A/V Evolution

Every few years you have to update your home entertainment equipment. No, that’s not exactly right. You don’t have to. Really, you don’t. But you do, don’t you? Because you’re vigorously urged by a zillion ads to get the latest gizmos, can’t live without ‘em, not cool like your buds who have all the latest crap. And so it goes, buying one thing after another, all of which are technically obsolete long before they actually wear out. First it was LP records – the content of which was often loaded onto reel to reel tapes. I used to configure these long-playing (up to 5 hours) tapes for given occasions: there was one for parties, one for background dinner music, and of course the ever-popular hand-picked never-fail seduction tape ending with Ravel’s Bolero. No, I don’t recall the level of efficacy of the seduction tape.
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From LPs, we went to cassette tapes: new inventory and new equipment required. Next came CDs, another new inventory, more new equipment. Now, CDs are virtually obsolete, replaced by mp3 and ipod and online personalized music from sources like Pandora. And that’s only the audio portion.
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It’s the same thing with videos, movies and TV. Remember VCRs? They’re dead, Jim (Bones, Star Trek; he must have said it a hundred times). It went from VCR to DVD some time back, and then on to DVD Blu-Ray which is nearly obsolete also cuz now there’s online download streaming.
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I have to admit I’m a sucker for new A/V technology. Some of it anyway; just upgraded to a Blu-Ray player with built-in wifi for streaming movies and other stuff - slicker than snot on a doorknob. Never went for the Ipod/mp3 stuff, tunes not being all that important to me anymore. Trish has an Ipod and uses it a lot, tunes in music, tunes out the world – and me, might as well talk to a chair.
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Pix are of last night's sunset.  Not bad, eh?

Of Bears and Heroes

Two notable events were reported in the local newspaper recently, the first of which was a black bear in the state park fronting Lake Havasu a couple miles north of London Bridge. This is a first: no other bears have ever been seen near LHC. It doesn’t seem like bear-friendly habitat to me at all; I’m thinking that it must have come over from the California side.
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The flora and fauna are virtually identical on both sides of the river but everybody knows that Californians are a little different. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against people (or bears) from CA. To the contrary, I’m extremely fond of several - despite their numerous bizarre ideas and quirks (people, that is; don’t know any bears well enough to comment on their quirkiness). Besides, I think it’s involuntary, something in the water perhaps, not their fault at all. Many have achieved near-normalcy after living in other states for several years and are to be congratulated on that significant accomplishment.
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Back to the bear (got carried away back there, sorry). Here’s a link to the story:  http://www.havasunews.com/articles/2010/10/04/news/doc4ca964a28b655067215330.txt
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The other event, involving local heroes, is a little closer to home. In fact, the heroes are in our home at this very moment: they live here. Trish and Ranger made the front page of the local paper on Tuesday. While kayaking south of town, they found and rescued a dog that had gone missing from a boat a week earlier. The dog, Chipper, is a Shih Tzu – hardly big enough for a good snack for your average coyote, and it’s amazing the coyotes didn’t get him. Chipper’s owners were ecstatic, had about given up hope; they wanted to put the event in the paper – a good-news story to offset the bleak news of recent times.

Mist and plant. LHC, AZ

The portable misting tower is effective, creates a comfortable mini-atmosphere in a small area like a patio table. Problem is, the water here is full of lime and/or calcium, maybe other stuff, too, and it clogs up the misting nozzles after a while. The vendor recommends using an inline sediment filter to alleviate this kind of problem: I do, it doesn’t. I tried hooking up the garden hose to soft water and that seems to work better. Another challenge is keeping the mist headed in the right direction despite frequent breezes wafting it hither and yon. The expression ‘it’s like herding cats’ has been popular in recent years but I think I’ve one-upped the users of that phrase. Ever tried herding mist?
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There are 2 stepped terraces fronting the LHC house, plus the upper terrace/patio at house floor level, so we'll call it 3 in total. The lowest terrace has 3 irrigation bubblers so it’s a good place for plantings. The middle terrace was originally planned to be part of a pool system, a spa/hot tub I think. The uppermost terrace/patio was designed for a pool; wiring and plumbing are roughed in for both spa and pool – but it ain’t gonna happen on my watch.  Pools are a pain in the ass, wouldn’t take one if you gave it to me. There was to be a waterfall or water feature or some darn thing flowing from the house-level pool to the spa on the next terrace down. Neat concept, I admit.
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One of my house do-list items since day one was to remove 2 butt ugly, rabbit-bitten plants on the lower terrace. I have no idea what kind of plants they were or why anyone would want them – other than the rabbits, that is. One of the plants died of natural causes this summer. Well, actually it died of thirst cuz someone who shall remain nameless shut down the irrigation to the lower terrace. We’re talking plant-slaughter here, plain and simple. This week the remaining plant joined it’s sibling in plant paradise, in this case, murder one.  And, you know what? I have no remorse whatsoever. Cold blooded bugger, aren’t I?
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Pix are of misting tower and lower terrace before the demise – “from the womb untimely ripped” – of butt ugly plant number 2. In the next post I’ll include pictures and descriptions of the new plantings, hope you can stand the suspense.

MKM LHC, AZ

In the early 80s I took an assignment in Egypt for 2 ½ years. My employer, CH2M Hill, was the lead firm in a 4-firm consortium on a USAID project there, expanding and upgrading the wastewater treatment system for the city of Alexandria. My job was to manage the financial, administrative and logistical aspects of the project, in short, everything except the design function. My entire staff of about 100 people was Egyptian, and nearly all of them were Muslim. Muslims have 2 long holiday periods each year: Ramadan and Hajj. The project offices closed during those periods, and most of us Americans went to Europe.

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On one of my Europe trips, my niece, Mary Kay Magistad, and I, arranged to meet in Copenhagen and go on from there to tour Sweden together. MKM was taking a break before pursuing an MA Rotary Fellowship at the University of Sussex in England. This was the first of many shared adventures and visits back and forth. I visited her in Boston and Beijing; she visited me in several OR locations, and now here in LHC. Last summer she joined Trish and me on our North Shore Drive (Lake Superior) excursion. She also climbed Mt Whitney with me – as did her brother Steve and my brother Pat - some 20 years ago.
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If her name sounds familiar, it’s because she’s a radio journalist and a regular on the BBC/PRI program, The World. The program airs each week day on most public radio stations. MKM has lived in Beijing for many years, in Bangkok before that. She’s currently in the States to receive an award (not her first) for a 5-part series “Created in China”. The award presentation will be in Las Vegas – which happens to be the closest major airport to LHC. It’s great to see her again, and to indulge in our sporadic conversations about investments, travel, religion, politics, philosophy, and so on. I can’t think of any social or world problem we’ve not addressed and talked into total and abject submission.