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Web Cams

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Coronavirus Web Cam Update

During the current virus pandemic, most of us are forced to do our traveling via TV and the Internet. Web Cams are a great way to make our Escape.

One of my first posts was about Web Cams. Back then there were not that many offerings, but some of them were really interesting. Now there are thousands of Web Cams, and they are not just interesting, but many are in high definition. The clarity is so good that it is almost like being there.

In my original post I mentioned that many of them are focused on interesting subjects like wild life in the Jungle, or watching baby eagles hatch–a wide spectrum of live, and prerecorded events on just about every subject imaginable. To even begin to catalog all the web links would take hours of searching and recording. What was once a thousand or less offerings is now several thousand, and is increasing every day. However, while I was searching for some live cameras, I found a great link that has done much of the heavy lifting for us. It is called EarthCam, and in addition to having already cataloged thousands of interesting cameras, EarthCam actually hosts the cameras. I spent over an hour just looking at all of the live video from around the world. So many places, and so little time.  Below, are are some links just to get you started.

https://www.earthcam.com
https://worldcams.tv/
https://worldcam.eu/

If you have a favorite Web Cam, send me the link. I will share it with everyone that comes to my website.

I leave you with a word of caution. If you search the web using the term “webcam,” you will likely encounter some pornographic websites, so keep that in mind. Sadly, the word “webcam” has been hijacked.

Happy travels…

Jim
jim@jimsayers.com

Drought

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According to the Kardashev Scale of civilization, there are three types of planets. Type one, type two, and type three respectively. On  this scale, our earth is a type zero.

CLICK HERE To read about the Kardashev Scale.

Unfortunately, our current technology cannot control the weather. After a moderate amount of rain this past winter, California is already back into a heavy summer drought complete with the traditional forest and grass fires. As you can see in my video, Lake Mead is at it’s lowest level since it was created. This has got to have a negative effect on Las Vegas, and the other communities down stream of Lake Mead—including portions of Mexico, if you can believe that.  CLICK HERE to read about the dispute.

On the other side of the coin, Memphis Tennessee, has an abundance of water, as does Costa Rica, where I live. Too bad we can’t control the weather, or can we? Some say that we can, and that we are, but not for the benefit of everyone.  in fact, maybe the reverse is true, but I don’t know. However, it would be great to have a way of providing sufficient rain to the areas that need it.

Just thinking out loud again.

—Jim

Drinkable Water

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Thinking out loud...

You may have plenty of good drinkable water where you live, but so many locations do not. Never fear, the profiteers are ready to assist you…for a price of course.  In some places, water is now more costly than an equal amount of gasoline. How strange is that?  Stories abound about someone, or a group of someones controlling the weather to make drought conditions. I have no knowledge of that, so I will just let it be a thought in the wind for now.  You can do your own research on that issue if you so desire.  However, if I were the evil overlord of the world, I would buy up all the water rights, and then start causing droughts. Sound too far fetched? Well the Internet is rife with information about this very thing happening right before our eyes, or so it seems. Here are some links that support those suspicions.

Link to Water Barons

Link to Water Grab

Link to Coca Cola Page

If you care to know more, do a web search for: Who is buying up all the water rights in the world.

It would be a great story were it simply a case of a benevolent company coming to the rescue, but I wonder if maybe something more sinister is afoot. If you can help clarify this situation, please share your information here.

Thanks,

—Jim

Canal News

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The BIG news from the Republic of Panama (in the deep south), is about what will happen on June 26.  That is when the Panama Canal will open the new wider shipping lanes, and bigger locks.  This will allow the majority of the ships that were heretofore too large to take advantage of the famous path between the seas. The dedication of the “new” canal is bound to be a world class event, and I plan to be there to report back to you on this piece of history. There will be film at 11, so stay stewed to be part of history in the making.

That’s the view from my chair,

–Jim

To read more about the new canal, CLICK HERE.

TPO… Rain!

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I think that I might have screwed up.  We were shy of rain, and the city was covered with volcanic ash, so I prayed for rain.  I even went into the street and did a Native American Dance to bring on the rain and wash away the ash. I was not really sure that it would work, but it did entertain the neighbors. The applause and shouts of “Gringo Loco” encouraged me to keep dancing.

It turns out that I danced for too long, because now the rain will not stop. I just watched the news and there are many flooded areas in the city.  It is clear that I was messing with forces beyond my pay grade.  CLICK HERE to see the result.

The only Sun Dance that I know is a film festival in Utah, so I am not sure what to do now.

That’s the view from my floating chair.

—Jim

TPO – Weather

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Rain-Rain go away…not. Okay, I am back talking about the weather again. Normally, that would be somewhat boring, but in light of the recent focus on “climate change,” it is clearly more appropriate than in the past. It is now raining quite heavily in San José, and in the surrounding area. In light of the recent volcanic eruptions near the city, the rains are even more welcome. The volcano spews out a fine ash known in Spanish as ceniza volcánica. It is like a fine face power that covers everything. It creates problems related to breathing, especially for asthmatics. For more info CLICK HERE

Other parts of Costa Rica, as well as Panama and Nicaragua are also in need of some serious rain, so I hope that there is enough to go around. Right now it sure seems like there is. Those who have read my blogs already know that one of the four factors that are against the building of a canal in Nicaragua is the current lack of water. Lake Nicaragua, the lake that forms the basis of the proposed new canal is quite deficient in water right now. However, I hasten to add that it will indeed take more than just a higher lake level to guarantee the canal will be built, but if one wants a canal, then one must have water. CLICK HERE

I am happy that the rains have finally turned on, because they bring life, unless of course they come too quickly, and in too much quantity. Having a flood is no fun for the people who are affected. In Central America, the rainy season means that it can rain. It is sometimes confused with the term monsoon season, which we do not really have here, except in October, when it can rain really hard for many days, but during the rest of the rainy season, it usually only rains in the afternoon, or at night. That means that most mornings are sunny and bright, which allows one to do what must be done outside. In the afternoon, when it does rain, I stay inside and write blogs. If it is raining really hard, I sometimes contemplate building an ark!

In the absence of any real knowledge, my gut feeling is telling me that this year will bring sufficient rain to areas that in recent years have been a bit shy of the normal tropical rain. As for Nicaragua. If they are to have any chance of building a new canal, they need some very heavy rains this rainy season.

That’s the view from my chair…

–Jim

Note: In the event you care to know about volcanoes, click here

Today’s Pitiful Offering 2-160529

TPO – The Mall

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I went to the new mall today and I took some video. Well, that is until a security guard told me that I could not take video of the activities. I asked him to show me the regulation against taking photos or video, and suddenly he was lost. Since I already had what I wanted, I put my camera away. That made him feel like he was doing his job. I felt good that I was able to allow him to feel like he was actually doing his job.

The mall  looked decent when only looking at a relatively small portion at a time, but looking at the big picture, it looked as if it were designed by a committee where each member spoke a different language. Add to that the fact that it is much like most other malls in the known universe, it is a monument to what not to create. In any case, they needed a new mall in the area like your cat needs more fleas. San José is a big city that, in reality, is just a huge mall with some hotels, government offices, and restaurants sprinkled around to make it seem otherwise. It is for me, a big boring city. Of course, with its mountains, forests, and beaches, Costa Rica is really beautiful and is very different from San José, which seems as out of place here, as the new mall.

With regard to the new mall, several words come to mind. In no particular order, ill-conceived, sterile, and clearly not needed.

That’s the view from my chair.

—Jim

Todays-pitiful-offering-1-160528

Canal Update – Costa Rica

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In a previous post (click here) I listed four factors as to why the likelihood of a canal through Nicaragua is becoming less of a possibility. However, today’s Canal Update is not even about Nicaragua.  It is about Costa Rica.  No, you haven’t been asleep.  There is no canal in Costa Rica–yet, but yesterday, May 22nd, the Interior Minister of Costa Rica announced on TV, that the Government is indeed serious about going forward with plans to build a 320 kilometer inter-ocean “dry” canal across Costa Rica. It will be a rail link connecting a port on the Pacific Coast, to a port, most likely Puerto Limon, on the Caribbean (Atlantic) coast. click here for map.

Feasibility studies are currently in progress by two separate companies.  If the studies show that it is a viable project, the dry canal project has a very good chance of soon becoming a reality.  Should that happen, it will pose an additional problem for the Nicaragua Canal, which is already behind schedule, and facing serious challenges.

The major elements of a dry canal include container loading and unloading facilities at ports located on either side of the country, and a high speed railroad right-of way between the two ports. The ability to load and unload upwards of 18,000 containers a day is a design requirement, and it is expected that trains, each carrying about 440 containers would leave for the opposite coast about every 40 minutes.  Unlike the project in Nicaragua, only a relatively few people will be required to relocate, because some of the necessary railroad right-of-way already exists, and building a railroad  is far less intrusive than creating a giant waterway. Nevertheless, the dry canal will require a wider, and more stable roadbed than currently exists in Costa Rica, as well as new heavy-duty railroad track.  Oh, and they will also need some trains.

The idea for the dry canal actually goes back many years, and people both inside and outside of the government are asking why the building of a dry canal has taken so long to approve.  However, the announcement of the proposed Nicaragua Canal, and the opening next month of the expanded Panama Canal has rekindled interest in the notion that, it just might make economic sense for Costa Rica to have a canal of its own, and two companies have submitted proposals to build it.

While it will take time and money to create the elements needed for a functioning dry canal, the cost will be far less than digging a waterway, and the time to create it will be a fraction of what it would take to create a canal of the type that now exists in Panama. Granted, Costa Rica is not known for building roads in a rapid manner, but undertaking a project like the dry canal in conjunction with private enterprise, would likely be a different story.

What remains to be seen is just how efficient the expanded Panama Canal will be. There is an expectation that, in addition to allowing larger ships to make the transit, the overall efficiency of the canal will also be increased. If that should lead to a lowering of the existing transit fees, it could impact the viability of building a canal elsewhere. The practicality of any new canal, wet or dry, is dependent on many variables, including the current slowdown in international shipping. That may only be temporary, so the need for a dry canal, especially to service smaller cargo ships, might just make sense. Time will tell, but for now, it looks as if Costa Rica is serious about accepting the challenge of building an inter-ocean, rail based, dry canal. They are however, not alone.  Even as I write this, five or six other dry canal projects are also being considered, and did you know that Panama has a dry canal as well.  My-my-my, it is indeed a very interesting situation that exists these days.

As always, I’ll keep you posted.

—Jim