Life takes us in many strange directions and wonderful discoveries. It never turns out the way we thought it would.
Friday, May 31, 2024
Thursday, May 30, 2024
I Am Back From My Adventure In Texas
I am back from my adventure in Texas. I accomplished all my objectives except getting to watch the Star Ship launch. I learned a lot. I got back to my roots. I got to meet a lot of great and friendly people. When I was in moments of crisis like when I needed to find a charger for my electric car, (a rarity in Texas), I got help. I had some great meals including real Texas barbecue in South Padre Island and gourmet seafood at Gaido's Restaurant in Galveston. I had some tough moments like a hotel room with no electric power and a flight that I seemed sure to miss at DFW Airport. Thanks to the brilliant design of the airport and the fast train system, I made my connection and got home.
On television and in my conversations with locals, I kept hearing complaints that temperatures were getting hotter and hotter. They now use a heat index where the actual air temperature, the humidity, and the wind speed are factored in to get the exact temperature which is always much higher. I suffered in the heat. It limited my mobility outside. For example, when I came to the house where I started life, I wanted to make the three-block walk I always made every day with my mother to the large cemetery. I had to drive in my air-conditioned car.
In this awful heat, air conditioning is not a luxury, it can literally be a matter of life and death. Texas moved to privatize its electricity grid. There are big weaknesses. A few years ago, the electricity grid collapsed during frigid winter temperatures one February. Up to 300 people died.
As temperatures get higher, more electric power will be consumed to keep the cooling systems working. We could see more and more grid collapses. This could be fatal for people with medical conditions and vulnerable older people. The heat also produces more volatile weather conditions. This includes violent and volatile weather. As I was driving toward my hotel near Houston International Airport. I found myself in the middle of a violent thunderstorm including big hail balls. When I arrived at the Sheraton Hotel, it was a dark and dead building. The Texas power grid does not hold up well in this violent weather. Repairs take a long time.
When I left the hotel to go to the airport 14 hours later, the power was still out in the hotel. I arrived at the airport terminal around 3:30 A.M. I expected to find a virtually empty building. It was packed with people. They all had flights canceled due to the bad weather. Some had slept in the terminal for many hours.
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)