I’m back from my series of conferences and workshops, and so I’m looking at the papers again while I eat lunch. A few items caught my eye:
- From the “Water Water Everywhere” Department: The LA Times writes about this series of water main breaks we’ve been having in LA. Portions of the system are nearly 100 years old (meaning clay or cast-iron pipes), and the pipes are degrading. The Times writes about this as the pipes wearing out, but I doubt the water running through the pipe wears it out (unless it is leaching a lot of minerals out). More likely, it is the continual movement due to earthquakes, traffic, and street construction weakening inflexible materials. Most assuredly these pipes need to be replaced, but it is sad that LADWP didn’t realize this and build a reserve and have a program (although the public might not understand it). Scarier still — and this affects not just LA residents — is how old and poorly maintained much of our infrastructure is. Once underground, things are rarely maintained… and if overhead, although the lines might be maintained, the poles likely aren’t. There are significant problems just waiting their failure tipping point.
- From the “Here’s Jay” Department: The LA Times is also reporting about the large viewership of the new Jay Leno Show, together with the commensurate criticial dislike of the program. What they realize is that the public likely doesn’t want a different program: they want the comfortable Jay Leno 90 minutes earlier. This lets them get to bed at an earlier hour, making it easier to get up in the morning. One wonders if, as a side effect of the new Leno program, driving while drowsy deaths will decrease… one also wonders if the birth rate will go up as people going to be earlier have more energy for other things. Time will tell… All I know is that I’ve watched it the last two nights, and it is much easier to fall asleep to as opposed to the 10 O’Clock News.
- From the “Effects of the Recession” Department: St. Louis Today has an interesting article about how the recession is affecting paychecks: specifically, the rise in health care costs combined with the recession is resulting in lower paychecks due to increased health-care cost sharing. This is something I’m likely to experience personally, as a need to reduce overhead costs here at the ranch will likely result in our paying a greater percentage of our health care premiums. This is why I wish the folks involved in the health care arguments (it isn’t civilized enough to call it a debate) would get off their partisan horses, and take action on things we agree need to be done: getting rid of recission, getting rid of limitations based on pre-existing conditions, and developing a way to reduce health care costs. Note that these costs are often not due to the doctors themselves (who earn very little per doctor’s visit), but the high-costs of tests, the use of preventive testing to prevent lawsuits, high prescription drug costs, and the overhead of the insurance processing paperwork both at the doctors office and at the health insurers themselves. Think of all the salaries spent just to keep people from getting the health insurance benefits they pay for. I can’t imagine people are actually in favor of insurance being retroactively cancelled, preventing folks from getting insurance due to a hangnail when they were 4, and for keeping medical costs extra high. I personally believe much of the argument comes from wanting *your side* to win, and not allowing the *other side* to claim victory. We’re caught up in the battle, and forgetting the goal of the war. Sorry, I hadn’t realized I’d climbed up on my soapbox.
Well, lunch is ‘et, so I return you to your previous activities….
