Thursday, July 30, 2020

Airbnb Lacy



This is from when I was in middle California. I think we all need bunny kisses right now.

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

When will this national nightmare end?


Early in the pandemic, when all paper towels became "pick a size", Mr S. and I joked about manufacturers taking this to an extreme. Let's see how small they will go, we joked! 

Then about a week ago Mr S. and I were shopping and he came to find me.

Come here he said. So I followed. He points at these paper towels. Then says - I was just being sarcastic!

I mean, you can never really forget how irritating this whole thing is because every time you rip off a paper towel - they aren't perforated right or whatever. Paper towels never let you forget.

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

I wish this was unusual now.



I started paying attention to this area in Fremont a while ago. Fremont is basically the gateway to the burbs. A couple of years ago they started putting up this building. We could never figure out what it was because the piece of land was odd.

For a while I thought it was a data server building like they have in Santa Clara because you couldn't really identify rooms. The project has been dead for a year and it's pretty odd because they still have a crane on that site. How can you afford to have a crane out there for a year? It's weird.

About a month ago I spotted this gutted car but have been too exhausted to go explore it. Every week I tell Mr S. that "next weekend" we should check it out. It's been about four weekends and the car is till there. And it's not like you can't see it from the freeway. That's how I noticed it. I'm like oh, you can just gut and dump cars here now?

I didn't want to get too close because I'm to pretty to go to jail. That dead site across the street has what I call Tesla security clusters because Elon had them on all of his ghost lots. Ironically you see a lot of this shit over by the Tesla plant now. There are always destroyed gutted cars over there. But it's pretty unusual to see it on this side of town.

Fry's electronics has also now started letting derelict cars sit on they property. Not poor people cars, but clearly abandoned.

Monday, July 27, 2020

I guess I'm taking on Mike Rowe today.

Mike Rowe Explains That "Reality" Is Going To Win Against COVID Fearmongering.

"Fact is, we the people can accept almost anything if we’re given the facts, and enough time to get evaluate the risk and make our own decisions. Last year in this country, there were six million traffic accidents and 36,000 fatalities. Tragic, for sure. But imagine for a moment if no one had ever died from a car accident. Imagine if this year, America endured six million traffic accidents and 36,000 fatalities...for the first time ever. Now, imagine if these accidents and fatalities - over 16,000 and 90 per day respectively - imagine if they were reported upon like every new incidence of COVID. What would that do to our willingness to drive? For a while, I suspect it would keep us all off the roads, right? I mean, six million accidents out of the blue is a lot to process, and 36,000 deaths is scary – especially if you don’t know how high that number could get. It would take us a while to access the risk, before we blindly hopped into our cars again. Eventually though - after getting some context and perspective - we'd be able to evaluate the relative danger of operating a motor vehicle. Then, we could decide for ourselves when to drive, where to drive, and how much to drive. And so we do." (emphasis ZH)

-----

Before I start - I want to restate that I have never advocated the lockdowns. I only advocate the ~ability~ to lockdown. I think you should still be able to move freely, but reducing the amount of people in circulation at any one time is obviously preferred. If we wouldn't have been put on blanket lockdown, companies would not have allowed their people to work from home en-mass reducing the ability to transmit to others.

That said - I think Mikes comparison is kinda crazy. Road fatalities are ALREADY reported like Covid fatalities. It's called the news. Everyone knows about it because it is fairly rare. California only has roughly 3,500 traffic fatalities a year. If there is a traffic fatality in my city you can bet everyone knows about it. You can usually count those on one hand in any given year. A death is a death and are given equal attention. Minimizing deaths used to be a thing. Finding out about Covid deaths are actually slight harder because of hippa. And so many people are dying that no one really cares anymore.

If we started getting traffic fatalities like that - everyone's balls would be one fire, and they would be working to make it stop! Everyone would be horrified. I spent the past five years (at least) attending NITSA conferences where they were aghast at the number of traffic fatalities. Last year that mattered. Sure some of this was marketing hype, but it wasn't only them. A whole industry grew up around that. All of these sensors on cars are made to make people stop dying!

The best most recent example I can think of is the - Takata airbag recall of two years ago, which only killed 24 people WORLD WIDE. Twenty four people. Yet every car in America made in the last 10 years was recalled. No one knows exactly how much the recall will eventually cost but this site claims 25 BILLION. They could have given everyone who died one BILLION dollars and still gotten off cheap. Now all of a sudden we are like - yeah... 40 thousand traffic deaths no big wooP There is a lot of revisionist history going on right now.

It's not really fair to compare car crashes to the same way we freaked about about Covid. To think we would stop driving is ridiculous. Sometimes in a car accident ~you~ die, but sometimes you kill others. Sometimes you just run over a pedestrian. Those are included in the traffic fatality numbers. So.... your overall risk of death is not the same. And..... when you kill others - you have a moral obligation to care in the form of money if nothing else. Unlike Covid.

