HOT TIME -- KEEPING COOL AGING -- HEAT OFFICER

 Republic -- "If you can keep it."  [Democracy]

      Accountability for Jan. 6th insurrection.

U.S. Select House Committee on Jan. 6th Hearing continues in the fall.

U.S. Dept. of Justice and FBI deserving of respect for doing their jobs.

QUESTION:  What has happened to the documents missing from the empty file folders marked 'classified' found mixed into personal belongings of the ex-President -- items he allegedly illegally took to his Florida country club resort home -- documents he kept there even after all such records owned by our government his attorneys falsely reported had been returned as required?  

"TOO DARN HOT" from the musical film 'Kiss Me Kate' / 1953                                                Ann Miller dancing and singing Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter                                      Starring: Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ann Miller, Keenan Wynn,                            Bobby Van, Tommy Rall, James Whitmore, Bob Fosse, Ron Randell 

HOT TIME IN THE OLD TOWN ... many days and nights!

HOT is a term describing the climate in many places around the world including my own here in Southern California, U.S.   People are flocking to our SoCal beaches to stay cool.   Monsoonal thunderstorms with lightning erratically roll through some communities (not mine) dropping short bursts of rain.  Bears seek humans' swimming pools in which to cool themselves.   

100+ degrees Fahrenheit (38+ Celsius) our thermometers have been recording beginning last week, continuing into this current week only to get hotter in some SoCal communities -- think 105 - 115 F (43 - 53 C). 

Earlier in the season, we received in our mail forms to submit encouraging those who can and want to participate in our utility power company's 'flex alert' program for which they give $$$ credits.   

We're now on 'flex alert'.  We're asked to eliminate using electric appliances like our ovens, clothes and dishwashers, turn off other devices, to not charge electric autos, between 4-9 p.m.   This is also the time period during which we are asked to conserve water due to our drought I've described here previously.  

Additionally, for several consecutive days we are being advised we could experience 'rolling blackouts'.  This usually means our power could periodically be cut off for an hour, then turned back on, during days and nights.  

Provision excluding such power outages can be arranged by individuals whose medical conditions require they must have electricity for their life-sustaining equipment.  

Our several years drought has aggravated our parched vegetation due to such extremely hot weather in areas here and in northern California creating even greater susceptibility to fire.  Our rationed water is also required to combat these fires.  The flames have destroyed acres of countryside along with some resident's homes, causing thousands to evacuate, injuring some and threatening, even taking the lives of people as well as other life.

The future our world is predicted to face includes increasing extreme temperature changes which we are just beginning to experience.  In simple terms, in each succeeding year to come, our summer days and nights are likely only going to get hotter.

Perhaps being aware of what others experience now may help inform some to think in terms of their own communities -- what they may be able or want to do in anticipation, if or when they have a similar situation.

Los Angeles has taken the actions so far by only two other cities, Miami and Phoenix -- appointing a Chief Heat Officer, Marta Segura, to "oversee the City's response to extreme heat events" described in a city press release.  She was previously director of climate emergency mobilization.

The L.A. city plan will include a warning system, interagency emergency response plans, also long-term strategies to reduce exposure.  Smithsonian magazine describes "Heat is the leading weather-related killer in the U.S."

"Americans who are over the age of 65, Black Americans, children, patients with cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses and economically disadvantaged populations are more vulnerable to heat and face a higher risk of death, on top of the disparities in mortality reporting" reported by the Environmentally Protection Agency (EPA).

"The idea of Chief Heat Officers isn't exclusive to the US.  Since Miami announced its position, Athens, Greece, Freetown, Sierra Leone, Monterey in Mexico, and the Santiago metropolitan region in Chile have all hired in similar positions."

The world in which we live now and will in the future is projected to be quite different from the one into which I was born more than three quarters of a century ago.  I think the expectation some seem to have that we can recapture life in the world as we once knew is not at all likely.

Resistance to the changes coming only makes the accommodation more difficult.  The complications of too much water, flooding, presents massive threats some in the world have already been experiencing  from which we need to be learning, then taking preparatory action now. 

