January 14, 2013

29 feels like 18

That may or may not apply to age; in my case 18 is not a year I'd care to relive or feel like.

However it is 29 deg. F in Descanso, and it feels like 18, according to authoritative weather sources.

Keep an eye on the water pipes.  We don't get a lot of freezing weather, but the last few ights have dropped into the 20's.  Sometimes low 20s.

I wonder how this works with SDGE's billing system, and smart meter assessments.  Out here people use wells.  They will be letting water drip or run to avoid bursting pipes. That means the pumps will run more.  Or they will have some heating setup for the pipes.

Because you pay more per unit if you use more units of power, and smart meters bill you more if sdge deems it a high usage time of day, those living very thin financially could be dealt a slight blow which needn't be.

The rationale for such price fluidity is that this will save the world.  In practice these measures, and many others geared at behavior hurt the poor and not so wealthy the most.  Does it actually do anything toward saving the dear earth?  I don't think so.

I've always turned out lights that didn't need to be on, minimized use of electric heat and A/C, but my motive for this over the years was purely to save money.  I am a creature of the market, I suppose.  Certainly no one can claim I am an activist who hates all things related to oil, coal, and industry.

I happen to think that the business--government complex has retarded development in areas which would have resulted in fewer side effects sooner.  People have been trying to find ways to save fuel, power homes, etc., in better cheaper, more independent ways forever.

Those who think everything should be highly regulated, ad that personal liberty is a permission rather than a natural state of being crushed many outspoken innovators over the years.  It was in the interest of those who pay for campaigns and whose companies were in bed with government.

Now, they hammer into everyone that alternative energy is good, and it has become a cause.  These are the people who prevented private production of home power, and squashed many enterprises which aimed to make life better.  They act as if all this is new.

The only reason it is now OK is because they have cornered solar and wind, and decide where the payoff grants go.  Often to cronies whose companies can't survive, yet their CEOs walk away much richer for the failed endeavor.

This is where side issues and non-sense get in the way of sanity.  Marriage, abortion, and other things which are not really worth governmental involvement unless a contract is in play steer people toward those who share their views on these narrow topics.  Those same people may be destroying the economy and restricting rights in any number of ways, including the freedom needed for individuals to thrive in a free market.

I'm not sure, but it seems like in San Francisco, and other places no doubt, pets are no longer called pets.  I think they are nonhuman companion animals now.  And they have rights, dammit!   So, the number and nature of restrictions is daunting.

California.  Maybe the gold rush miners were mostly crazy, and their madness still dominates the gene pool here.  I don't know.

I'm pissing in the wind.  Too many people are vested in an over litigated, bureaucratic nightmare of a society to set their sights on a culture of respectful freedom.  Earth justice, because the earth needs a good lawyer.  I didn't make that up.  Now the ad council and some outfit have an ad with little kids claiming it's the animals turn to have rights, so please donate to whatever that is called.

It's insanity.  Most people eat animals.  Many animals eat animals.   And they seriously do not give a damn whether humans survive and thrive or not.  There is a balance of sorts, but the most consistent thing about nature is that it is never in a static balance.  It is in constant flux and things change.

Where are the saber tooth tigers?  Did they die because they didn't have a good lawyer, or kids who were told what to say spouting off about their rights?  Maybe global warming got them, or the incandescent light bulb.

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Ballistic Mountain, CA, United States
Like spring on a summer's day

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