Sucks To Be You

Still, there's always COBRA and Obamacare:

After four years in the Trump administration, Vanessa Ambrosini was looking forward to three months of parental leave when she and her husband welcomed a baby a week before Christmas. The Commerce Department’s human resources office had given her approval for it. But then she was surprised to find out the benefit was no longer available because of the change in administration.

“I got completely screwed,” she said in an interview. “There were no caveats in that language saying anything about if the administration turns, you get nothing and of course, that happened and so I got nothing.”

PG&E Needs Better Modeling!

The exact topography of the Sierra Nevada foothills matters when making these life-and-death decisions. PG&E has recently upgraded its meteorological capabilities, but given its desire to also target political donations, it may be a matter of too little, too late:

In each of these 1.24-mile squares drawn on PG&E’s map, the company runs hourly calculations to estimate the risk of a large fire being sparked by its power lines.

To do that, PG&E relied on a complicated algorithm of its own making, which blends data that includes its history of power outages, past wildfires, and fuel moisture.

The major shortcoming of the plan is that the wind speed, which is only one of the many data points used, is not actually measured in each of the squares.

In the case of the Zogg Fire, the nearest wind measurements to the place where the fire sparked came from grid cell 135-377. That grid square lies on flat terrain on the opposite side of the community of Igo from the hills where the fire started. 

The nearest PG&E weather station was located 3.5 miles away from the origin point of the fire, about 600 feet lower in elevation.

Not Outraged

I am not outraged by the Sacramento warming-center controversy. There are just too many homeless people out there for warming centers to make much of a difference. Breton also notes that Sacramento just voted against Measure A. I did too. Sacramento would prefer to keep neighborhoods powerful than have a powerful mayor address homeless needs:

In one breath, some are calling for City Manager Howard Chan to be fired for not opening a city warming center at the downtown library that might have spared homeless people from the wicked weather. But retroactive outrage directed at Chan conveniently overlooks how the will of Sacramento residents played a role in the decisions that led to that horrible night of shame. 

Twelve weeks before what was described by some as a “night of terror” for the homeless, Sacramento residents rejected Measure A – a ballot initiative which would have transferred many administrative powers in the city from Chan to Mayor Darrell Steinberg.

The Lea County Blues

Uh, oh, out in southeast NM, someone's fee-fees are hurt....:

But a proposal filed Monday by a Roswell Republican would take those divisions a step further by allowing counties to petition the Legislature to actually secede from the state – either to join a neighboring state or create a new state.

...“It’s just a response to the lack of respect toward southeast New Mexico,” Pirtle said in a Monday interview. “It seems like more and more it’s the ideals of Albuquerque that become law.”

...If approved by the Legislature and statewide voters, the proposed constitutional amendment would allow counties to launch an effort to formally disengage from New Mexico through a unanimous vote of county commissioners – or a voter petition drive.

...The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has deepened the divide between southeastern New Mexico and the rest of the state, as some law enforcement and local government officials have flouted business restrictions imposed by Lujan Grisham’s administration.

Specifically, one Roswell city councilor came under scrutiny last year for removing a temporary fence around a local basketball court. And New Mexico’s top health official warned the Lea County county manager in May about possible legal action for suggesting businesses could reopen in violation of state orders.

But the divide isn’t due solely to disagreements over COVID-19 response efforts. Pirtle, a dairy farmer who was first elected to the Senate in 2012, said bills filed at the Roundhouse this year to ban animal trapping on public lands and restrict pesticide use represent a “direct attack” on many rural New Mexicans’ way of life. 

...Stewart, for her part, also said there’s a ready alternative for residents of southeastern New Mexico who no longer want to be part of the state. “If you like Texas better, just pack up your bags and move – it’s not that far,” Stewart said.

Various Recent Pix

Dreams

January 27-28, 2021 Wind Storm Calamity

Some of my neighbors have problems.

Tree fell, brought down huge utility pole, and this vehicle was in the wrong place.

Didn't even rain that much either! 

 Initial damage assessment at my house : could have been worse! The dysfunctional gutter (not enough slope) has become a hyperfunctional gutter. Eucalyptus everywhere. At least everything else seems more or less OK.

Here is my Facebook post from the night of February 27-28:

This storm roaring in from the Pacific seems to be even windier than the big storm of January ‘08. Not much rain yet, but sure feisty!

The power went out, so dog-walk time came early - before midnight!

The eucalyptus tree next door has grown like a weed this last decade. Five years ago, during a storm, a big branch shredded off it and would have smashed my car had it been parked in the driveway (but it was away at the time).

Tonight, I put on my bike helmet and rain coat and headed out into the storm with Jasper. I immediately noticed that the eucalyptus tree is shredding some really big branches, some of which are in my yard, some in my driveway, and some in the alley. Surprisingly, even though a big branch is wedged in my hedge, and was suspended just above my truck’s windshield, there was no broken glass and everything seemed to be intact. I reparked the truck in the DMV parking lot. I dragged some of the tree branches into a pile so the garbage truck can get to the bins in the morning.

I saw a SMUD electric utility truck in the alley. We approached. The driver said, “Wait, wait, don’t tell me, your power is out! Love the bike helmet! Sure need it on a night like this. Ha, ha, ha!” I told him about the shredding eucalyptus. He said he’d look into it, but I don’t think he did.

Jasper and I walked around the block in the gale. We didn’t go further. I noticed a downed utility line. Probably not electrical, but better not to probe too closely. 

I’m worried the eucalyptus tree might collapse tonight onto my bedroom. It’s kind of leaning that way. In order to avoid the not insignificant risk of great inconvenience or possibly instantaneous death, I will sleep on the couch in the living room instead.

Safe - For Now....

RIP, SOPHIE

Charm Offensive

Charming!:

According to CNBC's Eamon Javers, many hedge funds are not only surprised by the ferocity of the Reddit rebellion, but also by the low esteem in which the average American holds their industry. 

"I'm told the hedge fund industry feels it needs to push back on the massive criticism it's gotten in the wake of GameStop," Javers writes on Twitter. "Says one source familiar: 'A significant amount of time and attention will be spent working to explain the industry's story a little more cogently.'" 

As for what this public relations charm offensive might look like, Javers's sources say they expect the industry to offer "examples of ways hedge funds have benefited communities and emphasis on vast array of hedge fund investment strategies -- if there's one you don't like, there's probably another you do."

The Hall of Mediocrities

After Sacramento rainy season rainfall cratered to 28% of normal last month, the recent storms have brought rainfall up to 48% of normal. So, the 2020/21 rainy season has recovered enough to enter the hall of mediocrities rather than the hall of disasters. The closest comparison is to the 1897/98 rainy season, which is remembered by meteorologists for - not a damned thing! 

When this storm passes, we'll have a warm-up. We always seem to have a warm-up on February 5th. The Japanese Plum tree in the back yard starts to flower - a harbinger of spring - and maybe a harbinger of a decline in Covid-19 numbers as people start spending more time outside. 

We have to do better on the rain, though....