Friday, November 26, 2021

The Art of Listening

 



Now that reality sneaks into the world with stomachs that don’t fit the pants and worry that you will miss the biggest Black Friday bargain, how was yesterday’s turkey gathering.

It is such a wonderful holiday to prepare enough food for a small city and drink enough adult beverages to float a boat, between gulps and munching, everyone tries to talk. There is so much to be said but is anyone listening.

The usual small talk of our latest injury or purchases or family drama is done while putting the coats away and looking for the corkscrew. After a few glasses and everything is warmed up, we gather around the extended table (do you use place cards?)

Before you get seated do you hold hands and have a prayer? Do you really want to touch that other person? What if you are not Christian? Remember this is 2021 and people are very sensitive about offending their personal beliefs.

Once seated, the carousal of bowls and plates can start making their rounds and the roar of mouths ready to be stuff fills the air. It is the mob mentality where everyone thinks his or her story is more important or funnier so the volume goes up. The only mute button is the stuffing.

Now, twenty-four hours later, what do you remember saying? What do you remember hearing? Were you listening?

Conversations are what connect us, but the turkey table can sound like the alumni section at a football game. Conversations can also show people’s personalities and bias, if you were only paying attention.

What was their body language? When did the pitch change? Did they join into every subject or sit back and chew celery to drown out the noise? How long do you talk? Do you laugh at your own jokes?

Do you stop and contemplate what the other person said or rush to a response hoping to keep attention? Do you redefine what you said trying to find some form of relaying your thoughts? Do you think before you speak?

At a certain age a conversation is treasured. Meeting a stranger you are romantically interested in, the introduction and every word counts. When presenting an idea you are selling and asking for money. If a doctor tells you bad news, you are listening.

I personally talk to very few people. I don’t use the phone and have rare face-to-face conversations. Sending an email is still snail mail as you await a reply. The typos don’t show the real emotion of the moment and questions can be forgotten or skipped over, so I take the vocal exchange a cherished change to express thoughts and ideas and learn about the other person by listening.

In Kate Murphy’s book “We Are Not Listening and what we are missing” she talks about journalist and what they hear. They are trained and paid to ask questions of strangers and evaluate (without judging) the answers.

She also suggest we will never know another person, no matter how close we are. Even if you think you can finish someone else’s sentence, you can’t ever know their thinking process. As individuals we constantly change. That is what makes a conversation interesting.

Other tips for making communication better than just blowing air is:

·      Be present in the moment

·      Go with the flow

·      Open-ended questions

·      Stay out of the weeds

·      Don’t say what you don’t know

·      Avoid distractions

With little time left for face-to-face time with others, I attempt to listen more carefully. I have a bad habit of trying to finish the sentence to move on to the next subject, but I may be missing something new. I’m also trying to avoid using ‘You Know’ from my vocabulary.

Mostly I’ll just talk to myself until I realize I’m using my outside voice and stop, scorning myself on the effort to stay sane.

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Favorite Day @ The Tummy Temple

 


The day before gorging is my favorite day to shop at the grub hub. It is the day everyone is trying to figure the last touches to tomorrow’s menu.

The parking lot will be full. The carts will be wondering every aisle with a long list to check off. Frantic faces will be on phones trying to choose the correct salad dressing or whether to get French crispy onions for the green bean casserole or did anyone remember the cream of mushroom soup.

The blue aprons will be rushing to stock the shelves as the congregation to gluttony fills the wire baskets. It is just a great example of our society to satisfy a fantasy story of indigenous people and colonist invaders sit down for a meal together with our over abundance of grub.

I won’t stay long and will scurry home but I have to restock the yard critters meals for the holiday because they don’t have a happy customer appreciation card. I’ve been avoiding going out due to the chill but my last trip here were lots of couples searching the signs but this year there are no bargains.

I tied up my pony and was not disappointed at the lack of wire baskets available. The congregation was here (or had been here and no one returned). I even wrote down a list just to remind my feeble brain of what I needed for a ‘thankful’ meal tomorrow.

It wasn’t as congested as I thought but everyone seemed to be in a daze, just like me. Where is the romaine lettuce? Oops, forgot to get the crackers. Is that all the crackers that are left? Look for a wine to accompany the meal but should I get chardonnay or zinfandel or settle for a ‘Toad Hollow’ rosé?

