tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57195822270800802072024-03-13T23:18:14.851-07:00The Riehl Worldrichard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.comBlogger167125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-30882617927940490402023-12-13T05:52:00.000-08:002023-12-13T05:52:27.553-08:00richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-16679517311265060032023-08-25T13:09:00.008-07:002023-12-13T05:43:26.996-08:00<p> So, here I am again. I still do not know about to operate this thing. It seems that you do not understand me. Can you hear me now?</p><p>Back again I hope I can continue my diary without having to stop and start.</p><p>It's December13, 2023</p><p>Karen is in her office writing. </p><p>I awoke this morning with no anxiety. Hope that continues today. </p><p>I can't seem to make voice recognition work this morning. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-28055882584457193562023-07-17T14:59:00.002-07:002023-07-17T14:59:42.589-07:00richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-35404053203862401002023-07-17T14:59:00.000-07:002023-07-17T14:59:14.510-07:00<p> After giving up on voice-recognition technology to create this post, I am resorting to hunt and peck, seek- and-ye-shall-find, technology. I think I am doing quite well fighting off dementia, thanks to my ever-patient, care giver and beautiful wife Karen. I insist on continuing to find out how to return to voice-recognition, since my special gift of Essential Tremor keeps my fingers dancing out of tune. </p>richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-34553575512923144542022-04-30T14:33:00.001-07:002022-04-30T14:34:15.045-07:00<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">Twenty
years ago I was diagnosed with Essential Tremor. Last year I agreed to donate
my brain to the University of Texas Southwestern’s research into the shared symptoms
of Essential Tremor, Parkinson's, and dementia.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">I
paid no attention to dementia symptoms until I began to track some disturbing episodes
on my day-to-day life. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">After
working as a bi-weekly columnist for the <i>North</i> <i>County</i> <i>Times</i>,
followed by several years of posting my <i>The</i> <i>Riehl</i> <i>World</i> blog
in the <i>Oside News</i> and <i>OB Rag</i>, digital newspapers, I discovered I
had lost my ability to find words to put together.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">Thanks
to voice recognition technology, which I am using at the moment, I have been
able to occasionally write pieces like this one.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">Here
are the signs in my daily life that led me to schedule an appointment for a
dementia test with my doctor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">I
understand that forgetting little things, like where I placed my glass of water
or my eyeglasses, is common among people of my age. But it became troubling to
learn from Karen that when I said or did something which had been completely
erased from my mind, it became troubling.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">One
morning, while brushing my teeth, I decided to go to the next room to get my
bottle of water. When I returned to the bathroom, I discovered the TV remote in
my hand.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">An
hour later I was folding clothes taken from the dryer to put into the drawers
in the bedroom. After matching socks to put together in a drawer, I was
disturbed that I had two undershorts that did not match, I checked the dryer to
see if their matches had been left behind, before realizing I only wear one
pair at a time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">In
the middle of a conversation, I often have to stop, searching for the right
word. But more worrisome have been the times I’ve had to ask Karen, “Where are
we going?” while we were on the way to the store, as planned.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">One
morning, again while I was in the bathroom. I looked up to see beneath the
mirror a tube of Sensodyne. I stared at it, struggling to remember what it was
for. Having used a tube of prescription medicine to treat my facial dermatitis,
I wondered if I should smear the toothpaste on my face, before spotting my
toothbrush..<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">One
morning, when I got into the car to drive to the store. I stepped on the brake
and attempted to shift gears. When the engine did not start, I worried that the
battery was dead. For a moment I did not realize I needed to simply step on the
brake and push the ignition button. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">After
returning from the store with two boxes of cereal, I put them on a chair, then
checked the kitchen to see if they were there. When I didn’t find them there, I
went out to search the car. When I couldn’t find them there, I returned to the
house to tell Karen I will need to return to the store, where I suspected I’d
left them. Then I found them, just where I had left them in the chair.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">These
were the episodes that caused me to call the doctor to schedule a test for dementia.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">He
told me, to my relief, that I had moderate cognitive impairment. But I also learned
there was nothing to stop me on this road to dementia. I can stave it off for a
while with plenty of daily exercise of both body ad mind, as well as a full
social life. I’ve taken up <i>Wordle</i> and other word games. And we are very
fortunate to live here in the Chateau Lake San Marcos, where our social life is
so full.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;">I
plan to continue with this blog for as long as I am able to. I know I’m not
alone in this adventure. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-33056694584604857832020-12-04T10:48:00.001-08:002020-12-09T10:03:33.921-08:00My Christmas Gift<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Today I agreed to donate my brain to medical science. (I’ll
pause here to allow regular readers of my published opinion pieces to stop
laughing.) </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Twenty-two years ago, after an afternoon of heavy yard work,
I reached for a cold beer and sat down to rest. As I brought the bottle up to
my mouth I couldn’t keep my hand from shaking. I had to hold on with both hands
to keep from spilling. That had never happened to me before. I refused to
believe it was because of the onset of old age, chalking it up to the after-effects
of unusually hard work on a hot day.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But at my next doctor’s appointment, when I was asked to
hold a tongue depressor in front of me, I couldn’t hold it steady. I explained my
older brother had been diagnosed with Essential Tremor, having undergone deep
brain surgery to reduce the symptoms. The doctor told me this neurodegenerative
disease is inheritable. He added ET to my medical record.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My symptoms have had a relatively mild effect on my life. No
longer able to type, I have to use voice recognition technology to enable me to
keep writing these columns. I had to give up model airplane building and switch
from finger-picking my guitar to thumb strumming a ukulele.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those comparatively minor sacrifices, plus coping with modifications
in personal hygiene tasks and suffering from occasional social embarrassment,
have been my only complaints about living with ET. But as a member of
Facebook’s <i>Essential Tremor Awareness
Group</i>, I have learned of the many others, of all ages, whose lives have
been substantially challenged by the disease, many from a very young age.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I learned of the study being conducted by the
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center to find future therapies for
those suffering from severe cases of ET, donating at death to help others
seemed the right thing to do.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The study requires a neurological and cognitive assessment
every 18 months to track the progress of the disease. To determine my
eligibility to participate, I was given a test of the shakiness of my hands. I
was sent the image of an Archimedes spiral that looks like this: </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Mg1FEgD7bjU/X8qEAhScFSI/AAAAAAAAAcA/zmNuAOp81rEBO321l8RGN1qnPhFC6iVzQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Mg1FEgD7bjU/X8qEAhScFSI/AAAAAAAAAcA/zmNuAOp81rEBO321l8RGN1qnPhFC6iVzQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="180" /></a></div><br /><br /><!--[endif]--><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was asked to copy that freehand with each of my hands.
Here’s what my right hand produced:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EJlXD62V54w/X8qENsJSR2I/AAAAAAAAAcE/LIpGWYI8-IUNUgUw93UqvEJ1506Sv4tYwCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="810" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EJlXD62V54w/X8qENsJSR2I/AAAAAAAAAcE/LIpGWYI8-IUNUgUw93UqvEJ1506Sv4tYwCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="180" /></a></div><br /><br clear="all" style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My first cognitive test question was, “Who is the President
right now?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It pained me to write “Trump,” since I well remember how,
during his 2016 campaign he ridiculed a journalist for his physical disability,
imitating him by swinging his arms around wildly. That hit home with me at the
time because my Karen, suffering from spinal stenosis, sometimes appears to be
conducting a symphony orchestra while she walks unsteadily across the room.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It came as no surprise when I was told I definitely
qualified to be included in the study. The next step is to undergo my first
comprehensive assessment of cognitive and neurological symptoms. It will take
place on January 19 and 20<sup> </sup> in two-hour virtual Zoom sessions in our home.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’m looking forward to it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-74419375054752769312020-10-31T12:20:00.000-07:002020-10-31T12:20:33.550-07:00President Tweet and San Marcos Mayor Meet the Virus<p> Donald Trump says his use of social media, countering what
he calls fake news, made him president. This morning, as I watched the DOW sink
by more than 900 points (so much for his recovering economy), I came upon
President Tweet’s latest rant:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Covid, Covid, Covid is
the unified chant of the Fake News Lamestream Media. They will talk about
nothing else until November 4th, when the election will be (hopefully!) over.
Then the talk will be how low the death rate is, plenty of hospital rooms, and
many tests of young people.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Today’s CDC Covid 19 report suggests talk after Election Day
will be mostly about what a failure he has been in fighting the spread of the
virus.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Here are the numbers for the last seven days:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">More than 70,000 new cases per day in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">More than 4,000 new cases per day in <st1:state w:st="on">California</st1:state>. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">More than 1,000 new deaths in one day in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yesterday, the San Diego Public Health Services reported the
City of <st1:city w:st="on">San Marcos</st1:city>
had a total of 1,283 cases.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mayor Rebecca Jones has no Twitter account, but you can find
her on Facebook, where her only mention of the virus is in her October 19 post,
listing the rules for her Facebook visitors: “<i>No politics, no Covid, no negativity.”</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At the city’s website there’s a tab titled Coronavirus Disease
Update, featuring a video message from the mayor, where she assures viewers:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>-We are here, and we
are prepared.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>-You can rest assured
that emergency services are fully operational.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>-We are keeping as
many City services available as possible.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>-We also recognize the
importance of supporting our residents AND our -businesses in order to keep our
community strong.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>-Our City is strong.
Our country is strong. And we will prevail.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Click on a tab titled, <i>What
can I do to prevent getting Covid 19</i>? and you will find this advice:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>There is currently no
vaccine to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The best way to prevent
illness is to avoid being exposed to this virus. Please follow all the steps
outlined by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to help protect yourself and
others. You can view the latest guidelines and information <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/prevention.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Mayor Jones, like President Tweet, doesn’t take leadership
responsibility for urging her constituents to wear the face coverings that can
stop the spread of the virus. Unlike the president, she provides a link to
those who do. </span></p>richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-36160418598918754952020-07-11T09:33:00.000-07:002020-07-11T09:33:41.399-07:00Why We Could Lose the War on COVID 19<div class="MsoNormal">
The day after the World Health Organization declared the
spread of the virus a pandemic, President Trump addressed the nation from the
Oval Office.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We’re all in this together,” he promised. “We must put
politics aside. We must stop the partisanship and unify together as one nation
and one family. Acting with compassion and love, we will heal the sick, care
for those in need, and emerge from this challenge stronger and more unified
than ever before.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A week later, in his COVID 19 press briefing Trump declared,
“I’m a wartime president. That’s what we’re fighting. It’s the invisible enemy.
