Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

A side of smokiness

Looks like we (read: San Francisco) are finally getting a whiff of that smoke from the wildfires up in northern California and Oregon. The air quality this afternoon was surprisingly bad. A blanket of smokiness seemingly wafted over us unannounced. It was the hottest day of the week, too. Those of us without air-conditioning at the home have a difficult choice tonight: open the windows to cool down rooms, or keep them close because air quality is not great. Which one would you prefer? A warm room, or a cool one with bad air?

Here’s what I am doing: keep the window open, and let the Coway air purifier do its thing. The machine is definitely more active than usual this evening.

Selfishly, I hope the air quality will improve by the time this Sunday arrives. That is when I will be running a 10K in the annual Giants Race. I can safely speak for all runners that we would prefer to run in good clean air. This reminds me of two years ago when a coworker was training for the Santa Rosa Marathon. It was all going well until wildfires erupted locally, creating challenging air conditions. While the race was not canceled, the coworker decided to skip the event. There’s no glory in it: who knows what sort of harm could materialize in the long term.

Obviously, my situation is not as drastic. Perhaps a bit of smokiness will add to the pleasant ambiance at the Embarcadero on a Sunday morning. I greatly enjoy running down that route and back to Oracle Park to compete the 10K distance. This year, due to enough people signing up for the event, they’ve re-extended the route all the way to Pier 39. Last year they made us loop back at the Ferry Building instead, necessitating two laps (instead of the single one when the turn is at Pier 39). That really threw me off my game last year, so no excuses this time.

We are sitting too comfy

Apparently, July 2023 is the hottest month in recorded history. It sure does not feel like it here in San Francisco, though I’m sure it’s been absolutely sweltering soon as outside of the city confines. Just a week ago I was sweating it out across the bay in Oakland at an A’s game. But soon as I cross back over to San Francisco, the marine layer welcomes me like a blast of chill in a summer’s desert. We are damn lucky the city have stayed relatively cool, whist the rest of the world is melting down. Granted, we sure pay dearly - in cost of living - for it.

Sometimes I wonder if we ought to have survivor’s guilt, vis a vis climate change. Other than the droughts and smokey wildfires of past years (never forget the big orange sky), I would say San Francisco have been relatively unscathed thus far. Good thing increased carbon emissions in the atmosphere doesn’t cause a correlative uptick in earthquake risk? They’ve been telling us since middle school (that would be early 2000s for me) that we are due for the next big one, and we ought to be prepared. Yet we’ve still not experienced anything close to the 1989 quake.

I really should get that earthquake preparedness kit (finally) in order.

It’s been devastating to watch the wildfire tragedy in Maui unfold. Nearly 100 people dead, whole neighborhoods burned down, and the fires still burning throughout the island. The deadliest wildfire in over a century, and it’s in Hawaii of all places. The islands are not what you would associate with fire disasters (Hurricanes or tsunamis would be more apt), so it makes what’s going on even more shocking. Please donate to the first-respond efforts: American Red Cross is always good. For something more local, the Hawaii Community Foundation’s Maui Strong Fund is recommended (That is where I donated).

People watching

Shoutout to the early-risers. As I type these blog posts out on (weekday) mornings, I greatly enjoy the view out of the window of people who are up as early as I am (about 6:30 AM is when I begin typing). Some are on their way to a slogging commute, and others are simply walking their dogs. Whatever the reason, it’s a kindred spirit of people who wake up early, an empathetic bond.

I just wish some of them would get their heads out of their smartphones. Look around! Take in the morning air! Listen to the birds!

The quiet hours in the morning radiates a calm that I relish very much. The theatre of the color change as the sky turns from dark to light is rather magical. It’s best observed with a cup of coffee, or whichever morning beverage of your choice. The only trouble is getting up early, because it means going to sleep early as well. I’m lucky to have a choice; I have two hours to myself before I even have to think about leaving for work. Kudos to those who must get out of bed at an ungodly hour because of work. You folks are the true morning warriors.

