Some Thoughts Today

It's reported the U.S. will soon have a peace agreement with the lying, devious, untrustworthy leaders in Iran. It will be best it's signed on toilet paper so it is put to good use. 

A local contractor hooked up a sanitary sewer force main to a potable water main. Needless to say, it had a shitty outcome, and I envision some law suits in the near future. 

A nephew is having a rough time dealing with an alcoholic ex-wife. The custody of the children is the big problem. Her current shenanigans will probably lead to her losing anything but visitation with a hired licensed specialist that answers to the court. It's time. She's a miserable mother, and even has been kicked out of her favorite watering hole due to her drunk, out of control behavior. 

The reflecting pool is a big new item. My suggestion is they stock it with bass, have fishing fees, and pay for some of what I consider frivolous expenditures. 

I had a piece break on the belt tensioner on the mower. It took a few days for the replacement piece to arrive, and the grass didn't wait. All I have left is weed-whacking. I'll do that when the temperature drops to about 85, and take advantage of the evening light. 

Weather wizards are forecasting a possibility of heavy rain early next week. Depending on where a front finally stalls, we may get more than enough, or little at all. I'll take the little at all. We're pretty good on rain, and more will turn the yard boggy again. 

My dog has developed a schedule that doesn't quite fit my schedule, but he will stand on my chest to guarantee it's time for me to take him to do his business at his preferred time each morning. I can't fault him. He's very good about doing his business outside, and I would never make him wait. After he's through, he will eat his breakfast, and take a nap.

That's all for now. I have things to do, including some yard work. I'll be tired, but the exercise is good for my old bones. 

Close Coyotes

The other day, my wife woke early, went on the porch, and saw a coyote about 300 feet from the house, lazily walking about, and it soon disappeared into the woods. She wasn't sure what it was, but she managed to get a photo, and after I examined it, I could tell it was definitely a coyote. 

A neighbor found a photo of what they described as a pregnant coyote on a game camara. It was in their yard, and their property is close to where I live. The coyote my wife saw wasn't pregnant, so there's at least two, but since I hear them hunting at night, there is a small pack, which now seems to be becoming more bold. 

We'll watch closely, and look for signs of them predating on the chickens. Small dogs will have to be kept close, and with the neighborhood now alerted, coyotes that venture close will find their boldness will be a mistake. 

How It Works

My wife has a UTI. She had one about a month ago, went to an urgent care, and was prescribed antibiotics. Apparently, it hasn't cleared up, so she went to our PCP office this morning. She was told the doctor wasn't there, and the only nurse practitioner was unavailable. So, she went back to the same urgent care, saw a doctor (he's a really good doctor) who prescribed a different antibiotic, which requires a longer time for the medicine to work, and if the culture indicates, will be substituted with another antibiotic. 

I'm beginning to wonder why anyone has a PCP, other than it allows insurance companies to keep a tight rein on them, and patients. They're supposed to handle the little problems, such as a UTI, but seem to be more unavailable than in the past. That, and they have so many patients, getting 10 minutes of their time during a visit is unusual. While it may seem I'm blaming the doctor, I can't fault them for trying to keep up the with paperwork, sometimes brutally inept staff, unavailability of procedures or test report, Medicare requirements, and  insurance codes that would confound a genius. That, and keeping up with medical journals filled with "research" that is peer reviewed by people that not only are just rubber-stamping the research, they don't even try to find out if the experiments can be repeated to verify the reported results.

This is where we are. Insurance is filled with fraudulent charges, medical professionals are surrounded with incompetence, medications may do more harm than good, research is filled with fraud, and to top it off, the bumbling, bureaucratic cesspools called government agencies not only create more problems, they piss-off money faster than taxes can cover the waste.

Bleh!

Ultimatums and Idiocy

 Apparently, a substantial number of the staff at 60 minutes have written a check with their mouth their asses can't cover.  It's called insubordination, and it doesn't have to be tolerated. Contracts will be examined, and they might still get paid, but nothing says they have to be allowed at work. May their departures be noteworthy.

As My Mind Keeps Me Awake

Before I went to bed - as I was standing outside - I heard the sound of a multi-engine jet flying overhead, which is a common occurrence. In the past, before I moved to under a flight path, I never really paid attention to jets. After I moved, I noticed how I far the jet was from the apparent location that the sound revealed. It made me think of why, so as I thought, it came to me that at their altitude, and with their speed, the sound was arriving long past the current position of the jet. I had to look some things up, and built a spread sheet. 

Using the typical speed of commercial airlines, and their typical cruising altitude, I could use trigonometry to determine the angular difference between the sound and the location. While the parameters were basically wild-ass guesses, observation revealed the angular distance between the sound, and the jet, was pretty close to what was calculated. Still, on some occasions during the day, I couldn't find the jet, although I could hear it. This leads to the reason for this post, which became a compelling task when I woke at 1:30 am and couldn't fall back asleep. 

The atmosphere was mostly clear right after sunset, but the jet I was trying to find was pulling a contrail. As followed the contrail to the jet, faint navigation lights showed its location. From what I could see, the distance between the sound, and the jet, was greater than what I usually observe. This led me to realize the jets I couldn't find in the day were flying at an altitude where binoculars would be required to observe them; if they sky was really clear, and I managed to find them with binoculars. So, I'm thinking they're military jets. They're allowed higher altitudes than commercial flights. I might be wrong, but judging from the sound (which is fainter), and the fact even military transports are limited by air speeds similar to commercial transports, I think I'm right. 

I know some might be thinking calculus is more appropriate for calculating such things; and I think they're right. I don't know calculus, although I could probably learn it in some rudimentary way...if I was so inclined, which brings me to the second reason for this post. 

I was thinking of how Isaac Newton plotted the motion of planets. I can understand the method, but the demand for accurate timekeeping is necessary, and I wondered how that was done during his lifetime. I looked it up. It was using water-clocks, which are considered very accurate. 

Now I probably need to try to sleep, but I don't feel like it. I'll make a cup of coffee and see if that helps. If not, I'll wait a few hours and cook breakfast.