Thinking About Self-driving Cars

I don't think I'm alone in my wariness of any car that is driven by a computer, and GPS. I'm guessing it's a natural reaction after watching "2001 A Space Odyssey". There's that suspicion the computer will go rogue, lock the doors, and take me down a boat ramp because I called it a dumbass. That, and seeing how much my insurance premiums would go up after an accident that happened when I was eating my hamburger picked up in a drive-through after I said I was hungry. 

Health Paradox

From what I've read, the manipulation of time to satisfy a multitude of obscure reasons isn't good for your health. Our health is important. If you don't believe it, look at the billions spent on advertising health products, government printings for your health, gymnasiums in just about every town, health food stores, health products online, insurance wellness demands for your health, and research on health. Health is important, unless it involve Daylight Saving Time. If it disturbs your sleep pattern, causes lethargy during the day, upsets you schedule, gives you heartburn, and causes irritability, then you just have to nut up and deal with it. Your health isn't that important, unless it involves anything other than when your clock tells you what time the sun rises. 

Lightning Is Not Your Friend

We had a front creep through, some thunderstorms, but nothing severe. As the storms subsided, and the rain let up, lightning struck close enough where the flash, and sound, were simultaneous. A step out on the porch showed the security light was out. The television, which will sometime turn off when lightning strikes close went off. The lights didn't flicker. 

My nephew lives across the road, and he soon drove up with his wife to check on me and my wife. He stated they saw sparks falling after the strike, and thought our house was hit. I noticed something in the yard under the security light, and went to investigate. 

Apparently, lightning struck the fixture, and the high current blew the top cover off the fixture when the insides instantly blew apart. Examination of the roof, around the yard, and the service drop didn't show any damage, which gave me some relief. I was concerned lightning struck the roof, and there was fire in the overhead. 

 

When the lightning struck, we were watching a DVD, so when we turned the television back on, everything was working. That was a relief, but examining the bedrooms showed the televisions would not turn on. To make things worse, when we switched to satellite to watch, it's out too.  

The security light is on a service pole is less than twenty feet from my house, so the strike was as close as it can get without striking the house. Too close for me, but far enough I thank God it didn't hit the house. That, and the lightning went to ground through the provider's grounding system instead of through the wiring in my house. 

So, tomorrow will require a call to the satellite provider, a trip to the box store for two televisions, and the hope none of it will cost too much. My feeling is that the damage will be below my deductible, and calling the insurance company a waste of time. 

Spring has Sprung

 As I was checking my phone this morning, while sitting on the porch, I noticed a fine coating of pollen on the screen. The longer I sat, the more accumulated. According to the weather folks, tree pollen is heavy today, and I can testify they're correct. My sinuses agree. Right now, it's mostly oak pollen. The pine pollen will soon appear, and the pond will have a thin coat of yellow on the surface.

Kitchen Sinks

I've changed kitchen sinks. It's not a tremendously complicated process with some, and can change the look of a kitchen. One thing I don't care for is the kitchen sink in the island. I never thought much about this, until I visited a relative that had one. 

I don't see how this is sanitary. So much food is prepared, and served from an island, and when the water is turned on, any nasty water in the sink can splash on the food. Maybe I'm being too cautious, but the popularity of sinks in an island just doesn't make sense to me. The sink is where dirty pans, and dishes, accumulate. Just the sight of such things can curb my appetite if they're in a serving area.