Every Car Has Its Day

My brother endures teasing for a few quirky decisions, like buying a yellow cab-like car off the lot in 2014. (His regular car is a Malibu.) Since I needed a vehicle, I was grateful to be lent anything.

The 2014 Nissan NV200 doesn't have the highest-end electronics--yes to bluetooth, navigation, and rear-view camera, no to keyless ignition or even an automatic door opener--but it grows on you.

Legroom is more than ample for passengers, and the comfort, power, and handling are fine, though sub-standard for aficionados.

My brother has received unsolicited offers from Uber and Lyft drivers to buy the NV200. Every car has its day.

A Bad Start

Throughout my trip I will be staying at my parents' place (they moved to assisted living in October) in the McCully-Moiliili district.

On the first night their car wouldn't start. The engine cranked--so the problem wasn't the starter--but didn't engage. After a few tries I quit. Maybe I'd flooded the engine. I will try again in the morning.

Exposed colored wires meant the
shielding was gnawed through

The morning effort to start the car was unsuccessful. Before I called a tow truck, I checked to see if the issue was something simple, like a loose wire or a clogged fuel filter.

The first order of business was to remove the engine cover on the Nissan. That meant finding Dad's hoped-for socket-wrench set in the storage shed, which only took an hour.

Removing the cover revealed that the problem was beyond my capabilities. The engine was covered with rat droppings, and a maze of wires had been chewed through. Nissan's engine cover was a good idea gone wrong. The cozy gap provided a nesting space for rats, especially since the car isn't used for weeks. I cleaned off the poop with a mild Clorox solution and called triple-A.

The dealer called to say that a complete wire-harness replacement would cost $1,700 (there was damage I couldn't see under the car); the repair would take a week because parts had to be shipped from the Mainland.

Auwe!

Who Cares, Busybody?

Most of the structures in the old neighborhood were built pre-1970. There were no homeowners' associations or strict zoning laws. The longevity of the buildings attests to the adequacy of the engineering.

Affixing satellite dishes to the stairs makes them not only accessible but also pointed in the desired southeasterly direction. Practical, yes. Esthetically pleasing--who cares, busybody?

Don't Worry, Help is on the Way

(image from lifeimgyx.pw)

Aging has made me modestly [peanut gallery: modestly?] hypochondriacal.

Dictionary.com: [bold added]

It wasn’t until the 19th century that hypochondriac described someone who suffered “illness without a specific cause.” This sense is still widely used, though today we diagnose modern hypochondriacs by their overuse of the website WebMD.

(Wonderful! I use mayoclinic.org.)

Mental mistakes have been occurring more frequently lately, and I've become worried that they are harbingers of an underlying condition like dementia or Alzheimer's.

For example, I had booked a trip to the Islands a month ago. I thought that I was flying on Wednesday and informed everyone accordingly. Today, Monday, my iPhone chimed an alert that I was leaving on Tuesday. I checked with the airline, which confirmed that the trip was indeed tomorrow. I started packing immediately. Technology saved me from making a serious mistake.

I'm actually an optimist. Technology seems to be advancing faster than the cells are degrading. Once upon a time I had committed to memory over 50 telephone numbers. Now I know eight (8) but don't need to know any, thanks to my phone's address book. Similarly, my phone's calendar with advance notifications obviates the necessity of memorizing dates and times (like with itineraries).

In the near future, a robot equipped with artificial intelligence will have blown past the Turing Test and could fool interlocutors into thinking that they are communicating with a specific individual, for example, me. (And the robot might well be a better conversationalist than my healthy self, much like a man with artificial legs can outrun someone with intact limbs.)

So this budding hypochondriac needn't worry: technology will compensate for mental deficiencies until that moment when consciousness flickers out, then I won't care any more.

Choosing Bravely

We think of optimism or pessimism as an affect of our circumstances, that is, as an emotional reaction determined by what's happened in our lives. Academy Award winning director Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water, 2018) says that it's a willed choice:

A love story with an
amphibian won Best
Picture. No wonder
he's optimistic.

Optimism is radical. It is the hard choice, the brave choice....

