Day 149: Time

Dinner Menu:

• Tarte à la tomate de grand-maman
• Salade verte
• Fromages
• Carré de chocolat noir 90%
• Badoit

Finally it seems we may get rid of the summer/winter time change.  I read in today's Monde that the European Commission is going to push for this aberration to be stopped after a poll of European citizens found 80% in favour of single time.   I have never understood the purpose of introducing a different time twice a year.  I always felt the inconvenience of  having to adjust your sleep patterns twice a year far outweighed any potential benefits which never actually materialised.   I do find it interesting that the plan is to be on permanent summer time (which is the artificial one). Before the introduction of the change we were on winter time all the time, now we will be on summer time all the time - I guess that goes with global warming ;-).  Since we are deciding our new time maybe we should be more radical. With the new time on the shortest day of the year the sun will rise around 9AM and set at 6:30PM, if we want longer evenings now is the time to express our opinions. Also lets not forget that we are making a political statement.  If we decide to move to permanent summer time we are getting closer to Chinese time if we move to winter time we would be moving closer to the US. Considering the present occupant of the White house I'm thinking the Chinese option may be a better bet.  

Day 148: Education

Today was a fasting day.

A few days ago I mentioned my ambition to become a Paris slumlord as soon as I'm let go form my present job.  As preparation for my future endeavour I thought I would look into online courses on architecture and/or construction.  A quick google search shows up a plethora of online degrees, masters and certificates from a wide variety of institutions mainly in the US and UK.  This raises the question around the future of universities. How important is it to go to a physical place to get an education as opposed to obtaining the knowledge through online documents, video, webinars, chat groups and skype conference? Considering how proficient the younger generation is in using online tools wouldn't it make sense to drastically reduce the physical presence of students?  All the money being spent on student buildings, amphitheatres and facilities could be redirected to the teaching staff and materials.  Also it would be a welcome advance in democratisation as costs to students would be much lower if they could choose to live anywhere with an appropriate internet connection while studying "at" Harvard, Oxford or the Sorbonne. I think it would be interesting to set-up an online university with the objective of bringing it in the top ten world universities. 

By the way I've signed up to my first online course: It's a 3 Month Certificate called: The Architectural Imagination and it's offered by Harvard University (yes the one in Boston!)

Day 147: Nuclear

Dinner Menu:

• Salade verte
• Ravioli aux truffes
• Carré de chocolat noir

Yesterday Nicolas Hulot (the French Environment Minister) resigned from the government because of his frustration at the lack of concrete progress on these issues.  As it happens my son is interviewing for a job at a nuclear construction site in the UK (I don't think there is a link between these two events).  However it allows me to state my position on nuclear electricity.  I feel strongly that nuclear power plants are the best alternative to coal, oil and gas power generation at the moment.  Ultimately as prices come down I'm sure the share renewable will continue to grow but this will be a long process.  In view of the urgent need to reduce CO2 production we need to have other solutions to bridge the gap.  If we switched from carbon based to nuclear fuels worldwide we would reduce our CO2 emission by 40% which is half what we need to achieve by 2033 if we are to meet the minimal targets agreed in the Paris Environmental Accords.  I feel this is much more important issue than the disposal of nuclear waste which remains a manageable if not insignificant problem. 

Day 146: Track

Dinner Menu:

• Salade verte
• Flan aux courgettes
• Pêche au yaourt
• Carré de chocolat noir
• Badoit

For her birthday one of Fianna's friends gave her a fitbit tracker.  This is a small rubber bracelet which constantly monitors your activity. During the day it counts your steps, monitors your heart beat, your distance walked and your calories. At night it monitors your sleep and periods of wakefulness or unrest and it can wake you up at just the right time in your sleep cycle.  So now every morning I get a full report on my wife's night time activity (excluding any that I may have participated in).  Although in a previous blog I advocated tracking as a first step to improving things, I'm not sure that this is true of our sleep.  It seems to me that the information being produced is just something to worry about rather than a means to act.  If my wristband tells me that I slept 7h32m56s  and during that time I woke up 3 times and had 32m8s of restless sleep what am I supposed to do with that information? 

