To The Best Of My Knowledge, There's No Fracking In Northern California -- August 24, 2014

Earthquake with magnitude of 6.0 hits San Francisco area overnight.

Meanwhile Maureen Dowd, on a completely different note, has a column on President Obama in The Washington Post. Apparently there is more talk about the President's golf game than Tiger's golf game (what little there might be of that).  For newbies, Ms Dowd, politically, is a bit left of Algore. This is her opening:

FORE! Score? And seven trillion rounds ago, our forecaddies brought forth on this continent a new playground, conceived by Robert Trent Jones, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal when it comes to spending as much time on the links as possible — even when it seems totally inappropriate, like moments after making a solemn statement condemning the grisly murder of a 40-year-old American journalist beheaded by ISIL.

I know reporters didn’t get a chance to ask questions, but I had to bounce. I had a 1 p.m. tee time at Vineyard Golf Club with Alonzo Mourning and a part-owner of the Boston Celtics. Hillary and I agreed when we partied with Vernon Jordan up here, hanging out with celebrities and rich folks is fun.

Something tells me the international Muslim community will come to rue the day when the "Islamic State" went mainstream. 

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I'm in a Lana Del Rey mood this morning, 7:45 a.m., overcast, cool (cold?), intermittent rain -- though it appears that it might have rained itself out overnight -- but with the Napa Valley earthquake, maybe, this is better --

California Dreamin', The Mamas and the Papas

My father and I went out for Mexican dinner last night. We struck up a conversation with two seasoned oil workers. They had both been in the Bakken for about two and a half years. They have long commutes: one lives in Roseau, Minnesota (457 miles); the other in Las Vegas (1,285 miles).

The former moved to Roseau so his sons could play hockey. I remember years ago, while stationed at Grand Forks AFB, how Roseau was the hockey capital of the world, it seemed. I don't remember why that was so. Lots of hockey up there. It must be incredibly beautiful. Lake Country. Ten miles from Canada.

I mentioned that I thought the Las Vegas economy was coming back. Yes, it was and quite nicely -- one difference -- wages were coming in lower than pre-recession. He said he had been in the oil industry for 27 years when he retired, but after 11 months he couldn't take retirement any more. His friends told him he should "travel the world" in retirement. He noted that he "traveled the world" for 27 years while working oil. He loves what he is doing now. He looked to be 35 years old.

We talked a bit of oil, and I would have loved to talk more, but I got the feeling they enjoyed talking about everything other than oil. Incredibly knowledgeable and incredibly witty.

I would like to add their nationalities / ethnic background but it would spoil the story.

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Global Warming

If that volcano blows, Great Britain could experience coldest winter in its history. I think the UK is well-prepared: they have all that solar and wind energy ready to kick in if extra energy is needed for heating homes.