History and fable have both proven that nothing is ever entirely lost. David can take Goliath. A beach in Normandy can turn the tide of war. Bravery can topple the powerful. These facts are often seen as exceptional, but they are not. Every day, we all become the balance of our choices—choices between love and fear, belief or despair. No hope is ever too small.

If you ask most people what their hopes are for themselves and their children, it is that they find happiness. Guillermo del Toro seems to be saying that all they have to do is to choose to be happy. Can it be that simple?

Socialism's Fruits

National Socialism, 1944: [bold added[

The Dutch famine of 1944, known as the Hongerwinter ("Hunger winter") in Dutch, was a famine that took place in the German-occupied part of the Netherlands, especially in the densely populated western provinces above the great rivers, during the winter of 1944-1945, near the end of World War II. A German blockade cut off food and fuel shipments from farm areas to punish the Dutch for their reluctance to aid the Nazi war effort. Some 4.5 million were affected and survived because of soup kitchens. About 22,000 died because of the famine. Most vulnerable according to the death reports were elderly men.

Venezuelan Socialism, 2019:

(From Guardian video)

Venezuelan troops have barricaded a bridge on the country’s western border with Colombia in an apparent attempt to prevent the entry of humanitarian aid sent by opposition leaders trying to force Nicolás Maduro from power.

A starving population is a compliant population.

Overnight Duty

Comfortable and warm enough

After a hearty dinner of Nellie’s stir-fried pork and cabbage, the Home and Hope guests helped themselves to Susan’s cherry-and-pineapple coffee cake. My contribution was steamed rice and the $5 rotisserie chicken from Costco. (I always pick up a chicken for the kids; most prefer it to the main dish unless it's pizza.)

Hank from the host Lutheran church arrived at 9. Hank, like your humble blogger, is a retiree who is able sleep on the floor. However, the number of volunteers who can handle overnight duty is dwindling--most of the younger ones have families to take care of and jobs to go to the next day--and the church might well have to cut back or cease hosting next year.

It's just four families that we can shelter at a time, but we're making a difference, and I hope they can find a way to continue.

A Pig's Life

LiLou, 5, is the World's 1st Airport Therapy Pig. Of course, the airport that engages her services is SFO.

Years of experience under her belly, LiLou is rounding into form. She was trotted out at the SF Symphony’s 19th Chinese New Year concert:

In one nook, a gaggle of fancily attired women in traditional Chinese gowns hitched up their form-fitting skirts, fell to their knees and, hoping that their zippers were up to the strain, said hello to the belle of the ball, LiLou the pig.

In the Year of the Boar, LiLou, whose day job is SFO’s therapy pig, was an honored guest, decked out in pearls and red nail polish, the same color as City Hall’s dome was lit that night. LiLou herself is black and white and not at all camera shy.

LiLou likely is aware that behind their smiling faces some concertgoers viewed her as ambulatory bacon. It takes generations to change hearts, minds, and stomachs. Perhaps some day we'll chew the fat with her kind only metaphorically.

Home and Hope: Conversation Over Dinner

I piled the plate with the casserole and sat across from the mother and two kids. Volunteers for Home and Hope not only prepare dinner but engage in dinnertime conversation with the guests.

A.J. corrected his mother on her word usage. Disrespect by pre-teens toward parents is not unusual, but it's atypical to show it by means of vocabulary.

Do you like to read, A.J.? He shook his head.

"He likes math," said five-year-old Taylor, who immediately peppered him with addition problems using the biggest numbers she knew, i.e., "what's 100+50?" Addition being no sweat, a couple of questions about multiplication quickly showed that he had mastered those tables, too.

But math, in fact any subject, should be fun, not a test. I recounted the story about a famous mathematician who as a child was asked to calculate the total of the series

1+2+3+4+5....+100 = ??

(This is a familiar tale, but perhaps there are a few humanities majors reading this.) The child solved the problem quickly, confounding his teacher. How did he do it? A.J. puzzled for a minute, then shook his head.

Using pen and paper, I wrote the series in reverse order:

1+2+3+4+5....+100
100+99+98+97...+1

The total of the two series is 101+101+101+... one hundred times. So the solution is 100 x 101 divided by 2, or 5,050.

The mathematician was Carl Gauss, (1777-1855) who was seven when he came up with the answer.

