Category Archives: Observations

Not Fooled

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Lately, I’ve been noticing the prices rising 10-20% at the grocery store.  I’m amused that the government doesn’t show this in their Consumer Price Index and inflation reports.

I’ve also notice a lot of subtle price increases that fly under the radar.  These hidden price increases piss me off more than the blatant price increases because there is an attempt to fool the consumer.

Notice the cereal box on the right is skinnier.  I paid the same price for both; the one on the left just a couple of weeks earlier.  The new one on the right contains 8% less cereal by weight.

There are people sitting around in a conference room, in a corporate office somewhere, making these decisions on how to deceive the consumer.  Doesn’t anyone have conscience anymore?

I recently bought a pint of sorbet, except it wasn’t a pint.  It was 15 ounces, one ounce short of a pint.  The next time I went to the store, I looked at the variety of frozen desserts and ice creams.  They all looked roughly the same size, but there was quite a variety of actual net content ranging from 13 to 16 ounces.

Sometimes I wish I was blissfully unaware of what’s going on.

Reconstitution

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After experiencing the driest second quarter (April, May, June) in recorded history, a dozen wildfires across the state, a wildflower-less landscape, and record breaking temperatures and dry wind, the rains have finally come.  I’ve received nearly 3 inches of precipitation over the past 3 days.  A little more is expected today.  Now, of course, the weather service has issued a flash flood watch.

The graph below shows the flow in Boulder Creek east of the dam.  Note that the water levels were about 1/4 of the historic average before the recent storms which are shown by the spike at the end of the graph.

 

Boulder Creek Streamflow, click for larger.

April, May, June are statistically our wettest months.

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Regarding the media coverage of forest fires, they commonly cite that the fires are worse due to the mountain pine beetle killing the trees.  In one local case, they stated the fire was burning in a tinder-dry beetle killed forest, when I knew for a fact there were very few beetle killed trees in that area. They will stop at no lengths to sensationalize a story.

The problem is, as we learned with the Bush administration, if you repeat something enough times, it becomes true in people’s minds.  This leads people to thinking that the pine beetles have to be dealt with in some way.  For example a large part of the forest near where I live, where people hike, camp, and ride bikes is going to be “patch cut”.  Patch cutting is removing all of the trees in large areas, similar to clear-cutting.

Remove the trees, and yes, the pine beetle “problem” goes away for obvious reasons.

Pine beetles have always been a part of the forests here.  They have been documented as being around for at least a hundred years and are probably a native species.  Their job is to keep the forests from getting overgrown, just like natural fires.  Based on my own observations, they don’t kill all of the trees. Thirty to forty percent continue to live.

Here is the link to the article:

CU-Boulder researchers: Pine beetles not always tied to increased fire danger

 

 

Rage

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I’m walking to the post office and I pass this guy who is walking in the same direction, albeit slower.

“Fuck you!”, he says.

I do a double take wondering if I heard him correctly.   I look at him and he says it again.

“I deserve a fuck you just for walking by on the road?”, I ask.

“Yeah, fuck you.  I can say whatever I want.  Leave me alone.”

I turn my back to him and walk away.   Inside, a lighter clicks, igniting the dry kindling of my rage.  About a hundred yards down the road the flames have grown into a respectable fire.

I feel like turning around and fighting him.

I don’t know if it’s still true, but in this state, those words are considered fighting words.  So if he thinks he can say anything he wants, he should be prepared for repercussions.

I tell myself that he’s probably missing a few marbles and that he doesn’t deserve me punching him in the face.  Any rational person wouldn’t have uttered an unprovoked fuck you.

From inside the post office I see him standing in front of the entrance with a deer in the headlights look on his face.  Yeah definitely nuts.  As I walk through the exit, I bite my tongue to keep from engaging him further, the fire of rage still burning strong.  I’m focused on his face as I walk past, but he is oblivious.

By the time I’m half way home, the fire is out.

Of all of the animals I’ve encountered, humans are definitely the craziest and the least trustworthy.