Category: General

Miscellaneous

Are we alone in the universe?

The universe is so incredibly  large, beyond our imagination, that I have always thought it’s egotistical for anyone to think us humans are the highest and only forms of life in the entire universe.  As Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson states there are more stars in the universe than all the grains of sand on earth.  In this video he describes the logic behind the idea that there are other more intelligent forms of life out there.  I find his argument incredibly compelling.

Bank of America Stinks!

Its amazing to me that Bank Of America gets away with all the dirty deeds it does. It totally worked the system with the govt. HAMP program. Stringing people along, lying to them about their loan modifications and ultimately foreclosing on them anyway. We certainly didn’t get foreclosed on but they lied to us and put us off for over a year. Gilbert Delacruz in the Phoenix office was our case manager. I have never met a more useless person. I guess he was getting paid just to jerk us around. We finally went to a private loan broker Delia Fling who got us a great refinance deal in just about 60 days, beginning to end.

At any rate, I found this great article on Salon that really tells the story about how BofA has screwed the people and whats amazing is that, like most corporations, gets away with it. Banksters is definitely the name for these Parana’s. Here is the article. “Bank of America Whistle Blowers bombshell”

Bank of America Sucks

 

Big Oak Tree Removal

We found that one side of the big oak tree at the apex of our front yard was rotten at its base.  It was overhanging both the retaining wall and where I park my RV so we couldn’t take a chance of it falling and decided to have it removed.  We hired Colt Langstaff, a certified arborist to take it down.  Turned out to be quite an event with all the neighbors stopping by to watch him surgically remove it so as not to drop it onto the retaining wall or damage the sprinkler heads on the lawn.  Beer flowed in the audience all day long.  Since we couldn’t use the wood I gave it to my friend Alan and it amounted to several cords worth.  Alan, Taylor and I split, sawed, chipped and hauled it away.  The RV parking spot is now all clean and safe.

The part of this oak with the yellow tag was what had to be removed.
The part of this oak with the yellow tag was what had to be removed.
After the tree was cut down.
After the tree was cut down.
Colt's signature in the base
Colt’s signature in the base
The wood from the tree after we hauled it to Alan's house. Alan and Taylor in the back.
The wood from the tree after we hauled it to Alan’s house. Alan and Taylor in the back.

If there were only 100 people in the world

Here are some charts showing the distribution if there were only 100 people in the world. Some things to note:

  • I wonder why French isn’t listed?
  • What small minority we are in the USA 5%
  • What a minority us older people over 65 are
  • Only 7 would have a college education, surprising
  • Almost evenly split between urban and rural dwellers
  • A big majority, 78, have electricity
  • 75 have cell phones!
  • Almost half (48) live on <$2 USD/day
  • 33 christians and 22 muslims, surprising, what about jews?
If the World were 100 People

If the World were 100 People infographic by KVSStudio.

Mardi Gras Parade 2013 – Nevada City style

We went to the Mardi Gras parade in Nevada City Sunday. It had a huge turnout and was terrific as always. This has been going on for all the 17 years I have been in this area. It used to be called the Joe Cain parade, in honor of a fellow who got the Mardi gras celebration restarted after the civil war.  The whole town celebrates with street fair booths, zydeco music and lots of colorful costumes, beads, feathers etc.  Here are some pics I took with my phone, not great but you get the idea.

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