THE BEACHES ARE CLOSED

As depicted in the painting pictured above, nothing speaks more of summer than the warm sands of beaches.*  They serve vital recreational and social purposes, such as for swimming, picnicing and plain sunburning.

However, beaches also serve a less romantic purpose.  They provide essential barriers between advancing waves and currents of water and vulnerable adjoining land so as to mitigate erosion.

Unfortunately, beaches have been closing--in effect disappearing-- in two ways.  First, this year several local governments--Chicago, for example-- have prohibited beachgoers as an assumed measure to limit the spread of Covid-19.  The sands have remained naked of footprints.

Second, rising water levels such as in the case of Lake Michigan, coupled with more intense storm driven winds, have caused sand to migrate from beaches.  As a result of diminishment of beaches as barriers to wave and current water action, adjoining bluffs have been eroding and houses have been tumbling into water.

Much attention has been given to protection of surface water sources of water supply.  Perhaps, more attention may be required to the protection and restoration of beaches adjacent to the surface waters.  As beaches diminish, so may their purposes.

____________________________________________________________________________________

*Painting by George Barrel (1923-2003), Oil, 24"x36", Available for purchase, $550, at Odana Antique Center, Booth 33, Madison, WI

© Daniel J. Kucera 2020                                                                                                 

THE EARTH IN HOT WATER?

The asteroid that crashed into the Yucatan Peninsula over 60 million years ago apparently did more than liquidate dinosaurs. According to a recently published report, scientists now believe that the impact which created the Chicxulub crater also superheated groundwater under the crater, plunging the Earth's crust into hot water for one or two million years.* Hydrothermal systems can be created when molten rock heats water in the crust. The report suggests water initially heated to over 300 degrees C, and eventually cooled to about 90 degrees C.

The report suggests the possibility that hydrothermal systems might create habitats for microbial life, including the first life on Earth. Bt analogy, some Yellowstone hot pools evidence such life.

It can be noted that "hot water" can exhibit different meanings. For example, to be in hot water " is to be in or get into a difficult situation in which you are in danger of being criticized or punished." (Cambridge Dictionary Or, "I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean." (G.K. Chesterton)

Given the current conditions and events in the world today, one might easily conclude that the Earth continues to be in hot water.

_____________________________________

*Gramling. "Impact Left Earth's Crust
In Hot Water", Science News, July 4,18
2020, p. 10

© Daniel J. Kucera 2020

MOON LIQUIDITY

Hey, Water Fans! There's going to be a complete water cycle on the Moon, soon.

First, NASA has announced that it is going to explore the Moon for fresh water to support humans living on the Moon. In late 2023, it plans to launch a rover, referred to as VIPER, to the south pole of the Moon. It "will roam several miles and use its four science instruments to sample various soil environments in search of water ice. Its survey will help pave the way for a new era of human missions to the lunar surface and will bring us closer to developing a sustainable, long-term robotic and human presence on the Moon..." It is expected to find locations of water that can be harvested to enable extended human expeditions.*

To complete the water cycle, according to a recent published report, researchers believe that cement can be made from lunar soil and human urine.** Water ordinarily is needed to make cement. With probable limited water resources on the Moon, human urine may be able to be a workable substitute.

So, future human Moon residents may have water available for living and use resulting urine to build their houses and other cement infrastructure.

Yes, Dorothy, there is a yellow brick road--not in Kansas or OZ, but on the Moon.


____________________________________

*NASA Release 20-063, June 11, 2020

**Grossman, "Astronauts Could Use Their
Urine To Make Cement", Science News,
June 20, 2020, p.4

© 2020 Daniel J. Kucera

CAN RATEMAKING ENHANCE WATER UTILITY SERVICE?

Under well-established ratemaking principles, the primary objective of water rates is to recover the costs incurred to provide water service to a utility's customers. In practice, however, this objective can become overlooked or disregarded. For example, unregulated municipal-owned water utilities often hesitate to raise rates to cover costs of service for political or or reasons. Regulatory agencies often deny recovery of certain costs for various reasons, or lower allowed rates of return on rate base.