That’s the toughest enemy, the invisible enemy. And we’re going to defeat the
invisible enemy.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By July 3, when the number of cases in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> had skyrocketed to 2,752,704, Trump barely
mentioned the invisible enemy in his speech at <st1:place w:st="on">Mount
Rushmore</st1:place>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<span style="color: #2a2a2a;">The violent mayhem we have seen
in the streets of cities that are run by liberal Democrats is the predictable
result of years of extreme indoctrination and bias in education. Our children
are taught in school to hate their own country, and to believe that the men and
women who built it were not heroes, but villains.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #2a2a2a;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #2a2a2a;">His vow to lead a unified nation
in fighting a war with an invisible enemy had vanished, resulting in aiding and
abetting that enemy by refusing </span>to practice and promote the only weapons
that can stop it: the use of face coverings, social distancing, and avoiding
large gatherings. He continues to hold huge campaign rallies, while demanding
that states and schools reopen, regardless of the spread of the infection in
their locations.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Trump believes the way to fight the invisible enemy is to show
no fear, by going on the attack in the way wars have always been fought. Attend
huge campaign rallies to show your support for the president, go to the beach
with friends to show you refuse to be held captive in your home.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">This invisible enemy welcomes those who confront it by
showing no fear. It needs hosts to survive. Until its intended victims
understand that, the virus will win. </span></div>
richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-38345056129395585852020-05-03T07:49:00.000-07:002020-05-03T09:29:18.149-07:00The Virus of Sextortion<div class="ydpdc187665yahoo-style-wrap" data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ydpdc187665yahoo-style-wrap" data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px;">
It’s Cocooning Day 50, with no Covid -9 cases so far, in our Château Lake San Marcos community. Karen and I wear facemasks when we leave our condo to take daily walks. We discovered how to fashion a mask by using two rubber bands to hook over our ears to hold a hospital sock over our nose and mouth. We tried everyday socks, but discovered their thickness hindered our breathing. The thinner hospital sock souvenirs, if less fashionable, are more comfortable. Thanks to Netflix, Prime Video, our “Social Distance Singers” YouTube production, and ongoing writing projects, we’ve been able to fend off the boredom of social isolation.<br />
<br />
An unexpected benefit in our daily lives has been the unusual absence of scam telephone calls. But that hasn’t kept the online predators away. Yesterday I received this email from a Syed Mehmood Ahmed.<br />
<br />
<i>I<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>do<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> k<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>no<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>w,<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> *******,<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> i<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>s<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>y<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>o<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>u<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>r<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>p<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>a<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ss<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>w<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>or<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>d<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>. Hey, y<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>o<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>u<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>don't k<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>n<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ow me<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>.<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> Yet I know jus<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>t a<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>b<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>out eve<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ryth<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ing<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>about y<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ou. <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>Yo<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>u<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>r curr<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ent<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> f<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ac<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ebook con<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ta<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ct<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> l<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ist, pho<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>n<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>e cont<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ac<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>t<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>s as<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> we<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>l<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>l as all <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>the on<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>li<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ne activit<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>y in<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>your comp<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>u<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>te<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>r <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>fr<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>o<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>m<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> previous 127 d<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ays. C<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>on<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>sis<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>t<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>i<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>n<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>g of,<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>yo<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>u<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>r<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> s<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>elf ple<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>as<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ur<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>e<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>v<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>id<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>eo foo<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>tage, <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>whi<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>c<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>h <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>br<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ings<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>me t<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>o <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>th<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>e<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ma<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>i<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>n<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>reaso<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>n <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>wh<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>y I <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>am <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>wr<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>i<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ti<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>n<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>g <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>th<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>i<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>s<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>part<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ic<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>u<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>l<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ar m<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ail to<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>y<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>o<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>u<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>. <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>I w<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ill <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>be <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>f<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>orwa<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>rd<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>i<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ng <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>the rec<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>o<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>r<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>d<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ing <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ran<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>d<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>o<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>mly<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>to 5 pe<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>op<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>le <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>y<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ou<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>'r<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>e <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>f<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>r<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>iend<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>s w<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>i<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>th. It<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ma<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>y be<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> y<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>o<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>u<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>r f<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>riends<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>, <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>co <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>w<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ork<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>e<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>r<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>s<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>,<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> bos<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>s,<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>m<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>o<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>t<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>he<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>r<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> and<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> father. I<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>w<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ould<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>l<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>i<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>k<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>e<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>t<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>o<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>m<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>a<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>k<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>e<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>yo<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>u<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>a<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>1 t<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>i<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>m<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>e,<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> n<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>o <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ne<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>g<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ot<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ia<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>b<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>l<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>e<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> of<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>f<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>er. Ge<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>t<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> $<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>2<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>0<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>0<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>0<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>i<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>n<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> b<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>it<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>c<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>o<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>in<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> a<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>nd<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>se<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>n<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>d<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> i<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>t <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>t<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>o <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>t<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>he<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>list<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>e<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>d <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>b<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>e<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>low <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>a<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>d<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>d<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>r<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>es<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>s<span style="font-family: "tahoma";">. </span>Yo<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>u've 24 hou<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>rs<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>to<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>do so.<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> Your t<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>im<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>e <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>be<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>gi<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ns <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>a<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>s soon <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>yo<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>u<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span> re<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>ad through th<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>is <span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>mail<span style="font-family: "tahoma";"></span>. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Guilty only of viewing an occasional X-rated film, I was not worried about what the predator threatened to reveal to my friends and relatives. But that first line caught my attention with an actual password I changed ten years ago. Yahoo had announced email accounts had been hacked at the time. Nevertheless, I immediately changed my current password, as added protection from wannabe hackers. An Internet search of the extortionist’s name was of no help. Variations of the name are as common as “Joseph Smith” in the USA.<br />
<br />
In a June 17, 2019 CNBC story, Kate Fazzini wrote, “Overall, extortion by email is growing significantly, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Compliant Center (IC3). Last year, these complaints rose 242% to 51,146 reported crimes, with total losses of $83 million.”<br />
I learned attempted extortion is a federal crime, so I went to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center and filed a report. It’s also punishable in every state, so I filed a report with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, which has law enforcement authority in the city of San Marcos. Finally, I notified the Executive Director of the Château Lake San Marcos to warn our fellow senior citizen neighbors of the threat.<br />
<br />
Having to hide from a health threat over which we have no control, it felt good to fight back at those who would take advantage of our isolation. <b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-47946009202944575262020-04-22T10:39:00.003-07:002020-04-22T10:39:57.661-07:00Remembering My Neighbor
<br />
Our next-door neighbor died last night. But he was much more
than a neighbor. He was a best friend, a father figure, and a 103 year-old icon
of a life well-lived.<br />
<br />
Karen and I met him when we moved in to this retirement
community two years ago. He stopped us as we passed on the sidewalk in front of
our new home. He was pushing his walker. We smiled and said hello. After I
shook his hand, he reached for Karen’s, bowing as he raised the back of her hand
to his lips. I said to myself, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I hope our
neighbor’s not a jerk</i>.<br />
<br />
The courtly Roland “Ron” Bouchard was not a jerk. In the two
years we were his neighbors, we grew to love him and his four daughters as
members of our own family.<br />
<br />
Before COVID-19 hit, we shared a table with him at Sunday champagne
brunches, where he entertained in the dining hall by playing his old-favorite
pieces on the piano. When we were occasionally unable to join him, we let him
know by leaving notes on his door from “the kids next door.”<br />
<br />
When we learned that twenty years ago he wrote his
autobiography, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My Time in the Twentieth
Century, </i>making 25 copies for his family and friends, we asked if we could read
it. He agreed.<br />
<br />
We were so impressed with his writing skills and the story
he told about his growing up in the 1920’s in the same neighborhood as future
President Calvin Coolidge, his 25 years in the Navy during two wars, rising
from enlisted man to Lieutenant Commander, followed by 25 years as a major
department store manager, we asked if we could publish it on Amazon. He agreed.<br />
<br />
As I came to know Ron I became closer to him because of
shared experiences. He attended a Catholic grade school, where he had some
disciplinary problems with the nuns, as did I with Sister Ursula, who sentenced
me to hours of kneeling in the hall for misbehavior in class.<br />
<br />
Most astonishing of all, the tuxedo he bought 60 years ago
now hangs in my closet, a perfect fit. It became mine last year, after the
Château held its annual gala anniversary celebration. Ron loaned it to me for
the event. When I returned it, he refused to accept it, telling me if I didn’t
want it I could throw it away.<br />
<br />
My father passed away several years ago. He would have been
two years younger than Ron. But I have felt as close to Ron as I did to him. I
had no sisters, and since Ron has no sons, last year I asked him if he would
adopt me. He gave me one of his famous long stares, but didn’t answer. I took
that as a yes and will continue to wear Dad’s tuxedo to the Chateau’s gala
events. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-69185785305198308622020-03-28T08:27:00.002-07:002020-03-28T08:27:28.812-07:00Hiding fromthe Virus: Living the New Normal<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
It’s Day 14 of our lockdown in the Château Lake San Marcos
retirement community. None of our 140 residents have been diagnosed with COVID
19.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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Yesterday, according Public Health Services, there were 341
cases and two deaths reported in San Diego
County, including 3 cases in San Marcos, 15 in Carlsbad,
12 in Encinitas, 8 in Oceanside, 7 in Escondido, and 5 in Vista.</div>
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<br /></div>
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We pass our time cocooning with the same daily schedule we
had before the virus got here.</div>
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><br />
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Awakening at 5 AM, we watch the morning news, beginning with
BBC America, since our son lives in London
with his wife and our 13-year-old granddaughter. Thanks to our weekly Skype
video calls, we stay connected with them during their own lockdown.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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BBC America has also become our favorite channel to maintain
our mental health. Yesterday morning we watched the weekly meeting of the House
of Commons, called Questions to the Prime Minister, when Boris Johnson was
called upon by members of Parliament to answer questions about his government’s
response to the COVID-19 crisis.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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The questions from members of Parliament were the same as
those we hear in President Trump’s press briefings. Why are there shortages of
personal protective equipment for hospital medical staff? What will be done to
help low income families survive the hardship of unemployment? All questions
accused the Prime Minister’s government of doing too little too late.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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While the subject matter was the same as ours, the civility
was not. Unlike press briefings, the questions to the Prime Minister are
presided over by the Speaker of the House of Commons, who gives permission to a
member to ask a question upon rising from their seat. The questions address the Prime Minister in the third
person, not directly, as “Can the Prime Minister tell us why the government is
not responding to the crisis quickly enough?” The PM’s reply is phrased accordingly. “The Honorable Member
apparently doesn’t know about the many steps we’ve taken.”</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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Compare that to the response to a polite question NBC White
House correspondent Peter Alexander asked President Trump at his recent press
briefing. “What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now
who are scared?” Trump’s response? “I say that you’re a terrible reporter.” Those press briefings have brought us more anger and anxiety
than information, so we’ve stopped watching them.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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After breakfast it’s on to our respective writing projects,
Karen is working on another novel, as well as planning how she can transform an
earlier one into a short musical play, suitable for production with a cast chosen
from our retirement community neighbors.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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At 11:30 we call the dining room with our lunch order.