Somehow got in between the rushes and made it home in the sunshine. Deciding to change my jeans that fit me two years ago but must have shrunk and put on some comfortable stretchy sweatpants, feed the yard of hungry faces then turned to social media.

The teenager who came to town with a gun and killed two people got off free. Three guys who caught and killed a jogger were guilty. A space ship was sent off to bounce into a flying rock. The Dollar Tree will become the Buck and a Quarter Tree and breakfast cereal will be more expensive.

Everyone else must be traveling, so I’ll go inside to the warmth and wait till tomorrow for the fun to begin.

Whatever you decide to smash-and-grab, try to pay the merchant on the way out. 


Thank you.

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Maybe you’ve heard this…

 


It is all over the news.

Disasters, wild fires, sickness, starvation, floods, hurricanes, lost children, abandoned animals, plagues, pollution, supply-side snafu, dysfunctional governments, higher wages and incentives, help wanted, resignations, closed businesses, riots, looting, droughts, rising temperatures, civil wars, wealth inequity, fossil fuel omission elimination, overwhelming shopping, substance abuse, immigrants and refugees, affordable housing, failing infrastructure, sexual harassment, mental illness, gun control, religion…

 

The list goes on and on.

 

Stress, depression, anxiety, fear, and mental anguish are some of the results of the daily bombardment of doom.

In this time of woe, we all need something (anything) to give a ray of hope.

 


 

Today, our current president will sign a piece of paper for a gazillion dollar solution to our infrastructures. It is a fix for crumbling highways and shaky bridges and rusting railroads and lead filled pipes and power grids and extending communication systems and supplying millions of well paying jobs.

Transportation

·      Roads, bridges, major projects: $110 billion

·      Passenger and freight rail: $66 billion

·      Public transit: $39 billion

·      Airports: $25 billion

·      Port infrastructure: $17 billion

·      Transportation safety programs: $11 billion

·      Electric vehicles: $7.5 billion

·      Zero and low-emission buses and ferries: $7.5 billion

·      Revitalization of communities: $1 billion

Other infrastructure

·      Broadband: $65 billion

·      Power infrastructure: $73 billion

·      Clean drinking water: $55 billion

·      Resilience and Western water storage: $50 billion

·      Removal of pollution from water and soil: $21 billion

 

How will it be paid for?

 

The price tag comes in at roughly $1 trillion, with $550 billion in new spending over five years.

The package is financed through a combination of funds, including repurposing unspent emergency relief funds from the COVID-19 pandemic and strengthening tax enforcement for crypto-currencies. While negotiators said that the cost of the plan would be offset entirely, the Congressional Budget Office predicted it would add about $256 billion to projected deficits over 10 years.

 

Sounds too good to be true?

 

When they start deviating out the money, everyone will have their hands out. And all these NEW jobs (where are the funds for training?) trying to fix decades of neglect, there will have to be supplies that need to be purchased.

 

Asphalt, also known, as bitumen is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term asphaltum was also used. The largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world, estimated to contain 10 million tons, is the Pitch Lake located in La Brea in southwest Trinidad (Antilles island located on the northeastern coast of Venezuela), within the Siparia Regional Corporation.

The primary use (70%) of asphalt is in road construction, where it is used as the glue or binder mixed with aggregate particles to create asphalt concrete. Its other main uses are for bituminous waterproofing products, including production of roofing felt and for sealing flat roofs.

 

Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most widely used building material. Its usage worldwide, ton for ton, is twice that of steel, wood, plastics, and aluminum combined. Globally, the ready-mix concrete industry, the largest segment of the concrete market, is projected to exceed $600 billion in revenue by 2025.

This widespread use results in a number of environmental impacts. Most notably, the production process for cement produces large volumes of greenhouse gas emissions, leading to net 8% of global emissions. Other environmental concerns include widespread illegal sand mining, impacts on the surrounding environment such as increased surface runoff or urban heat island effect, and potential public health implications from toxic ingredients. Significant research and development is being done to try to reduce the emissions or make concrete a source of carbon sequestration, and increase recycled and secondary raw materials content into the mix to achieve a circular economy. Concrete is expected to be a key material for structures resilient to climate disasters, as well as a solution to mitigate the pollution of other industries, capturing wastes such as coal fly ash or bauxite tailings and residue.