Provision of adequate water service involves more than recovery of current operating expense and use of depreciating infrastructure acquired at historic original cost. It is not a steady state photograph of cost Rather, provision of water service involves a dynamic and ever-changing scenario of cost. For example, today water utilities are exposed to a moving target of environmental regulatory compliance, increasingly more serious security risks and vulnerabilities, the necessity to replace basic infrastructure having expired useful lives, and diminishing sources of supply, among other things.

Statutes, regulations and insufficient rates that only cover at best some historic operating costs do not, and cannot, mitigate the growing risk costs being experienced by water utilities. However, perhaps creative and anticipatory ratemaking can. Determination of rates, whether by a municipal-owned system or a regulated system can seek to look beyond current or historic operating expense recovery. For example, rates could be set based upon estimated costs in a future test year that can take into consideration costs to be incurred to deal with anticipated risks. Or, rates could be determined to fund reserves in addition to operating costs, reserves in particular related to infrastructure replacement. Rates could be established that include automatic adjustment clauses for increases in certain costs. Finally, rates could be determined so as to encourage or facilitate possible consolidation of smaller systems to achieve economies of scale or public-private partnerships.

Perceptive ratemaking not only may benefit a utility. It may also benefit customers with continued assurance of adequate water service.


© Daniel J. Kucera 2020

ANXIETY

It goes without saying, but still worth saying, that COVID-19 has created unprecedented anxieties on all levels of society and in all world societies. The pandemic offers no exception or reprieve to water utilities and their obligation to provide safe and adequate water to their customers no matter what. There are no furloughs, or quarantines, or shelter in place in homes for water operations and their operators.

A prime anxiety facing water utilities today is concern over staff. How do you keep staff safe and what do you if they become ill? Many water utilities generally do not have a surplus of personnel, particularly qualified or specialized personnel available to replace a key employee who becomes ill with the virus. Utility personnel are not necessarily fungible, particularly when certain positions are licensed or require expertise such as accounting or engineering.

COVID-19 also can create financial anxiety for water utilities. When customers become unemployed, or businesses become shuttered, water bills tend not to be paid on time or at all. Obviously, revenue shortfalls can adversely impact a utility, particularly a smaller one, hindering the ability to pay employees and bills. Revenue shortfalls also create the risk of default on debt obligations, such as revenue bonds.

Anxieties, however, can offer a learning experience for the future. For example, a water utility may be able to negotiate a mutual assistance agreement with a nearby utility. In the event that one party suffers an employee on leave with illness, it may be able "borrow" an employee from the other utility even part-time to replace the missing staff member. Anxiety over financial concerns demonstrates the importance of creating financial reserves. The "rainy days" for which reserves are created are not just for replacement of worn widgets. They can help mitigate unfavorable operating climates.


© 2020 Daniel J. Kucera

RIGHTS

We have rights. What is a "right." A precise definition can be elusive and may require a journey into the mysteries of philosophical thought. However, a rough, simplistic definition might be a right is an entitlement to something; for example, a freedom or a protection against interference with a freedom.

Perhaps, the best definition is by examples; and the most obvious example is the Bill of Rights, comprising the ten first amendments to the U.S. Constitution. In particular, the First through Fifth Amendments illustrate such prominent rights as freedom of speech and due process.

However, less familiar, but not less important, is the Ninth Amendment, which states:

"The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

What are these "other rights"? Perhaps the Declaration of Independence can suggest an answer in this passage:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." In addition, "other rights" may include rights created or recognized in federal and state statutes and regulations, state constitutions and court opinions.

Among other things, water utilities should be aware of the need to consider and respond to how rights may affect their operations.


______________________________

© 2020 Daniel J. Kucera

TO GO OR NOT TO GO? WHERE, IS THE QUESTION

For a long time, there has been no question. Public toilet facilities have been identified by signage as either "men" or "women", based upon physicality. However, more recently, culture and laws have dictated a more complicated scenario. Facilities now are to be identified on a gender neutral basis. For example, appropriate signage can be "restroom", "bathroom", "washroom" and the like. Choices can be complicated. For example, one does not go to a public restroom to rest, to a bathroom to bathe or to a washroom merely to wash. More importantly, one does not know who one might meet in such a room, making secure door locks a must.

