Hawks in the forest
Global capitalism
It’s a logical extension of what has gone before. If we follow the path of least resistance, this is where we end up. But now, 50% of the world’s wealth is controlled by 1% of the people. Does that seem like a good idea? Is this a recipe for stability? Is it fair? If we could design a capital and social system from scratch, is this how we’d make it? Global capitalism is working mighty fine for the 1%. It is working well for many of the other 99% that control the other half of the wealth. But it is not working at all for the people on our planet that don’t have access to adequate food, shelter, or even clean water; not by their own fault but by the accident of their birth; people with no access to opportunity to participate in capitalism because of where and when they were born, or people who washed out of the system; they just weren’t able to compete, or people who were excluded; denied the opportunity to compete. There are efforts at compassionate capitalism and global philanthropy, but the number of people left behind and the work to help them as yet undone, is evidence that unrestrained capitalism, with voluntary compassion, is not working out so well. I would like to say something clever about how to fix all this; how to make our world more fair; a better place, but I would have to know a lot more than I actually do to suggest anything constructive, so I’ll just send out a picture of some chachalacas on a deck rail instead.
There are a lot of dedicated birders in this county.
I suspect many of them don’t have day-jobs. We’ve birded a lot on the weekends and at least a little bit each day starting January 1. I’m tracking how we’re doing on the ebird list. So far we’ve recorded 129 species. We’re currently at number 7 in the county for most number of species. You didn’t know birding was a competitive challenge? It’s a charming competition. We all want to identify and record more birds than the other guy, but it’s also a very friendly cooperation. If someone finds a rarity, they promptly tell everyone else where and when, often with directions on how to find it. If we’re standing there looking at a screech owl hidden in a hole and someone else wanders by, we point it out to them. Our competition could be better described as co-opetition. Today we found two burrowing owls.
The wireless thermostat
There are three parts to it: There is the control unit. It is wired in to the heating and air conditioning system.
It’s mounted out of sight in the cold air return.
There is the wall thermostat. It is linked wirelessly with the control unit and the remote thermostat.
Mounted close to where the old wall thermostat was.
There is the remote thermostat. It too is linked wirelessly with the control unit and with the wall thermostat.
This one isn’t mounted anywhere.
It can travel from room to room.
During the day, we shut off the vents to the bedroom and control the temperature in the living room, office, or dining room, depending on what we’re doing. At night, we open up the bedroom vents and control the temperature from there.
We can control room temperature from the remote thermostat, or just switch it back to control from the wall thermostat. It’s perfect!
It’s mounted out of sight in the cold air return. There is the wall thermostat. It is linked wirelessly with the control unit and the remote thermostat. Mounted close to where the old wall thermostat was. There is the remote thermostat. It too is linked wirelessly with the control unit and with the wall thermostat. This one isn’t mounted anywhere. It can travel from room to room. During the day, we shut off the vents to the bedroom and control the temperature in the living room, office, or dining room, depending on what we’re doing. At night, we open up the bedroom vents and control the temperature from there. We can control room temperature from the remote thermostat, or just switch it back to control from the wall thermostat. It’s perfect! I’ve got good walking shoes
Cargo pants hold all the supplies I need to carry. Binocular straps distribute the weight of the binoculars across my shoulders and back. T-shirt and hat complete the outfit. I’ve got everything I need….except a good way to carry my camera. My right front pocket serves as a camera holster. It’s deep enough. That works, it’s secure, but on long walks something that bulky interferes with the path of my right arm swing in a normal walking motion. I can hang the strap over my left shoulder, but then the left hand has to stay on the strap to keep it from slipping off. I can hang the strap diagonally across my chest and back. I like this best because I can let go of either the camera or binoculars to use the other, without the one I’m not using falling to the ground; but the diagonal strap method leaves the camera under my left arm interfering with arm swing, on my back bouncing against my kidneys as I walk, or in front tangling up with the binocular straps when I put down one to use the other. I need an innovative solution. Something within reach, securing the binoculars and camera, without each interfering with the other. I need an elegant solution.