Within about 30 minutes, our server will arrive, pounding on the door before
placing on our doorstep the bagful of disposable, recyclable containers
carrying our food, fresh from the oven. The server doesn’t wait around for a thank
you, but races off to maintain the social distancing required of employees.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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Following lunch it’s time for a 30-minute nap, after which we
reserve ten minutes to meditate, employing our virtual personal assistant,
giving the command, “Alexa! Sound ocean waves.”</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
After meditation we take the first of our two 15-minute daily
walks around the grounds, calling out, “Hi, how are you?” to others seeking
fresh air and exercise, putting lots of distance between us.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
After our walk we practice singing the songs we plan to perform
in our 3:00 daily guitar-accompanied duet from our opened front door.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Late afternoons are reserved for sipping a glass of wine,
while watching mourning doves and finches fight over the seeds in our platform
feeders, as hummingbirds compete for the crimson nectar in their feeder, just a
few feet away.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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We can watch the avian action through the glass doors to
our patio from the comfort of our couch, while we enjoy Netflix and Amazon
Prime Video streaming films. A few days ago we treated ourselves to Guess Who’s Coming to
Dinner. Seeing Tracy and Hepburn in action was comfort food for our spirits.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: bookman old style,new york,times,serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
So, all is well with us, here in our COVID-19 cocoon. We appreciate
the free room service, choosing from a splendidly varied daily menu. Yesterday
we had chicken cordon bleu for lunch, our main meal each day. The day before,
we enjoyed the blackened salmon. I'm not kidding. The food here is that good.</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-61762355285827327482020-03-15T09:49:00.000-07:002020-03-15T09:49:17.538-07:00Coping with COVID-19: Cocooning in Our Own Chateau
<br />
Two days before the pandemic was declared, we received a warning
from the executive director of our 55+ senior community. The Château’s salad
bar would be closed during meals. Seating in the dining hall would be limited.
Two days later we found the second notice, a critical update after the pandemic
was declared, taped to our front door.<br />
<br />
The dining room has now been closed, and will remain so for
at least 30 days. We may order our breakfast, lunch and dinner by telephone. Meals,
packed in disposable boxes, will be carried to our front doors. Servers will not
be permitted to enter our units or come within six feet of us upon delivery. It
is “highly recommended” that we “limit outside guests or other visitors.” We
are urged to “minimize all contact with non-residents.”<br />
<br />
Karen and I are strongly supportive of these measures,
impressed by the chateau’s management from the time our executive director
announced his plan at last month’s HOA Board Meeting. We have friends and
relatives within an hour’s drive of one of the nation’s coronavirus epicenters,
a rest home in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Washington</st1:state></st1:place>
state. We are both of an age to worry about the virus, Karen even more so
because of her asthma.<br />
<br />
You might say we have been quarantined, but we choose to
call it cocooned. Quarantined is such an ugly word, implying isolation as
punishment. But when I found this definition of cocooning, a “retreat from the
stressful conditions of public life into the cozy private world of the family,”
that seemed a better fit for this place, which has become our family.<br />
<br />
Karen, my eternal optimist and history lover was reminded of
her parents experience during the depression. Here’s what she wrote in a letter
to our Chateau friends, who’ve become our family.<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My mother told me
often about that grim day, Monday, October 29, 1929, when the stock market
crashed.</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Your father threw
open the front door, grabbed me around the waist, kissed my lips hard, gave me
a wink, and said, “<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Pearl</st1:place></st1:city>,
we’ve lost everything but five dollars. Let’s go to the movies and out to
dinner.”</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mother was stunned.
She said, “But Walter, then we won’t have anything!”</i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Daddy said, “We’ll
have each other, and we’ll figure things out. Come on! Let’s go…I’m hungry for
some popcorn!”</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Four hours later,
Mother and Daddy sat down at the kitchen table (my family’s command center for
heavy talks) with paper and pencils, and worked on numbers and ideas to keep
them alive. Their list follows.</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Laughter</i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shoulders back </i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Head up</i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sense of humor</i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Walks in the fresh air</i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Inner strength</i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love</i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hope</i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Laughter</i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Helping others</i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stone Soup</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yes, my mother really
made Stone Soup and she was proud of her recipe: Find small “just right” stone
in yard, drop small stone into pot, heat water in pot, gather anything edible
you can find in garden or lawn, and toss into pot. Add salt, pepper, and any
other seasoning you may have. (A small slice of garlic adds a wonderful taste).
And, of course, if you are lucky enough to have leftovers in the ice box, add
them to pot. Simmer for 4 minutes. Dress dinner table with cloth, candles and
tree greens. Dress self in bright, happy clothes and a smile, and call
family to dinner.</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mother also served
bowls of stone soup during World War II. By then I was old enough to help
gather the ingredients and take my turn to proudly find “just the right stone”
for the soup.</i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stay well and live.</i><br />
<br />
Fortunately, Karen and I are both writers. While we remain
cocooned here we will fill our days with writing, taking walks in the fresh
air, and singing together. As movie buffs we will stay entertained with Netflix
and Amazon Prime Video streaming films. I guess you could say that’s our own stone
soup.<br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-90575527657659318052020-02-14T11:15:00.000-08:002020-02-18T10:32:27.625-08:00The San Marcos City Planning Men's Club<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">All three male
members of the San Marcos Planning Commission whose two-year terms expired in
December were reappointed by the mayor and city council in January. The only
woman on the seven-member commission, Wendy Matthews, was also reappointed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">There are no
term limits for commissioners, allowing for the growth of the good old boys
network. Kevin Norris begins his eleventh year on the council, while Bruce
Minnery stepped down after eleven and a half years.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">Five women
were among the twelve new applicants who failed to win a seat on the commission.