A.J. enjoyed hearing about how kids in those days were pretty smart, too. If I see him again on Thursday night [update: i didn't--they had dinner elsewhere], we'll resume talking about how people, before computers, could still accomplish a lot by just using pen and paper.

Chillin'

A high school classmate posted a picture of himself in front of a work by his artist wife. He asked us to help him name the work. My response below.

"s-ENT-i-ENT" (Lord of the Rings nerdy reference).

Actually the photo of yourself Chillin' (hey, another possible title) is itself a work of art--art within art, if you will. Yes, the relief with its blue, brown, black, and white is a timeless evocation of winter, and if you were just gazing at the trees it wouldn't be adding much. But you're holding a smartphone, which places you in the 2010-2020 decade for anyone looking at this 100 years from now.

Also, you're ignoring the beauty of the art and staring at a tiny screen--a tableau of our time (hey, yet another title).

Well, enough of this---gotta get back to answering my texts.

I have to ask him who the photographer was. If it was his wife, wouldn't it be something if she created the wall art so he could be photographed in front of it. The photo was the intended work! OK, back to reality, he couldn't have married someone that smart....

Thoughts on the 2024 Presidential Election

On this President's Day there's no relief from politics: more Democratic would-be Presidents announce they're running, 16 states sue the President---this time over "the Wall" emergency funding, the 25th Amendment has been revived as a means of defenestrating Donald Trump, etc.

I can't get excited over the 2020 election. The fact that septuagenarians Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Bernie Sanders all are thinking about running betrays the weakness of the field (DJT is 72, but wouldn't you want a young and vigorous opponent to highlight his age?---think Barack vs. John McCain).

You can hype it all you want, but it looks like the Patriots, I mean Donald Trump, will win again.

But 2024 is looking interesting.

(Facebook)

It's been decades since a California Governor was a serious candidate for President, but Gavin Newsom, 51, just may be the ticket. Tall (6'3") and telegenic, Governor Newsom has Progressive credentials. As SF Mayor, he issued marriage certificates to gay couples in 2003 long before it was legal and reinforced SF's "sanctuary city" self-designation. But there are signs that he may be moving toward the center---quietly agreeing with the President about forest-management practices and killing high-speed rail. He's focusing on enforcing existing gun laws instead of passing stricter legislation, and climate change was mentioned only in passing in the State of the State speech.

(biography.com)

Nikki Haley, 47, recently resigned--apparently on good terms with the President---her 2-year post as the U.N Ambassador and is considered to be one of the Republican front-runners for 2024. She was the first female governor of South Carolina and the second Indian-American (after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana) to hold a governorship. Known for her conservative positions (pro-life, pro-Israel, anti-tax), she can retreat when circumstances demand, such as when the 2015 Charleston church shooting made her take down the Confederate flag at the State Capitol. Being a woman and a non-white child of immigrants may win enough votes to put her over the top.

By the way, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will turn 35 the month before the November, 2024 election, and people have noticed.

Fool's Gold

Virtue Signaling:

To take a conspicuous but essentially useless action ostensibly to support a good cause but actually to show off how much more moral you are than everybody else.

The opposite of the Biblical admonition to be virtuous in secret, virtue-signalers crave social approbation by being visible: [bold added]

In 2011, the economists behind Freakonomics ran a story about the research of Steve and Alison Sexton. They wondered why it was that the Toyota Prius was designed to be such a distinctive-looking automobile. As it turns out, the unique look was no accident. The Sextons found that, in particularly conservation-conscious areas of the country, people were willing to pay as much as $4200 more for a recognizably “green” car.

"Hybrid"; barely noticeable

When we were shopping for a fuel-efficient vehicle last year, we did look at the Prius. It was too small for our needs, but the negative deciding factor was that being seen in one is strongly suggestive of agreeing with the dominant group's politics in the Bay Area.

We settled on a RAV4 Hybrid, which looks the same as a regular RAV4 save for the small sign in the rear. We're averaging 30+ MPG overall and are very happy with the purchase.

While I was working, it was sometimes necessary to make purchases solely to keep up appearances. No longer--trying to win others' approval through their notions of virtuosity is Fool's Gold.

