The Oppenheimer Report 2/25/19

Pile Up on Hwy 400 today S. of  Barrie

Last night, as the 60-70 KPH polar winds pummeled our windows, and I watched the glass flex in and out with each gust, and as the horizontal snow marched across the lake like a phalanx of white warriors, I watched a pair of pigeons (whom we’ve named Pigeorge and Pigina) cling desperately to a log end next to our bedroom turret window. Normally I would squirt these defecating devils with our high-powered anti-pigeon water cannon, but last night I just didn’t have the heart. Besides, the window was frozen shut. Pigina looked at me with a kind of “WTF! We-moved-up-here-from-Toronto-for-THIS?” look on her face and we had a moment. If they didn’t poop all over everything and wake us up in the morning with their insufferable cooing, I wouldn’t mind them so much. They seem to be smart and, as I’ve said many times, live and let live ...away from the house, preferably.

Last night, I had a chance to test out our latest high-tech device. To accompany the solar panels we recently installed for supplemental power, we just bought a Tesla lithium ion “Powerwall” backup battery, which can be used in a power outage, or as an alternative power source during peak hours, when electricity is most expensive. I can control how the battery is used with an app on my phone. Knowing that we were in for a wind storm last night, I had it set to full backup, and last night, when the power went off for a short while, the battery kicked in. I could monitor its discharge on my phone. While solar power does not come close to meeting all our electrical needs, it will be increasingly valuable as our electrical costs here in the Almaguin Highlands go from exorbitant to outrageous. We’ve had a propane-powered generator since we built this house, and with the frequent power outages we have up here, it has been invaluable. Still, I’d rather save the propane for heating needs. I have great respect for the guys who drive propane trucks. We live at the bottom of a long drive, and in the winter delivery can be difficult. Perhaps someday soon battery technology will improve to the point where we can better utilize the solar panels we now have.  

As the wind whistled and wailed, and the tornados of snow swirled up outside, Shauna and I sat hunkered down in our bedroom, watching the Oscars with the usual half-interest of two people who probably won’t see most the nominated movies for a long time. I used to watch more movies, but my enthusiasm (and attention span) has waned, and these days, my movie experience tends to be a random selection of whatever is available on the movie channel. I feel the same way about popular movies that I do about popular music, namely that creativity these days seems to be on injured reserve. It’s there, it’s just not given any weight. We  recently watched the award winner from 2018 wherein the woman falls in love with the fish man. Fantasy, and the remakes of old movies (how many A Star Is Born remakes are we up to now?) seem to be the big sellers these days, which does not bode well for the future of storytelling or creativity. I enjoy a good, creative fantasy as much as the next man, but it was refreshing to see a movie like Green Book win the Oscar for Best Movie. Some will argue it was the safe and sanitized choice, and that Spike Lee’s Black Klansman was a better movie. I’m just happy it wasn’t a Marvel Comic remake. I may even take the rubber band off and rent Bohemian Rhapsody or Green Book, or Black Klansman on pay-per-view. It’s just hard when there’s so much good reality television from which to choose.

-       Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c 2019 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED