Valentine’s Day is Arizona Statehood Day

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arizona, Arizona statehood day, Valentine's day

From the Prescott Daily Courier:

1. Arizona turns 105 years-old this year

2. It took Arizona 56 years to gain statehood

3. Congress wanted to combine Arizona and New Mexico and admit it as one state, but people living in the territory of Arizona voted against it 16,265 to 3,141

4. Arizona officially became a state on Feb. 14, 1912

5. Which also happens to be Valentine’s Day

6. And Oregon’s birthday

7. President William Howard Taft signed Arizona into statehood

8. Arizona’s first governor, George W. P. Hunt was present for the signing in Washington D.C.

9. Arizona only had 200,000 residents at the time of statehood

10. Arizona was the 48th territory to become a state, making it one of the youngest states in our country’s history

link: http://www.dcourier.com/news/2017/feb/14/10-things-about-arizona-statehood-day-feb-14-1912/

 

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High Desert Landscape

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arizona, high desert, landscape

Taken though the windshield of a car going north on I-17. You can see almost forever. This is in the high desert north of Phoenix Az.

Prescott Internet, 911, Telecom Back in Service

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arizona, az, internet outage

Our internet, 911, some bankings, ATM’s, some telephones were offline for around 7 hours today. Much of northern Az was affected including Prescott, Flagstaff, Cottonwood. The cause was intentional sabotage. A fiber optic cable that is inside a tunnel in far north Phoenix was cut, and that is the only connection. Just as a major wreck on I-17 can halt most vehicular traffic in northern and central Az, this halted most data traffic. The culprit has yet to be identified. Vandal? Criminal? Terrorist?

Here’s the latest news article I can find: http://news.yahoo.com/outage-halts-internet-cell-northern-arizona-230621745.html

To us it was a minor nuisance. We (thankfully) did not need to call 911. We did not need to use an ATM or bank services. I went to a couple of stores for small purchases but I had enough cash on hand. Our Verizon phones functioned, with 4G internet access and text messaging working.

Some thoughts on this outage:

1. The telecom system was designed for efficiency, not reliability. One fiber optic link is more efficient than 2, nice until that one is not in service for an extended time. That cable is a single point of failure. There is no backup, no redundancy – these are costly and thus inefficient.

2. It is amazingly easy for someone with bad intentions and a little knowledge to take down a major utility used by many people and businesses with a few hand tools.

3. This is what a systemic failure cascade looks like, in real time.

Phoenix Area Residents Starting to Use Air Conditioners

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arizona, phoenix, prescott, weather

If you live in the northeast or upper mid-west, where things are buried in snow, you may think this is insane. But Phoenix area residents are starting to turn on air conditioners.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — With temperatures in the 80s, Valley residents have been turning on their air conditioners early.

This is only the beginning, and we all know the inevitable is coming. Being prepared for the heat is the key to comfort and less hassle when the temperatures reach their threshold.

link

The linked article goes onto discuss maintenance tasks for a/c.

Here at 5500 feet above sea level in the Prescott, Az mountains we are not using a/c. We are still running our furnace at night. It has been abnormally warm in the daytime hours here, but no a/c is needed.

Professional Spectator Sports “Down the Hill”

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arizona, phoenix, spectator sports, superbowl

Phoenix, which is down the hill from us, is having all kinds of professional spectator sports going this week. The Phoenix Open golf tournament is going on now, I heard they have record attendance. Last weekend was the Pro Bowl football game. This Sunday is the big one, the Superbowl.

And it’s raining. In the Valley of the Sun and here up the hill in Prescott too. Those of us who live in very arid climates appreciate the rain or snow, we get very little. It’s a change from the usual, plus we seem to be in a perpetual drought and any moisture falling from the sky helps to reduce this. I have to think that folks who spent very big bucks to come here for any of the sports events don’t share our enjoyment of this rain.

We avoid the Phoenix area as much as possible, especially when there are events like these going on. It’s hard to get around in the Phoenix area, which is about 100 miles of suburban sprawl separated by traffic jams. Add in these crowds, and it does not improve things.

Personally, I never saw the appeal of professional spectator sports. Live or on TV. Watch a bunch of millionaires throwing, catching, hitting a ball? I am clearly in the small minority on this one, as I often am on many facets of popular culture. Yes, I can be a cranky opinionated dinosaur. To those who enjoy these things, great, have a good time. I won’t be fighting you for a parking spot.