Filling vacancies with incumbents was a missed opportunity for the city to
bring gender balance to the commission.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">Here are a
few of the qualifications of the women applicants who were passed over.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">--A real
estate and business attorney</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">--A marketing
and strategic operations manager</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">--A local
business owner</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">There are also
only three women on the fifteen-member San Marcos Creekside Specific Plan Oversight
Committee.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">Given the
scarcity of women on city planning groups, it’s ironic that the five
individuals appointing its members, the mayor and city council, outnumber men,
three to two.</span><br />
<st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"><br /></span></st1:city>
<st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">San
Marcos</span></st1:city><span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"> is not
alone in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">North</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype></st1:place> in its male-dominated city
planning. There are no women on the five-member Encinitas commission, one woman
on <st1:city w:st="on">Escondido</st1:city>’s seven-member group, and two of
seven commissioners in <st1:place w:st="on">Vista</st1:place>.</span><br />
<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"><br /></span></st1:place></st1:city>
<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">Carlsbad</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"> is the lone exception, with four
women out of seven.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">The <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Marcos</st1:place></st1:city> city website
explains, “The planning commission is responsible for evaluating and making
determinations on a variety of land use matters for both long-range and
short-range planning.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">Given the
importance of the city’s land use decisions, adding women would make the commission
more representative of the 96,847 residents, the majority of whom are female.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">According to the
2018 U.S. Census estimates, the tally of city household ownership shows, while 61%
of all city households are owner occupied, 45% of women own the homes they live
in, compared to 38% of men.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">Research in
the business world suggests having more women involved in group planning can improve
the value of its decision making.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">In a
September 21, 2017 article in the business magazine Forbes, (New Research:
Diversity + Inclusion = Better Decision Making At Work), Erik Larson, the founder
and CEO of Cloverpop, a leadership consulting firm, writes, “According to the
research, teams outperform individual decision makers 66% of the time, and
decision making improves as team diversity increases. Compared to individual
decision makers, all-male teams make better business decisions 58% of the time,
while gender diverse teams do so 73% of the time.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">In my fifteen years as a university administrator, I learned how diversity on campus committees reduces groupthink, where the loudest voices, rather than the best decisions, can carry the day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "century schoolbook";">The need for more inclusive representation and better decision making suggest it's time for term limits on the San Marcos Planning Commission.</span>richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-34634872077531861272020-02-03T11:00:00.001-08:002020-02-03T11:00:44.025-08:00What Patrick Mahomes and I Have in Common
<br />
As I watched 24-year-old Kansas City Chief’s quarterback
speaking to the press about his team’s miracle come-back to win the Super Bowl
last night, hearing commentators remarking on his achievement at such a young
age, I was reminded of my own youthful rise.<br />
<br />
Unlike Mahomes, of course, I did not have the size or talent
to achieve my dream of a career in professional basketball. No matter how many
pushups I did daily to get stronger, no matter how many times I hung by my arms
from overhead playground bars to make me taller, I could not grow to match my
dreams.<br />
<br />
As kids, my older brother and I participated in pickup
basketball games, where I would be the last one chosen, called “Little Riehl,”
after my older brother, “Big Riehl” got the call to join the team.<br />
<br />
But what I don’t have in common with Mahome’s athletic
ability, I do share with him in achievements at an early age, beginning with
skipping the fifth grade. That didn’t turn out well, since I missed everything
about fractions.<br />
<br />
Being the youngest in each grade through high school had its
challenges, including some bullying in my first year in junior high school,
where my father had just been appointed principal.<br />
<br />
I’ve have been unusually young in every job I took. My first
salaried position, upon graduating from college at 21, was as head basketball
coach at <st1:placename w:st="on">Sequim</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">High
School</st1:placetype> on the Olympic Peninsula in <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:state> state. I was only three or four
years older than my players. That was brought to my attention on one occasion
when a school janitor where we were scheduled to play an away game, looked at
me and said, “I can’t open the door to the gym until your coach arrives.”<br />
<br />
When I was appointed Director of admissions at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Western</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Washington</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place>
at the tender age of 28, I encountered the same misunderstandings from
admissions applicants and their parents visiting campus. When I greeted them in
my office they often thanked me for talking to them, but asked if they could
speak to the director.<br />
<br />
Okay, I’m no Patrick Mahomes, even though I, too, found
myself in positions often reserved for older individuals. What separates us is
not only his athletic ability. It’s the respect he gets from his older
teammates, showing his extraordinary leadership skills.<br />
<br />
That’s an achievement I can only envy and admire.<br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-37356818399137220082020-02-01T09:38:00.000-08:002020-02-01T09:38:55.069-08:00Enrollment Mismanagement Plagues Palomar College
<br />
After a campus visit, a state-funded agency, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fiscal Crisis Management Assistant Team</i>
(FCMAT) issued its November 8, 2019 report, describing <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Palomar</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype></st1:place>’s
financial position and management practices. The news wasn’t good.<br />
<br />
The report gave the school’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fiscal Health Risk Analysis </i>a 44.5% rating, indicating its probability of insolvency in the near future. According to FCMAT, in two years
the school will have drained all its reserves, forcing it to borrow $6.5
million from an external source to stay solvent.<br />
<br />
Here’s but a sample of what FCMAT found.<br />
<br />
--The college has not provided clearly written and
articulated budget assumptions, supporting revisions, to the board at least
quarterly.<br />
<br />
--After eight years in the position, the chief business
officer has recently been “separated from the office.” An interim appointment
has been assigned.<br />
<br />
--The managers and staff responsible for the college’s human
resources, payroll and budgets do not meet regularly to discuss issues and
improve processes. With no formal documentation in meeting minutes to show communication
about the personnel budget, one board member says the report reveals the offices
are not on speaking terms.<br />
<br />
--The college does not have a comprehensive enrollment
management plan. Enrollment projections and assumptions are not based on
historical data, demographic trend analysis, high school enrollments, and
community participation rates. They’re based only on goals developed in master
plans using prior year actuals as a baseline.<br />
<br />
In a December 18, 2019 <i>San Diego Union Tribune</i> article, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Palomar College Puts President on Paid Administrative
Leave</i>, Paul Sisson writes: “Craig Thompson, president of the faculty
senate, said opening satellite campuses in Fallbrook and Rancho Bernardo
simultaneously put too large a drain on resources. Thompson said a decision to
increase hiring, which brought 40 additional teachers onto Palomar’s rolls last
year, contributed to faculty dissatisfaction with Blake’s leadership.”<br />
<br />
Not long after <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oside
News</i> published my November 16, 2019 article, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Palomar</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">College President Not
Ready for Prime Time, </i>I discovered <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Palomar Files: Candid News about Palomar College</i>, a campus blog with
postings from two faculty members: the English Department’s Dr. Rocco Versaci
and the Math Department’s Professor Shannon Lienhart.<br />
<br />
The credibility of these two can be measured by their
combined 50 years of teaching at the college and the stellar ratings they get from
their students, which can be found at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ratemyprofessors.com</i>.<br />
<br />
In his post, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Finding
the Leak</i>, Dr. Versaci graphed the college’s total revenues and expenditures
over the last several years, pointing to 2017-18, the year the college opened its
two educational centers in Fallbrook and Rancho Bernardo, when expenditures
began to surpass revenues. He writes, <i>"<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: inherit;">Using these short-term revenues, the district
made long-term expenditure decisions based not on data, but on hope. </span>Despite
the fact that there was plenty of evidence that the District’s enrollment goals
were not being realized, the expenditures continued to increase unabated as
though the temporary fixes would continue indefinitely."</i><br />
<i></i><i></i><br />
In her post, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A
Half-Truth is Not the Truth, </i>Professor Lienhart writes, <i>“Three months after
Palomar College President Joi Blake opened the North and South Education
Centers simultaneously, the school issued a news release, declaring, ‘Enrollments
are up across Palomar Community College District, as fall semester numbers
exceed expectations at Fallbrook’s North Education Center and the South
Education Center in Rancho Bernardo.’ </i><br />
<br />
<i>“The numbers, however, tell a different story. Enrollment was
predicted to grow by 7% in the year after centers were opened. But instead of
growing enrollment, the college suffered a 1% decrease that year.”</i><br />
<i></i><br />
It’s hard to believe <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Palomar</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype></st1:place>
has no comprehensive enrollment management plan. I don’t know much about school
finance, but I learned a lot about enrollment management from my 14 years of
experience at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Indiana</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">State</st1:placetype> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place>
and Cal State San Marcos, where responsibility for enrollment planning and
management was in my job description. My enrollment management teams included representatives from
the faculty, as well as the offices of business and student affairs. My goal
was to keep the campus community informed of enrollment projections and our success
or failure in meeting our targets.<br />
<br />
At its December 17, 2019 meeting, Palomar’s Governing Board
received a call from California Community Colleges Chancellor Elois Ortiz Oakley,
who informed them that the worst case scenario for dealing with the school’s
financial crisis would be for the Community College Board of Governors to
assign a special trustee to oversee the college’s operations, replacing
Palomar’s board until the college regained solvency.<br />
<br />
Would the three of the five board members who’ve supported
President Blake’s administration see the irony in that?<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Stay tuned.</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-67500539392395158272020-01-17T11:35:00.001-08:002020-01-18T09:03:10.841-08:00How California Rates Schools: Color Me BlueTwenty years ago the California State Legislature passed the
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Public</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Schools Accountability Act</i>, leading to the creation of an Academic
Performance Index.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Each year, every
public school was to be assigned an API score, ranging from 200 to 1000, to
measure its success. Proficiency in English and Math, based on standardized
test scores, were the primary measures of a school’s API.<br />
<br />
The goal of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No
Child Left Behind Act of 2002, </i>passed by Congress, was for all school
children to become proficient in English and Math by 2014.<br />
<br />
After the failure of both of these well-intentioned efforts,
the California State Board of Education has teamed up with the California
Department of Education to launch still another plan to measure the quality of
public schools.<br />
<br />
School ratings have been expanded to include absenteeism/suspension,
graduation rate, college/career readiness, and English Learner Progress. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">California School Dashboard and System of
Support</i> uses a rainbow of colors to show student progress in each of those
areas.<br />
<br />
The ratings begin at the top with blue, followed by green,
yellow, orange, and red. Colors are assigned for the entire school, as well as for
each subgroup of students by ethnicity, socioeconomically disadvantaged,
disabled, and English learners. A group with fewer than 30 students is colored
gray.<br />
<br />
In a December 12 article in the San Diego Union Tribune (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Annual state ratings assign colors for how
schools, student groups performed in several categories),</i> Kristen Taketa writes,
“Some critics of the dashboard said it’s harder to compare school performance
because there isn’t a single, summative rating. Steve Green, director of
assessment, accountability and evaluation in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">San Diego</st1:city></st1:place> county office of education, said
the dashboard helps people see an overall picture of a school, just as a doctor
looks at more than a patient’s blood pressure when evaluating how healthy they
are.”<br />
<br />
That got me to thinking about how my primary doctor, might use
those same colors, rather than lab reports with strange sounding names, to rate
my condition.<br />
<br />
Judging from the numbers I’ve seen after past checkups,
here’s my own assessment: After years in the orange to yellow zone, my Cholesterol,
thanks to Lipitor, has risen to a healthier green. I’ll assign green to
my eyesight, too, with the help of reading glasses. I’m most thankful that my
weight and blood pressure have both remained in solid blue.<br />
<br />
Now, if I could only persuade <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kaiser Permanente </i>to give me yearly color-coded reports, I’m
sure it would help me feel better about myself and spur me on to even bluer well-being.<br />
<br />
And that appears to be the goal of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">California Dashboard</i>, to make students and their schools feel
better about themselves. But let’s be real. We know the meaning of those
colors. They match the A-F grading system. Students know that, too. Let’s take
a look at the <st1:state w:st="on"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">California</i></st1:state>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dashboard’s</i> College/Career Readiness
category for the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">San Marcos</st1:placename>
<st1:placename w:st="on">Unified</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">School
District</st1:placetype></st1:place>.<br />
<br />
There are 21,000 students, from kindergarten through adult,
enrolled in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Marcos</st1:place></st1:city>
schools. Thirty-nine percent are classified as socioeconomically disadvantaged,
either qualifying for free or reduced cost meals, or they have parents or
guardians without high school diplomas. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dashboard</i>
has assigned this group to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Orange</st1:place></st1:city>,
a grade of “D” for being prepared for college or a career.<br />
<br />
Getting away from the single-score API is a good thing. But
replacing it with color coding student groups and the school overall hides the
reality that student success in the classroom can largely be predicted by<span style="display: none; mso-hide: all;"> groups </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>what happens to them before they enter the
classroom.<br />
<br />
Rather than coming up with new ways to judge schools, it’s time
to recognize that schools alone will never be able to leave no child behind. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-53904384397429085222019-12-07T08:25:00.000-08:002019-12-07T08:27:29.142-08:00AMAZON and UPS: A Failed Marriage<br />
It was a dark and stormy night at the Riehl’s a couple of
weeks ago, when Karen told me her ancient computer keyboard had been misbehaving.