One is reminded of far earlier times when toilet facilities were called out houses, for good reason, as they usually were little wooden shacks located some distance from living quarters to as to assure uncomfortable winter weather walks in the middle of the night. Our family cottage had such an outhouse, a two hole one. I often wondered why it had two holes, side by side, as I did not find usage to foster potential moments of togetherness.

Sometimes the availability of a facility or a choice is not apparent at all when a need arises. Consider the following case.* A customer came to a grocery store to buy feed. While there, he expressed a desire to urinate and asked to use the store's toilet. The store had no toilet. He was told to go into the back room to the dark corner behind the hay, "that was the place used for such purposes." The room had no light. In entering the room, he fell into an open freight elevator pit. While on his hands and knees in the pit, an employee of the store lowered the freight elevator onto him. It was unclear if he was able to urinate under such circumstances.

The court affirmed judgment for the customer, finding negligence by the store to its invitee. However, on a motion for rehearing, the appeals court changed its mind, finding that there was no invitation to the customer to use any part of the feed compartment as a place to urinate.

The conclusion, perhaps, is that finding an appropriate toilet facility is much like looking for a needle in a haystack.

___________________________________________

*M.N. Bleich & Co. v. Emmett, 295 S.W. 223
(Tex. C.C.A. 1927)

© Daniel J. Kucera 2020

MAKING NO BONES ABOUT TURKEY LEFTOVERS

Although the holidays now have passed by, there still may be turkey leftovers lurking in refrigerators and freezers. Is a partially gnawed drumstick still considered to be "turkey"? Naturally, the law may suggest an answer to this digestive question. In a Michigan case, the court addressed the legal nature of a turkey. Justice Bird stated "the question is a new one in this court." He went on to hold that "an examination of the question has brought with it the conviction that turkeys are animals under the generally accepted definition of that term as used in the law."* However, a Wisconsin court later concluded that turkeys are not "fur-bearing animals" but in fact are "poultry, unless in a wild state, in which they may be "birds or land fowl."**

Is a cooked turkey still a turkey? In an 1823 English case, the court ruled that a reference to "two turkies" means live turkeys, not dead ones.*** One legal reference has stated "it would seem to be implicit in the definition of the word 'animal' that after a creature has died it ceases to be an animal and becomes a mere mass or carcass."**** However, in a leading United States case, a court disagreed, concluding "In common speech, the word 'turkey' is applied to a dead fowl sold in the market, as well as to a living animal."*****

So, are turkey leftovers still turkey, or has one had enough of turkey already to even care? The decisions are clear but not really helpful. Perhaps the best course of action for the leftovers is to make soup out of them--now that would be a real turkey!

_____________________________________________

* Holcomb v. Van Zylen, 140 N.W. 521 (1913)

**Town of Albion v. Trask, 41 N.W.2d 627 (1950)

***Rex v. Halloway, 171 Eng. Rep. 1131,1132

****3 C.J.S. Animal sec.1

*****Commonwealth v. Coleman, 68 N.E. 220 (1903)


© Daniel J. Kucera 2020

WATER AND CLIMATE CHANGE

According to media, alleged climate change has invaded almost every aspect of life on earth. For example, a recent issue of one magazine included articles on these topics: climate change causes wildfires which create smoke that damages the ozone layer; climate change causes ecosystems to fall apart; climate change causes ice sheets to melt raising sea levels which by 2100 will put coastal cities at risk; climate change makes it harder to predict ocean severity of El Nino and La Nina events; between 2030 and 2050 climate change will cause 250,000 more people to die than otherwise.*

According to a recent report, only 71% of world population use safe drinking water. Some 785 million people do not have access even to basic drinking water.** According to another article, in 17 countries, where a quarter of world population lives, there is a high risk of water stress--running out of available water.***

Apparently, some have suggested that world water shortages and lack of safe drinking water are caused by climate change. However, according to an article, economic growth and population growth appear to be the primary causes, not climate change. From 1961 to 2014, world water use increased 150%.***

Instead of speculation and handwringing over climate change alleged effects on world water requirements, perhaps the focus should be on enhanced development of availability of safe water supplies for the 29% that lack access.

