Pelican evening

 

I am not a particularly boat-able person, as I have likely mentioned in these pages at some point or other.  But I have a friend who lives in Switzerland who is the only person on the planet these days who can occasionally get me on a boat.  Maybe there's a joke here somewhere, person from Switzerland, which is obviously landlocked (we're not counting lakes, now), drags person who lives at the beach but hates boats out on a boat ride, and mayhem ensues.  Maybe we can make a sitcom about it.  Hollywood, can you hear me?

Anyway, we had a blast riding the water taxis around Long Beach harbor last Sunday.  We also had a blast last summer riding the ferry on the Seine.  We're figuring on taking a boat to Catalina next time we hit LA together.  But I didn't let myself be talked into the boat on the Salzach, once I saw the pilot doing donuts in the middle of the river.  I have my limits.

We saw two seals, a tortoise, and a flock of pelicans, one of which is pictured above.  The seals just stuck their noses up, it's really tough to get a picture of more of a seal than that when they're in the water. (I have lots of experience getting pictures of blank water from the time we had a pod of dolphins in the river down the block from my house - timing is everything, and my timing is bad.  Also, the lag time on these digital cameras is pretty awful, I used to do better with film.)  The tortoise didn't break the surface, he was just a rather large dark space in the water.  These are the seal noses:

We also had fun riding the LA Metro, which is quite a compliment coming from someone who rides and hates NJ Transit every day.

The mayhem was due to the great idea we had of riding on the front deck of the catamaran as it left Alamitas Bay Landing to head back to Long Beach.  I guess the tide was coming in, and as the boat picked up speed, we got soaked.  It felt good, sort of, but then we wisely (IMO) chickened out and went inside for the fast part of the ride. 

I don't quite understand the physics involved in getting soaked while sitting on the front deck of this (we were way back against the bulkhead), but then, I'm not a boat person.  I also don't think the back deck is any drier.

And actually, I have to credit the woman who sat next to me on the flight out to LA for teaching me a technique for not getting seasick.  She told me all you have to do is watch the shoreline, because it doesn't move (unless there's an earthquake, then all bets are off).  Then even tho you are moving, you won't get seasick.  Amazingly, it worked!  I have to try this again sometime (not too soon, tho).  And if we get that boat to Catalina one day, I'll see if it works when there's no shoreline visible.  THAT will be the real test.

A wind off the ocean

I guess it's not summer anymore, which is a good thing, in my opinion.  Yesterday's picture, since today there are clouds and a wind off the ocean still, but less differentiation, more a solid grey with glary light.  Last evening it rained for a bit, enough to discourage holiday cookouts, even the hearty who thought to set up tents finally packed it in and went inside.  We were with family having the traditional Labor Day lasagna, which fortunately is an indoor event.  There's a story there, but I'm not entirely sure what it might be.  Suffice it to say we discovered Pablo likes lasagna.  He's not Italian (he's a Chihuahua), and neither are we, but lasagna is universal.

From the weather maps, this seems to be the edge of what's left of Issac, coming out of the midwest.  I'm not sure how that creates a wind off the ocean, though, unless we are trying desperately to fill in the low pressure area that is what remains of the former hurricane.  Seems to me that action might keep the rain somewhat more inland, but this morning's walk was shortened because of the drizzle or spray or whatever you'd like to call the water that was hanging in the air.  Misting, perhaps, or what I used to call dismalling, back in the day.

With a little bit of luck, it will clear up sometime later, so we can have a long walk, since we get testy if we are not adequately exercised.  Fortunately or not, Pablo does not "do" water, so if there is rain, we mainly stay inside.  

It amazes me how quickly the season can turn, yesterday summer, today something else.  Like someone flipped a switch.  And it seems the switch will stay flipped, at least the next few days.  It's supposed to rain every day this week.  Sure, we could use the rain, but other places could use it more.  I'd like to share....

Summer's last message

Of course, one could attribute the current state of Spain's economy to this philosophy.  Apologies to my Spanish friends, who are nothing at all like what this implies.

I prefer to take it as advice for the waning days of summer.  Labor Day weekend around here means we get the beach back soon.  It's Bennies Go Home weekend.  It's also a time to reflect on the important things in life.  Like, why is it still so darned hot outside?  And, if I only get the paper on weekends, why do I have such a huge pile of unread papers sitting in my kitchen? 

That last one is probably because I haven't been here much.  Which is good, this is not a good place for me to be in the summer.  I prefer the beach in the cooler months, when there aren't so many mostly-naked and really ugly people spread all over it.  And in the dead of winter, it is beautiful, and empty.  Which is perfect.

Here, in no particular order, are some scenes from my summer.  I'll spare you the travelog, I hate listening to people's tales of their wonderful travels.  Suffice it to say, I had some fun, and I need the sitting and doing nothing right about now, to recover.

 

And probably my very favorite moment:

PS.  If anybody really wants the travelog, send me a note and I'll try to fill you in.

Cid

February 2000 - August 4, 2009

door mat

While visiting a client the other day, I had a good laugh reading doormats on my way up and down the stairs in his fifth floor walkup.  Apparently a LOT of dogs live in the building - my client has four Chihuahuas himself. 

The funniest door mat, which was old and worn and not particularly picturesque, bore this message:

          A fragile and very sensitive
              big ass dog lives here

I wish I'd had that mat when I had Cid.  He was exactly that - a fragile and very sensitive big ass dog.  He'll have been gone three years next week.  I still miss him.

be careful what you wish for

I mentioned insufficient rain in my post yesterday.  So today it's been raining all day, sometimes just a bit, other times like there's no tomorrow.  Very nice.  I needed a good rainy day - so did my tomatoes.  Yippee!

first cricket

The first cricket of the year is chirruping outside my window this evening.  According to old farmers' tales I learned while in exile in the midwest, that means 90 days from now we'll have our first frost.  In my experience, that is actually pretty accurate, give or take a few days. 

It's hard to think about frost when I'm still nursing under-watered tomatoes and wishing they would (a) grow big enough to make growing them worthwhile, and (b) ripen before sometime next year.  Meanwhile, everyone I know who gardens is inundated with baseball-bat sized zucchini.  I went to the eye doctor a couple of weeks ago, and he gave me one to take home, he said he was running out of people to give them to.  It's being one of those weird growing seasons.  I'm kind of glad I didn't bother to plant zucchini this year. 

Now, I'm in no way a gardening fanatic.  But I do love fresh tomatoes that have never seen the inside of a grocery store.  In my microclimate, across the street from the ocean, cherry tomatoes seem to fare better than larger varieties, though I had a really good crop of Romas a couple of years ago.  Problem with cherry tomatoes is, I eat them like fruit, and never get to do anything with them (like cook, or other equally innovative things).  I have a similar issue with blueberries, in fact.  They are fruit, of course, and I can easily wipe out a pint of them (especially if they are Jersey Blues) in one sitting.  So the three pints I bought last weekend didn't last long enough for me to make muffins or pancakes or anything out of them. 

Sigh.  And then in just 90 days or so, winter will be upon us (ok, so I'm exaggerating, but I'm trying to make a point here), and there won't be any tomatoes except the plastic-tasting grocery store kind, and no blueberries at all.  Does that justify guzzling them while they're still here?  Darn right it does!

Happy (quiet) 4th of July

Quiet around here because we have no fireworks tonite, for the first time since I've lived here.  Austerity, or something.  Brings the economy closer to home.  Red Bank also cancelled their fireworks, which were always a huge party on July 3rd, same reason.  No money.

OTOH, it means I don't have to sweep the dust bunnies out from under the bed, since Pablo and I won't need to be hiding down there from the noise.  So there's a benefit to be found in even this.

Maybe NY will move their fireworks back to the East River next year, so we can see them from here.  At this distance (maybe 25 miles or so), they're nice and quiet.  Also, watching miniature (due to the distance) fireworks is sort of amusing.  They're cute when they're small, kind of like kittens.