I suspected it only needed dusting, but unable to find our compressed air canister,
I ordered a new keyboard from Amazon. It arrived the next day.<br />
<br />
A few days later, I ordered a four-pack of Falcon Dust Off Electronics
Compressed Gas Dusters. Amazon wouldn’t sell me just one. Buying four online
was easier than driving to the nearest CVS store to pick one up.<br />
<br />
Judging by how seldom we use them, our four new keyboard dusters
will last longer than both of us. I must have inherited my security issues from
my father. At my age, Dad wore a belt, plus suspenders.<br />
<br />
Two weeks after my order, Amazon notified me that my package
could not be delivered. I was told to check with UPS to find out why.<br />
<br />
According to the UPS website, the package had been delivered
on December 3, at 9:42 AM to “<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San
Marcos</st1:place></st1:city>,” left at the “front desk,” and “Lanny” signed
for it. Deliveries by Amazon have always been placed at our front
door, accompanied by a friendly knock.<br />
<br />
Our Château Lake San Marcos is a gated community, so I assumed
the delivery truck driver left the package with the concierge in the château’s
office. But that was not to be. No package there, nobody named Lanny to sign
for it. I called UPS but could not reach a live person. A recorded
message told me the package had been delivered.<br />
<br />
Out of desperation, I called the nearest UPS store. Brianna
(not her real name) told me they didn’t get the package and that nobody named
Lanny worked there. She suggested I try the city’s other UPS store. There was no package or Lanny there, either, but Savanna
(not her real name), gave me a number to call, assuring me they could help.<br />
<br />
Upon calling the number she gave me, I was greeted by an
electronic voice, urging me to try for a free Royal Caribbean Cruise vacation by
answering a few questions. Taken aback by this UPS gimmick, I did not answer the
questions truthfully. What they learned about me is I’m under 25 and don’t
like vacations. Not to my surprise, I was congratulated for winning the free cruise,
except for a nominal $65 per person boarding fee.<br />
<br />
I was then greeted by a human, who gushed, “Welcome to Royal
Caribbean Cruises! This is…” It wasn’t a UPS scam after all. I hung up,
figuring Savanna had given me a wrong number. At this stage, I was unwilling to
concede an error on my part.<br />
<br />
Karen suggested I try calling the retirement community next
door to see if my package had been dropped off there. But Vanessa (her real
name) politely informed me there had been no delivery, no Lanny on their staff.<br />
<br />
Alarmed by my heavy breathing and reddening face, Karen told
me to abandon my quest, forget about the $16.99 I paid for the canisters, and take
to my blog to write about the experience. It would be therapeutic.<br />
<br />
But, before following her advice, I took a last look at
Amazon’s website, where, under “continue to customer service,” I found, “have
us call you right now.” There was a space for me to enter my home phone number.
Under it was a button titled, “Call me now to talk to a specialist. We will
call you immediately.”<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yeah, right</i>, I
scoffed to myself, as I typed in our number and pressed the “Call me now”
button. Before I could count to three, (I’m not kidding here), the phone rang
with a live person on the other end.<br />
<br />
She knew all about my order, including the claim that it had
been delivered. After I explained how hard I worked to find the package, she gave
me a full refund. She told me, if the package eventually reaches our door, I could
keep it with no charge.<br />
<br />
And that’s why I do my shopping at Amazon and hope for a UPS
divorce. <br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-48410055702120121722019-11-29T09:57:00.001-08:002019-11-29T10:11:06.895-08:00Ghost Guns, Armed Teachers, and School Shootings: A Deadly Recipe<br />
<br />
There was another school shooting last weekend, this time in
a grade school parking lot in <st1:city w:st="on">Union City</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">California</st1:state>, 30 miles from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:place></st1:city>. Two boys, 11 and 14 years old,
were shot to death while sitting in a parked van at 1:30 AM on a Saturday
morning.<br />
<br />
This was not a typical school shooting, of course. It took place
after school hours, with the shooter, or shooters, still unknown.<br />
<br />
But nine days earlier, a student at <st1:placename w:st="on">Saugus</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">High School</st1:placetype> in <st1:city w:st="on">Santa
Clarita</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">California</st1:state>, a suburb of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:place></st1:city>, celebrated
his 16<sup>th</sup> birthday by assembling his own .45 caliber handgun and
shooting five of his classmates. Two died, before he turned the gun on himself.<br />
<br />
The common denominators in these tragedies were guns and
children dying. I wanted to know more about how a teenager was able to obtain
gun parts online, together with do-it-yourself instructions on how to assemble
it. Here’s what I found in an Internet search at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ghostguns.com</i>.<br />
<br />
“Despite popular belief that the Federal Government can restrict
all gun ownership, unconstitutional laws like the National Firearms Act of 1934
and the Gun Control Act of 1968 <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">can only
regulate the transfer and sale of weapons.</b> And so, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">making a weapon on your own, without the intention of transferring it
or selling it is not prohibited by Federal agencies such as the ATF. </b>”<br />
<br />
Here’s what you can buy on that website, from a variety of do-it-yourself
pistol and rifle kits to gun magazines, bulletproof backpacks, and T-shirts:<br />
<br />
$997.99 AR15 Build Kit <br />
<br />
“<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/"></a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/dialog/share?display=popup&app_id=215046668549694&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2Fnation%2F2018%2F02%2F14%2Far-15-mass-shootings%2F339519002%2F"></a><a href="http://twitter.com/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2Fnation%2F2018%2F02%2F14%2Far-15-mass-shootings%2F339519002%2F&text=Why%20the%20AR-15%20keeps%20appearing%20at%20America's%20deadliest%20mass%20shootings&via=usatoday"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"></a>At
Ghost Guns we took the 16" AR15 lightweight rifle and made it even better
to give you an unregistered weapon system that's ready for almost any combat
scenario.”<br />
<br />
The words <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“unregistered
weapon,”</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“ready</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">for almost any combat scenario,” </b>together
with the sale of 21-Round Magazines and bulletproof backpacks, suggest the
do-it-yourselfer is probably not preparing for target practice, hunting, or
self-defense.<br />
<br />
The website’s bizarre logo sets the tone for the sale of merchandise
designed to kill.<br />
<br />
Some say arming teachers will increase school safety by discouraging
potential shooters from attacking schools and protecting students in shoot outs.<br />
<br />
But that’s not true, according to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Trace</i>, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit newsroom
dedicated to shining a light on <st1:country-region w:st="on">America</st1:country-region>’s
gun violence crisis,<span style="background: white; color: #404040; font-family: inherit;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Do <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Armed</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Guards</st1:placename>
<st1:placename w:st="on">Prevent</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">School</st1:placetype></st1:place>
Shootings?</i><span style="background: white; color: #404040; font-family: inherit;">
</span>April 6, 2019, by Alex Yablon.<br />
<br />
“Active shooters do not favor ‘gun-free’ zones. Louis
Klarevas, a professor at the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype>
of <st1:placename w:st="on">Massachusetts</st1:placename></st1:place>,
analyzed 111 shooting attacks between 1966 and 2015 for his book Rampage
Nation, and found that only 18 took place in areas where firearms were banned. <span style="background: white; color: #010e17; font-size: 11.5pt;">In four high-profile
2018 school shootings, attackers stormed campuses, despite the presence of
armed guards. In all four of those cases, guards failed to stop the gunman from
killing.”</span><br />
<br />
As for protecting students in the classroom, according to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Giffords: Courage to Fight Gun Violence</i>,
a nonpartisan group dedicated to fighting the epidemic of gun violence, “Arming
teachers wouldn’t decrease risk to students—it would increase their risk. Our
comprehensive analysis finds there have been more than 80 publicly-reported
incidents of mishandled guns at schools in the last five years, including a
teacher’s loaded gun falling from his waistband during a cartwheel, and a
teacher unintentionally firing a gun in class during a safety demonstration.”<br />
<span style="background: white; color: #010e17; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="background: white; color: #010e17; font-size: 11.5pt;">In
addition to learning how to handle and shoot a gun safely, teachers would need
to be trained on how to stop an attacker, when to get involved or not, and how
to deal with crowded rooms and buildings.</span><br />
<st1:placename w:st="on"><span style="background: white; color: #010e17; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></st1:placename>
<st1:placename w:st="on"><span style="background: white; color: #010e17; font-size: 11.5pt;">Texas</span></st1:placename><span style="background: white; color: #010e17; font-size: 11.5pt;"> <st1:placetype w:st="on">State</st1:placetype>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype>’s <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ALERRT</i></st1:placename><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Center</st1:placetype></i></st1:place>
boasts of providing the best research-based active shooter response training in
the nation. Its <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Active Shooter Incident
Management Course</i> requires 24 hours of training over three, 8-hour, days. Just
as police officers do, they’d need refresher training periodically over the
years. As a former high school English teacher, I can understand why teachers,
engaged with helping students, grading papers, and preparing lesson plans,
would not want the added responsibility.</span><br />
<br />
If teachers with guns won’t work, check out this article about
those who use them by George S. Everly, Jr.: "Profiling" School
Shooters: Can we tell who will be the next to kill?” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psychology Today</i>, Mar 29, 2018)<br />
<br />
1. The vast majority were male.<br />
<br />
2. Nine out of ten were current or recent students at the
school.<br />
<br />
3. Anger and revenge were the common themes. Three out of
four felt bullied or harassed<br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by other students.<br />
<br />
4. They tended to be socially awkward, with few (if any)
friends.<br />
<br />
5. They expressed fascination with violence, morbid media,
or death.<br />
<br />
6. The media contagion effect (copycat killings) may serve
as an especially powerful<br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>motivator.<br />
<br />
7. They tend to express their frustrations and anger using
art and/or social media posts.<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Maybe we can reduce the number of school shootings by stopping the sales of ghost guns,
not by giving teachers guns, but by arming them with the sensitivity, skills and
resources to identify and find help for their troubled students. </span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<br />
<br />richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-13772673955368820262019-11-22T09:27:00.002-08:002019-11-23T12:48:59.584-08:00Papa Doug vs. the Enemy of the People<br />
I shook my head in disbelief three years ago, when I learned
Douglas Manchester had been offered the position of ambassador to the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bahamas</st1:place></st1:country-region>. President
Trump made the announcement the day after he was sworn in.<br />
<br />
I worked, briefly, for Papa Doug, his preferred moniker,
seven years ago, after the real estate magnate bought <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Diego</st1:place></st1:city>’s North County Times.<br />
<br />
After having witnessed his disaster as a newspaper
publisher, I was delighted to see this week’s CBS News investigation, explaining
how this country’s diplomatic corps escaped the embarrassment of an Ambassador
Papa Doug.<br />
<br />
After <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Manchester</st1:place></st1:city>
donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration, his ambassadorship languished in
the Senate for two and a half years. When Republican National Committee Chairwoman
Ronna McDaniel asked him for another $500,000, as a donation to help the RNC meet
its fundraising goal, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Manchester</st1:place></st1:city>
offered, instead, a good faith $100,000 donation from his wife, with a promise
of more to come after he was confirmed.<br />
<span style="color: #202022;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #202022;">That was a bridge too far for
Papa Doug. The Republican National Committee told CBS News, "Mr.