Yesterday’s morning sky was slightly ominous as there was an orange tinge to the morning sun. Alas, the smoke from the wildfires burning to the east have finally made their way to our coastal enclave. In what has sadly become a yearly tradition, wildfire season brings horrible air quality to much of northern California. Good thing we’ve been accustomed to wearing masks, thanks to the COVID pandemic. I guess it’s time to mask back up whenever I’m outdoors again.

Somewhat coincidently, my Coway air purifiers alerted me to needing to change the odor filter. In the process I’m reminded of how important it is to have this purifier, because the HEPA filter - not due for a change for another six months - already looks kind of horrible. It’s definitely doing the job, and I’m counting on this thing to get me through fire season and beyond.

No calm before storm

Well I guess I won’t be taking the GT3 out for a drive this weekend. It would be highly uncivilized to contribute to the already horrible air quality caused by the many wildfires that are burning in the Bay Area. Somewhat ironically, the areas of fun mountain roads that us local car enthusiasts frequent are almost all on fire right now, so it’s not like I can take the 911 to its usual spots, either. This is not a complaint, but rather an observation. Of course I am hoping the best for those living in the affected areas, and a hearty Godspeed to the firefighters and first-responders.

The Fall semester starts next week, which is quite difficult to believe that it’s here. These days I don’t really notice the passage of months, not with being in lockdown since March and each day largely blending into the sameness of the next. There’s no freedom to go anywhere or do the things I’m used to, no room for spontaneity, so I’ve settled down into this new rhythm, one of not noticing the usual big events on the calendar. Does it really make a difference that a new school year starts next week? Not at the moment, no: I’ll still be doing the same thing I’ve done since March for the foreseeable future.

Again, not complaining, but a statement of facts.

Under normal times I would indeed be taking the GT3 out for a spirited drive this weekend, to clear the mind and have some joy of machine before the looming Monday arrives and I’ll have to deal with the super craziness that the beginning of Fall semester typically brings. No such luck this year, obviously, and honestly none of us on the tech support side knows what a fully remote start to the school year will look like. It’s unprecedented for sure, and I hope we never have to go through it again after this one.

Stay safe. God bless.

Well this is not good!

I opened up the blinds this morning to an intensely smokey sky, immediately knowing that it’s not the usual fog we get here in San Francisco, an ominous sign for what’s currently happening in the Bay Area. As I’ve written on Monday, the region is experiencing a historic hot weather pattern, combined with freak thunderstorm conditions this past Sunday. This uniquely combustable mix have finally cracked open the gates to hell as the lightning have lit several wildfires that are burning right now. Evacuation orders are in affect for areas in the Santa Cruz mountains and Vacaville, some homes have already been destroyed; and lest we forget, we are still in the middle of a bloody pandemic.

This is not good at all.

Slightly better news for San Francisco is that the heatwave is largely over for us; we’re solidly in the 70s during the day (some of us would say that’s still rather hot, spoiled brats) while rest of the Bay Area continues to suffer through high 90s and 100s that will last for the rest of this week. Surely that’s not going to help the fire-fighting efforts, and judging from what I’m reading on the news, we’re only in the beginning stages of containing the many blazes in the area. The governor of California have declared a state of emergency, which is somewhat hilarious because haven’t we been in a sort of state of emergency since early March?

2020 cannot get any more weird and horrible if it tried, and try it will: there’s still more than four months of the year left, and November elections are looming in the horizon. At this point it’s probably better to be prepared for the worst than holding to an optimistic position that things will only improve from here on out, that surely this is the bottom. I have no doubts that all of this will pass and we’ll get back to our preferred normal, but any thoughts of a fast resolution should be out the proverbial window by now. I certainly did not think that we’ll be sitting here in August facing another school year of remote learning, and yet here we are.

Right now I can only pray that the wildfires aren’t going to get much worse, and people in the area will be safe.

Shame on California

This is simply embarrassing.