You don't just get to kill people and say oh whoopsie! You're bad. You should have stayed home.

Additionally, the US had the LUXURY in getting advance notice unlike the 1918 flu. We should be thanking our lucky stars there is any sort of mitigation like social distancing. We will never know what the numbers would have been without that. But people will go on to say that everyone overreacted. We are lucky to have treatments, but even WITH treatment - we are losing 150,000 people. If there were not treatments, again - who knows what the number would be.

I would just like to go on to say that my city is now becoming sort of hot. It's been here for months with less than 200 cases. We have had one death. But the city next to me just popped up with two deaths. They didn't live there, they worked there. Restaurants are popping up and down with workers being infected and needing to close.

My city has been pretty hot and heavy with the Jenny Mcarthys who think this is a hoax. But after the recent deaths suddenly everybody is silent. When it is THIS close - it focuses the MIND.  And you can't just write them off as old people who would have died anyway. I guess I'm really bothered by this mindset.

Last year we were celebrating people living to 116 fairly regularly. A modern medical marvel. And now 70 year olds would have died soon anyway. It's just bothersome.

I do agree with Mike that reality is going to win. Just not in the way he thinks. People are lazy by nature and this virus takes diligence.

Sunday, July 26, 2020

Aston.


I'm pretty bored with Aston's, but this is a new one I hadn't seen yet. I don't love the back. In general I'm pretty tired of all of the fins. And ......I never thought I'd say something like that.

So - they have REALLY gone too far.

 
 

Friday, July 24, 2020

Friday's rambling post.

I haven't really been talking about anything lately because..... what difference does it make?

Houses are flying off the market. The Dow is only down 3,500 points from the top. Yet I can't figure out how anything is effing working. I'm waiting four weeks for parts. Try getting anyone on the phone. That eats up half your day. You are on hold for at least an hour. Businesses are closing down left and right.

On the virus front - California is now losing a Boeing 727 every day. They would have died anyway. Technically. People make choices in life. If you haven't figured out you have to protect yourself at this point - that's on you. But as I've written before - that is not really America's style. Our style is more YOLO. The when shit hits the fan they cry - WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP ME?!
Then they will probably sue you.

So, we are going to be in this for a good long time. You can't put this gene back in the bottle. It has to get bad enough that people self correct. And I don't see that happening for a while.  We are not Sweden! It's definitely America's style to make everything OTHER people's problem. And we have that in spades right now. People don't have to live by their actions. So, until that drills down - we all are hostages.

Also.... ALL of the data people are citing for California is useless. There are reports literally everywhere it takes up to 14 days to get a test result back.

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Saturday, July 18, 2020

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

He's buttman.



I'm not sure a smart car has ever shown up on the blog. ~Maybe~ once from CES. But, it turns out if you put a wing on it and devil horns - that works.









Tuesday, July 14, 2020


This was on one of my first cars.

Monday, July 13, 2020

Sigh.

California Orders Bars, Gyms & Indoor Dining To Close In Biggest COVID-19 Reopening Rollback Yet: Live Updates.

In my area they have even rolled back outdoor dining, but the burbs are rejecting it. So far.

It sort of feels like the past four months were for nothing. And I want to be fair. I know from personal experience it takes quite a long time to program yourself to NOT touch things. I think it took me two years. These people have only been in it for six months!

Sunday, July 12, 2020

Friday, July 10, 2020

Give the people what they want.

I think the most astonishing thing I've seen is people running head long into herd immunity. It's fascinating because the experts don't even know exactly how long immunity lasts yet everyone is emphatic they can achieve it.

Last night Mr S. and I were talking about how Hong Kong had re-shut their schools.

Me - If Island nations like Hong Kong and Australia can't eradicate it what hope do we have?

Him - None.

Me - Exactly!

Him - Well, that sounds like an argument for opening things back up and just dealing with the consequences.

Me - Yeah. Let's go! I'm sick of fighting about this. We know how to protect ourselves. Let everyone else Darwin it out.

Him - I just wasn't sure there was a policy change.

Me - It's been six months now. If people having crawled out of their bubble, that's on them.

I see all kinds of crazy comments on my city Patch. Some people are like - I can't wait to get it. And I'm like - yeah.... we can't wait for you to get it too.

The thing about America is that it's been a LOOOONG time since people have had to deal with the consequences of their actions. They always try to shove the consequences onto someone else. ALWAYS. This might be the first time people have ever had to actually confront realty without a way to wiggle out.

So, let's open things back up.

Wednesday, July 08, 2020

Wouldn't it be funny if Kanye chose Elon Musk as a running mate?

