…Part 2.
Category Archives: General
New Pond Problem
The neighborhood raccoons have decided to use it as a bathtub. They don’t seem to be successful at fishing in it (probably the fish dive too deep), but they displace twenty gallons of water at night, that I have to refill in the morning. The pond is right next to our bedroom window, so we hear the commotion.
I flash a tactical light at them and tell them to vamoose, and they do, but I don’t like being woken up to have to do that. I’m going to install a security light and camera to see if that will discourage them. At least we’ll be able to better see what’s going on.
[Saturday-morning update]
For the curious, this is what I’m going to install. We already have one that looks at the driveway and mailbox. This one will be right next to it, looking at the side yard, and the wiring is simple, because it just USBs to the other one.
[Sunday-morning update]
OK, so it turns out that the USB thing works for cameras, but not for floodlights, so I still have to run wire. Fortunately, I can pull it out of the same exterior junction box that the other one is using. I’m not going to bother with 12 gauge, though (despite the code requiring it on a twenty-amp circuit), because it really isn’t any kind of hazard with external wiring on stucco, so I’ll just use some of the 14 gauge Romex that I’ve got hundreds of feet of.
I should add that some of the fishing was successful. I’m now missing my two biggest koi. They were probably the easiest ones to catch. Fortunately, there were less than a year old, and I recently bought a couple others that will be growing (currently, they’re smaller than many of the goldfish).
Phone For Sale
I just upgraded. Anyone interested in a Motorola G5 Plus, with 32G, in good condition?
Jeff Goldstein
He and his family could use some help.
Off The Air
We’re getting our electrical service upgraded from 40 amps to 125 today, and power will be out most of the day, so probably no more posting before this evening.
Peacocks
I had not realized that they were a problem in southern California. I’ve never seen a feral one in Manhattan or Redondo Beach, but apparently it’s an issue up on the Palos Verdes peninsula. We’ve seen parrots, but not peafowel.
Fun Weekend
We’ve been scraping popcorn off the ceiling and getting ready to texture it and the walls in my office. Doing a knockdown on the ceiling, and orange peel on the walls. Going to buy an airless sprayer from Home Depot to do the painting.
The Tigers Game
No (or little) posting today because we went out to breakfast, then when we got back I discovered that the Tigers were playing the Dodgers today (about half an hour before game start).
Even though we were going to miss the first two or three innings, we decided to go, because how often does Detroit play LA, and we’re getting old?
The good news is that we didn’t miss much Detroit action in the early innings, because there was none. The bad news is that there was a lot of LA action early. The other good news is that we did get to see Detroit get two homers and a double to right field toward the end. The other bad news is that it wasn’t enough.
But it was good, anyway, because it was great baseball weather, and really Dodgers Stadium is one of the best parks in either league, in terms of the views from the upper deck. Panoramic from Griffith Park, to downtown, to the ocean (though it was a little too marine layery to see much to the west).
Checking In
So, the Reason Weekend was great. Saw many old friends, made some new ones. Average age of the attendees was pretty high (Patricia and I no doubt contributed to that), but it’s a gathering of long-time Reason supporters, so no surprise, and there was an encouraging number of young people.
We’ve been ensconced since Sunday in a vacation rental just north of the park boundary of Smoky Mountain National Park, above Wear Valley. I’ll put up a picture of the view after I take one from our balcony. Yesterday we drove from the Gatlinburg entrance down to Cherokee, with a side trip to Clingman’s Dome. The weather up there was funky; fifties and windy, and drizzly, so we didn’t other to walk the half mile to the top for the non-view. From Cherokee we came back up I-40, back to Gatlinburg, where we had dinner. One drive down the main drag there was enough to convince us that we didn’t have to visit again, It’s a place for families with kids to be separated from their money.
Today it rained most of the day, so we cocooned and enjoyed it (even heard some thunder). Then, when it cleared up, we drove the loop around Cade’s Cove, and saw several bears. We’re heading back to Nashville tomorrow, maybe via Chattanooga, to see a little more of the state, then flying back to LA early Thursday morning.
It’s been a nice break: our first real vacation since October 2020, and our second one since the onset of the plague.
[Friday-morning update]
We did drive through Chattanooga, and went up to Lookout Mountain. It doesn’t really look like a battlefield (in the way that Gettysburg or Antietam do), but it provides an interesting perspective on the Battle Above The Clouds. We thought about seeing the cave and Ruby Falls, but didn’t really have time, so it’s an excuse to go back sometime. We did manage to get to three states, but just for brief sojourns in North Carolina south of the park, and a brush with Georgia in going up on Lookout.
Had a hectic early morning yesterday getting on the flight (American check-in at BNA was chaotic, nothing like LAX), and had to suffer through a mask for six hours, but back home now with the cats, and life getting back to normal.
P.J. O’Rourke
RIP. He will be missed.
Little-known fact: He was a big fan of space. He was on the board of The Space Foundation. He never used email, but I sent some stuff to him once via his wife, and he wrote a nice letter thanking me.
[Update late afternoon]
John Podhoretz remembers him.
[Update Wednesday morning]
This kind of thing is why he was a national treasure.
[Monday update]
Matt Labash remembers him, as does Jonathan Last.
[Bumped]