_______________________________________________

* See Science News, September 14, 2019

** Opflow, AWWA, October 2019, p.4

***Wilke, Science News,September 14,2019, p.5


© Daniel J. Kucera 2019

CAMBRIAN CREATURES EXPLODED ACR0SS THE WORLD

For much of known life on Earth, that life was simple--organisms such as bacteria, algae and fungi occupied the pre-Cambrian time. However, beginning about 541 million years ago, at the start of the Cambrian period, things dramatically changed. Life suddenly diversified and multiplied into complex forms, with such new features as brain, eyes, mouth, digestive system, outer skin and body segments. This 25 million year period commonly is called the Cambrian explosion, for obvious reasons.

Fossil evidence of the Cambrian explosion was discovered in 1909 in the Burgess shale of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Now, a recent article reports that another site of Cambrian explosion fossils has been discovered in China, called Qingjiang.* This new location is said to show many taxa not seen before as well some in common with the first site.

The article may be of interest for what it did not address. For example, it now appears that the Cambrian explosion took place at about the same time in places thousands of miles distant from each other--Canada and China. While the two sites do not share fully identical fossil creatures, differences in ancient marine environments may explain differences in creatures found. The point is they share the explosion of complex life-forms.

The article also did not offer why the Cambrian explosion occurred; that is, why pre-Cambrian simple celled organisms suddenly became complex with all sorts of sizes and shapes. Was that the work of "intelligent design?" This question, of course, always seems to be the elephant in the room that no one admits to seeing. Further, if it is the hand of intelligent design, the unspoken, ultimate question is who is the intelligent designer?

_____________________________________________

*Gramling,"Fossils Expand Variety of Early
Life," Science News, April 27, 2019, p.14

© 2019 Daniel J. Kucera

DO RAVENS HAVE SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT?

Over time, Science has acquired great knowledge, which in turn, has produced achievements in medicine, space exploration, consumer goods and, of course communication-the internet of all things life. Indeed, it would be difficult to imagine a frontier that has not been studied and conquered by scientists in pursuit of Science.

But wait, there's more. A recent article reports that a new frontier has been challenged.* Scientists have discovered that ravens--you know, the bird that quoth "Nevermore"--acknowledge and share negative emotions between fellow ravens, all without social media.

This scientific advancement was reached by testing pairs of ravens. One was offered unappealing raw carrots and more tasty dog food. When the dog food was taken away, the bird left with only carrots became cranky and unhappy. Meanwhile, the other raven was watching all this, sort of like streaming live TV. Later, a cognitive bias test was performed. The observer bird appeared to be influenced by its partner's disappointment with the raw carrots. Of course, I probably would be disappointed with carrots, as well, but I am not sure happiness comes with dog food either unless one is a dog. As expected, the article suggests more research is needed on the emotions of non-human animals.

Recently, the emotions of blackbirds made the national media.** You know, "Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie, when the pie was opened, the birds began to sing>". Well, the blackbirds at issue were not singing. They are attacking humans across the country with a singular emotion of anger.

I am sure that more research on the emotions of ravens and blackbirds will advance human society in some fashion, but I cannot quite put my finger on the "how." Meanwhile, I can offer my own experience with the emotions of the bee. Bees also appear to have only one emotion--anger. When angry, they sting. Otherwise, they work all the time, thus, the busy bee. I never have seen a happy bee, or even a friendly one.

So, why do some birds and bees have anger as their primary or even only emotion? Blame it on climate change, but it's probably politics.

_____________________________________________

*Wilke, "Bad Moods Spread Among Ravens",
Science News, June 22, 2019, p.17

**Smith, "Hitchcock Was Right About Angry
Birds", Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2019,
p.1


© 2019 Daniel J. Kucera

DOES AN OCEAN SWALLOW OR BELCH CARBON DIOXIDE?

For some time, scientists have understood that the Southern Ocean-the waters surrounding Antarctica-has been absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In effect, such swallowing of greenhouse gas has been seen to be in mitigation of assumed "global warming". However, a recent article reports that some portions of the Southern Ocean actually are releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, particularly in the winter.*

The "ups and downs" of carbon in this ocean appear to be a consequence of the pattern of currents. Some currents are said to suck down surface water bearing CO2. Other currents appear to be bringing deep water bearing decayed organic material to the surface.

