Happiness is at $60,000 a Year...

A short walk in the sun. Got home from work late last night and couldn't sleep. So I'm trying to turn my schedule around by surviving on three hours of sleep.

Been reading a book which I will write about later. More and more I've been running across the figure of $60,000 a year as the amount of money to earn which garners the most amount of happiness. People who make more than this are rarely happier than people who earn 60 grand.

Poor people are unhappy. Period. Happiness isn't to be found in the upper middle class: it is to be found in the middle to lower middle class. At this income you still use public services (public schools and libraries). At this income your house will be modest. At this income, you will be secure, but not affluent.

The book I read last night suggested that a family should earn around $15,000 per household member to, statistically, earn the proper amount of money for happiness. I agree. Do you?

No castles. Great cottages. All happy.

Sun...

A short walk with the dogs, enjoying the sun.

In Honor of Peck

Tough day yesterday. First off, I fell asleep on the couch, flung my glasses ($500 silhouettes) on the back of the couch and snored the night away. I awoke to find that Abbey had decided the glasses were a chew toy. Ruined.

So we went to Chico late yesterday afternoon (to get new glasses). We forgot to close up the coop for Peck our chicken. This morning Peck was gone. Just a tell tale clump of coyote fur present where we think she did her best in battle against God's canine.

Joni used the last of Peck's eggs to make a fine quiche tonight. We sat around and told Peck stories as we devoured the yummy quiche.

We loved Peck. Her eggs were delicious. She was a sociable bird that always accompanied us around the yard. She liked to climb on us when we were sitting in chairs. She'd follow us to the garden. She "coo'd" when we fed her. During the winter rains, she would stand outside our front door, pecking at the door, asking to come in; we didn't let her in.

Being outside in the yard is noticeably lonelier without this gregarious chicken. We thought she was invincible. She survived where five of her siblings didn't. We attributed that to her brains. She always put herself to bed at night. She kept the bug population down around the house. She never ventured off too far. But now she is making her way down some coyote's G.I. System, where she will do another duty by becoming nourishment for some newborn coyote pups.

God bless Peck.

The Right to Roam

The rains have finally ended. California's drought was officially declared as being over. The reservoirs are full and the snow pack in the Sierra is 165% above normal. Took a couple of walks with the dogs yesterday and today. My normal three mile loop.

Except today I had a bit of an encounter. A pickup truck stopped and the occupants asked me what I was doing?

"Taking a walk", I said.

"You know you are on private property" the youngish skinny tattoo wearing kid told me. I said I was aware that this is a road with a private easement which enabled him to drive through my property to get to whatever property he owned. I went on to tell him I've been walking this road for three years. Told him I visit some friends up the road once and awhile and that the owner of the last property is a friend of mine.

"Don't walk any further", the kid said.

I told him that I have every right to walk the road. Time to throw in a little charm.

Smiling, I responded by telling him that I don't give a rip about what sort of dope he is growing. All I want to do is take a walk and that I meant him no harm. The kid then relented, shook my hand and told me to enjoy my day.

Taking a walk nowadays is considered suspicious activity. It's as if we are to be cloistered on our own three acres, fenced off to everyone. Paranoid of others. Anti-social. I want the right to roam. To have the same rights as a deer, raccoon, skunk or coyote.

And my favorite Assemblyman, Dan Logue, is in the news. He was upset the other day on the Assembly floor with a bill which provides for some environmental regulation and also some renewable energy requirements. Having a temper tantrum over the bill's cost, he threw the 800 page bill on to the floor. Did he stop to pick up the paper? I don't know.

He did get rebuked by the Assembly for his ridiculous behavior. On Dan Logue's Facebook page, he bragged about his tirade.

I keep an eye out on this page because I am a member of his District. I like to see what Dan is up to and what ideas he finds interesting. I usually keep quiet, but this time I couldn't resist chiming in. You can read the dialogue here. How'd I do?

This led to a heated discussion about renewable energy and environmentalism with about 3,000 card carrying Tea Party Republicans potentially in attendance. Being a respectful contrarian, I ended up with some courteous comments regarding environmentalism (even though most of these folks are in the Green energy is too expensive and Climate Change is a Myth Camp). I wonder if Dan Logue was watching?

