Give me the Al Gore environment award; I went the first day of the heat wave without using AC. My prewar building deserves some of the credit. I rushed to put the AC in the window and didn’t need it. By the time, the heat wave is over I’m sure I will. The building has a lot of thermal inertia, but it will eventually succumb, you can’t beat thermodynamics. But for now, I’m fine with just a fan blowing on me. I finally figured out a fix for it making an annoying rattle. I had tried placing it on a towel, which helped but didn’t completely dampen it. I switched to bubble wrap, and it works. I knew never throwing out bubble wrap would come in useful. The tough part was resisting popping it.
How did this happen? Now it’s the next day. It’s one of those timey wimey things. I finally gave in and turned on the AC and put my bedroom AC in the window and slept with it on. It’s back on in the living room. I like to be green, but I hate to be hot and sticky. I did not leave the house yesterday. I didn’t even leave the apartment. The kitchen doesn’t have AC, so I tried to spend as little time there as possible. I did go in to get ice creamed coffee. That is the best thing on a hot day.
Last night’s entertainment was a zoom concert via Music My Mother Would Not Like; the artists were Carolann Solebello, Noah Zacharin, Pat Wictor, and Lynne Hanson. Carolann and Pat are friends, I’m a fan of Lynne and an acquaintance, and Noah an unknown. The hosts are Bruce Swan and Louise Baker. Because the universe likes to be difficult the best lineups in the series always seem to happen when it’s up against John Platt’s On Your Radar, so I can’t go. This time I was delighted I could. I did choose to watch over listening to the Met game. I kept track of that online. The Mets had a great come-from-behind win. My fantasy team had a good night too, 5 HR, 9 R, 11 RBI, 1 SB, and a Save. My team, Gord’s Gold is in second place.
Oh no! Timey Wimey has struck again. It’s now hours later I’ve eaten brunch, watched Loki and The Flash and fixed errors on my fantasy baseball league’s website, I’m one of the commissioners, at least I have commissioner privileges on the site. Now back to being green. I got an alert on my phone to cut down on energy use as thanks to the high temperature everyone has their AC on, and we are at risk of a blackout. I didn’t turn my AC off, I don’t want to die, but I upped the temperature it’s set at to 84º from 74º. It’s getting uncomfortable but it’s bearable. Off comes my shirt. And on comes the fan blowing on me. That’s better. Outside it’s 96º with a feels like temperature of 103º. Even with the insider temperature of 84º the humidity will be low because of the AC. Do you know how that works? As they air passes over the coils it’s cooled to somewhere in the 30s. Cold air can hold far less water vapor than warm. The water in the air condenses out which is why ACs drip water. It warms up in the room but there’s no source of water to bring the humidity back up. I love thinking about how AC works, it’s a lesson in thermodynamics.
I’ve been thinking about Trump’s attempt to overthrow the election results. While it’s horrible that so many Republicans accept it and think that election officials in the states and Pence should have thrown out the results and re-elected Trump, people are missing something which makes it not quite as dire as it seems. All the Republicans that were urged by Trump to overturn the results refused. Most Republicans went along but they did not include those with the power to do something substantial. Members of congress dragged things out, but they never had a chance of getting anything done. They were acting out political theater. The governors, secretaries of states, and election commissioners all certified the results. People were fine joining a mob, but no one was willing to be the person that ended American democracy. The norms held for now.
That doesn’t mean we have nothing to worry about in the future. All those that held the line at ending democracy are under assault from the GOP rank and file which is pushing officials to continue the political kabuki. Many of those that upheld their oaths to the constitution will find themselves replaced, and each replacement will be more likely to give in the next time this happens. The thought of overturning an election has gone from being the unthinkable to being a topic of debate. This is how populist authoritarian resumes gain power. A group decided that they are the majority and the only true arbiters of what “the people” want. If the votes say otherwise than the votes are corrupt. The more the actual majority pushes back on the notion the more they take that as a sign of corruption. How do we lower everyone’s emotional temperature so reason can prevail? I have no idea. All I try and do is keep my emotional AC on even if I have to take off my emotional shirt. Seeing it as us versus them makes them more desperate and will to go further to gain power. Now to get up and reposition the fan so it blows on more than my legs, though even that helps quite a bit.
It’s Wednesday, which means that last night’s Gord’s Gold is now archived so you can listen to it on demand. You can click on where it says Gord’s Gold or just listen right from here. There seems to be a consensus that this is one of the best shows yet. Look who is on the playlist.
- Richard Thompson
- Allison Russell
- Pete Seeger
- Carolina Chocolate Drops
- Amy Speace & The Orphan Brigade
- Youth in a Roman Field
- Rosier
- Taarka
- SONiA disappear fear
- Our Band
- Jon Shain & FJ Ventre
- Dave Curley w; Members of Lunasa
- Sons of the Never Wrong
Wise Madness 