This Could Be Interesting

I wonder how hot it will be today? I just had an odd experience; opening the window here in the study actually increased the inside temperature by one degree! I guess I had assumed that the night air was going to be cooler. Well, I’m leaving it open for now; fresh is always better.

Now I’m wondering about my training plans. I was hoping to do 10 miles, or two hours; whichever came first. With a temperature of 81° at 4 in the morning. I’m not sure that’s a good idea. And reading the weather forecast doesn’t bring much comfort. “…hot humid temperatures combined with a surge of monsoonal moisture could bring some interesting weather to interior Northern California over the next couple of days...Strenuous activities outdoors should be reduced or moved to the coolest time of the day.”  That’s odd phrasing isn’t it?. Especially for a government agency. But I like the idea; we should always have “interesting weather”.

I don’t want to abandon the training altogether, so I’m thinking about cutting it in half. That will give me some good cardio exercise but I won’t be stressed. And that plan allows me to enjoy a Cappuccino and a quiet time of reading the newspaper in Chico.

With no training activities planned on Saturday, we can go to the Farmer’s Market early in the morning and see the produce before the heat has wilted it. And before the crowds, of course.

In the news…
U.S. sets military drills on tense Korean peninsula (Reuters)
Reuters - U.S. Forces Korea announced its next military drills with South Korean troops on Friday, a move likely to heighten tensions on the peninsula after North Korea's defiant missile tests on July 5.

That’s what we need; more tension. We don’t seem to get enough of it these days.

And speaking of tension, there is this…
California will run out of prison space next year, official says
California will run out of even makeshift prison beds in less than a year unless the state takes action, the state's corrections chief said Thursday, warning also of an increased danger of riots…

Perhaps the state might look at some of the reasons why the prisons are full. And no, it isn’t because Californians are “natural born criminals.” (Although there might be some in the state legislature that qualify for such a description.)

A book I read, a long time ago; The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes had vivid description of the prison system in England in the 18th and 19th centuries. Overcrowding was rampant because of the indiscriminate nature of sentencing… Imagine that! At one point, the government used the dismasted ships of the Navy, anchored in the Thames River, as prisons. These were called the “hulks” and not surprising, the prisoners controlled them. This overcrowding led to a change in sentencing and prisoners were soon being transported…to Australia. Gone and forgotten.

But we don’t have an empty Australia to send our prisoners to, which means we need to take some responsibility.  The words “responsibility” and “legislature” seem to be mutually exclusive.