Built to Burn – 99% Invisible

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Built to Burn – 99% Invisible

"One of the first things that Cohen did was to listen to emergency dispatch tapes from the day of the fire. And as he listened, he began to notice a pattern. People were calling in about houses on fire long before the fire front ever reached their neighborhoods."

"The houses were not burning because a wall of flames was racing through the community, destroying them. It was something else: embers. As wildfires burn, they generate embers that are lofted downwind ahead of the main body of the fire. And Cohen realized that most of the houses that burned had one, extremely problematic feature in common: the embers were accumulating in the crevices around their dry wood shingle roofs, and setting fire to the houses from above.

"Across the street, in a development without wood roofs, most of the houses had survived. The problem was that some houses were built to burn."

"It wasn’t a huge revelation that wood roofs were flammable — people had known that for ages. But for Cohen, it was a big moment. Because when he shifted his focus to the design of the homes, suddenly he found himself wondering if we were framing the whole problem of wildfire in the wrong way. Cohen wasn’t the first to have that thought, but he was the first to do extensive research into exactly how homes burn in wildfires."

NPR

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Despite Strong Economy, Federal Deficit Soars : NPR

I think a carbon tax is the solution. There is trillions that can be raised by a carbon tax and it won't raise taxes on job creating businesses and investors - only consumers of fossil fuels. Don't like paying a carbon tax? Then use less carbon based energy.

August 3, 2018 Morning

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Good morning! Already it’s Friday! Two more days before I take down camp and head back to Albany. It’s been a very cloudy week but relatively rain free, at least compared to the previous week or even last year. With the end of vacation coming up on Sunday, we will already be in August, today marks three weeks to Average High Falls To 79 ️Degrees ⛱️️️.

The rain had stopped, but now it’s restarted and around 69 degrees at the Finger Lakes National Forest in Hector. ☁ There is a south breeze at 6 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 66 degrees. The second half of this week has been quite muggy and cloudy although each day we’ve had a bit of clearing skies. The cowboys, or a guess graizers or farmers are out on the pasture across the street rounding up cows using four wheelers on this somewhat wet morning. 🐂🐃🐄

Today will have showers likely, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Cloudy ☔ , with a high of 74 degrees at 2pm. Seven degrees below normal. Maximum dew point of 67 at 6pm. South wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies. It was humid. The high last year was 86 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1975.

Today’s plans will be similar to Wednesday, probably head into Watkins Glen later to get on the internet and then for a hike in the gorge and a swim in the pool. 🏊 I’m hoping for more sun later, but I’ll take it hour by hour. I need paper towels, matches and gasoline too. ⛽This morning, I’ll probably hang out at camp for a while, laying in the hammock listening to the radio, maybe going for a short walk later on.

Tonight in the Finger Lakes, the sun will set at 8:24 pm with dusk around 8:55 pm, which is one minute and 13 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for clouds ☁with a chance of thunderstorms ⚡ and 70 degrees. The dew point will be 67 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 14 hours and 21 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 15 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy ☔ , with a low of 66 degrees at 6am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 67 at 6pm. South wind around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2017, we had mostly cloudy skies. It was sticky. It got down to 70 degrees. The record low of 46 occurred back in 1966.

As I brought my kayak all the way out to Watkins Glen, I really should put it to use at least once. 🚣 Especially as Saturday will be one of the most beautiful days of vacation. One option I’ve been thinking about is backtracking to Montezuma for a day and paddling along the Seneca Canal. That’s about an hour each way. Another option, is to put in on Seneca Lake in Watkins Glen and paddle the Montour Falls Canal, assuming that the lake isn’t too choppy and the canal isn’t flooding and mucky from today’s rain. After I did that I could hit up the Watkins Glen pool and deck one last time to soak up the rays before its done as far as I’m concerned for the year. Then obviously, one last hit of the Glen Dairy Bar.🍦🍧🍨 Another fall back is paddle and fish Lamoka Lake after visiting the Sugar Hill Firetower. Going to be such a beautiful and hot day on Saturday.

Come Sunday it’s the tear down that campsite day. ⛺ Yeap, vacation is coming to an end and I’ll have to head back to the old Albany to make more money, 🏢 so I can continue to invest in my future. 💰Going to be such a nice day, I’m thinking maybe I should get an early start taking down camp on Sunday, maybe hike Enfield Glen before eleven,🏊 then go swimming in the Gorge pool until 12:30 or one, then be back to Albany NY by four. 🕔

Despite the lack of sun, it’s been a good vacation. 😥I’m sure I will probably have a few more opportunities for weekend trips this summer, and I look forward to hunting season and my November road trip, which I’m thinking will have a day or two in the Finger Lakes, although the focus will be primarily more on the Western New York and probably Pennsylvania. West Virginia remains a possibility but not a certainty at this point, I’m still evaluating my options. 🗻

I love being out in the wilderness, and look forward to owning my own land and living off grid in a low tax high freedom state. 🔥🔫🐂 I wish everyday could be as much fun as my camping adventures, and not just be the daily grind in the city, with the toilet and refrigerator I’m always struggling with at home, or all the restrictions that come with living in the city. The rural landscapes and the hills and valleys really stir my soul and remind me there are things to life beyond that dirty, rundown apartment in the city that the rent keeps going up on.

When I get back home, I have to schedule an oil change for Big Red and I have an eye appointment on Thursday.👀 I have a coupon from the General for a $50 synthetic oil change and tire rotation, which is a good deal but it does mean having to bring it all the way back up to DeNoyer in Colonie.🚗 But then I shouldn’t need an oil change until late winter or early spring, and I’ll have contacts for the year.

I am going to create a new Facebook Page for my blog over the next few weeks. 📰 The new changes to Facebook API makes it impossible to automatically post from my blog to my Facebook profile, but if I have a page I can continue to easily post all my posts and photos to Facebook. I’ll probably share some of what I post on blog and Facebook Page to my personal profile but looking at the tools and options available for Facebook Pages, I think I make the switch sooner rather than later.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Average High Falls To 79 ️Degrees ⛱️️️ when the sun will be setting at 7:54 pm with dusk at 8:23 pm in the Finger Lakes. Figure about 15 minutes earlier back in Albany. On that day in 2017, we had partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 75 and 56 degrees. We hit a record high of 95 back in 1947.