Joe Bageant

The rain finally ended yesterday. Yippee!

A nice little walk this morning, enjoying the sunshine. I decided to work some extra hours over the weekend. On Saturday I wore my little "step counter" to work and was surprised that I had walked over 15,000 steps while working a 14 hour shift.

And sad news: the excellent writer, Joe Bageant died recently. Only 64. Joe wrote "Deer Hunting with Jesus". It is only in the last few years that Joe's popularity caught on (because of the Deer Hunting book). I had the pleasure of sharing a few e-mails with him a year or two ago. Lord that guy could write! I wish I could find a few of those e-mails because they were so pleasurable to read. Joe's subject matter was the working class. Some called him a modern day Woody Guthrie.

We lost one of the good guys.

Bad Clothes...

Another cold storm blew in this morning. The winds are raging. Snow level is supposed to drop to 1,500 feet (we live at around 2,000 feet). Took the dogs out into the howling wind and rain. Cold. I wore my nylon hiking pants (couldn't find the long underwear to warm up the ensemble a bit). The result was a cold, wet, awful, hypothermic walk.

Last night I trundled off to Paradise to attend the Paradise Ridge Democratic Club. Around 12 people were there: they were glad to see a "youngster" at the meeting. I was, by far, the youngest in the crowd. When asked why I came, I said: "Cause I'm sick of Dan Logue".

Dan Logue is our California Assemblyman. He is part of the new breed of Republican: anti-science, pro-business, anti-any-taxes, anti-collective bargaining, denies climate change. In his first term as Assemblyman he wrote Proposition 23 which tried to undue California's climate protection legislation. He also is against solar energy. Dan Logue takes Koch brothers money (they are the ones who helped him write Prop 23). The Wall Street Journal looks to Logue for quotes weekly. Logue has ascended to Minority Whip status (amazing given his inexperience in the California Assembly); they are grooming him for Wally Herger's seat in Congress. As if that wasn't horrid enough, he is trying to reduce the amount that California pays SSI recipients. Take money from the disabled and give it to (what he calls) the "productive sector".

Logue is leading a group of California legislators to Texas as an attempt to bring Texas style legislation to California to make it more "business friendly". Why not go all the way and take his legislative crew to some barbaric third world state where there is absolutely no concern for the poor or the environment? Texas is an awful model. Poor schools. Poor, poor people. Mountain Lion are considered "varmints" in Texas: they can be shot on sight without penalty.

This guy needs to be stopped.

Wind and Rain...

Back to the "off grid" home last night. The increases in gas prices have resulted in a noticeable decrease in traffic.

Took the dogs out into the wind and rain and did the "Long Loop". Last Saturday night we had sixty mile an hour winds. The winds continue to blow today. Lying in my bed, I'd listen to the wind and wonder if the house was going to stay standing. It is quite satisfying to have a house that you designed and built endure a windstorm. It also is quite frightening. The house made it in tact. Nothing blew away.

Trees have been downed everywhere. The tree in the photo is what I encountered on our walk. Locals carry chainsaws in their pick up trucks to handle the hazards. Self-reliance. It makes for an adventurous walk to ever be looking up--waiting to dodge mortality. Butte County lost one percent of its almond trees last Saturday. Looks like more will be lost this week.

And the snow pack is 160 percent of normal this year. All the reservoirs are full and are actively discharging water. Flood advisories are in effect. Feast or famine when it comes to water. Ever more dangerous storms, erratic weather, droughts and bursts of rain---all of it indicating climate change for the attentive.

Lots of wildlife on the walk today. I came face to face with a black tailed deer, but didn't have the camera ready to go. Angel stirred him up but didn't give too much of a chase. I saw a flock of young turkeys. Abbey, who ignored the deer, did manage to root out a covey of California quail. I have yet to see a Robin (which is highly unusual). The Stellar Jays are still hanging around; still too much snow for them in the higher elevations.

Manic Monday

I work every Monday and Tuesday. Mondays are always hard cause I get up early; drive 165 miles; shower; work; do all my laundry; sleep in the Monastic Dorm. Walks are taken with the patients (which I managed to do twice yesterday).