Religion Straight Up

Frost appears on our lawn every 2-3 years

For most nights this year the low has been around 40 degrees, sometimes lower.

In other parts of the country those temperatures may seem positively balmy; however, this Honolulu native does not remember feeling this cold over such an extended period, and we've lived in the Bay Area over 40 years.

The scientists tell us the extreme chill is due to a "polar vortex", which is linked to climate change. It doesn't seem to matter whether we have a record-setting high or low, climate change is the answer to everything.

Tomorrow I'll be going to church and hear that Jesus is the answer to everything. That's why I like Sundays; in church they give you religion straight up.

The Train to No---re

HSR scale-back to Merced-Bakersfield (Chron graphic)

Since 2012 we've been commenting on the complicated design, pie-in-the-sky ridership assumptions, and cost overruns of the California high-speed rail project.

On Tuesday Governor Newsom effectively killed the project by announcing that he would only commit to completing the Central Valley line between Merced (pop. 83,000) and Bakersfield (pop. 376,000).

“There simply isn’t a path to get from Sacramento to San Diego, let alone from San Francisco to L.A.,” Newsom told a joint session of the Legislature. “I wish there were.”

He said the current project would “cost too much and, respectfully, take too long.”

But a link between Merced and Bakersfield, he added, could serve as a revitalizing force for the Central Valley, a region Newsom has promised not to neglect.

Don't call it the Train to Nowhere (WSJ)

Governor Newsom also asked everyone not to use a ready-made name for the project: [bold added]

“I know that some critics are going to say, ‘Well, that’s a train to nowhere.’ But I think that’s wrong and I think that’s offensive,” Newsom said. “It’s about economic transformation. It’s about unlocking the enormous potential of the valley.”

In a bow to ex-Governor Brown, Gavin Newsom didn't stop the entire project. Check back another year and we'll see.

California Love Note to Small Employers

Let's say your very small business has grown to the point where you want to hire an employee. You dutifully want to comply with labor rules, regulations, and costs (workers compensation insurance, unemployment tax, state disability insurance, etc.). Maybe you're old school and want to fill out the forms by hand. Maybe you're distrustful of electronic communications, maybe you don't have an Internet computer (you do have a cellphone, let's not be ridiculous), or maybe you just like the feel of paper originals and like to keep a paper copy for your files.

Effective January 1, 2019, the State of California penalizes you for paper submittals of reports that it demands.

From the February, 2019 newsletter of the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration:

E-file and E-pay Mandate for Employers—Penalties for Paper Submittal

AB 1245 (Stats. 2015, Ch. 222) requires all employers to electronically submit employment tax returns, wage reports, and payroll tax deposits to the Employment Development Department (EDD). Effective January 1, 2019, penalties will be charged on paper filing and payment of payroll taxes as follows:

Tax Returns: $50 per return

DE 9, Quarterly Contribution Return and Report of Wages

DE 3HW, Employer of Household Worker(s) Annual Payroll Tax Return

DE 3D, Quarterly Contribution Return

Wage Reports: $20 per wage item

DE 9C, Quarterly Contribution Return and Report of Wages (Continuation)

DE 3BHW, Employer of Household Worker(s) Quarterly Reports of Wages and Withholding

Wage Reports: 15% of amount due

DE 88, Payroll Tax Deposit

These penalties can be prevented by using EDD’s e-Services for Business at www.edd.ca.gov/Payroll_Taxes/e-Services_for_Business.htm to comply with the E-file and E-pay mandate. Express Pay can also be used for online payment by visiting www.edd.ca.gov/Payroll_Taxes/File_and_Pay.htm.

You can still use paper forms if you grovel:

Employers who cannot file and pay electronically due to lack of automation, severe economic hardship, current federal exemption, or other good cause, must submit a DE 1245W, E-file and E-pay Mandate Waiver Request form, which can be found at www.edd.ca.gov/pdf_pub_ctr/de1245w.pdf. Employers with an approved waiver will continue to receive paper tax forms and payment coupons in the mail, and will not be subject to a penalty for paper submittal.

The new California motto should be of the State, by the State, and for the State.

Afterthought: a State that hates paper requires businesses to post signage that no one ever reads: