Cheaper Than a Funeral

This report about bodies being found in the bayous around Houston state there is no serial killer involved. I can understand the reasoning. Houston is large, the bayous/drainage canals, are many, and the cost of a funeral is way beyond what people want to spend on someone that may only be an acquaintance, or as broke as they are. It's a sign of the times. The bodies will be treated with respect, and cremated after an autopsy. That, and without any sign of criminal violence, an investigation will be short. 

The Streets May Become Safer

After risky loans to illegals, a company is going bankrupt. From personal experience, removing the vehicles of illegals is a good thing, and this is a step in the right direction. Besides the drain on the economy from bad loans, no insurance, never handling traffic violations, and ignoring common decency have also been a result. Getting them off the roads will increase driving safety. It amazes me the company was allowed to function at all.

Another Bothersome Task

It's been two seasons, so as usual, the riding mower needs new blade spindles. In a perfect world, they'd last for a decade, but the world isn't perfect, and with sealed bearings, they will fail after the hard use they receive every season. Each season requires two blade replacements due to the tough Bahia, what we call Pine Ridge Sand, and two acres each cutting. 

I ordered the replacements, which are a little different. The bearings will have grease fittings, which means keeping the spindles greased will theoretically prolong the life of the bearing. We'll see, but even if they only last two seasons, I'll be be ahead. OEM parts are four times as expensive, last only two years, and they probably buy them from the same manufacturer I do. 

So, they arrived. The old spindles, which were exact matches of the OEM spindles, were done. Out of three, only one spun freely, but trying to save it was a fruitless effort, since the bolts were self-tapping and broke off when the spindle was removed. 

The new spindles were threaded, and bolting them on was easy. I put a few shots of grease in the zert just to insure there was grease. After cutting an acre of grass, I'm satisfied. Time will tell how long they last, but considering the cost of buying OEM parts, I could change them every season and still come out ahead.

When The Slush Calls Markers

I've been watching the current effort to fund the government. Some are showing they're showing signs they're throwing logic to the wind, which looks like they're understanding their slush fund managers are calling in some markers. Of course, with some, it looks like political suicide, but that usually doesn't have as drastic of an ending that their benefactors can provide.

As Things Wear Out

I've been involved with some infrastructure repairs. They were enlightening, since the things never seen have a huge impact on the health of a community. 

Storm sewers are one thing. Water needs to be drained, and the amount of water can increase to uncontrollable amounts with the construction of a subdivision or shopping center. Water can't soak into the ground, the velocity increases, and even a small blockage by elevation changes can turn an area that never flooded into a raging torrent. When the fact most storm drains are never cleaned, debris restricts the flow, and increases in water come into play, the result can cause destruction, a decrease in property values, and and increase in insurance rates. Trying to prevent this is a huge problem with engineers, and in rural areas, there may only be minimal amounts of drainage studies that prevent understanding of long term effects that influence future development. 

Sanitary sewers are another problem. Law requires a separation between them and water lines, with the sewer below the water line. This presents a problem with water line leaks finding cracks, or open joints in sewer pipes, which leads to an increase in the amount of sewage to be treated, the loss of money required to treat the water, and in worst cases, sinkholes developing after failures from the soil being washed away. 

Water lines aren't supposed to leak, but they do. Aging systems have pipe that was wonderful as designed, but certain ground conditions cause problems. This pipe, which is called AC pipe (a mixture of asbestos and cement) is hard, but brittle. To compound the brittleness problem, the joints are narrow, which can lead to the male end of the pipe slipping past the gasket in the female end. Ground movement can either crack the pipe, or separate the joint. This may lead to long term leak that can be hard to find, or a catastrophic failure leading to a massive water loss, the introduction of pollutants into the pipes, and a boil water notice for consumers. 

Every larger city I worked in had infrastructure that was very old. Water lines could be everything from cast iron pipe, to AC pipe. Sewer pipes could be everything from brick, to concrete, to ductile iron. All are prone to failure, and with sewage, the acid formed from the gas attacks concrete. The result of that may be a shape of a pipe, with the top almost gone, except for a thin layer of concrete, or packed earth. Water lines break when subjected to ground movement due to drought. 

From what I've seen, there is either no, or a poorly run, master plan including funding for the upkeep. It's just a finger crossing hope somehow money will be found, or granted. This never has worked, and the deterioration continues.