It rained. In Los Angeles. In June.
I had to try out the Photo Sphere feature on the phone...
Both light pollution (which I've written about here extensively - read some of my old posts) and atmospheric pollution. https://spaceweather.com/ had a terrifying article yesterday about weird crap that's already happening in the upper atmosphere because of SpaceX launches that are almost totally unregulated.
Better engineering and strong international regulation can save the sky from this particular threat, but will it happen fast enough?
As the hours tick by in Covid isolation, one is reminded of the legendary appearance of an "excitable" Iggy Pop on Countdown back when dinosaurs roamed the Australian music landscape.
The raven and crow families near the casa have always been in low level conflict, but in the last two weeks it's erupted into open warfare.
The other day I tried to talk some sense into a raven sitting on the other side of the yard, then the next morning there was a crap the size of a dinner plate on my car.
So, I'm out.
Get it sorted birds!
(COVID isolation, day 5.)
vulgar language
This pinche COVID is still with me. Thank goodness for effective vaccines, cabrón.
Watching "Narcos: Mexico", always baffling to see certain homicidal criminals portrayed as sort of honorable. I guess everything is relative. #NarcosMexico
When I moved to California I was pleasantly surprised to see that double glazed windows and high quality insulation were baked into the building codes. That was at least 30 years ago.
And of course I almost immediately encountered houses where every room was kept at a constant comfortable temperature, and every kitchen had a machine that washed the dishes.
Heat/cold management for the house involved careful monitoring of windows and blinds.
In summer there was a magical time each evening when every window would be opened and blinds thrown back.
In the morning there was a less magical time when the outside air was warmer than the inside air, so every window was slammed shut and blinds drawn.
Elsewhere in the house, nature took its course. If it was 2C outside, then it would be 2C in the bedroom.
It was absolutely routine to wake up and see my breath while still in bed in Wangaratta in winter.
Growing up in Frankston and Wangaratta we maintained room temperatures the same way they had been controlled since my impoverished ancestors landed in Australia and started stealing land.
One room in the house was the "warm" room in winter. Doors were kept shut to that room, and if washing had to be dried it was hung up in that room. A blazing fire kept the room at a constant 40C.
Pre-1980-ish the concept of living in a house where every bedroom, toilet, cupboard, not to mention living room, kitchen, laundry, were kept at a single constant comfortable temperature, was at best aspirational for most Australians, and for this Australian, an unobtainable dream.
You might as well dream about having a machine that washes the dishes installed in the kitchen.
I see a lot of folks commenting on Philip Oldfield's Guardian piece "Freezing indoors? That’s because Australian homes are closer to tents than insulated eco-buildings" https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/13/freezing-indoors-thats-because-australian-homes-are-closer-to-tents-than-insulated-eco-buildings?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Australian/American in Los Angeles. Formerly digital cinema and broadcast, now doing vision stuff for robotic surgery. Reluctant Xilinx and Intel/Altera nerd.
I'm one of the countless who had their lives radically improved by policies of the Whitlam Government. Thanks Comrade Gough.