Manchester's decision to link future contributions to an official action was
totally inappropriate." They said they cut ties with <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Manchester</st1:place></st1:city> and returned the money his family
donated this year.</span><br />
<br />
Following my retirement from Cal State San Marcos in 2003, I
began writing letters to the editor, leading to an invitation to write a
biweekly opinion column on subjects of my choosing, so long as they were on
local issues. The opinion page editor gave me free reign for my opinions, many
of which were highly critical of the city’s elected officials.<br />
<br />
Nine years later, shortly after purchasing the San Diego
Union Tribune, Papa Doug bought the North County Times. It was bad news for this
writer.<br />
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black;">Here’s what I said about that in
my October 17, 2012 blog:</span><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt;">The Incredible Shrinking Newspaper</span></i><br />
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span></i></st1:city></st1:place>
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black;">Manchester </span></i></st1:city></st1:place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black;">has not been hesitant to declare his goal as a newspaper owner is not to
produce quality journalism as a service to the public. It’s to promote a
conservative agenda and be a booster of business and pro sports in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">San Diego</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype></st1:place>.</span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black;">Editor of the </span></i><em><span style="color: black; font-style: normal;">North County
Times</span></em><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black;">, </span><strong><span style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">Kent Davy</span></strong><span style="background: white; color: black;">, told a KPBS interviewer his mission for the NCT was to be a
mirror of the community. <st1:city w:st="on">Manchester</st1:city>’s mission
for the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">U-T</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">San Diego</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">North</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype></st1:place> Page Insert is to
be a mirror of himself.</span></i><br />
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black;">The day Editor Davy refused to
publish that, I stopped writing for the North County Times. He explained it was
a threat to NCT staff writers, fearing more layoffs from the newspaper’s
change of ownership. I didn’t blame him for trying to protect his writers, but
it didn’t stop Papa Doug from killing <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">North</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype></st1:place>’s
only daily print newspaper.</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black;">Fortunately for me, I found other
outlets, thanks to Anna Daniels of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">San
Diego Free Press</i>, Steve Marcotte, editor of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">OsideNews.com</i>, and the good folks at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">OBrag.org</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">EscondidoGrapevine.com.</i></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black;">As a proud co-conspirator with Trump’s
“enemies of the people,” I just can't stop blogging.</span><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-28451308015903484272019-11-16T09:58:00.000-08:002019-11-16T09:58:20.206-08:00Palomar College President: Not Ready for Prime Time?
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The average tenure of a
community college president is 3 ½ years, according to Wheelhouse: the Center
for Community College Leadership and Research at the UC Davis School of
Education.</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">It looks like <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Palomar</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype></st1:place>’s President, Dr. Joi Lynn Blake,
who took the position in July 2016, is right on track.</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Many years ago, when I was director
of admissions at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Indiana</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">State</st1:placetype> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place>,
I attended a graduate class in leadership taught by Dr. John Moore, in his first
year as ISU’s president. Unlike his long serving predecessor, he was unusually popular
with faculty, staff and students.</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">During his first two months Dr.
Moore fired two vice presidents, after asking for feedback on their leadership effectiveness
from those who worked with them. He told us he had to do that right off because
leaders enjoy their greatest support on their first day in office. From there it’s
a steady slide downhill. Tough decisions become increasingly more difficult, if
not impossible.</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I found that to be true for
the presidents of the three universities where I worked during my combined 30
years of middle management in higher education.</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">It looks like Dr. Blake’s
tenure at Palomar is following the same path. Here’s the San Diego Union
Tribune’s July 8, 2016 headline, announcing Blake’s appointment.</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">“Woman of <st1:place w:st="on">La
Mancha</st1:place> takes helm at Palomar,” quoting her claim for the title, as
she told reporter Gary Warth, “I’ve had a lot of windmills I’ve had to slay.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">As a former English teacher,
I wondered if she really meant to say that. “Tilting at windmills” derives from
Cervantes’ Don Quixote and has come to mean “attacking imaginary enemies.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Three years and four months
later, on November 11, 2019 the SDUT headline reads: “<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Palomar</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype></st1:place>
faculty to present no-confidence vote on college president.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">English Professor Rocco
Versaci told reporter, Deborah Sullivan Brennan, “The vote is not binding, but it’s
highly unusual, with only the second one taken since 1946, the year the college
was founded.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Is this just another windmill
for Palomar’s Woman of La Mancha to slay?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">A review of Dr. Blake’s
previous employment calls into question the judgment of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Palomar</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype></st1:place>’s
Board of Governors in appointing her.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Before coming to Palomar,
with its enrollment of nearly 26,000 students, Dr. Blake had only 1 ½ years of
experience as president of the College of Alameda, with its enrollment of
13,500, and only another two years as Vice President of Student Services at
Skyline College with its enrollment of under 9,000.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Is it any wonder <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Palomar</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype></st1:place>’s inexperienced new president is
facing difficulties, after fewer than four years of senior level administrative
experience at colleges less than half the size of Palomar’s?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The Governing Board should be embarrassed, if not ashamed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-65243715770070802842019-11-08T11:05:00.002-08:002019-11-08T11:27:45.409-08:00What a Difference Five Miles Makes: Comparing My Two North County Hometowns<b></b><b></b><span style="font-size: large;"></span>
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">A year and a half ago, Karen and I moved to San Marcos from Carlsbad.
We didn’t move because we were unhappy there. We moved to the Château Lake
San Marcos, an
“Independent Living, Active Adult Community,” because we discovered aging in
place was not for us.</span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Twenty years ago, we moved from Terre
Haute, Indiana to Carlsbad,
when I accepted a job at four-year-old Cal
State San Marcos. We chose to live in Carlsbad entirely because
of its location. After eight years in the Midwest,
these two west coasters were eager to return to a home on the ocean’s edge.</span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b></b><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>We no longer live so close to the ocean, but we’re happy
here on the shore of a beautiful lake. Out of belated curiosity, and free of
buyer’s remorse, I’ve now set out do what most others do when looking for a new
home: compare locations.</b></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b></b><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>I began with a search of Neighborhood Scout, <a href="https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/">https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/</a>
a site that allows users to compare location characteristics that are important
to them.</b></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b></b><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>Here’s what I discovered, from 2018 census figures, about
my new hometown, population, 96,000 compared to my old one, population 115,000.</b></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>One of every three Marcosians is a college graduate. More
than half of Carlsbadians are.</b></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b></b><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>The median household income in San
Marcos is $70,000, compared to $103,000 in Carlsbad.</b></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b></b><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>In San Marcos
12% of residents have incomes below the poverty line. It’s 6% in Carlsbad.</b></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b></b><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>45% of San Marcos
residents are white, compared to 72% in Carlsbad.</b></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b></b><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>In San Marcos 62% of
residents speak English at home, compared to 83% in Carlsbad.</b></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>24% of San Marcos
residents were foreign-born, compared to 14% in Carlsbad.</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>The median home value in San Marcos is $481,000. In Carlsbad it’s $961,000.</b></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b></b><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>The overall crime rate in San
Marcos means the city is safer than 48% of all US cities. Carlsbad’s higher crime
rate means it’s safer than only 29%.</b></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b></b><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>The violent crime rate in San
Marcos is the same as Carlsbad’s,
at two per 1,000 residents.</b></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b></b><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>In San Marcos
there are 12 property crimes per 1,000 residents. In Carlsbad there are 20.</b></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b></b><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>The chances for becoming a victim of a property crime in
San Marcos are 1 in 81, compared to 1 in 40 in Carlsbad.</b></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b></b><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>Household incomes and home values show San Marcos is the less
affluent community. But what explains the substantially lower property crime
rate?</b></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b></b><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>A paper published in 2016 by two University of Central
Oklahoma researchers, Neil Metz and Mariya Burdina, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Neighbourhood income inequality and property crime</i>, may have the
answer.</b></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b></b><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>The<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>results
of the study indicated, <i>as the income gap
with one’s poorest neighbor increases, property crime in one’s own block group
increases. We also found that the poorest block group relative to its neighbors
tends to have lower property crime rates.</i></b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b></b><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>The University
of Central Oklahoma study compared neighborhood
blocks within Nashville, Tennessee;
Portland, Oregon;
and Tucson, Arizona,
unlike the Neighborhood Scout comparisons of North County’s
neighboring cities.</b></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b></b><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>But what if we do a “thought problem,” as my
mathematician friend often suggests. What if San Marcos
and Carlsbad
were to merge into San Carlsmarcosbad, population 211,000? Would there be a
link between the crime rates and income inequality in West San Carlsmarcosbad, and
its poorest neighbor, East San Carlsmarcosbad?</b></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>You do the math. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></span><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><b></b><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
<br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-35032753513671710452019-11-02T10:39:00.001-07:002019-11-02T10:45:38.831-07:00Playing the University Admissions Game<br />
I was in my third year as Director of Admissions at Western
Washington State College 40 years ago, when our head basketball coach approached
me one Saturday afternoon while I was painting my front porch.<br />
<br />
“Hey, Dick, can I give you a hand?”<br />
<br />
I couldn’t believe he drove over on a weekend just to help
me paint, so I politely turned him down. <br />
“No thanks, coach. What’s up?”<br />
<br />
He told me he was recruiting a very talented kid whose high
school grades were questionable. He asked if I could get him in, since he was not
only a “helluva good basketball player,” but a “really nice kid.” He said he’d
like to bring him in to meet me. I told him I couldn’t make any promises, but I’d
be happy to talk to him.<br />
<br />
Early Monday morning the two of them appeared at the door to
my office. I noticed the young recruit, whose name was Tom, had to duck his
head as he entered the room.<br />
<br />
After Coach Randall excused himself, I asked Tom what came
hardest for him in high school. He told me his most difficult subjects were the
ones requiring a “lot of reading and writing.” I told him there was a lot of
that going on here, but he could get some practice doing that at a two-year community
college before coming here. To my astonishment, he agreed.<br />
<br />
I thought of Tom a few days ago, after watching Academy
Award-winning actress Felicity Huffman walk away from her two-week stay in
prison. She’d been in there for paying someone to correct her daughter’s mistakes
on the SAT to buy her daughter’s way into the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Southern
California</st1:placename></st1:place>. Huffman admitted she had gamed the admissions
system, a system I spent 30 years enforcing at three universities. <br />
<br />
Today’s admission scandals, ranging from cheating on tests,
to bribing university officials, are alien to my own experience as a gatekeeper
to higher education. At Western Coach Randall put very little pressure on me to
do what may have helped his team but hurt a young man’s future.<br />
<br />
The pressure I felt for making admissions exceptions came
from applicants, parents, friends, faculty and the occasional state legislator.