Flooding washed out a major connecting freeway (I-10) between L.A.andPhoenix recently, so we are not immune to too much water in some drought areas also vulnerable to the effects of excessive heat.  Adaptation to our evolving new world now is our challenge.

Our energy source to power cooling, heating, and lighting our homes, our transportation vehicles, and systems to operate all our devices on which we increasingly depend in most other facets of our lives are central to our existence.  

Not all of us are able to incorporate all of the necessary changes into our daily lives but we might best do what we can.  Also, I'm no longer a candidate for taking on extra employment to augment costs of some recommended special projects as I might once have done when younger.  That situation becomes a fact of life for most at some stage in life.

Meanwhile, I'm keeping cool with air conditioning, doing all I can do in the way of conservation of electric and water usage as necessary.  There is more I know would help in overall conservation beyond these immediate special needs I would like to be able to adopt.  Some adaptive actions I would take but I'm no longer physically able to perform some of the required tasks that could mitigate upkeep.  In other desired actions the cost is prohibitive, considering given the unknowns of what my personal future needs may be I expect is true for others, too.

I wonder .....

..... if others reading here view the future as I've considered it to be?

..... if other readers here  have or will be doing all they think could or needs to be done to adapt to this future that is confronting us now?

..... if special action is being taken in your community to prepare and adapt to changing weather and/or environmental conditions where you live -- locally or in your state?

POWER -- OSUvsMICH. -- LIFE'S INTRUSIONS

This Thanksgiving season has been interesting.  A couple of days before that holiday my power suddenly went out about ten minutes into the Colbert TV program I was watching that night.  Having had my lights suddenly go out before, as I have previously described HERE, catching me "unarmed" in the bathroom, I had added to my regular strategically placed full-size flashlights by purchasing several small flashlights to place about my home in even more locations.   I was well prepared this time.

A phone call to my electric company revealed I was the first to phone in and the woman to whom I spoke said she didn't know what had happened either.    I wasn't the only one wondering, if even the company  representative didn't know.  Another call later I learned this was a planned outage and they didn't know how long the power would be off.   I went to bed.

The next day the power didn't come on again until around 10 a.m.   Meanwhile, there had been public service news reports that Santa Ana winds, sometimes as strong as 100 mph whipping downslope through mountain passes, were expected as we approached the holiday -- that our electric company might need to cut the power in some areas for safety reasons, but I hadn't thought we would be affected.

Harve Presnell sings "They Call the Wind Mariah" (remastered).                                                           from the movie 'Paint Your Wagon" (original Broadway musical)

Generally, we've not received Santa Ana's hot dry strong winds, except I recall once years ago finding a few roof shingles in our yard the next morning, but I wasn't concerned this year.  The areas that are really at-risk experience trees falling with most concerning of all, electrical lines can come down causing dangerous fires threatening homes and lives, even destructive-of-whole-communities' wildfires as has happened in recent years.

A power company other than my own near San Diego had a tree fall on their power line resulting in a town-destroying-fire called the Camp Fire, traumatizing over 70,000 people.  They lost their California homes and businesses not to mention some lives lost with that devastation that came to their town ironically named Paradise.  Too many residents are still 3 years later awaiting expected recompense so they can more fully resume their lives as described in this action news now report.

I was told our power outage occurred so maintenance could be performed that would serve to prevent our experiencing damage.  The wind did come to other areas subsequent days with violent gusts to 80 mph subjecting a hundred thousand or more people to either deliberate power cuts or those unpredictable outages.

Unfortunately, on Thanksgiving over 60,000 residents in some areas suddenly had their power shut down as a preventative measure against possible wildfires, so their turkey, ham, pies, or other food didn't get cooked this holiday and they unexpectedly had to seek dinner elsewhere.  Some families where these winds are most prevalent did resort to using outdoor grills, others may have had personal generators to power their ovens, as well as refrigerators, even coffeemakers, so they were better able to cope.

Indeed, I have much for which to be thankful since we had no winds where I live and had power Thanksgiving!

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We humans have been quite concerned about vaccinations, the flu and Covid,  but now our pets have unexpectedly had a new threat to their health.  Seems a potentially deadly dog flu has descended on our Los Angeles area.  Some businesses catering to dogs are requiring they must be vaccinated.  

