The Los Angeles County firestorms are now a week old.  While four of the seven fires have been contained, the largest, Pacific Palisades, is still only around 15% contained, and the most deadly in Eaton, with 17 of the 25 deaths, remains two-thirds uncontrolled.  Worse  Santa Ana winds of up to 70 MPH will return later today , with red flag warnings extending for the counties of San Luis Obispo to San Diego.  While other states (including Republican Texas) are pledging assistance to California, looks like the incoming pathologically vengeful  President Donald Trump  will continue to lie and criticize enemies in his second term, for he blamed Governor Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden for the fire.  Of course they are Democrats, and California did not vote for him.  States like Hawaii will also be in big trouble in the four years to come, for Harris, percentage-wise, got more votes from Hawaii (61%) than California (59%). More about Trump regard...

  On the way to Acapulco we had a mild nightlife, starting with an Oriental Dinner in the Garden Cafe. Mostly Chinese food, and not much at that.  The hot sour soup was lukewarm, but a shot of Johnny Walker Black Label helped.  Everything was too salty.  Watched ADDA in the Atrium. That was it.  Only 3366 steps today. We are now in Acapulco.  View from our cabin. Looks like Waikiki. Lunch of salad and pho, with a Mexican beer and rosé. Yesterday, I essentially walked 3/4ths of mile to gather the buffet lunch.  Today, only half a mile. Acapulco de Juárez is commonly called Acapulco. 3080 miles south of Seattle. 1987 miles south of San Diego. 240 miles south of Mexico City. 2223 miles north of Panama Canal. 3775 miles east of Honolulu. By the 8th century, the Acapulco Bay area had a small culture dominated by Omecs. Followed by Mayan,,then the Aztec Empire around 1500. The Spanish came in the 1520s as linked to Hernán Cortés. Cortez built a major ro...

This is September 13, and a Friday.  Some consider this to be a bad luck day.  The origin goes back to   The Bible , and more specifically, Jesus.   As such, many other countries also are stuck with this superstition.  However, in Italy, long associated with Catholicism, Friday the 17th is  unlucky .  This is because the number 17 in roman numeral is XVII, and anagram of VIXI, which means  I have lived in Latin .  Some consider this is a bad omen, as it  implies that death is soon .  Oh well, I am posting this article today because it relates to September 13, which in 1969 was a Saturday. 1969 was a heck of a year. That was 55 years ago. I was sent to LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana by C. Brewer of the Hawaiian Sugar Industry to earn a master's degree in chemical engineering.   They paid my salary and LSU gave me a full fellowship, waiving tuition, so when you add the income of nurse wife, this was the only time when we actu...