On only one occasion was my decision overturned by a higher authority. <br />
<br />
When I shared my experience at Western with a colleague, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Purdue</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place>’s
director of admissions at the time, he just laughed at my innocence of big time
athletics. In his world, recruits were promised admission and scholarships by the
athletic department. No need for student athletes to begin with admissions
applications. <br />
<br />
The greatest challenge of my career in admissions began on
November 4, 1987, when Western’s president, together with two vice presidents,
died in a small plane crash. In addition to the shock and grieving to the
University community, the tragedy brought national attention that caused
admissions applications to soar.<br />
<br />
Struggling to handle them in a timely manner required me to
take unusual steps to control enrollment, including adhering strictly to
application deadlines and raising standards. The pressure to make exceptions came
from all directions. It was the only time in my career that someone asked if
there was anything they could do for me personally to change my mind.<br />
<br />
After 16 years at Western, which did not offer athletic
scholarships, I took the same job at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Indiana</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">State</st1:placetype> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place>,
which did. I arrived there ten years after All-American Larry Bird brought
national attention to the basketball program in the NCAA championship game. <br />
<br />
The ISU athletic department was far more interested in my admissions
decisions. Fortunately, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Indiana</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">State</st1:placetype></st1:place> had a learning
skills center that provided help for “conditional admits” who needed help to
succeed in the classroom. The University had a history of serving first
generation college students, which supported my admissions exceptions. Many student
athletes fit into that category. <br />
<br />
After eight years at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Indiana</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">State</st1:placetype></st1:place>
I accepted a similar position at California State University San Marcos. The
school had no athletic teams at the time. My boss, the vice president for academic
affairs, supported my decisions, except for the time the president entered my
office with a transfer student I had denied in tow. With a broad smile on his
face, he asked me, “Hey Richard, I think we can find a place here for this
young man, don’t you?” <br />
<br />
I agreed. The student had sweet-talked his way into President
Stacy’s heart and into the university.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
My experience has been entirely with public universities
with moderate admission standards, designed only to identify students who are prepared
to succeed in college, based on high school grades (the best predictors of
college grades), and standardized test scores. <br />
<br />
More selective universities use grades, test scores, essays,
personal experience, ethnicity, and children and grandchildren of graduates
(legacy students) to choose their entering classes. <br />
<br />
Follow the money. Those are the universities most susceptible
to cheating in the admissions game. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-6606902233872646802019-10-25T12:51:00.001-07:002019-10-25T13:01:32.348-07:00Getting to Know My State SenatorMy 38th district State Senator, Brian Jones, emailed me
yesterday. The subject line, “Will I see you?”made me wonder where I had met
him, on what occasion, and where and when he hoped to see me again. But the
senator’s salutation: “Dear Friends,” suggested his fondness for me only began
with his discovery of my name on a list of his district’s registered voters.<br />
<br />
My new friend’s form letter alerted me to his legislative
open house next month. “Hundreds of local elected officials and community
leaders have already RSVP’d,” he gushed. “Believe me, the Open House will be
the place to be in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">East</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype></st1:place> this fall!”<br />
<br />
Well, it won’t be the place for me.<br />
<br />
I’m registered as an NPP, no party preference, voter. One in
four Californians are now so registered. The percentage has doubled in the last
ten years, from 12.5% to 25%, rising to the second largest number of registered
voters.<br />
<br />
Since I have no party affiliation, here’s how I evaluate
each candidate.<br />
<br />
Does the candidate have the experience and judgment to do
the job?<br />
Do their positions on the issues match my own?<br />
Who is paying for their campaign?<br />
How might campaign donors expect to be rewarded?<br />
<br />
Here’s how I follow a candidate’s campaign money:<br />
<br />
City elections: <a href="https://www.san-marcos.net/your-government/city-council/campaign-statements">https://www.san-marcos.net/your-government/city-council/campaign-statements</a><br />
County elections: <a href="https://www.southtechhosting.com/SanDiegoCounty/CampaignDocsWebRetrieval/Search/SearchByCandidateName.aspx">https://www.southtechhosting.com/SanDiegoCounty/CampaignDocsWebRetrieval/Search/SearchByCandidateName.aspx</a><br />
State elections: <a href="http://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Candidates/">http://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Campaign/Candidates/</a><br />
Federal elections: <a href="https://www.fec.gov/data/">https://www.fec.gov/data/</a><br />
<br />
Vote Smart: <a href="https://votesmart.org/">https://votesmart.org/</a>
is my favorite website for researching candidates. Its mission is “to provide
free, factual, unbiased information on candidates and elected officials to all
Americans.” Among its founders were: President Jimmy Carter, President Gerald
Ford, Senator Barry Goldwater and Senator George McGovern<br />
<br />
Here’s what the worker bees at Vote Smart do:<br />
<br />
Picture this: thousands of citizens (conservative and
liberal alike) working together, spending endless hours researching the
backgrounds and records of thousands of political candidates and elected
officials to discover their voting records, campaign contributions, public
statements, biographical data (including their work history) and evaluations of
them generated by over 400 national and 1300 state special interest groups.<br />
<br />
With this much information handy, there’s no need to attend
bloviating political rallies to guide my voting choices. <br />
<br />
Here’s what I discovered about my new State Senator pen pal
on Vote Smart, and why I won’t have to drive to <st1:place w:st="on">Santee</st1:place>
next month for his open house.<br />
<br />
BS, Business Administration, San Diego State University,
1988-1992<br />
Senator, California State Senate, District 38, 2018-present<br />
Assembly Member, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">California</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">State</st1:placetype></st1:place> Assembly, District
71, 2010-2016<br />
Member, City of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Santee</st1:city></st1:place>
Council, 2002-2010<br />
<br />
Here are the titles of a few bills he voted against on
issues that caught my interest. They easily passed either the House, Senate or
both:<br />
<br />
Urges the Federal Government to Pass Universal Firearm
Safety Regulation<br />
Prohibits Firearms with Detachable Magazines<br />
Prohibits the Possession of High-Capacity Gun Magazines<br />
Prohibits Purchasing More than One Gun per Month<br />
Rescinds Federal Freeze of Environmental Deregulation <br />
Prohibits Smoking on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">State</st1:placetype> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Beaches</st1:placetype></st1:place>
and Parks<br />
Prohibits Discrimination Against Transgendered Individuals<br />
<br />
Although Jones, a Republican, rarely voted for a bill passed
by a <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">California</st1:state></st1:place>
legislature dominated by Democrats, here are two he supported:<br />
Authorizes Bars to Remain Open Until 3:00 AM<br />
Authorizes Sleeping in Vehicles<br />
<br />
Vote Smart reports, “Brian Jones has failed to provide
voters with positions on key issues covered by Our 2018 Political Courage Test,
despite repeated requests.” But Jones did respond to the issues identified on
its 2010 test.<br />
<br />
Calling himself Pro Life, he answered no to the question,
“Should abortion be legal if a woman’s life is endangered?”<br />
<br />
On State Spending he did not support any increases, with
slight decreases for education and welfare. <br />
<br />
On State Taxes he supported great decreases for corporate
and gasoline taxes, and slight decreases in sales taxes and for income taxes of
middle and high income families.<br />
<br />
To balance <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">California</st1:state></st1:place>’s
budget he supported mandated furloughs and layoffs of state employees, reducing
benefits for Medicaid recipients, and privatizing certain government services.<br />
<br />
On environmental and energy issues he supported state
funding for both alternative and traditional energy sources, like coal and oil.<br />
<br />
On gun issues he supported allowing individuals to carry
concealed guns, rejecting additional background checks on their purchase and
possession.<br />
<br />
On social issues he believed marriage should only be between
one man and one woman. He rejected same sex domestic partnerships, as well as
affirmative action.<br />
<br />
On legislative priorities he listed jobs and spending.