Tuesday, July 07, 2020

Conversations with Mr S.

I have no life now, so I'm Spring cleaning like everyone else on the planet.

Me to Mr S. - I'm really embarrassed to show you this. But for some reason I still have a picture of that stripper my mom got me for my 21st birthday. You can see how badly I got shafted. He's the ugliest stripper ever! Then I hand over the picture and he starts laughing.

Him - It's what I'd expect from a local stripper.

Me - REALLY! He doesn't have muscles or anything!

Him - First of all - I don't know anyone who got strippers for their 21st birthday. I didn't get strippers for my birthday.

Me - Now that you mention it.... that is sort of weird. I guess I'd never thought of it that way before. I just act like everyone got them.

Monday, July 06, 2020

Leave Karen's alone.

We should embrace Karens. (from afar)

There were a ton of people out this weekend. Grocery stores were Thanksgiving or Christmas full. So, I basically walked around and chuckled to myself because there were a reasonable amount of people without masks. It's your choice. But I just started looking at people saying - you probably have diabetes, so you are at risk. YOU have the double diabetes. You walk like a penguin. Also at risk. You are old. You are in poor health obvi. You are in a scooter. 

Honestly it had been so long since I saw a scooter person I forgot they existed. I think people underestimate how many people in America are in poor health.

It seemed to me the people who are resisting masks are the ones who need it most. But..... whatever. It's no skin off my back. Go on with your bad selves. The sooner they become infected and drop out the better. Some of these store Karens are just garbage people. Who treats people like that? Who cares if they get it?

Seen.

 

I still love these. 

 
 

Saturday, July 04, 2020

I'm pretty sure everyone said suck a bag of dicks. Pretty astonishing.

Just look for the heart shaped tree.


That's where you will find me.

Only a

I miss cars.

 

Obviously these images are heavily redacted. I make it very obvious when I modify images.

 

 

 

Friday, July 03, 2020

You don't say.

Abandoned Malls Are Now Being Turned Into Hybrid Apartment Housing.

I only predicted this three years ago. Glad to see the rest of the country is finally catching up. I even titled a post called Let them die already!

"Right now it feels like the world is filled with small people with small ideas and frankly everyone should be happy those malls are dying. They are prime real estate usually in the middle of town! Who even shops at Sears, or JcPenny anymore? They are dinosaur brands. People are holding onto the past for no reason at all!

This is what is going to happen. They are going to doze those malls and put up mixed housing and shopping spaces. They started doing this in California about 10 years ago, and they actually appear to be wildly popular to live in. I didn't think they would be, but they are.

Now hopefully we can stop hearing about the mallpocolypse.
I'm going to have the worst case of masKne. And I've never had a problem. Humble brag. I guess this virus is going to give me the adolescence I never had.

We all going to be walking around like pimply teenagers.

Thursday, July 02, 2020

I don't really get the Biden thing. I was sure they would swap him out. Trump should make bumper stickers that say - BIDEN 2020. Isn't this really all your fault.

You know that every talking point is going to be followed up this way. Pick any topic.

This is my life now.

 
Apparently, I have all the time in the world on my hands. So I'm picking bugs off with sticky tape and going out at night with a black light to get hornworms.

If you garden though - you have to buy this tape. I don't even remember what project I bought it for - but it's super sticky. I thought I had a virus in my soil because halfway through my crop my tomato plants would start wilting out. Turns out - it was just bugs. This year I'm having a pretty amazing crop.

Breakfast of champions.

 
Donut burger truck picnic. Putting the non sticky side of the donut out is key. I got this over the weekend in San Mateo. Thankfully it looks like they will survive.

Wednesday, July 01, 2020

Cities should be more like Gilroy.

Gilroy Fireworks Shooting Higher this Year.

"We are pleased to announce that the City has made arrangements to have the Gilroy Fireworks display take place higher in the sky than in years’ past. This means that homes within approximately 2.5 miles, with direct line of sight of the show, should be able to view the fireworks. Residents are encouraged to view the fireworks from the safety and comfort of their own home or property, "

Pretty much all the cities in California have canceled their fireworks. But not Gilroy. BECAUSE THEY ARE SMART.

I disagree with one plan for the whole country. I think we need different areas trying different things. It's the only way we get to a resolution faster. If we all try the same thing - it just takes longer to get through the mistake phase.

Having said that - LET'S ALL DRIVE TO GILROY!

This sadly is why we all have to follow the same rules. It's because cities aren't smart enough to keep their people entertained. So they are just going to drive to places where they can be entertained. It's most definitely why Nevada is getting caved so hard right now with the virus.

If people hadn't made the beach a flash point they wouldn't have had such a problem. All of a sudden people had to demand to go to the beach. Now we are never fucking getting out of lockdown.