Posted inHome life

We’re loving our Daikin heat pumps that we bought from Advantage Heating & Air Conditioning in Salem

I enjoy giving praise to local businesses who provide a great product and excellent service. So this is my shout-out to Advantage Heating & Air Conditioning, who installed two Daikin Fit heat pumps at our house after our previous heat pumps reached the end of their useful life. We've used Judson's for most of the thirty-five years we've lived here in rural south Salem. They're also a fine company, but in the past few years we've noticed a decline in the quality of their maintenance and repair work on our American Standard heat pumps. Won't go into the details, as…
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Posted inHome life

I just ordered six months of emergency food in case the Big One earthquake hits

The Big One earthquake is a matter of when, not if, for us here in the Pacific Northwest. In 2015 an article in the New Yorker brought a lot of attention to the massive Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes that periodically strike our area of the world. I quoted from the article in "People of Pacific Northwest: Be scared, very scared. The Big One is coming." By the time the shaking has ceased and the tsunami has receded, the region will be unrecognizable. Kenneth Murphy, who directs FEMA’s Region X, the division responsible for Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska, says, “Our operating…
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Posted inTelevision

Apple TV’s Tehran is a great series to watch anytime, but especially now

Iran, once again, has been convulsed by massive protests against the country's totalitarian rulers by citizens fed up with hyper-inflation, cruel repression, and lack of basic human rights. A disturbing Political story, "You Might Not Like What Comes Next in Iran: Chances of a democratic transition are slim," says: Iran’s repressive, clerical regime is fighting for its life. There are lots of reasons to hope that it collapses. The Islamic Republic is violent, corrupt and theocratic. It systematically discriminates against women and minorities, and its policies have led to economic disaster. When Iranians take to the streets to protest, the…
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Posted inSports

Oregon lost to Indiana in convincing fashion tonight. My optimism about the Ducks winning lasted 11 seconds.

Ever since the Oregon football team beat Texas Tech 23-0 in the national playoff quarterfinals, I'd been looking forward to the Ducks rematch with Indiana in today's semifinal game. After all, Oregon had played Indiana close for most of the first game, which Indiana ended up winning 30-20 after Indiana scored the last 10 points, aided by a couple of fourth quarter interceptions thrown by Oregon quarterback Dante Moore. Coach Lanning and the Oregon players had been talking about how they were a better team now, having learned from their only loss of the season. Oddsmakers had Indiana favored in…
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Posted inSports

Wild day of college football playoffs puts Oregon in semifinal rematch against Indiana

Wow. I'm exhausted. Mentally, not physically, because I was just sitting on my butt watching three college football playoff games today, unlike the players who gave it their all in ESPN's nationally televised games. And I watched another game yesterday. Tough job, but someone's got to do it. The most satisfying game for me naturally was the Orange Bowl contest between Oregon and Texas Tech. I was nervous about it, as an Oregon fan, because Texas Tech was seeded #4 with Oregon #5. Thus the teams seemed equally matched, both with stellar offenses and defenses. Pre-game, the ESPN announcers said…
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