According to the article, the carbon rollercoaster is not uniform. Some areas of the Southern Ocean absorb carbon dioxide, while others release it. The task at hand for scientists, therefore, is to determine whether one way or the other is more prevalent. Recent studies now suggest it may be 50-50, with the ocean releasing as much carbon dioxide as it absorbs. More research is needed not only of "current" impacts but also of the likely future, particularly if Antarctic ice melting persists.

Interestingly, this question appears to involve all aspects of the Earth. Carbon dioxide originates from activities on land; it escapes to the atmosphere; and it is absorbed in ocean waters. Searching for answers in Science can be daunting.

_____________________________________________

*Witze,"Southern Ocean-Climate Friend or Foe",
Science News, June 8, 2019, p.24

© 2019 Daniel J. Kucera

WHERE HAVE ALL THE BLUES GONE?

In my youthful days, I always thought that one of the benefits of a Spring rainstorm was the resulting creation of puddles. Some puddles were dramatic--like the large pond that arose in the nearby prairie, nourishing ancient cottonwoods and tiny tadpoles.

But wait, there's more! I was also fascinated with the small puddles inhabiting barren spots of clay where grass and weeds dared not to tread. These puddles became oases for countless butterflies, bees and wasps who stopped to sip the water and its nutrients from the soil. Surely, all creatures need water.

Typically, the most predominant visitor at a puddle was a very small butterfly about the size of an adult thumb nail and generally known as the common blue. Sometimes they were bright blue, other times grayish blue, depending on the season. The blues would line up like soldiers at the edge of a puddle, perhaps a dozen or more. They made a muddy broom puddle into a blue jewel and sparkled the air when they flew away.

Fast forward, it has been many decades since I have seen a common blue at a puddle or anywhere else. I have seen and continue to see puddles, but all are blueless. The blues no longer are common, they have disappeared.

Where have all the blues gone? Why? One folk saying states that no one misses the water until the well goes dry. Like many things in our culture and environment that have disappeared, we should miss the blues. The blues are gone today, what about the water tomorrow?


© 2019 Daniel J. Kucera

THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE

I am a pack rat. I tend to save anything I have received, purchased or touched. Recently, with great trauma, I have begun a purge of overflowing boxes and piles--a sort of Spring cleaning, if you will. To no surprise, the process is slow, as papers must are examined with great care.

In an obscure box, I uncovered an undated, mimeographed program for a monthly meeting of my then hometown Cub Scout pack. I am guessing it was from the early 1950s. One page of the program contains an essay written by the Cubmaster providing the theme for the next month's meeting, which would be in November. The essay was titled "Faith Of His Fathers". An excerpt is as follows:

"The main idea behind the theme is to make the Cubs realize how fortunate they are in being Americans. They should be thankful that they are living in a free country where the human rights of man are honored and respected.

"They should appreciate that our present way of life was brought about by that heroic band of people, the Pilgrims, who had the courage and fortitude to leave Europe and start their lives over again in a new land. One in which they could live and worship as they pleased. A land built upon Faith in God, man and human nature. This was the start of the 'American Way of Life'.

"... If the Pilgrims were willing to give up their homes, fight and even die for the privilege of living and worshiping as they pleased, the least we can do is to give thanks that we are Americans and have the American way of life."

In 2019, is the American Way of Life still the same as it was seventy years ago? Are the "human rights of man still honored and respected"? Do we still have "Faith in God, man and human nature"? When one reads and listens to media, drives on roads or walks in cities, what should we make of the anger, disrespect, self-interest and self-aggrandizement that we often experience?

Maybe there is a good reason why I saved this piece of paper, and why I will continue to save it. It is reminder. It may be beneficial to discard surplus paper, but it would be disastrous to discard the real American Way of Life.


© Daniel J. Kucera 2019

CAN TERMITES MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE?

A recent article reports scientists have found that, in time of drought, termites have helped tropical rain forests to survive.* With diminished rainfall, termite populations were observed to increase dramatically, in turn increasing leaf litter decomposition. As a result, soil had more moisture and nutrient mixing, enabling better seedling survival.

