…but man, is it pouring now, with reportedly a lot more to come. It’s a real pineapple express, with a stream of moist air three thousand miles out from north of Hawaii. Glad I don’t live in the foothills. Hard to see how they’re going to avoid mudslides this week. But at least we’re building up snow pack in the Sierra.
Category Archives: General
An Exciting Night
I power washed the patio, balcony and stairs on Sunday, and didn’t get the washer put away, leaving it on the patio (which is upstairs, above the garage — our living area is upstairs and the bedrooms down).
Early this morning, about 1 AM, Patricia was awakened by noise on the patio. She thought she heard someone testing doorknobs, and there were other noises. Suddenly, the security light at the bottom of the stairs came on.
I got up to see what was happening, looked out the kitchen door, and saw a fire on the patio. I ran outside in bare feet, turned on the hose, and put it out. What you see below is the charred remains of the power washer.
Patricia called 911 while this was happening, and they sent a fire truck, even though it was under control. The firemen came, looked at it, and we all stood scratching our heads trying to figure out how it had seemingly spontaneously combusted. But the fire was out, and they shrugged and left.
After we got to bed, I think I figured out what happened. He or they were probably kids looking for an easy house to burgle, couldn’t get in, saw the washer, wondered what it was or how it worked, and picked up the nozzle and pulled the trigger. I had left it plugged in, and the power on. Even with power on, it doesn’t do anything unless the pressure in the hose drops when the trigger is pulled. Unfortunately, there was no water hooked up to it, because I’d turned off the hose and disconnected it when I finished spraying on Sunday, so probably the motor started running attempting to pressurize the non-existent water, which also acts as a coolant. I’m guessing that they held it on long enough that the motor overheated and caught the plastic case on fire, at which point he/they panicked and ran down the stairs.
I’m guessing they won’t be back any time soon, though I suppose we should report it to the police, just for statistical purposes. Normally, it’s a pretty safe neighborhood. This is the first burglary attempt of the house while we were home, as far as I know, in the almost twenty years that we’ve lived here.
[Early afternoon update]
Patricia points out that I’m understating the noise level (I was still half asleep). We actually heard things being shoved around up there, and the patio table was definitely in a new position. If it wasn’t burglars, it was very strong, aggressive and curious raccoons. I’m still going with human-caused disaster.
My Life With Jessica
Described here. Though she’s not quite as creative. Generally, she sleeps on the desk by the monitor, and when she wants food, she walks over the keyboard, sits on the edge, and reaches out to tap me on the face with a paw. Also, I’ve noticed that she doesn’t want food so much as attention and service. She’ll complain, even when there’s still food in the bowl, and demand that I add more. I don’t have to add a lot more, but I have to go through the motions.
The Holiday Sales Continue
…over at Amazon.
It’s Not Just Monday Any More
It’s Cyber Week at Amazon.
And thanks to the readers who bought the netbook and the shoes. Every bit helps keep this blog going.
It’s Black Friday
At Amazon. For those of you who have any money left after years of disastrous government policies.
Some Like It Hot
But not me, and today is the hottest day of the year in Redondo Beach. It’s eighty degrees on the lower floor of the house, and much warmer upstairs (it’s apparently 109 downtown LA). I know that eighty doesn’t seem that bad, but one of the reasons we like living here is that this kind of heat is rare, which also means that we have no air conditioning here. It may be hot sleeping tonight (last night it never went below seventy outside). There’s supposed to be one more day of this, then a cool down on Wednesday, when things go back to normal. It’s ironic that the hottest days of the year in LA didn’t come until fall. I blame George Bush.
[Update later afternoon]
Wow. According to Accuweather, it is currently 95 in Redondo (not clear where they take that reading) with a day high of 105, then cooling down to 63 (a forty-point plunge) overnight. That’s how dry it is here, with an off-shore wind. This is the first time I can ever recall triple digits at the beach. The record is 106 (back in 1964) and the normal for this time of year is 76.
Sean O’Keefe
This AP story doesn’t say who’s aboard, but I’m hearing other reports that he was aboard the plane that crashed in Alaska.
He’s a former administrator, so it will have no effect on policy, obviously, but condolences to his friends and family if he and/or his son didn’t survive.
[Update a while later]
More over at NASA Watch.
Unwarranted Assumptions
This writer has some tips on finding the best seats on a plane, but there’s an apparent bias:
Middle seats tend to be filled starting from the front of the aircraft and moving toward the rear—which means that if your flight isn’t full, you’re likely to get an empty seat next to you if you request an aisle seat in the center section in the back.
…I love 767s because there’s only one middle seat per row. This means that your chances of getting one are less than on any other two-aisle aircraft: A 767 can be 86 percent full before anyone gets stuck in the middle. Two-aisle planes tend to give you bigger seats, more legroom, and larger overhead bins than one-aisle aircraft.
…Unless I’ve achieved my personal nirvana of an aisle seat in an exit row, I always ask the gate agent if a better seat is available. Preferred seats (e.g., aisle seats up front) often open up at the gate because the elite-level or full-fare passengers who were occupying them get upgraded at the last minute.
Emphasis mine. Note that there’s an apparent assumption on her part that a) middle seats bad and b) aisle seats nirvana, for everyone. But why would I ask for an aisle seat when I don’t like aisle seats? I prefer windows, a word that doesn’t appear in the article. I actually almost prefer a middle seat to an aisle, because there is one less person to have to let out during the flight, and I’m not constantly getting jostled by passengers or flight attendants walking up and down the aisle. The only reason, to me, to prefer aisle is for safety (get out a little faster, unless you’re in an exit row), or a desire to get up occasionally and walk around (either for leg stretching or nature calls). My preference is to just cocoon at the window, where I can look out, and not be bothered by anyone else’s needs.
Yes, obviously, if you like aisles, then a two-aisle airplane is preferable. But if you prefer windows, wide-bodies suck, because they provide the lowest window-seat/seat ratio in the sky. My favorite plane, actually, is any variation on the old DC-9 (nowadays B-717 or S-80), because with only five seats per row, forty percent of them are windows.
Miniquake in LA South Bay
…or a foreshock of something worse? The house just had a sharp jolt — a couple actually. It got the cat’s attention. And she didn’t warn me beforehand.
[Checking out USGS…]
Wow, it was right off shore.