For the third straight Autumn in a row, California is experiencing severe wildfire events up here in NorCal and simultaneously down south in Los Angeles county. Thankfully, the destruction is not nearly as catastrophic as last year’s fires in Paradise and Malibu, but three consecutive years of this is not a good look for the State’s proactiveness towards mitigating such disasters.

Indeed, for what would be the 7th largest economy on this planet on its own, with the highest State income tax in the country, and the crowning jewel that is Silicon Valley, it is a spectacular shame on California that all of this is happening yet again this year. If ever there’s a State with the resources to combat and prevent wildfires, it would be California (on paper, at least). Unfortunately, in reality there remains the same incompetence, and it seems the people in charge are unwilling to lift a finger to solve the underlying issues that are causing these wildfires.

Oh, and new for this year: rolling blackouts! PG&E - the beleaguered utility company - in its infinite wisdom have deemed shutting down power to the grid in at-risk areas during the fire season ought to stop these massive fires from happening. Well, the outages have and are occurring, and yet much Sonoma county is currently burning, so the strategy’s efficacy is suspect. What’s even more laughable is that PG&E said these power shutdowns are the new normal to stop wildfires; an absurd position for an electric company to be unable to deliver electricity.

The obvious solution is to spend the massive amount of money necessary to upgrade the aging electric infrastructure. If falling power-lines are the culprit of these fires, then let’s start putting the grid beneath terra firma. For sure that’ll be a slow process, so in the meantime we should clear away the dry brushes and plants surrounding power poles and towers that are at high potential of igniting. We can’t change the weather, but we can make certain the power grid is able to withstand the many dry and windy season undoubtedly to come after this particular one.

These rolling blackouts cannot be the answer, because there’s vulnerable people who are dependent on electricity for their survival.

I’m not against having a private, for-profit company like PG&E (though the company is publicly-held) as the sole utility provider, but because electricity is one of the important public goods, there has to be tremendously strict oversight by the State government. Constant improvements to the grid must be made, and if PG&E isn’t up for that, then it’s time for California PUC to takeover operations. Electricity is critical to societal functions, and we can’t leave it to the negligence of a company that seems to care more for shareholder’s profit than ensuring a secure power infrastructure that won’t burn down homes every time Fall season comes around.

Selling this lovely set of Grado sr80e headphones because I’ve scarcely used it. AirPods have completely taken over my music listening procedure.

California is burning. Again.

Merely a year after the devastating Napa fires of the previous October, Northern California is once again engulfed in plums of dangerous smoke. Unseasonably dry and and windy conditions compounded the fiery conditions that started in the city of Paradise. By afternoon on the same day last Thursday, San Francisco - some 200 miles away from the epicenter - was already covered in a haze of orange.

The smokey calamity up north was joined by another blaze down south near the city of Malibu. Hundreds of thousands of residents from both Malibu and Paradis were forced to evacuate, and the structures lost amount into the many thousands. Deaths, too, in the tens and climbing; those unlucky few unable to escape in time.

With the ‘Camp Fire’ barely contained through much of the weekend, the air quality in San Francisco made outside activity untenable. Grumble as we may about being stuck at home on what was to be a nice long Veterans Day weekend, just shift perspective to the families that have lost homes in the fire: everything you’ve ever known to be secure and solid, gone in a flash. Suddenly our situation isn’t so bad at all.

I don’t think there’s any way possible to be mentality prepared for that kind of misfortune. Home insurance will no doubt cover most of it, but the strength and energy required to rebuild absolutely everything is something I can’t fathom. What was once quaint and vibrant neighborhoods are rendered into apocalyptic ghost-towns; where would you even begin?

Those of us fortunate enough to not be materially harmed by the ongoing fires in California owe it to the karmic gods to assist our neighbors in their time of great need. I urge you to donate whatever you can to the various verified GoFundMe campaigns dedicated to the cause. I fear we’re going to need each others help frequently in the years ahead as climate change produces more and more extreme weather events.

God bless the brave firefighters and first-responders ceaselessly working onwards.

Smog-filled afternoon sky in San Francisco on the same day the fires started in Paradise.