PCIntern
PCIntern's JournalSome perspective...
I live at the New Jersey seashore on a property which literally faces the bay which extends between the Atlantic City island which includes Downbeach communities, and the mainland. My family and/or I have been in this house since 1984. When my mother moved here from an apartment down the street, the real estate agent disclosed appropriately that this particular block floods first before any other block in our area for a variety of reasons Which at this point are irrelevant. Even before the Internet, we had a system of informing all the people on the block when high tides would be expected that would cause a flood which occurred generally, before the seas changed, when there was a storm surge coupled with a full moon and/or heavy winds.
The front entrance to the house sits approximately 7 feet above street level and has only flooded once, during superstorm Sandy at which time we got about 5 inches of water in the house. As an aside, we were fortunate that it did not reach up to the electrical outlets or the utilities so all appliances survived miraculously. I would also say as an aside that if you dig down approximately 24 inches you will hit water under our very sandy soil. Today, with the remnants of Ian approaching, my cars are parked on other blocks and we know that high tide will occur one hour after the Atlantic city high tide because back bay tides are delayed approximately that amount of time and we work around it. I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve knocked on the neighbors’ doors to tell them that flooding was imminent and to move their cars and of course have been the recipient of other people’s goodwill as well. Interestingly it has unified the community of extremely diverse social and political orientations because, well, survival.
Now my circuitous point is that I was informed of the risks prior to moving in, was willing to accept them, and know that someday conceivably, I am going to have a problem associated with this house. I have insurance of course, and I am willing to live with the risk of catastrophe, because, well, lifestyle. Other than the roughly 10 weeks of the busy season down here, it is truly an idyllic place to live: minimal crime, virtually no violent crime, ease of vehicular transportation since I work in Philadelphia and commute three or four times a week which only takes me an hour and a few minutes, clean air and the ability to walk on streets or the boardwalk and enjoy the vista which is the Atlantic Ocean and the sky above.
Now in no way shape or form do I believe that my risk is anywhere close to those in Florida or the Gulf Coast given the change in the nature of the storms . I do believe personally that if the risk were at that great, I would not be living here. I say this because I believe that many people who move from the north down to Florida understand on an intellectual level the risk but do not really comprehend it until it happens to them or to a close family member. During my career I have had many patients tell me they were uprooting and moving to Florida and I invariably ask them where and if it’s coastal I asked them if they understand the risks and very cavalierly they say yes but… And I smile grimly to myself and think do you, now?
Conversely, over the years a number of people have moved back and reconnected with me and are quite shaken and traumatized as they relate the story of their near miss or actual catastrophic loss from one of the hurricanes. One family was living with their elderly parents because they lost everything in hurricane Andrew, and I mean everything. They had the clothes on their backs and that was it. A lifetime of artifacts and possessions destroyed in a few hours.
Oh, and one more thing, which I have posted before but probably many years ago: on my block in 1984 we flooded perhaps five or six times annually and the water perhaps exceeded the height of the curb once or twice during that time and moseyed up the driveway perhaps a couple of feet, the driveway being inclined up toward the house. During the last 10 years we flood anywhere between two and five times monthly and several of them may come halfway up the driveway such that if my low slung sports car were parked there I would have a problem, and of course it’s salt water which is not great in any event. Anyone who tells me that there is no such thing as climate change does not live on my block clearly And even the right wingers here, you know the ones with the Trump flag when they go to the beach or at their house, absolutely concede that things are not what they were in the “old days”.
I will leave you with a photo taken of sunset from my front porch overlooking the bay at low tide.
The sea was angry that day, my friend...
Downbeach from Atlantic City as the storm begins….
All here should listen to Olbermann's podcast today...
The first segment describes his theory of why these commentators on the right act as they are acting and have so many millions of followers. It’s a very intriguing theory.
It has to do with the PTSD following 9/11 stripped away the limits to which these individuals would act publically. But this is much more in depth than just that. Absolutely worth a listen….
Mark my words: DeSantis will take credit for rescuing the refugees
By shipping them up to The Vineyard. Wotta hero who has the interests of these poor refugees at heart.
Listen, if that shithole Tucker can call hurricanes the instruments of the Left, then what’s to stop DeShithead from doing this?
Two "incidents" to report:
I’ve been away for a couple weeks, vacationing, and other than watching MSNBC in my free time which was not plentiful, the two weeks was fairly apolitical. However there were two incidents of note which I thought I would report here because, well, that’s sort of what we do…
First, I was thrust together with a couple who was sitting across from Me on a tour bus who were wearing Rush Limbaugh quotation T-shirts, and had that sourpuss, angry face which was unceasing for the three hours that I was near them. The Yiddish word is “farbissiner”, (generally pronounced ’furbissina’), which is apt and highly descriptive. Anyway they, but particularly SHE, took every opportunity to rail on and on about “crooked politicians running Congress” and high taxes and prices. Of course, she was on an expensive vacation carting a $3000.00+ pocketbook, but I digress. Everything from long red lights to the price of gas on the station signs was Biden this and Biden that. Moreover, they were from Pennsylvania and how that Governor has run the state into the ground. My lengthy point here is that they were seeking an agreeing audience which they did not find. I will add that the Limbaugh tee shirts had American flags on them which, when I was a kid, was a sign of Commie-disrespect to the sacred flag but we here know all about this. I was uncharacteristically silent through this entire process even though she kept looking at me to give some assent, I simply stared back at her with a practiced cold stare such as you get from an IRS auditor.
