rant

What do you think about calling a moratorium on any conversations about traffic? No more detailed discussions of the 40 minutes you sat on the Bridge, the 2 hours it took you to get to the 49ers, or the increasing bicycle threat? Who cares? Even the most epic backups are never reported in the paper […]

A little spritz of moisture last week and every meteorologist here was predicting a sloppy, wet, El Nino winter. Pardon me for being a bit skeptical. My general sense is that weathermen frequently get their predictions wrong and that meteorology does not qualify as a science. I was suckered in by one of these prognosticators […]

The water faucet sounds like Niagara Falls. Dishes being stacked slam like a 6-car traffic accident. My own voice comes out like I’m speaking on a microphone in an echo chamber. Yes, I have just started wearing my first hearing aids and have not yet gotten used to the jingly jangly, silvery, metallic audio clatter like […]

I am pro-fog. Not just because of its crisp Chardonnay chill or its saline perfume reminding me the mighty Pacific is a few hills away. In my unscientific mind I imagine these damp vapors are reducing the possibility of another firestorm in the dry grasslands above my home – at least until the sun comes […]

This week’s prize for most ridiculous tech advance is Genworth R70, the 100-pound full-body “aging suit” that simulates decrepitude including restrictive fabric that mimics arthritis and heavy boots that recreate muscle loss plus a helmet that stifles vision and hearing. The intent is to make our grown kids more sympathetic to our ailments. An occasional […]

The last time California was slammed by a drought I wasn’t living here but I heard all about the emergency measures people were taking and talking about – pails in showers, bricks in toilets, dying lawns, an emergency waterline to Marin. This time around, however, I hardly hear anything. Where’s the panic? Ski resorts and […]