Perhaps these findings will suggest an approach for areas of the United States West and Southwest said to be drought prone due to perceived climate changes. Encouraging large populations of termites in forests of those areas may preserve moisture so as to mitigate effects of drought climate changes.

Of course, termite buildup in such areas may cause some collateral damage to houses that are constructed primarily of wood located in such forests.

____________________________________________________

*Yao-Hua Law,"Termites Help Rainforests Withstand
A Drought", Science News, February 16, 2019,
Page 4

© Daniel J. Kucera 2019

DEEP WELLS, SHALLOW WATERS?

According to published reports, a new research study has found that deep water wells may not be a solution for increased ground water demands on water utilities.* The study concluded that, on average, deep wells encountered brackish ground water at about the 1,800 foot level. In eastern United States, the brackish water is found at about the 1,000 foot level, suggesting deep wells may not be a solution for fresh water demand in that region. Extrapolation from their findings for the United States, the researcher indicated that fresh ground water in the world may not be as available as once thought.

Limitations on deep wells as a long term source of water supply should be no surprise. In the period 1950-1980 or so, the region surrounding Chicago experienced substantial population and housing growth, with corresponding increasing ground water demand. Initially, shallow wells were used by water utilities, as cost effective. However, water from shallow wells generally contains high iron content, making for complaints from customers. Further, with density growth shallow wells increasingly were not a solution for higher demand. More and more water utilities then switched to deep wheels as a source of supply.

However, deep wells in the area soon displayed limitations. Salt water was detected at about the 1,800 foot level, so generally the wells had to be kept to 1,500 feet. While deep wells did not have an iron issue, they did have a radium and related constituent issue. Treatment for such contaminants can be costly and difficult. Further, deep wells could not provide needed supply as demand continued to increase. Finally, Lake Michigan water replaced wells as the source of supply for much of the area, through a system of agencies and pipelines.

Not every area of the united States, or of the world for that matter, has the good fortune of having Lake Michigan as a neighbor. They still have the task of trying to solve source of supply issues particularly if deep wells are not a long term solution.

_____________________________________

*"Study: US Potable Groundwater Supply
Faces New Risks", Opflow, January
2019, p.4. See also Journal AWWA,
January 2019, p.88

© Daniel J. Kucera

DEVELOPING WATER UTILITY TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES

For countless centuries, humans, and pre-humans, have drunk and used untreated water from rivers, lakes, springs and other raw sources. As a result, they often fell victim to water borne illnesses such as typhoid and cholera. Finally, at the start of the 20th Century in the United States, water utilities began to employ a disinfection treatment technology called chlorination.

Subsequently, because of chlorination, drinking water generally was perceived as safe. However, with the advent of more extensive regulation of drinking water by states and ultimately by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, new technologies were developed as alternative disinfection protocols and also to control other contaminants. These technologies, many of which today are employed either instead of chlorination or in addition to it, include ultraviolet light, ozone, membranes, reverse osmosis and ion exchange.

A recent published article advises that notwithstanding these existing technologies, testing of new treatment protocols continues today.* Examples discussed in the article include:

* application of ferrate, an ion of iron. It can work as a disinfectant and can breakdown carbon chemical contaminants for easier filtration.

* using electrochemical membranes which filter and also break down contaminants through chemical reactions.

* breaking down certain industrial chemicals called PFAS using ultraviolet light and sulfite.

The ongoing advances in treatment technology research is both impressive and comforting, when one reflects on a comparison with water treatment prior to 1900.

__________________________________________

* Hamers, "Drinkability", Science News,
November 24, 2018, p.18

© Daniel J. Kucera 2018

LET'S ALL DO THE TWIST

Those who may be considered to be mid-century modern in age may recall a brief dance craze in the early 1960s made popular by Chubby Checker's "The Twist." It was a rather simple gyration procedure for teenagers, but as one would age, bending the body repeatedly into a pretzel was not necessarily knee and hip friendly. Who knows, maybe the twist helped to generate the joint replacement industry of today--an ironic twist in its own right.