He boasted, “I am the only candidate, who, as an elected official, has actually
contributed to creating jobs in the district.” He claimed his city of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Santee</st1:city></st1:place>, where he served on
the city council, “has not raised sales taxes ever” and still balances its
budget by cutting its budget. <br />
<br />
Jones received $430,000 to fund his 2018 campaign. His most
generous supporter was the California Association of Realtors, with a donation
of $16, 400. <br />
<br />
Jones isn’t up for reelection until 2022. I’ll check back
for a Vote Smart update before casting my vote in that election.<br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-2721681342625115802019-10-01T10:29:00.000-07:002019-10-01T10:29:36.712-07:00North County Climate Action Plans: A Tale of Two Cities<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
A funeral was held last month at the site of Iceland’s Okjökull
glacier. A century ago it covered nearly six square miles, measuring 164 ft. deep.
Today, it’s less than one square mile, 49 feet thick. The shrinking sheet of
ice can no longer be called a glacier. A tombstone plaque was placed at the
site. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">A Letter to the Future </span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>This monument is
to acknowledge that we know </i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>what is happening
and what needs to be done. </i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Only you know if
we did it.</i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>August 19, 2019</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A month later, an estimated 4 million young people filled streets
in cities around the world, demanding attention to climate change. Greta
Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish activist, addressed the UN Climate Change Summit
with these words: “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty
words. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and yet all you can talk
about is money. You are failing us."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What’s North San Diego County doing about it? I searched the
city websites of San Marcos and Carlsbad to find out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
San Marcos adopted its 147-page Climate Action Plan (CAP) in
2013. It tells what the city will do to comply with the Governor's 2005 Executive
Order to reduce GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, by 40 percent in 2030, and
80 percent in 2050. There have been no progress reports posted on the city’s
website in the past five years. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Two years after San Marcos created its CAP, Carlsbad adopted
its own 242-page plan. City Manager Scott Chadwick’s 2017 and 2018 annual
reports are posted on the city’s website. The city put teeth into its plan for
new business developments, adding the following two ordinances to its Municipal
Code. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">Electric vehicles</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">ORDINANCE NO.
CS-349</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The electric vehicle ordinance requires of new
nonresidential projects:</i></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>10
percent of parking spaces, or a minimum of one space, must be electric vehicle
capable.</i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>50
percent of the electric vehicle capable spaces, or a minimum of one space,
must be equipped with electric vehicle charging stations.</i></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<b><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">Transportation demand management</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">ORDINANCE NO.
CS-350</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>All new nonresidential development projects where
employees generate a minimum of 110 average daily trips are subject to the
ordinance, which requires development of a Transportation Demand Management
plan, outlining facility improvements, programs, incentives, education,
marketing and outreach for a development project for review and approval by the
city.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
San Marcos chose not to amend its Municipal Code, but to add
to the city’s General Plan measures to bring down GHG emissions, including the
following:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Increase overall City fleet fuel efficiency by replacing
gasoline vehicles with hybrids. </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Work with individual departments with vehicle fleets and
equipment to develop fuel saving policies and programs.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Implement programs and provide incentives to reduce
annual vehicle miles traveled associated with City employee commutes. </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Participate in SANDAG’s free iCommute program to develop
and implement a customized commuter benefit program for City employees.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Implement improvements to smooth traffic flow, reduce
idling, eliminate bottlenecks, and encourage efficient driving techniques.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Conduct education campaigns to promote fuel-efficient
driving (“eco-driving”) practices such as reduced idling, slower driving speeds,
gentle acceleration, and proper tire inflation.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
San Marcos held several community workshops in May, open to
all residents, to create a “2019 CAP Update.” A questionnaire was used to
solicit opinions on various emissions reduction measures, many of which were already
included in the 2013 plan. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s a sample of the questionnaire used to solicit
attendee opinions. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>From the list of proposed strategies, below, please
indicate <b>up to five strategies </b>that you support the most.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here are just four on the list of 25 choices:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";">☐</span> Require EV charging stations
at new multi-family and non-residential developments. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";">☐</span> Synchronize traffic signals
along major corridors to reduce vehicle idling.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";">☐</span> Install roundabouts to improve
efficiency of vehicle travel in the City.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";">☐</span> Install new bike lanes and
upgrade existing ones in the City as stipulated in the General Plan. .</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The questionnaire suggests those who don’t believe in the
urgency of climate change, like the guy in the White House, together with those
who do, had an equal say in the meetings. It seems the popularity of emissions
reduction strategies, not climate science, will guide the city’s climate plan
update. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
San Marcos gets the credit for government transparency. It lists
on its website all 50 major commercial, industrial, residential and mixed use
development projects underway, together with maps and descriptions of the
projects, the names of developer applicants, and the phone numbers of city
staff for more detailed information.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Carlsbad could learn from that. The city’s website is not at
all user-friendly for finding development projects. More transparency could
have helped when a billionaire developer tried to put a shopping mall on the
banks of the city’s pristine Agua Hedionda Lagoon a few years ago.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It appears San Marcos and Carlsbad could learn from each
other. But the challenge to us all is reflected in a Washington Post survey,
cited by Pulitzer Prize winning, environmental journalist, Elizabeth Kolbert,
in her September 30, 2019 <i>New Yorker</i> article. Although more people are
concerned about global warming, fewer than half said they would support a
$2/month surcharge on their electricity bills, only a third would support a
ten-cent-per-gallon increase in the federal gasoline tax.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Looks like bad news for the shrinking glaciers.</div>
richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5719582227080080207.post-46528559965063677102019-10-01T10:22:00.000-07:002019-11-29T09:58:19.093-08:00North County Climate Action Plans: A Tale of Two Cities<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
A funeral was held last month at the site of Iceland’s Okjökull
glacier. A century ago it covered nearly six square miles, measuring 164 ft. deep.
Today, it’s less than one square mile, 49 feet thick. The shrinking sheet of
ice can no longer be called a glacier. A tombstone plaque was placed at the
site. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">A Letter to the Future </span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>This monument is
to acknowledge that we know </i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>what is happening
and what needs to be done. </i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Only you know if
we did it.</i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>August 19, 2019</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A month later, an estimated 4 million young people filled streets
in cities around the world, demanding attention to climate change. Greta
Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish activist, addressed the UN Climate Change Summit
with these words: “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty
words. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and yet all you can talk
about is money. You are failing us."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What’s North San Diego County doing about it? I searched the
city websites of San Marcos and Carlsbad to find out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
San Marcos adopted its 147-page Climate Action Plan (CAP) in
2013. It tells what the city will do to comply with the Governor's 2005 Executive
Order to reduce GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, by 40 percent in 2030, and
80 percent in 2050. There have been no progress reports posted on the city’s
website in the past five years. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Two years after San Marcos created its CAP, Carlsbad adopted
its own 242-page plan. City Manager Scott Chadwick’s 2017 and 2018 annual
reports are posted on the city’s website. The city put teeth into its plan for
new business developments, adding the following two ordinances to its Municipal
Code. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">Electric vehicles</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">ORDINANCE NO.
CS-349</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The electric vehicle ordinance requires of new
nonresidential projects:</i></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>10
percent of parking spaces, or a minimum of one space, must be electric vehicle
capable.</i></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>50
percent of the electric vehicle capable spaces, or a minimum of one space,
must be equipped with electric vehicle charging stations.</i></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<b><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">Transportation demand management</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">ORDINANCE NO.
CS-350</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>All new nonresidential development projects where
employees generate a minimum of 110 average daily trips are subject to the
ordinance, which requires development of a Transportation Demand Management
plan, outlining facility improvements, programs, incentives, education,
marketing and outreach for a development project for review and approval by the
city.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
San Marcos chose not to amend its Municipal Code, but to add
to the city’s General Plan measures to bring down GHG emissions, including the
following:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Increase overall City fleet fuel efficiency by replacing
gasoline vehicles with hybrids. </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Work with individual departments with vehicle fleets and
equipment to develop fuel saving policies and programs.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Implement programs and provide incentives to reduce
annual vehicle miles traveled associated with City employee commutes. </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Participate in SANDAG’s free iCommute program to develop
and implement a customized commuter benefit program for City employees.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Implement improvements to smooth traffic flow, reduce
idling, eliminate bottlenecks, and encourage efficient driving techniques.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Conduct education campaigns to promote fuel-efficient
driving (“eco-driving”) practices such as reduced idling, slower driving speeds,
gentle acceleration, and proper tire inflation.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
San Marcos held several community workshops in May, open to
all residents, to create a “2019 CAP Update.” A questionnaire was used to
solicit opinions on various emissions reduction measures, many of which were already
included in the 2013 plan. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s a sample of the questionnaire used to solicit
attendee opinions. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>From the list of proposed strategies, below, please
indicate <b>up to five strategies </b>that you support the most.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here are just four on the list of 25 choices:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";">☐</span> Require EV charging stations
at new multi-family and non-residential developments. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";">☐</span> Synchronize traffic signals
along major corridors to reduce vehicle idling.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";">☐</span> Install roundabouts to improve
efficiency of vehicle travel in the City.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";">☐</span> Install new bike lanes and
upgrade existing ones in the City as stipulated in the General Plan. .</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The questionnaire suggests those who don’t believe in the
urgency of climate change, like the guy in the White House, together with those
who do, had an equal say in the meetings. It seems the popularity of emissions
reduction strategies, not climate science, will guide the city’s climate plan
update. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
San Marcos gets the credit for government transparency. It lists
on its website all 50 major commercial, industrial, residential and mixed use
development projects underway, together with maps and descriptions of the
projects, the names of developer applicants, and the phone numbers of city
staff for more detailed information.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Carlsbad could learn from that. The city’s website is not at
all user-friendly for finding development projects. More transparency could
have helped when a billionaire developer tried to put a shopping mall on the
banks of the city’s pristine Agua Hedionda Lagoon a few years ago.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It appears San Marcos and Carlsbad could learn from each
other. But the challenge to us all is reflected in a Washington Post survey,
cited by Pulitzer Prize winning, environmental journalist, Elizabeth Kolbert,
in her September 30, 2019 <i>New Yorker</i> article. Although more people are
concerned about global warming, fewer than half said they would support a
$2/month surcharge on their electricity bills, only a third would support a
ten-cent-per-gallon increase in the federal gasoline tax.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Looks like bad news for the shrinking glaciers.</div>
richard_riehlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14196859001461899841noreply@blogger.com0