Around the Neighborhood

June 23, 2023

Walking around the neighborhood this morning and admiring Nature

IMG 6308

 

This is probably GardenPhlox (Phlox paniculate L.)

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This of course is a Crepe Myrtle

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And this is an Orange Daylily (Hemerocallis fulva)

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Posted by molson46

Hibiscus in bloom in North Texas

June 21, 2023

This beauty is brilliant for two weeks each June. The remainder of the year it’s still an excellent plant.

Lord Baltimore Hibiscus

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Posted by molson46

Gwen’s first outing since the Accident

June 18, 2023

Jun 17,2023: Gwen’s first outing and first meal at a restaurant since the January accident. Andy and I took her to a Ranger game and to eat at Spazzio’s, her favorite Italian restaurant. All in all I think it went very good. This was basically the whole day. I spent the morning preparing Gwen for the day which normally takes 2 hours and then preparing for the game. The game was at 3:05PM. We picked Andy up at 1:30PM in the Blue Mesa parking lot. Once we parked we were picked up and transported to the stadium in a golf cart. 

Once in the stadium we quickly found the nearest family restroom for Gwen. With her it’s best to know where all the family restrooms are anywhere you go. 

A strange observation. We find that when we have to wait most people coming out of the family restrooms are lone 30ish males.

Our seats are the first row down from the walkway. We still struggled getting Gwen to her seat. After the 3rd inning an usher offered to seat us in the ADA area where Gwen could stay in her wheelchair. Much better. I need to figure out a way to procure those seats.

In the hast to get get to the stadium after we parked I left her pills, hat, transistor radio, and heat pad in the car. Shortly after we moved to the ADA area her hand pain intensified. Therefore I walked back to the car to pick up the pills and heat pad. 

After the game, we left after 5 innings, we stopped by Spazzio’s on the way home. Spazzio’s is her favorite Italian restaurant. The staff were elated to see her and all of them gave her big hugs. They even remembered her standard order. Wow! Everything was most excellent as usual.

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Wicked Problems and Righteous Solutions

June 17, 2023

Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Tomas Friedman (2008): started me pondering upon wicked problems and how to solved them. It been 15 years since I read that book. During that interval I’ve identified a host of wicked problems but have not untangled a single problem. 

I’ve been thinking about this post for months. Naming on three problems is an impossible task. I started out by just noting down a list of problems which took me about 10 minutes: 

  • Population
  • Russia
  • Extremism
  • Guns
  • Hackers
  • Abortion
  • Illegal Immigrants
  • China
  • Terrorists
  • Invasive species – plant and animal
  • Water or lack there of
  • Pandemics
  • Climate
  • Republicans vs Democrats
  • China
  • AI
  • WWWIII

I knocked out Population because it’s so general most of the problems facing us today are children of population. Besides what can we do about the number of people on the planet. We certainly can’t euthanatize 3/4 of the population! If I had to name the ONE problem it would be population.

So, the problem has to be one we can solve. 

I crossed out Hackers because they are a nuisance and at least for now don’t affect most of us. 

So, the problem has to be one that affects the general population. 

Since I live in the USA the problem should be one that greatly affects the USA. For example, the war in the Ukraine is a terrible event but a long way off for me. 

To cut the number to three I did a mini-trade study. The criteria were; 

  • Solvable
  • Affects everyone
  • USA specific

Abortion

It was a tough call between Abortion and Illegal Aliens but in the end Abortion won out. First, it’s been a problem since at least Roe vs. Wade back when Gwen and I were just in love 50+ years ago. Secondly, Its a touchstone between the religious right and the liberals. If they can come to agreement on Abortion then then the lions and the lambs can live together. 

And just maybe the Democrats and the Republicans can agree on a few tings

Water

There is no new Water on the Planet unless a large comet strikes which makes the problem mute. Water was a surprise winner for me. The American West is in the middle of a 1,000 year drought. Texas ranchers can’t draw water from the Brazos because Dow Checmial father down stream at Freeport needs it all to create chemicals. They win because the TCEQ says so. Millions maybe billions don’t have clean water to drink. Meanwhile the almond crop in California is sucking the Colorado River dry.

Climate Change

Climate Change affects us all not only the USA but everyone in the planet. However we can’t even agree there is a climate change. Republicans deny it because they believe it will hurt business. Democrats profess to believe the climate is changing but when in office they don’t do anything about it. 

The end

i’ll think about this and post an update soon. I don’t like the winners. Just doesn’t seem right for some reason.

In the meantime anyone who can solve one of these problems deserves the Nobel Peace Prize

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Posted by molson46