When aggregate is mixed with dry Portland cement and water, the mixture forms fluid slurry that is easily poured and molded into shape. The cement reacts with the water and other ingredients to form a hard matrix that binds the materials together into a durable stone-like material that has many uses. Often, additives (such as pozzolans or superplasticizers) are included in the mixture to improve the physical properties of the wet mix or the finished material. Most concrete is poured with reinforcing materials (such as rebar) embedded to provide tensile strength, yielding reinforced concrete.

 

Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the form of magnetite (Fe3O4, 72.4% Fe), hematite (Fe2O3, 69.9% Fe), goethite (FeO(OH), 62.9% Fe), limonite (FeO(OH)·n(H2O), 55% Fe) or siderite (FeCO3, 48.2% Fe).

Ores containing very high quantities of hematite or magnetite (greater than about 60% iron) are known as “natural ore” or “direct shipping ore”, meaning they can be fed directly into iron-making blast furnaces. Iron ore is the raw material used to make pig iron, which is one of the main raw materials to make steel—98% of the mined iron ore is used to make steel. In 2011 the Financial Times quoted Christopher LaFemina, mining analyst at Barclays Capital, saying that iron ore is “more integral to the global economy than any other commodity, except perhaps oil”.

 

Fiber-optic communication is a method of transmitting information from one place to another by sending pulses of infrared light through an optical fiber. The light is a form of carrier wave that is modulated to carry information. Fiber is preferred over electrical cabling when high bandwidth, long distance, or immunity to electromagnetic interference is required. This type of communication can transmit voice, video, and telemetry through local area networks or across long distances.

Many telecommunications companies to transmit telephone signals, Internet communication, and cable television signals use optical fiber. Researchers at Bell Labs have reached a record bandwidth–distance product of over 100 petabit kilometers per second using fiber-optic communication.

 

At the same time the Global Climate Control Crisis Conference to pledge money for a deadline to reduce or eliminate the use of fossil fuel (see above).


 

World leaders signed off on a new climate change agreement after two weeks of intense negotiations in Glasgow, Scotland. While some countries committed to more ambitious cuts to heat-trapping pollution, many nations did not agree to rein in emissions fast enough for the world to avoid the worst damage from climate-driven storms, heat waves and droughts.

Still, the summit’s progress means that goal could still be within reach, experts’ say — if countries follow through on their promises.

Emissions need to fall around 45% by 2030 to give the world a chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100 (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). Instead, they’re expected to rise almost 14% over the next nine years.

 

What do we need to do without?

 

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dead plant matter decays into peat and is converted into coal by the heat and pressure of deep burial over millions of years. Vast deposits of coal originate in former wetlands—called coal forests—that covered much of the Earth’s tropical land areas during the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) and Permian times. However, many significant coal deposits are younger than this and originate from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras.

Coal is primarily used as a fuel. While coal has been known and used for thousands of years, its usage was limited until the Industrial Revolution. With the invention of the steam engine, coal consumption increased. As of 2016, coal remains an important fuel as it supplied about a quarter of the world’s primary energy and two-fifths of electricity. Some iron and steel making and other industrial processes burn coal.

The extraction and use of coal causes premature deaths and illness. The use of coal damages the environment, and it is the largest anthropogenic source of carbon dioxide contributing to climate change. 14 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide was emitted by burning coal in 2020, which is 40% of the total fossil fuel emissions and over 25% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. As part of the worldwide energy transition many countries have reduced or eliminated their use of coal power. The UN Secretary General asked governments to stop building new coal plants by 2020. Coal use peaked in 2013, except in China, where it reached higher levels than ever in 2021. To meet the Paris Agreement target of keeping global warming to below 2 °C (3.6 °F) coal use needs to halve from 2020 to 2030.

 

Natural gas (also called fossil gas; sometimes just gas) is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting of methane and commonly including varying amounts of other higher alkanes, and sometimes a small percentage of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, or helium. Natural gas is colorless and odorless, and explosive, so a sulfur-smell (similar to rotten eggs) is usually added for early detection of leaks. Natural gas is formed when layers of decomposing plant and animal matter are exposed to intense heat and pressure under the surface of the Earth over millions of years. The energy that the plants originally obtained from the sun is stored in the form of chemical bonds in the gas. Natural gas is a fossil fuel.