Hm-m-m!  Will some dogs organize and protest?   Violently resist ..... attack others?   I wonder if there will be owners picketing with their pooches to protest this being a possible violation of their dogs' freedom rights?

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University of Michigan has upset Ohio State University football team to win the Big Ten championship.  This classic rivalry outcome proved once again to be unpredictable and an exciting game to view.  My family has individual allegiances to each of these teams.  Consequently, I said our family has a winner no matter which team prevailed!

I"m happy for Michigan fans to have this win to celebrate given to what Covid has subjected residents.  I just hope the packed "Big House" as the Michigan stadium is called, hasn't been a virus spreader location.

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Recently I answered my phone to hear a deep rough-sounding male voice authoritatively ask, "Do you want to sell your house?"   I responded, "Absolutely not!"  He abruptly hung up.  There surely weren't any niceties or words wasted in that call, not even so much as an apologetic "Sorry, thank you." for intruding uninvited into my life and wasting my time -- just right to his point.

I hope I don't hear from him again as I read a current news story that the housing situation is such, homeowners around the country are being repeatedly bombarded by some aggressive individuals to sell their house.  They especially focus on older people with some succumbing to their repetitive persistently prevalent pressure techniques with an offer that may not even be reasonably favorable to the home owner.   

I've also received regular letters in recent years from several different individuals soliciting to buy my house, calls from a few people who have identified themselves as real estate agents, but this new breed I read about sound like they're borderline harassing or worse.  Homeowners are being besieged by these unsolicited offers as described in this NPR link.

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Well, this has turned into a mixture of the significant to rather incidental insignificant items, except to those directly affected by them or those who might be in the future, that can pepper our lives as we navigate the much more important to us activities of life.  

I wonder what sort of incidental matters you could probably live without that squander your time and intrude into your daily living?    Reading this blog, you say?   That's life!

HEAT WAVE, FIRES IN SO CAL

We're having a heat wave...temperature was 107 degrees here in Claremont Monday – 122 record-setting degrees in Palm Springs, California -- an hour auto drive east.   The highest temperatures I recall experiencing were 115-116 a couple days years ago in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona. 

Hot days like even the lower temperatures we're having now generally didn't occur until three or four weeks later in the year if we had them at all.    Do you suppose this might be one more indicator of global warming and/or climate change?  Is there any question!

Fires we don’t usually experience until fall started, also, yesterday – in communities west of where I live – ground growth, shrubs and trees are a tinderbox due to our drought.  The cause is thought to be due to a car crash which led to a second fire with both continuing to spread closer together for a massive out-of-control burn. 

Driving on an afternoon errand I could see the blue sky was being swallowed by the darkening reddish brown smoky clouds moving toward our city which they had reached by the time I arrived home.  We're not threatened by fire but the air pollution is unhealthy so I'll be staying indoors.

Cities west, Asuza and Duarte (home of City of Hope Medical Center but not reported as threatened) are the communities whose foothill residences edge into the mountainsides burning.   Evacuations of people, animals...firefighters on the ground...helicopter water drops...planes spreading fire retardants.  Wild animals, including bears, deer, smaller creatures... leaving the forests...fleeing to neighborhoods.  So far no homes lost.  Concern the wind velocity might increase or direction might change through the night.   

The electric power grid has been down in some other Los Angeles County areas.  One area's residents are reported to be enraged to be without power due to a "planned outage" on this record-setting predicted hottest day.  Some resident's complain they didn't even get an advance notice others report having been given.  I can identify with their protests as the same failure to notify me has happened twice in recent years.  I understand needed preventative work, but doing so on this specific day doesn't make sense?

Other southwestern states are being clobbered by similar drought effects.  This is what we experience plus our earthquakes much as other states are primarily subjected to tornadoes, massive flooding, hurricanes, winter’s freezing snows.  

                                                  

Ella Fitzgerald is one of my favorite jazz female vocalists who recorded this Irving Berlin song with Enoch Light’s arrangement in 1958.   This song was introduced in the 1933 musical show As Thousands Cheer by Ethel Waters – the song subsequently was featured in several movies and recorded by numerous singers.