Happy Christmas Eve!

Wishing you a warm and comfortable Christmas Eve. a very Merry Christmas day, and a wonderful New Year 2022! Planning a quiet day this year. We're expecting my niece to visit tonight through tomorrow, and hopefully we'll have a video call with her/my family, then in the afternoon, we're invited to Jennefer's friend's home for Christmas dinner. We're not expecting a white Christmas here this year, so I've included a little snowy scene for all our entertainment.

It’s complicated

I think of most of the big issues these days as being multi-faceted. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to find someone who insists on making their “solution” all about just one of those facets. 

I suppose this concept is an integral part of my “We’re all different” philosophy…

Heat again!

We are so glad to have a new furnace! The old one had a lot of things going wrong with it, so after a bit of agonizing, I finally bit the bullet, and had them install a new one. We only had to survive a few days without central heat. Using a space heater and fireplace was barely working ok, mostly because the weather had warmed up a little, after that frigid 15°F Saturday morning, when we discovered it wasn't working any more. The installers were here all day, until long after dinner time, dealing with the intricacies of replacing the heart of a moderately complicated system, and leaving a spotlessly clean work site. We have our fingers crossed, that it all works perfectly throughout this winter, and many more in the future.

Cold Dead Furnace

It's a frosty cold 15°F morning in Littleton; that’s 17° below freezing, for those of us that are counting. The birds out on our feeders seem to be handling it ok. We have really been enjoying watching the birds at the three feeders we have out there. The squirrels are also gorging themselves on the two dishes of seeds that we keep filled on the deck box. Nice to have some wildlife that doesn't mind coming close, for us to watch, as they enjoy the goodies we're giving them.

It seemed a little cold in the house when I got up, and then I realized… Murphy’s Law struck once again, as four days after a regular maintenance visit, which included replacement of an aging but fully functional igniter, my heater is enthusiastically running the circulation fan, with no flame in the furnace. This is yet another of those times, when I should smack myself on the side of the head, and whisper intensely, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it“, as I call the HVAC folks, then move around the house, firing up the gas fireplaces, and plugging in the portable electric heaters.  

 

Update four hours later: somehow the furnace “magically” started working on its own, at least for awhile

 

Update even later: and now, it's cold again...

 

Here's a closeup of our cheery Christmas tree in the breakfast nook, which makes things seem better, every time I look at it. 

 

 

First Snow

Good morning! It's a chilly 27°F morning in Littleton, with our first measurable layer of snow out there! The birds were excitedly crowding our feeders this morning, much earlier than usual.

There was a lot of activity on this bird feeder, while we were enjoying our breakfast, before Jennefer headed off to work. Jennefer noticed the birds on the higher perches couldn't get to the seeds, as the feeder had run down a little. But they were happy to perch up there, and wait their turn for the lower more fruitful perches.

 

Two house finches enjoying the tire swing bird feeder.

 

 

 

I had to interrupt my breakfast, to go out and top off the contents of the bird feeder, as I couldn’t stand watching the birds on the higher perches not be able to get to any of the seeds. Here's the crowded freshly filled feeder, with incoming traffic on final approach :-)

 

 

Lots of squirrel footprints in the snow; Yep, they were also out early. The squirrels are amazing. Sometimes they get along really well. Other times, they are rolling around the deck, fighting over who gets to have all the seeds. 

EVs and Traffic Jams

Here's an interesting article that points out how unfounded the assertion is, that Electric Vehicles (EVs) would somehow be totally unable to cope with being stuck in a traffic jam for a few hours, in hot or cold weather.

 

As I occasionally weigh the pros and cons of becoming an EV user, I’ve been wondering about this exact issue myself, so this was a nice summary of some relevant information. 

Sad to see some people (in the comments) getting stuck on the word “likely“ in the title, considering that predicting most outcomes in life is based on probabilities and not certainties.

 

If you headed out onto the road with a low battery charge in your EV, you would be more likely to be adversely affected by running AC, heat, or accessories while sitting in a traffic jam. Of course, leaving the house with a nearly empty fuel tank in a gas powered vehicle would have a similarly lower probability of success.

 

The article being debunked touts the advantage of jump starting a gas powered vehicle, which doesn’t help a lot when you’re out of gas. And speaking of jumpstarting, my guess is that roadside assistance vehicles will be carrying jump starters for EV batteries pretty soon, if they’re not already doing that.

 

My bottom line: Running the heat or AC while stuck in traffic does not feel to me, like a legitimate discriminator, for a choice between a gas or electric vehicle.

Recognizing Misinformation

There are some good tips in this article, about recognizing misinformation online, and stopping the spread. Worth reading! 

• Misinformation is false information that catches on — whether the people behind it intended to mislead others or not. 

• Disinformation is false information that’s spread on purpose. The people (or bots) who put it out there have a motive. It could be financial, political or plain diabolical. But it’s always intended to persuade someone to think or do something.

Misinformation isn’t new. But organized disinformation campaigns are becoming more common online, and social media can help this type of content travel much faster. Truthfully, we’ve all got a responsibility to help stop its spread. On the bright side: It doesn’t require getting off the couch.

Nice Morning

Good morning from Littleton! Here’s a visiting house finch checking out our Christmas tree in the breakfast nook.

Cold Bike Ride

Today was a colder late Fall day, a good opportunity for using my warmer biking pants, and an extra thermal shirt layer, all of which worked out really well, except for my cold toes. Looking forward to trying some lightweight waterproof shoe covers I found on Amazon this week, and that arrived after I got back. Oh well, maybe next time’s the charm.

Pearl Harbor Day

When I think of Pearl Harbor, it’s a complex process. I think of my late Uncle Bill, who was there 80 years ago, and of how my cousin is here because he survived. I think of his younger brother, my Dad, who probably joined up partly because of this event, and that us kids are lucky to be here, because he also survived the war. I think of that attack as a terrible example of the horrors of war. I think of the complexities of global politics and economics, and all the other factors that drive countries to make war on others. I think of how there’s a part of me that wants to pray for the souls of those who died that day, even though I don’t really pray any more, so instead I think appreciative and respectful thoughts for them. I think of what we did to our own patriotic Japanese American citizens. I think it would be pretty awesome, if humankind could learn to resolve our differences without war.

Vaccine Mortality Not True

Here’s a good article that addresses yet another piece of anti-VAX disinformation that’s currently circulating. My takeaway here, is that “The age-adjusted risk of death involving COVID-19 was 32 times greater in unvaccinated people than in fully vaccinated individuals.”

If Your Time is short

• Alex Berenson misrepresented data on death rates by vaccination status in England. He said: Vaccinated people under 60 in England “are dying at twice the rate of unvaccinated people the same age ... I don’t know how to explain this other than vaccine-caused mortality." 
• The government agency that produced the report cited in his claim says the report’s data do not back up the claim. 
• A footnote in the government data table cited in the post provides an explanation for the higher mortality rate among vaccinated people in the 10-to-59 age group.