Natural gas is a non-renewable hydrocarbon used as a source of energy for heating, cooking, and electricity generation. It is also used as a fuel for vehicles and as a chemical feedstock in the manufacture of plastics and other commercially important organic chemicals.

The extraction and consumption of natural gas is a major and growing driver of climate change. It is a potent greenhouse gas itself when released into the atmosphere, and creates carbon dioxide when burnt. Natural gas can be efficiently burned to generate heat and electricity, emitting less waste and toxins at the point of use relative to other fossil and biomass fuels. However, gas venting and flaring, along with unintended fugitive emissions throughout the supply chain, can result in a similar carbon footprint overall.

 

Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium in nuclear power plants. Nuclear decay processes are used in niche applications such as radioisotope thermoelectric generators in some space probes such as Voyager 2. Generating electricity from fusion power remains the focus of international research.

Civilian nuclear power supplied 2,586 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity in 2019, equivalent to about 10% of global electricity generation, and was the second-largest low-carbon power source after hydroelectricity. As of September 2021, there are 444 civilian fission reactors in the world, with a combined electrical capacity of 396 gigawatt (GW). There are also 53 nuclear power reactors under construction and 98 reactors planned, with a combined capacity of 60 GW and 103 GW, respectively. The United States has the largest fleet of nuclear reactors, generating over 800 TWh zero-emissions electricity per year with an average capacity factor of 92%. Most reactors under construction are generation III reactors in Asia.

Nuclear power has one of the lowest levels of fatalities per unit of energy generated compared to other energy sources. Coal, petroleum, natural gas and hydroelectricity each have caused more fatalities per unit of energy due to air pollution and accidents. Since its commercialization in the 1970s, nuclear power has prevented about 1.84 million air pollution-related deaths and the emission of about 64 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent that would have otherwise resulted from the burning of fossil fuels. Accidents in nuclear power plants include the Chernobyl disaster in the Soviet Union in 1986, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011, and the more contained Three Mile Island accident in the United States in 1979.

There is a debate about nuclear power. Proponents, such as the World Nuclear Association and Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy, contend that nuclear power is a safe, sustainable energy source that reduces carbon emissions. Nuclear power opponents, such as Greenpeace and NIRS, contend that nuclear power poses many threats to people and the environment.

 

Petroleum, also known as crude oil and oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid found in geological formations beneath the Earth’s surface. It is commonly refined into various types of fuels. Components of petroleum are separated using a technique called fractional distillation, i.e., separation of a liquid mixture into fractions differing in boiling point by means of distillation, typically using a fractionating column. It consists of naturally occurring hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and may contain miscellaneous organic compounds. The name petroleum covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil and petroleum products that are made up of refined crude oil. A fossil fuel, petroleum is formed when large quantities of dead organisms, mostly zooplankton and algae, are buried underneath sedimentary rock and subjected to both intense heat and pressure.

Petroleum has mostly been recovered by oil drilling. Drilling is carried out after studies of structural geology, sedimentary basin analysis, and reservoir characterization. Recent improvements to technologies have also led to exploitation of other unconventional reserves such as oil sands and oil shale. Once extracted, oil is refined and separated, most easily by distillation, into numerous products for direct use or use in manufacturing, such as gasoline (petrol), diesel and kerosene to asphalt and chemical reagents used to make plastics, pesticides and pharmaceuticals. Petroleum is used in manufacturing a wide variety of materials, and it is estimated that the world consumes about 100 million barrels each day. Petroleum production can be extremely profitable and was important for economic development in the 20th century, with some countries, so called “oil states”, gaining significant economic and international power because of their control of oil production.

Petroleum exploitation has significant negative environmental and social consequences. Most significantly, extraction, refining and burning of petroleum fuels all release large quantities of greenhouse gases, so petroleum is one of the major contributors to climate change. Furthermore, parts of the petroleum industry actively suppressed science and policy that aimed to prevent the climate crisis. Other negative environmental effects include the environmental impacts of exploration and exploitation of petroleum reserves, such as oil spills, and air and water pollution at the sites of utilization. All of these environmental impacts have direct health consequences for humans. Additionally, oil has also been a source of conflict leading to both state-led-wars and other kinds of conflicts (for example, oil revenue funded the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). Production of petroleum is expected to reach peak oil before 2040 as global economies reduce dependencies on petroleum as part of climate change mitigation and a transition towards renewable energy and electrification. This is expected to have significant economic impacts that stakeholders argue need to be anticipated by a just transition and addressing the stranded assets of the petroleum industry.

 

Diesel fuel in general is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in diesel engines, in which fuel ignition takes place, without any spark, as a result of compression of the inlet air mixture and then injection of fuel. Therefore, diesel fuel needs good compression ignition characteristics.

The most common type of diesel fuel is a specific fractional distillate of petroleum fuel oil, but alternatives that are not derived from petroleum, such as bio-diesel, biomass to liquid (BTL) or gas to liquid (GTL) diesel are increasingly being developed and adopted. To distinguish these types, petroleum-derived diesel is increasingly called petro-diesel in some academic circles.

In many countries, diesel fuel is standardized. For example, in the European Union, the standard for diesel fuel is EN 590. Diesel fuel has many colloquial names; most commonly, it is simply referred to as diesel. In the UK, diesel fuel for on-road use is commonly abbreviated DERV, standing for diesel-engine road vehicle, which carries a tax premium over equivalent fuel for non-road use. In Australia, diesel fuel is also known as distillate, and in Indonesia, it is known as Solar, a trademarked name by the local oil company Pertamina.

Ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) is a diesel fuel with substantially lowered sulfur contents. As of 2016, almost all of the petroleum-based diesel fuel available in the UK, mainland Europe, and North America is of a ULSD type.

 

Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula CH4 (one atom of carbon and four atoms of hydrogen). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Earth makes it an economically attractive fuel, although capturing and storing it poses technical challenges due to its gaseous state under normal conditions for temperature and pressure.

Naturally occurring methane is found both below ground and under the seafloor and is formed by both geological and biological processes. The largest reservoir of methane is under the seafloor in the form of methane clathrates. When methane reaches the surface and the atmosphere, it is known as atmospheric methane. The Earth’s atmospheric methane concentration has increased by about 150% since 1750, and it accounts for 20% of the total radiative forcing from all of the long-lived and globally mixed greenhouse gases. Methane has also been detected on other planets, including Mars, which has implications for astrobiology research.

 

And then there are all of these alternatives…

 

Water (chemical formula H2O) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which are the main constituent of Earth’s hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a solvent). It is vital for all known forms of life, even though it provides no calories or organic nutrients. Its chemical formula H2O, indicates that each of its molecules contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms, connected by covalent bonds. The hydrogen atoms are attached to the oxygen atom at an angle of 104.45°. “Water” is the name of the liquid state of H2O at standard conditions for temperature and pressure.

A number of natural states of water exist. It forms precipitation in the form of rain and aerosols in the form of fog. Clouds consist of suspended droplets of water and ice, its solid state. When finely divided, crystalline ice may precipitate in the form of snow. The gaseous state of water is steam or water vapor.

Water covers approximately 70.9% of the Earth’s surface, mostly in seas and oceans. Small portions of water occur as groundwater (1.7%), in the glaciers and the ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland (1.7%), and in the air as vapor, clouds (consisting of ice and liquid water suspended in air), and precipitation (0.001%). Water moves continually through the water cycle of evaporation, transpiration (evapo-transpiration), condensation, precipitation, and runoff, usually reaching the sea.

Water plays an important role in the world economy. Approximately 70% of the freshwater used by humans goes to agriculture. Fishing in salt and fresh water bodies is a major source of food for many parts of the world. Much of the long-distance trade of commodities (such as oil, natural gas, and manufactured products) are transported by boats through seas, rivers, lakes, and canals. Large quantities of water, ice, and steam are used for cooling and heating, in industry and homes. Water is an excellent solvent for a wide variety of substances both mineral and organic; as such it is widely used in industrial processes, and in cooking and washing. Water, ice and snow are also central to many sports and other forms of entertainment, such as swimming, pleasure boating, boat racing, surfing, sport fishing, diving, ice-skating and skiing.

 

 

Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Wind occurs on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hours, to global winds resulting from the difference in absorption of solar energy between the climate zones on Earth. The two main causes of large-scale atmospheric circulation are the differential heating between the equator and the poles, and the rotation of the planet (Coriolis effect). Within the tropics and subtropics, thermal low circulations over terrain and high plateaus can drive monsoon circulations. In coastal areas the sea breeze/land breeze cycle can define local winds; in areas that have variable terrain, mountain and valley breezes can prevail.

They’re spatial scale, their speed and direction, the forces that cause them, the regions in which they occur, and their effect commonly classify winds. Winds have various aspects: velocity (wind speed); the density of the gas involved; energy content or wind energy. The wind is also a critical means of transportation for seeds, insects, and birds, which can travel on wind currents for thousands of miles. In meteorology, winds are often referred to according to their strength, and the direction from which the wind is blowing. Short bursts of high-speed wind are termed gusts. Strong winds of intermediate duration (around one minute) are termed squalls. Long-duration winds have various names associated with their average strength, such as breeze, gale, storm, and hurricane. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the Sun through space, while planetary wind is the out-gassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space. The strongest observed winds on a planet in the Solar System occur on Neptune and Saturn.

In human civilization, the concept of wind has been explored in mythology, influenced the events of history, expanded the range of transport and warfare, and provided a power source for mechanical work, electricity, and recreation. Wind powers the voyages of sailing ships across Earth’s oceans. Hot air balloons use the wind to take short trips, and powered flight uses it to increase lift and reduce fuel consumption. Areas of wind shear caused by various weather phenomena can lead to dangerous situations for aircraft. When winds become strong, trees and human-made structures are damaged or destroyed.

Winds can shape landforms, via a variety of aeolian processes such as the formation of fertile soils, for example loess, and by erosion. Dust from large deserts can be moved great distances from its source region by the prevailing winds; winds that are accelerated by rough topography and associated with dust outbreaks have been assigned regional names in various parts of the world because of their significant effects on those regions. Wind also affects the spread of wildfires. Winds can disperse seeds from various plants, enabling the survival and dispersal of those plant species, as well as flying insect populations. When combined with cold temperatures, the wind has a negative impact on livestock. Wind affects animals’ food stores, as well as their hunting and defensive strategies.

 

 

Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy including solar water heating, and solar architecture.

It is an essential source of renewable energy, and its technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on how they capture and distribute solar energy or convert it into solar power. Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic systems, concentrated solar power, and solar water heating to harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the Sun, selecting materials with favorable thermal mass or light-dispersing properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air.

The large magnitude of solar energy available makes it a highly appealing source of electricity. In 2021, Carbon Tracker Initiative estimated the land area needed to generate all our energy from solar alone was 450,000 km2- or about the same as the area of Sweden, or the area of Morocco, or the area of California (0.3% of the Earth’s total land area).

In 2011, the International Energy Agency said, “the development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge longer-term benefits. It will increase countries’ energy security through reliance on an indigenous, inexhaustible, and mostly import-independent resource, enhance sustainability, reduce pollution, lower the costs of mitigating global warming.... These advantages are global”.

 

Because we cannot live without…

 

Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwell’s equations. Various common phenomena are related to electricity, including lightning, static electricity, electric heating, electric discharges and many others.

The presence of an electric charge, which can be either positive or negative, produces an electric field. The movement of electric charges is an electric current and produces a magnetic field.

When a charge is placed in a location with a non-zero electric field, a force will act on it. If the charge moves, the electric field would be doing work on the electric charge. Thus we can speak of electric potential at a certain point in space, which is equal to the work done by an external agent in carrying a unit of positive charge from an arbitrarily chosen reference point to that point without any acceleration and is typically measured in volts.

Electricity is at the heart of many modern technologies, being used for:

·      Electric power where electric current is used to energize equipment;

·      Electronics that deals with electrical circuits that involve active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits and associated passive interconnection technologies.

Electrical phenomena have been studied since antiquity; though progress in theoretical understanding remained slow until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The theory of electromagnetism was developed in the 19th century, and by the end of that century electricity was being put to industrial and residential use by electrical engineers. The rapid expansion in electrical technology at this time transformed industry and society, becoming a driving force for the Second Industrial Revolution. Electricity’s extraordinary versatility means it can be put to an almost limitless set of applications which include transport, heating, lighting, communications, and computation. Electrical power is now the backbone of modern industrial society.

 

Take a breath and think about it. We (global) need to stop using fossil fuels to reduce climate rise and fry ourselves to extinction.

That means ALL the cars and trucks and boats and airplanes used today, will all become scrap. Don’t know where we stake all the rusting metal but I imagine it will not be tidy or attractive.

That means ALL the materials for roads currently used will have to be eliminated (in a environmental friendly method) and some NEW method to cover the dirt and grass so electric powered vehicles can get from one location to another delivering goods and people.

 That means ALL our heating and cooling manufacturers will HAVE TO transition to electricity.

 

Are you ready to turn off your gas heater and convert to electrical heat pump? Toss out that beloved gas stove for an electric inductive top. That propane gas grill on the deck will have to convert to wood burning. (No wait, we need the trees and don’t want the smoke pollution). That is unless you have solar panels on your roof to power the house.

Planning on taking that find you road trip down Rt. 66? How far will your new electric car go on a charge? Is there are charging station along the way or do you need to carry an extra battery? Can you pull the trailer? Might want to put a bike rack on the back, just in case.

Those 18-wheelers on the highway won’t be making that noisy smoked filled diesel sound but they probably won’t be going as fast either. It also might take a little longer for the electric police and fire arrive to the emergency. The roar of NASCAR will be a purrr when the call ‘Start Your Engines’ arrives.

Don’t plan on taking no long flights because electric planes have not been perfected yet and there are nuclear ships but only for the Navy. Well, there are sailboats.

 

Are you ready?

Zoom For The Holidays

 


Are people traveling to your house for the holidays during the Covid-19 pandemic? Are you doing medical testing or have a space for quarantining? Do you have another room at the table to safely space everyone out?

The ‘holidays’ are the times when we like to get together with family and friends, over indulge in food and drink, yell and holler and laugh out loud to each other.

Still you don’t want to have to quarantine your grandmother in the garage or make sure little Timmy doesn’t hug too many aunts and uncles. It will also be hard to hold your breathe for a long weekend.

Since we all have become techno-nerds with our online video face time, we could just have a BIG zoom holiday.

First, you don’t have to clean the house. Just what the camera will see. You can still wear your sweats but put that holiday ugly sweater over top.

Second, you don’t have to travel. Traveling is such a pain. Did you remember all the presents and food and change of clothing? Did you remember your toothbrush? Did your remember to put out enough food for Fluffy knowing full well when you get back home there will be many surprises waiting? Did you remember Timmy?

Traffic is always bad and high fuel prices are not going down for the holidays. Plus being cramped in the car for hours with your family can make anyone cranky. Just what everyone wants to open his or her home to: cranky guest.

Third, no matter what you bring or how much time you spend in the kitchen, these people are strangers in a foreign land and you (host and guest) need to adjust. You don’t even have to take a shower because they can’t smell you (or your personal bodily functions) through the screen.

Fourth, if any of your members get out of hand, you can mute them. They can’t throw a dinner roll at you.

Fifth, you can eat whatever you want. You can even sneak off screen and open that other bottle of wine without anyone knowing.

Sixth, there are fewer dishes to wash. You could have been eating delivery pizza and others are just seeing you chew and swallow. Don’t forget to throw away the boxes, they cannot be recycled.

Seventh, when everyone leaves the table you can turn off the screen, log out and retire to the couch for a snooze.

Saturday, November 20, 2021

There is nothing under the tree

 


Have you heard there is supply chain constipation?

Parts and pieces that make toys are sitting in cargo containers (yes, the elves build a lot of toys but they don’t build screws or hammers), and once the pieces come ashore they sit on a dock until a truck can come and pick it up and take it to a warehouse (that is also full) for sorting and separating Santa’s order. Then there is that whole snafu of politics with border restrictions. If that wasn’t enough, all the missing parts and pieces need to be loaded on dog sleds for the Iditarod to the North Pole and into Santa’s workshop.

While the elves are waiting for their COVID-19 vaccine shots, they are isolated and quarantined wearing their face diapers and shooting pool and drinking all of Santa’s spiced eggnog.

The big guy is getting bigger eating all those pies and cookies Mrs. Clause has been baking. Rudolph is wondering if they can get the sleigh off the ground?

Maybe it is time to look around and start re-gifting?

If that doesn’t work, it is time to make the kids aware that on December 25, 2021 there won’t be any presents under the tree. Suck it up kids. You got more than you will ever use. See how that rationale works?

Don’t blame it on Santa. He’s just waiting like you for that smiley box to arrive with Uncle Henry’s ugly sweater or Na Na’s extra teeth. Mom and dad have to keep the automobile lasting a little longer because we can’t afford a used car and there are no new cars…even electric. With the high prices we also can’t afford a turkey for Thanksgiving. Those frequent blackouts are happening more and more so learn how to write with a pencil on paper. Just drink out of the facet because we are all suffering. That 12 year-old bottle of scotch that was being shipped from your cousins in England just ain’t going to get here for New Year’s eve celebration.

Blame it on brexit. Blame it on pandemic. Blame it on over shopping. Blame it on the wildfires. Blame it on the hurricanes and floods. Blame it on climate warming and the reduction in the ice cap (don’t tell Santa). Blame it on people who have enough money to spend to fly into space for a few thrill ride minutes instead of using their wealth to save the earth.

Just don’t blame it on Santa.

 


Happy Holidays and New Year and Kwanzaa and Hanukkah and Festivus and Season’s Greetings and all that other stuff…

Friday, November 19, 2021

Introductions and Salutations

 


When we introduce someone to a stranger we preface the name with a ‘Mr.’ or ‘Miss’ or Mrs.’ to indicate marital status or ‘Doctor’ or ‘Captain’ or ‘Secretary’ to declare their occupation.

Very few men have been announced when they enter a room and everyone stands. They even have an entrance song.

Yet when celebrities are introduced to an audience on late night television, the adjectives describing the person are outstanding.

“And now the fabulous (name here)” or “the world renown (name here)” or “ introducing the magnificent and talented (name here) are just a sample.

We all love the English royalty hierarchy and the proper formal introduce to one another, so why don’t we do that?

 “World traveler, adventurer and knowledgeable historian (name here)” or “Mother, caregiver, and most fabulous chef (name here)” or “Athletic champion, sought after artistic woodworker and cherished teller of tall tales (name here)” are sample or you can create your own.

“Pompous Asshole (name here)” or “Princess Squaw (name here)”  or “Worthless Loser (name here)” could be used. They don’t all have to be sweet.

For Thanksgiving try these or other introductions and salutations. These are people you may see once a year and will be conversation starters. You might want to avoid religious or political references, but that is your decision.

We may sit more proper and maintain civility longer?

Don’t forget to bow or curtsy. 


Thursday, November 18, 2021

Mosh Pit

 



I used to attend concerts all the time. I’d buy tickets for the latest stage show or musical traveling through town or the local symphony. To get a close up view of the performance I’d buy the expensive ‘orchestra seats’. Even with acts like ‘The Who’ or ‘Jimi Hendrix Experience’, the audience sat quietly in their assigned seat and applauded at the end of the song.

Then kids who had bought the ‘cheap’ seats in the balcony started running down the aisles and sitting on the floor to get the full impact of the show close up without paying for it. They would be shooed away by the ushers, but it became a habit.

The English Invasion happened and kids just couldn’t sit quietly and listen anymore.

Folk music in small coffee houses was quiet with no speakers as the audience sat a candle lit tables and swayed to the music. Then electric bands plugged in and everyone just used the floor to dance around.

 

Then there came the ‘mosh pit’.

 

Moshing (also known as slam dancing or simply slamming) is a style of dance in which participants push or slam into each other, typically performed to “aggressive” live music. Moshing usually happens in the center of the crowd, generally closer to the stage, in an area called the “pit”. It is intended to be energetic and full of body contact.

The dance style originated in the hardcore punk scenes of California and Washington, D.C. around 1980. Through the 1980s it spread to other branches of punk rock as well as thrash metal and grunge, which exposed it to the mainstream. Since then, moshing has occasionally been performed to energetic music within a wide variety of genres, including alternative rock, EDM and hip hop, while remaining a staple at punk and heavy metal shows.

Variations of moshing exist, including “pogoing”, “circle pits”, and “wall of death”. Dancing can be done alone as well as in groups.

While moshing is seen as a form of positive fan feedback or expression of enjoyment, it has also drawn criticism over dangerous excesses occurring in offshoots. Injuries and deaths have been reported in the crush of mosh pits. 

Concert seating turned into general admission and the appeal to stand for three hours and leaving the smoked filled venue with my ears ringing was lost.  The mosh pit put the period on attending musical acts.

Being on the floor with kids who wanted to run into each other was reserved for football, but they gave themselves helmets. Hand-to-hand combat has a long history but they were at war.