I should have done this months ago, so much less angst.

• electrical: done
• roofing: done
• heating: done
• arborist: hired and in progress
• carpentry: install attic stairs
• painting: in progress
• decorating: decided to do it myself

Last night, around midnight, this happened… it sounded like an explosion out back.

I had just called the dogs in 5 second earlier, they were going nuts, guess they knew the tree was giving way.

Tree guy came out this morning, then pointed at the tree out front and asked me when I was going to stop fooling myself and remove the zombie oak next to the driveway. He’s right.

Drove up to SF to talk to the tree guys up there that I was scheduled to meet. Removing a blighted Willow in the back yard and dealing with the Sycamore up front and the neighbor’s tree that is trying to kill it.

The tree guy goes, wow, what a beautiful Acacia (it’s 70 years old and at least 70 feet tall)… stares at it a second and says… “oh fuck. pardon my french… take a look at that”. I look, and see that about 30 feet up there’s an 18 inch crack where one of the main branches is about to break, and probably take out 4 neighbor’s back yards… with the location of the crack, it looks like the tree won’t really be salvageable (horribly off balance), so it is probably going to get murdered too.

In case you weren’t aware, I happen to love trees, that was a main deciding factor for both houses, and both of them are getting denuded.

If you are a tree, for your own sake, stay away from me today.

Todo:

• electrical: ground/replace parlor outlet, add office outlet, add tv wall outlet (tomorrow)
• roofing: new tar roof, eyebrow vents, fix flashing (next week)
• carpenter: finish patching walls, attic ladder, bracing for tv, finish attic insulation (next week)
• flooring: refinish hardwood floors (still need to pick stain color)
• heating: final inspection
• painting: color selection, paint and seal exterior, paint interior, stain deck
• select a hot tub under deck, investigate moisture damage possibility for deck
• electrical part 2: service upgrade, Tesla charger (220/70a), power for hot tub
• get an arborist out to look at trees up front
• webcam and water cannon to shoot neighbor when he throws shit in my driveway

Someone suggested this route:

View Larger Map

Seems like a nice idea, explore earthquake country…

Parkfield is the most active part of the San Andreas fault. Almost constant tremors and quakes. I may skip the Parkfield loop if it’s too hot…

Unfortunately, most of the users seem to be from Oregon, so if you’re a Californian, get busy!  I’ve posted my favorites/recent trips.

This is the route I’m considering –

1. cross the bridge to 84
2. east on tesla road to stockton (pashnit.com suggestion)
3. north on 88 to ione
4. hit sutter ione road (pashnit.com suggestion)
5. hit fiddletown road (pashnit.com suggestion)
6. up 88 to 89 into tahoe

View Larger Map

I kid you not…. but first…

Fish, the coolest ranger, ever, told me some Botswanan history while we were walking through the lands… I recall this from memory a week later, so I may have to update it when I have real internet access again.

Great Grandfather Khama was one of three paramount chiefs in the area that became the country of Botswana later. There was basically nothing of interest in Botswana, no minerals, oil, nothing to be exploited. At this time, the British were doing everything they could to gobble up as much of southern Africa as possible. They claimed Rhodesia and north Rhodesia (Zimbabwe & Zambia), and most of South Africa. The Dutch had previously claimed South Africa, but the British had been harassing them badly, so they made an exodus past the mountains to the east, to the land that became Transvaal.

The British really had little interest in Botswana, but were going to annex it anyway as a matter of principle. They were building a railroad from Cairo to Cape Town, and through Botswana was the perfect choice. Their usual modus operandi was to claim the land, “hire” the natives to help with the manual labor, and pay them off with alcohol, which was largely unknown previously, quite addictive, and easy to manufacture and transport.

Khama and the two other paramount chiefs did the unthinkable. They wore western clothes, learned western manners, and went to England to petition the Queen. The Queen dumped them on her Lord Chamberlain, who just wanted the problem to go away. Khama negotiated a deal where Botswana became a protectorate of England, largely autonomous, and he deeded a small strip of their land, the Tule block, to England to build the railroad (think canal zone). He also convinced the crown to agree to immediately settle the Tule block with British subjects.

This was a brilliant stroke, because it created a tripwire between the British and the Dutch. If the Boers tried to cross into Botswana, they’d have to fight the British first. The British, for their part, seeing nothing of worth in Botswana, left the rest of the country alone, which is primarily why Botswana is so less fucked up than the rest of the region. There was no “civilizing” of the natives by turning them into servants and/or drunken unskilled laborers.

Fast forward to the independence of Botswana. Khama’s grandson, Svetsee Khama (spelling?), made a similar trek to England. Again, there was nothing to exploit in Botswana, the Crown was more than happy enough to give up responsibility for Botswana. In fact, the deal that they negotiated included a hardship provision for Botswana. Cattle were imported to the country, and the UK contractually agreed to buy a huge load of Botswanan beef every year, with no expiration date.

(Off topic, Svetsee Khama and an English aristocrat fell in love. It was unheard of and totally scandalous that there could be a relationship between a black man, even the leader of a country, and an English woman of high standing. This caused a lot of friction and frustration to the British and a number of times nearly screwed the deal.)

Cattle is now the number two source of income in Botswana. Amazingly enough, just after the deal was inked and Botswana received independence, diamonds were discovered. A LOT of diamonds. Ooops.

Svetsee Khama negotiated a deal with DeBeers. For 20 years, DeBeers would receive 60% of the profits from diamond exploitation, but part of the provision was that they had to train locals to run and manage the operation. At the end of 20 years, the contracts would be re-negotiated, and, of course, now far more in favor of Botswana. DeBeers got a lot of diamonds, Botswana now controls the operation and gets the majority of profit, everyone’s moderately happy.

I love these guys.

Zimbabwe is falling apart all around us (we didn’t realize that while we were there, Tschangere came back into the country and was arrested and his folks were getting beaten and detained by the war veterans and police), and this grand old hotel is doing its damnedest to make us think it’s still high times in the British Empire.

The hotel is beautiful, if a bit threadbare, but is quite empty. There is one other party of Africans here, us, and a couple of Japanese tourists. It is a complete and utter transformation from Zambia, which is full of tourists, money, and absolutely no class. Think Russian Mafia chic and you get the Royal Livingstone at Zambia vs. the Queen Mother (who is still revered here at the Vic Falls).

The border between the two countries is a no-mans-land between the falls. There are people here carrying goods back and forth between Zim and Zam. The inflation here in Zim is so incredibly bad that you cannot keep the local currency. One of our party asked to see an inexpensive dollar bill, the waiter handed him a ZIM$25 million bill and told him to just keep it.

Our bill for tea was ZIM $44 billion, roughly USD $90 given the poor (and totally illegal because it was still 100x better than the official rate) exchange rate they gave us.

I have a strong feeling that if they can get Mugabe to exit, Zim is really going to come back in style, give it 2-5 years and it will be rocking here, just like Prague after the wall fell.