Best fireworks I ever saw (in the amusing category) was once in the town where I used to live, somewhere in the midwest.  The wind shifted during the show, and embers started falling on the houses that bordered the park where the community was gathered.  So we all got to watch the fire department at work up close and personal when someone's roof caught fire.  Bet that was a fun one to explain to the insurance company.

You know, economically we are hurting China by not having fireworks, since most of the stuff seems to be made (and the concept originated) in China.  Act local, go global.

More on the water issue

From the Asbury Park Press:

TINTON FALLS — A 40-year-old section of piping that collapsed Friday at New Jersey American Water Co.’s Swimming River Water Treatment Plant, prompting a boil-water advisory that lasted until Monday evening, had been a problem since it was damaged during Tropical Storm Irene last summer, the company acknowledged.

But the company and engineers determined after the storm that although it caused “some damage” to the area, the bridge over the piping was in “no imminent danger of a collapse,” said spokesman Richard G. Barnes.

The issue continues to be a focal point even after Monday night’s lifting of the boil-water advisory for the final four Monmouth County towns: Aberdeen, Highlands, Holmdel and Middletown. An outdoor water-use ban remains in effect throughout the county.

While no cause for Friday’s collapse has been determined, a top county official said on Monday that it is past due to point a finger at the water company, which has implemented rate increases three times since 2008. The company, meanwhile, maintains that it has thousands of miles of piping to upgrade and maintain and, as sections of pipe continued to be trucked in and installed at the plant, pushed for the focus to remain on fully restoring services to its customers.

John P. Curley, director of the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders, called into question the company’s commitment to its infrastructure in the county.

“It is a disgrace, an absolute disgrace,” Curley said. “Accidents happen, but when you have a hole in your roof, you fix the hole in the roof.”

The “hole in the roof”’ in this case is the bridge that collapsed Friday afternoon, damaging three large pipes: one that takes water from the reservoir to the plant and two that take water to the distribution system. Barnes said the company does not know what led to the collapse. However, Curley said that area of the plant was hit hard by Irene, a hurricane last August that was downgraded to a tropical storm when it walloped many towns in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

 “Anybody that ever rode past that walkway could tell you that it looked like it was going to fall down,” Curley said. “I’m surprised it didn’t collapse sooner.”

Tinton Falls Mayor Michael Skudera said the bridge appeared to be damaged following Irene but, lacking substantial engineering knowledge, he took the company’s assurance that its integrity was not compromised.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what the results (of the investigation) are, because this should’ve been on their radar,” Skudera said.

Barnes said it was. At the time of the collapse, the company was gathering materials to shore up the bridge and reinforce the piping. The plan was to have the section rebuilt before hurricane season, he said. The Atlantic Hurricane season this year started on June 1 and lasts through November, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Skudera said he was aware that the company had been discussing and planning fixes to the area, but not aware of details or specific costs. He feels the fixes could have come sooner.

“I’m very upset about the way this was handled,” he said.

Barnes could not say on Monday how much this sudden fix would cost or where the money would come from.

In March the freeholders signed a resolution opposing a proposal by the company to raise rates by more than 15 percent. That large of an increase, the resolution said, “defies logic, escapes the notice of those most impacted, and, at best, results in a negotiated rate increase which adds to the financial burden of ratepayers.”

Curley said in a signed letter to the state Board of Public Utilities and the state Division of Rate Council — agencies that have approval of the water company’s rate proposals — that New Jersey American Water customers have been subject to a compounded 51 percent rate increase since 2004, and its 2012 proposal, if approved, “would be devastating.”

The company announced in May that the BPU approved an increase representing a $30 million increase in revenues. In the announcement the company said “the new rates recognize the more than $300 million the company spent over the past two years to replace and upgrade its complex web of nearly 9,000 miles of water and sewer mains in order to continue providing customers with uninterrupted access to high-quality, reliable water service.”

Barnes said of that nearly 9,000 miles of piping, about 15 percent is going to reach 100 years of service by 2020. The bridge and piping that collapsed Friday was put into service in 1971.

It was unclear on Monday what agencies would be investigating the cause of the collapse. J. Gregory Reinert, a spokesman for the Board of Public Utilities, said the BPU will be “in the review of what went wrong and we will be involved with that for a long time.”

Meanwhile, testing to ensure the temporary replacement pipes are properly working continues.

Karen Fell, assistant director of water supply operations at the state Department of Environmental Protection, stressed that conservation efforts throughout the county are imperative to helping maintain the integrity of the water system until the area of the system is fully repaired.

“It will probably be months before they get their fix in,” she said.

What I'd like to know is exactly where this 100 years of service portion of the system might be? From what I've learned in 15 years of living here and talking to longer term residents, most of the county didn't get "city water" until sometime in the 1970s (when it was forced on them).  That, on my calculator, is substantially less than 100 years ago.  Though the older parts of the system, if they are not a myth, are probably in better condition than the stuff built in the 70s.  People knew how to build things to last, 100 years ago.

And how do we take our earned discount on our water bills while they're farting around trying not to fix this mess?  Can I deduct the market value of the tomatoes that will die in my backyard because I could get arrested if I water them?  How about the reduction in the market value of my home because all the  landscaping is going to die from not being properly watered?  What about the fines from the town for harboring weeds?  Weeds are all that will grow here if there is no water to feed the grass.

Most of this is political bullshit designed to force the public utilities commission to ok any amount of rate increase these greedy bastards would like to get.  And with the support of the idiot governator, no doubt water bills around here will triple once this hits the rate base.  Added to the fact that when people use less of a utility the rates have to go up, since there are fewer billable units over which to spread the costs of service.  Bottom line is, we're screwed.

Pass the tequila, por favor. 

Water, water everywhere...

...but you'd better not drink it without bringing it to a rolling boil for one minute first.  Welcome to Monmouth County, NJ, the newest member of the Third World.  Since yesterday, we have had no potable water, and periodically have just a dribble coming out of the faucet when you bother to turn it on.  I'm generally not bothering.

Seems a shaky part of the infrastructure broke, taking out water service to most of the county.  This piece of piping, or at least the structure that supports it (a wooden bridge, if you can believe that), had been damaged by (hurricane or tropical storm, depending on who you talk to) Irene last August.  Apparently NJ American Water used bubblegum and baling wire to fix that damage, so now when it's 90-something degrees out, the thing collapsed entirely, taking the water supply out with it.

What's with the utilities around here?  Is it this bad in other parts of the US?  How about the rest of the world?  Do they all wait to maintain anything until a catastrophic failure occurs?

I remember when I first moved to this area, I wanted to get a new electric line dropped from the pole to my house, because the old one was frayed and didn't look like it could withstand a strong wind gust (which we have all the time).  The electric company told me they wouldn't do it, they were waiting for "the big one" (meaning a hurricane or equivalent storm) to take everything down, then they would replace what broke. 

Looks like the water company practices the same policy.

Meanwhile, I am sure the company's executives have had astronomical pay raises and bonuses every year, and I know our water rates keep going up and up with no end in sight.  They recently made the water undrinkable in any event, by changing the chemicals they use to make it potable.  So now what used to be good water is close to unpalatable.  I guess the next logical step was this debacle.

When I was out doing errands this morning I checked out one of the sites where the county is giving out bottled water for free to anyone who says they live in the affected areas.  The line wasn't too long (yet), but it was very early.  I got my free case of bottled water, one per customer, and wondered what someone with a large family might do, send every family member to wait in line in a separate vehicle so they could get multiples?  At least they gave out bottled water, we weren't required to bring our own containers.  I can imagine the local residents with their Mercedes' and Porsches loaded with empty jugs, going for a fill-up.

I assume NJ American Water is paying for the handouts.  I sure hope so, though I wouldn't be surprised if Shop Rite, whose label is on the bottles and whose truck and personnel are at least in part manning the local line, was footing the bill.  Shop Rite is good people. 

A lot of people were buying a lot of water at Shop Rite, too.  Good for Shop Rite, they'll make some extra sales this week.  Like a blizzard warning, always good for business.  I imagine beer sales ought to be good as well.  Not just the holiday upcoming, but a man-made disaster to boot.  We're tough here in Jersey, we'll drink our way out of this mess.