It's already August and, although there has been a week or two of hot weather, it hasn't been one of our hotter years. Relatively dry year though, as evidenced by the large number of wildfires out of control in the country. Surprising to me is the amount of news coverage about power shortages and rolling blackouts. There have been hotter years, but I guess there are more people here and power generation hasn't increased to match.

One of the things about energy deregulation that has not come about is lower energy costs. PG&E has blamed having to upgrade their systems so that third party energy suppliers can enter their markets. Meanwhile, PG&E has historically had one of the highest energy prices in the United States. I don't think third party energy suppliers have taken any significant market share from PG&E. I guess here in California we just take it.

In any case, my favorite type of weather turns to the darker and colder side of the climate spectrum. My perfect day is an overcast sky, dark grey storm clouds spreading from horizon to horizon, but with a patch of openness where the sun shines through off in the distance, lightening up the darkness. Add in some wind and splotches of rain here and there and you have the effect of a stormy day with visibility.

Like anything perfect, too much would just be rather mundane. I've only seen that kind of day a handful of times. But in a pinch I can settle for a stormy or overcast or windy day. Never been partial to sunny day after sunny day. I get overheated easily so hot days have never been my cup of tea.

You know, there are a lot of phenomena I haven't seen. A tornado, an avalanche, a hurricane, never seen any of those myself. Just on television. Speaking of which, I watched a special on Niagra Falls. One section of which is how they formed initially. A river cutting through the top of a plateau, it starts to weather away the land and the river moves backwards over the millenia. Depending on the ground, the river moved at different rates. Sometimes a few inches a day, up to a mile in a few hours for a certain stretch where the rock is soft.

With computer animation, it actually looked quite spectacular as the Niagra River eats its way through the plateau, then makes a 120-something degree turn and continues on its way. Strange thing is that they said that scientists don't know exactly what happens at the bottom of Niagra Falls. How it breaks up the rocks and the water flow and such. It's pretty dangerous there as the water is quite a force.

There was a little section on people who ride barrels over the falls. Not that many people have tried, and fewer have died. (This is people in barrels, plenty of people commit suicide without using a barrel). One guy went over and was fine, but the currents kept him underwater for the better part of a day and he suffocated. The last guy was a few years ago, it's just not that popular.

They also talk about diverting part of the Niagra River. The falls actually operate at about 50% capacity, the other half is diverted along a canal to a hydroelectric plant. Reducing the water flow reduces the erosion by an order of magnitude, so the Niagra Falls will not move much in the next few hundred years.

I'm watching "His Girl Friday" on tv. Great movie with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, although it's mostly Rosalind's movie. It's a strong female role with lots of dialogue and witty banter. Nice to see a movie where the female lead holds her own admirably well. I have to see more classic movies.