Droning On
Today was a perfect day in many ways with the exception that we are still quarantined and kept from our loved ones. That circumstance may, indeed, have made the small pleasures of the day seem so much more. To begin with, the temperature rose from a cool and brisk 56 degrees to a midday high of 70 degrees. That meant that a morning hot tub was ideal in its warmth. It was there that I took a call from the electric company who recently installed my twin Tesla batteries. I had taken the time to express my concern to the senior management of the company after they had installed my batteries that complemented the solar power system they had installed last year. How satisfying it was to have my concerns taken seriously. These were no physical installation concerns but ones to do with the explanation of the optimization of the systems to achieve my home power goals. As a result, the best people on the staff are sorting me out and even installing some control mechanisms free of charge to further the optimization.
So where the weather and the home improvements arenas were going along so well, that was only the beginning. As I proceeded to do a bit of work on my primary responsibility (the hydrogen company), I also interacted with my favorite Sicilian colleague as he works to add infrastructure to the company we are working to grow in the expert witness realm. I then had the opportunity to help a worthy friend who could use some consulting opportunities by connecting him directly with some people who quite seriously need his expertise. Some would insist on an arranger’s cut for this sort of introduction, but I have learned over the years that the returns from generosity and graciousness far exceed any fees or commissions that can be earned. And then there is the added value of the enhancement of friendship, which is all I need in this stage of life.
As though the Universe felt the need to reward me this self-same morning, I then received a call from my Lemon Law firm lawyer, who told me she had received a settlement offer on my lemon BMW motorcycle. They have offered to buy back my motorcycle for the full purchase price less an amount representing the mileage I have put on it. Since that is 1,800 miles, the discount is 1,800/120,000 which presumably represents their view of the normal useful life of their motorcycles. That will mean a $427.50 discount and a check for over $28,000, which feels just and fair, and better and quicker than I expected on the transaction.
I then spent a few hours reading, pondering and organizing Chapter 4 of a book that I am helping someone write. This is actually the adult daughter of a friend. She has led a very challenging and interesting life that makes for a story that needs to be told. The story is about a young life of severe addiction, which evolved over a decade. Being a person who has literally never ventured closer to drugs than the secondary high one gets from nearby smokers, I found the dive into the depths of every imaginable drug by a young woman of means to be a startling reality. When we joke about Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll as a cosmic state of being, we have no real sense of how difficult a fate that can be for all involved. What sounds like fun is certainly much less so as it evolves down the path it so often travels, and did in extremis in this instance. I was sent the manuscript by the father and I read enough to understand that there was a story here worth telling. I offered to help with the rewrite for no particular reason than I enjoy a good writing project and I like to help people who are dedicating their lives to helping others. And this young addict has grown into a woman who runs a network of detox and rehab clinics dedicated to helping people of circumstances similar to her own that need help in the worst way.
It was such a lovely day that I used it as an excuse to take the R1250 GS Adventure out for a ride. It may be the last time I have to ride the bike without a proper license plate. My BMW dealership pal, Rudy, has agreed to register my new bike in California. A dealer can do what I cannot do myself in a time when the DMV is in lockdown. I so enjoy riding this particular motorcycle through these hills and countryside here in the north county. I could not be happier with how my motorcycle fleet has shaped up.
When I returned after my ride, I was surprised with a delivery. I had forgotten that in a bored moment I followed a Facebook thread into a clickbait for a new mini-drone that cost less than a tenth of the last drone I bought several years ago. That was a very professional drone with a gimbled 12M camera with which I learned to fly around the New York Wheel worksite and my homestead in Ithaca. I ran through three of those expensive drones on account of my crash and burn education on how to fly a drone. As with all technology, things have progressed in the world of drones to the point where they can make super-light, super-small drones with 90% of the functionality at 10% of the cost. This new little fold-up flying marvel is just the ticket to do an aerial survey of my home on the hill and specifically inspect the flat roof and the solar panels thereon. I have managed to do the preliminary set-up and make one flight in the living room. This has given me the confidence to take it out for a real test drive tomorrow. I have wrecked better drones than this one on their maiden voyage, but I am counting on the new technology to have stabilized the craziness I found in prior drones.
I recognize that I use this blog and its daily stories to drone on about things that interest me. I write about a full array of things to reflect the things that I find noteworthy. I write to learn and I write to share. I just watched an episode of Anne With an E, a Netflix series based on the classic Anne of Green Gables, set on Prince Edward Island in the Canadian Maritimes. In this episode, in defense of a flamboyant school mistress, Anne tells the town hall meeting set to determine the school teacher’s fate that to tell is to forget, to show is to learn and to engage is to create enthusiasm and creativity. Sartre may have said “I think therefore I am”, but I would say, “I drone on therefore I seek to engage.”