Second, at the end of the vacation, I was “privileged“ to overhear a conversation between two individuals who have never met previously. He was a 6’4” to 6‘6“ gentleman approximately 35 years of age, and she was a 70+ year-old lady, well dressed and welcome comported with expensive clothing and jewelry. We were all stuck in a line for about 45 minutes and I overheard him telling her that he was a police officer and had had a black woman call him a racist, and how outraged he was that these people had the nerve to do this and that one of his best friends is of Nigerian origin. He detail this conversation intricately, and all I could think was that he had been called a racist significantly fewer times that she had had the N-word thrown at her, but I remained silent of course. The lady reported that she had had similar experiences and this country was just falling apart. He said then, and this was memorable, even if Trump had taken all those top secret documents and lied to the insurance companies and the mortgage companies and the lenders, and I quote: “Who gives a shit?” He went on to say that there are millions of people out there who’ve done worse things and there’s been no retribution to them and this is all political and this is how business is done. I thought to myself: as though you understand how business is “done”.
I do want to make another point after all this: part of my trip involved a six hour stopover at Cape Kennedy which I had never visited. Simply put, it is just remarkable what man is capable of and the scale, the intricacy, the same approach which was exercised to effect these missions is and was remarkable. Yes, I am fully aware that these are Elements of the defense department and yet the advancement of pure science in the endeavor has been nothing short of spectacular. I highly recommend a visit there if only to see the scope and breadth of what we accomplished in a very few years. I was thinking that man’s first experience heavier than air flight in 1903 and 66 short years later we put men on the moon. Now we seem to be striving for even greater ends, and I hope I live long enough to see at least the first steps on Mars. I would put my amazement level up there with Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon in terms of overwhelming emotionality from seeing physical entities. In addition, appropriate homage was paid to those we have lost in space program starting with Apollo I and of course the two space shuttles. These issues were addressed and were not hidden under some diversion or placed in a remote corner somewhere. And yes, I know that the Challenger exploded because there was pressure from the Reagan administration to launch that morning because that night was the State of the Union message delivery. All in all, a terrific experience for two weeks bookended by the usual RW idiocy which is unfortunately pervasive.
Here's something interesting about MSNBC:
I am in a location wherein there is no advertising on the television. Of course, I am watching MSNBC fairly continuously when I am in my room, and I did not realize that they have a stock MSNBC promo which runs during the break time and although it has Several segments, the segments are of a given length so that no matter what the length of the commercial break is, a portion of the series of the segments run in its entirety.
After 10 days of seeing this ad I am hypnotized and can recite the entire ad verbatim from memory. The only thing that bothers me about other than its incessant repetition is that they have one segment wherein the Morning Joe panel criticizes President Biden for his “lack of movement” on the racial issue during the voting rights act battle. Of all segments to pick, why the heck did they pick that one criticizing the president? Trying to show objectivity?. The reason I remember this is that I had posted at the time that Jonathan Lemire was the pivot man on this angry discussion criticizing Biden, whose hands were tied by the senate.
It was very discordant moment which I had to relive about 1850 times at least in the last 10 days.
Here's a question for the DU body politic:
If someone were waiting in line, or “on the queue”, as they say, is it illegal for someone to bring him or her water to drink?
Asking not for a friend, but for the voters of several of the “Colonies”.
I would also wish to take this opportunity to say that as a former Pennsylvanian, I am sick to my stomach that two miscreants are running for statewide office. The Nazi Mastriano makes former Republican Governor Tom Corbett look like Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Oz is a tinhorn snake oil salesman. 🤮
With cautious optimism I would posit the following:
Republicans loved the whole battle involving Roe vs Wade. They reveled in it, used it as a wedge, beat their collective chests with the pseudo-morality, did it incessantly, but the only thing they never really wanted to happen was to “win”.
Many many years ago, I knew a brilliant progressive attorney who told me that the best long-term thing that could happen to the movement would be for the R v W to be overturned. That it would awaken the true silent majority and if properly managed would lead to a semi-permanent awakening of the humanistic individuals in the country. And yes, he fully understood the implications of the overturning but he saw it as the sacrifices of a war to reduce the influences of the fascists for at least a few generations.
Think about it: the media was carrying the water for the fascists and they were on board with the certainty that two of the three branches of government would be controlled by RWers, but the gerrymandered,stacked Supreme Court fumbled the ball and kicked it through the back of the end zone.
This is going to be difficult but quite doable. Go. Fight. Win.
Here's something you can bark at these anti-Trans motherfluffers:
Embryonically, we ALL start out as females and then, for approximately half (this is an interesting discussion for another day), certain hormones go to work and anatomically, physiologically, and hormonally theoretically change the embryo to male gender.
However, there are obviously variabilities in expressivity and it would be nearly impossible for this process to be without variabilities and multiplicities of personality.
For sake of clarity if you’re talking to these anti-trans idjits, change all three and four syllable words to “simpler” language.
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Philly
Home country: USA!USA!USA!
Current location: Jersey Shore
Member since: Sun Feb 22, 2004, 09:01 AM
Number of posts: 25,541