Science has produced countless achievements which have enhanced our lives in many ways. Consider the following recent development. In eating spaghetti, many people apparently are troubled by the long noodles. Sometimes, it is a challenge to get them into the mouth without slobbering over one's shirt, face or table. To mitigate this issue, some meal preparers seek to break the raw noodles in half prior to cooking. The shorter lengths then would become more mouth friendly. However, when long, raw spaghetti noodles are hacked in half, they tend to splinter into small fragments. Apparently, for some, the result just is not spaghetti.

Now, scientists have discovered that vibration of the long raw noodles when broken in half causes the splintering into small pieces. However, scientists also have discovered that when the long, dry noodles are first twisted before being broken in half, the resulting vibration is weakened by the twisting and does not cause further fragments.*

So, doing the twist before bending each long dry noodle in half will do the trick. And there should be no strain on the knees or hips. Thank you science.

_________________________________________

*Temming, "How Not To Shatter Spaghetti",
Science News, September 29, 2018, p. 5

© Daniel J. Kucera 2018

GO CHEESE NECKS!

Mention "Cheese Heads", and we automatically think of Wisconsin and exurberant fans of the Green Bay Packers wearing their quaint headgear resembling huge slabs of cheese. Presumably, cheese head hats are derived from the well earned native reputation for making of all things cheese, not to mention beer, of course.

According to a recent published report, the concept of wearing a cheese head hat may actually have evolved, as Darwin might say, from an ancient Chinese ritual.* The report states that archaeologists found 3,600 year old cheese curds draped around the necks of Bronze Age mummies in China. So, should these mummies be called "Cheese Necks" with their expectation of enjoying curds in the afterlife? In Wisconsin, one may find curds available for consumption at bars and groceries, but there does not seem to be any report of wearing curds around necks.

The same article reports the find of a 3,200 year old slab of solid cheese in the Egyptian tomb of the mayor of the city of Memphis. There was no indication that the slab was around his neck or even on his head. Oh well, that's how the world curds.

*Martin, "Egyptian Tomb Held 3,200-year-old cheese." Science News, Sept. 15, 2018, p.5
© Daniel J. Kucera

SIMPLER TIMES

We were driving on a vacation in one of the western U.S. states, enjoying stunning scenery, great accommodations and delicious food. Some of the small towns through which we passed appeared to be frozen in a prior time--and in a good way. For some-the 1950s perhaps.

For example, outside a coffee break cafe,in a picture perfect how-the-American west-should look kind of town, I grabbed a local newspaper--one of those bulging with grocery and other advertising inserts, and peppered with chatty mom and pop stories and detailed high school football scores. Front page advertised a Garlic Festival I think. It had a page called "police blotter." You can tell a lot about a town simply by reading its police blotter. I was intrigued by the following excerpts:


Tuesday,9:30am A resident reported seeing someone trying to break into a vehicle. Turns out the person was just locked out of their own car.

Tuesday,12:02pm A man reported that the person he hired to rebuild the roof of his house called it quits halfway through the project.

Tuesday,3:30pm Transients were camping down by the river.

Sunday,7:23 am A couple's marriage of just 48 hours went south when the groom apparently drove off with the couple's U-Haul full of belongings never to be seen again.

Sunday,7:45 am A man in a red hat was walking in the middle of the road.

Sunday,11:52 am A man called 911 because his grandson was "tipping things over."

Sunday,1:10 A man was wandering around his neighborhood screaming, "Everyone can burn in hell". It was clear he was not having a great Sunday.

Sunday,7:08 pm A man reported that someone stole his long board and he knows who did it. Soon after he called back to report that he had found his long board. Apparently he just misplaced it.

Sunday,7:58 am A woman who doesn't know much about technology" accidentally called 911.

Monday, 5:28 am A man called to report that his neighbor's dog had been barking for more than a week. He thinks the neighbor has gone on vacation.


There was something appealing about this police blotter. There was no mention of the now common urban stresses such as serious crimes, riots, protests and general displays of anger--things commonly encountered in print, television, radio and internet these days. Small towns have plenty of stresses-- alcohol and drug abuse, domestic problems and often in the mining west, high unemployment. But this blotter had none of that. I feel really bad for the woman who's husband left. I wonder if he was the same guy wearing the red hat.


© Daniel J. Kucera 2018