Clean electricity from the wind. What could be better than that? I liked windmills when they were a novelty. I still like that windmills produce clean energy but I don’t like to see them on so many horizons now. It just doesn’t feel right to look out across a grand vista at a wonder of nature with a hundred windmills churning on the horizon. I still like solar. Energy from the sun converted to electricity. Clean energy. What could be better than that? A field of flat solar panels spread across the desert seems so much less invasive than windmills. They don’t have to be visible from very far away at all. I hope solar ends up practical and widespread.
FW: Truckers
Two have answered my question about how to know to stop early on the ramp of a full rest stop. So far, it’s not a coordinated effort to fill the rest stop efficiently; it’s a matter of being conservative and pulling over early if it looks like the back part of the rest area is going to be full. One trucker even answered my next question; one I haven’t even asked yet. I’ve been wondering about passing trucks on the interstate. Rolling down the interstate at 65 mph, I’m going well below the 80 mph speed limit, slower than most cars, but about the same speed as most trucks. They pass me, I pass them, often without much of a speed differential. If there isn’t much of a closing speed as I get to them, I’ll often punch the cruise control up a couple points until I’m past, then slow back to my cruising speed again. I don’t want to be the guy that just hangs out next to the truck and takes forever to get all the way past. Sometimes though, trucks *are* that guy, and take forever to get around me. Sometimes I’ll punch a couple points off my cruise control to get them by then return to my cruising speed. Clearly they are not speeding up to clear and that makes me wonder. It is just no big deal, and it’s not even on their radar to speed up a little to get the rest of the way around? It is a matter of efficiency; they don’t want to step on the gas and get worse fuel mileage for the time it takes to get around? Or are trucks governed; do they have governors that prevent them from going a little faster? Cousin Ed answered that question for me. His truck has a governor set for 64mph.
I need a new “Most Wanted” bird
I always have one. The bird I’m most anxious to find next. I haven’t had one since we got the Arizona Woodpecker (in Arizona) though; and before that the Swallow-tailed Kite up by Houston. I don’t pick them, they pick me, and the next bird hasn’t come forward yet. Maybe I’ll make a list of all the U.S. birds we haven’t seen and see if one pops out. I sure hope it’s something I have a good chance of finding in the next year or so. Mountain Quail could be a good candidate. They’re in Northern California on up through Oregon (in the mountainous parts). They’re the only quail left for us to get. I hope it’s not a Great Gray Owl. They live in the way north. They like cold weather. I don’t want to have to go to Montana or Minnesota in January. (Judy suggests that would likely be a trip I make alone…) I hope it’s not something as rare as a Key West Quail-dove. They’re only in South Florida, and only once in a while. There aren’t many lifers left for us in Texas. We’ll probably have to do some traveling. I hope one picks me soon though. Some things you just want to know.
A Two-fer
We had an appointment for Judy to get her knee looked at by the Ortho. My appointment to get my shoulder looked at was not until next week, but they squeezed me in while we were there just to be nice. We didn’t get what we expected with Judy’s knee. She has arthritis in the joint and it will need to be replaced at some point. Right now though, they think most of the pain is coming from out-of-control tendonitis. They’ll try to calm the knee down with a heavy-duty dose of oral steroids, ice, and physical therapy. Once that happens, we can re-assess. For me, all signs point to a blown rotator-cuff. I got x-rayed. We both got appointments for more imaging; an MRI for Judy, and a CT Scan for me. Initially they were going to MRI me as well, but there is some question about the composition of the metal in my heart stents. I can understand their concern about suddenly pulling the stents out of my chest with the MRI machine and making a mess. Three hours to get there, three hours at the orthopedist, an hour at Snoopy’s and a three hour drive home. I think the day is done.
Truckers
Sometimes, early in the morning when we’re traveling, we pull into (or drive past) rest areas that are totally clogged with long-haul truckers that stopped there for the night before. As we drive past trucks pulled over on the shoulder on the ramp before they even get all the way in to the rest area we have to wonder: “How did the truckers on the inbound ramp know that the whole back part of the rest area was already full?” If they drove down to look at the big diagonally striped truck parking area and found no room, they would already be screwed. It would be a long loop on the freeway to go around and come in again. They would have to just drive on to the next rest area. Does someone get on the radio and serve as truck stop monitor to warn truckers not to come all the way in? Meanwhile, tomorrow is a big day. A trip to Corpus for Judy’s appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. We’re thinking total knee replacement. We’re hoping he’s thinking the same and we get on his surgical schedule.