And Tuesdays? Up for coffee and a walk (usually in Calistoga). Work (getting my walks in with patients). And then drive 167 miles home. Since I leave the hospital at around 10 pm, I make this my weekly dose of seeing a city. The traffic is much less congested at night; makes the experience more pleasant, even enjoyable. I drive down passed San Pablo Bay--take the Interstate from Fairfield to Sacramento---and then up a couple of old fashioned Highways (the best way to travel by car) to my Off Grid home. Once a week I get to see a city skyline by driving passed Sacramento. Reminds me how much I hate urban living.

The whole Napa Valley is drenched in rain. Driving yesterday I drove passed a fairly severe landslide that closed one lane of the road. Trees are down everywhere. The hospital I work at was on generator power for most of the past two days. And it is expected to keep raining until, at least, the weekend.

End Times: Elenin and Jesus

Another wet, soggy walk. Since it has been raining for forty days and nights, it kind of makes me think of the end times. Driving across California with radio choices of Rush Limbaugh or Christian Family Radio, I sometimes listen to both of them. Rush is predictable entertainment. The Family Radio throws me for a loop.

You see, Harold Camping has been the creator and broadcaster of this program for fifty years. He has a deep voice, a slow cadence, filled with sounds of him drooling on the microphone. He is 89 years old and as big of a crackpot as you can possibly find (and there are lots of them in Christian Radio). He has created a complex mathematical formula where by, a year ago or so, I heard him predict that the "Rapture" will be this year on May 21.

On May 21, 2011 we shall see an exodus of many Evangelical Christians who will be taken up into the sky and then they fly off with Jesus to heaven. The rest of us (the Heathens) will be left to wash the dishes and take out the garbage. Might make the world a better place, in my view. But it won't last long, as the final "END OF THE WORLD" is scheduled for October 21, 2011. Damn! (literally, in this case).

I think I'll go ahead and make reservations on October 22 for (what Anthony Bourdain calls) the best restaurant in the world: The French Laundry. It'll be a good day to celebrate.

Assuming we do survive until October 22, 2011--there is another brush with extinction coming: A comet called Elenin.

This comet was discovered in December of 2010 by a Russian astronomer--and tracing its path, some have said it will come within 40,000 kilometers of the Earth on November 6, 2011. Of course the Doomsday people are having a field day with this. Some have theorized it will come close enough to shift the Earth on its axis. Others have said it will have a direct impact with the Earth, and since Elenin is a few kilometers in diameter, well, that can't be good.

The scientific community says that Elenin will miss the Earth. The only problem is that the thing might get wobbled a bit when it passes through the asteroid belt. A slight wobble could signal the end of the human epoch.

Pick your own Doomsday scenario. Jesus versus Comets. Or both?

I'm gonna hedge my bet and plan on doing something special November 7. It'd be good to celebrate again, since we will have missed another brush with extinction.

In the meantime, the more certain path to trouble is to keep spewing all that carbon into the atmosphere.

We Were Right...

Another storm rolled in yesterday. Another wet walk. Another war in the Middle East.

And another nuclear catastrophe in Japan. Guess nuclear power ain't as safe as all the current boosters are saying. So we have another oil war in the Middle East and another nuclear plant disaster where the verdict is out as to just how far the desolation zone will extend. The only good news from Japan is that there isn't too much more bad news. Other than the radioactive lettuce 65 miles away from the plant.

Here's a hint for America: Conservation and Renewables. Now! It is the same message the Granola Greens have been promoting for thirty years. Hasn't it become apparent just how right the Granola Heads were? We were right about energy. We were right about food. So be proud fellow Green Refugees after Thirty Years of Corporate Growth Economics: You led the way by example.

Get out that "No Nukes" T-Shirt. Head out to the Farmers' Market. Turn away from conspicuous consumption. Put in a garden. Quit your job to work part time (work to live rather than live to work). Use that credit card for something constructive: like solar panels or a solar hot water heater. Ride your bike. Volunteer. Go for a walk. Say hello to your neighbor. Tithe.
Take joy in identifying a new flower or bird. Boycott the Mall.

The message is the same now as it was in 1979. The only difference is that we know we were right back then. And the destruction gets worse every year. The alternative already exists: all we need to do is live it!