Day 145: Partners

Today was a fasting day!

I had an interesting conversation with one of my blog readers today.  In the spirit of relationship advice columns I will preserve his anonymity by using  an alias. So Robin was telling me that he was mildly annoyed by his partner's tendency not to always voice her opinions on things or events.  It's an interesting question, historically (thanks to religion) women did not have a voice let alone an opinion.  They only obtained the right to vote (and therefore to be heard) during the 20th century.  And yet now we expect couples to be in a real partnership where both parties opinions' will occasionally (if not often) come into conflict.  So how do you resolve this issue?  What is the ideal scenario?  In my 40 years of observation I have seen couples with the man being dominant, and ones where the women is dominant (Sorry I'm not going to talk about LGBTQ couples) and also couples where neither is dominant.  My personal preference (and hopefully experience) is that being equal partners is the best approach.  No one (even me) is always right so its important to be able to confront rather than impose your views and thoughts to get to the best outcome. Having said that the most important thing is for both parties to feel happy within their roles. Sometimes it can be comfortable to just go along with things especially if you have a relaxed nature.

Day 144: Electric

Dinner Menu:

• Salade verte
• Filet de barre aux olives au four
• Pommes de terre en robes des champs avec cottage cheese
• Badoit
• Carré de chocolat noir

Fianna picked up her new car a few days ago. Having read my blog assiduously (that's my theory anyway) she decided to go for the fully electric Nissan Leaf.  As I have been allowed to sit in it as a passenger I can confirm that it is silent and comfortable.  I would have been happy to tell you about it feels to drive but I'm not allowed to drive it at present... Maybe next year ...

As it happens there was an article today in the Guardian mentioning how there are now 1 million electric cars circulating in Europe.  However, that means only 2% of new cars sold are electric.  We need that percentage to come up significantly by taking action on the numerator and the denominator:

Numerator: If you are considering buying a new car make sure its electric.

Denominator: If you are thinking of buying an ICE model.  Don't do it.  Postpone your purchase. I'm sure your car can survive another year by which time you'll be convinced of the need to switch to electric.

Day 143: Plastic

Fianna and I went to the market this morning to stock up on a few essentials for the weekend.  In keeping with my no meat policy (for another 6 days) I went to the fresh fish stall.  As I was paying the fishmonger put the fish I had chosen in a plastic bag.  I asked if he had another option than plastic.  He said not yet but he was going to move to Kraft paper in the next month (because of the new law banning plastics).  Since the documentary "Plastic Ocean"  came out in 2016 I have noticed an increased awareness of the damage plastics are causing to our environment and in particular to our oceans.  I found it particularly ironic that despite understanding that plastic pollution is causing havoc in ocean life the fishmonger was still using plastic bags to wrap his fish. 

At this point I would like to point out 2 important facts:

1. As I mentioned in a preceding post (Rockport) I would like to have a house by the sea someday
2. Having found it easy to avoid meat for 2 months I may well decided to do it permanently at some point in the future.

This is why we must rapidly all stop using plastic.  I do not want to have to pick up plastic from my future beach every morning and I'd like to be sure that there are other proteins than lentils when I decide to forsake meat for good.

Day 142: Slumlord

Dinner Menu:

• Gazpachio de concombre à la menthe
• Salade verte avec feta
• Baguette
• Fromage
• Carré de chocolat noir

Despite (or because) I am quite tall I have always preferred smaller things (phones, cars, notebooks, suitcases, etc).  A few years ago I stayed in New York on business and stayed in one these miniature hotels which are popping up in big cities.  The buildings are normal sized, its the rooms which are quite small but cosy thanks to intelligent design.  Inspired by the fact that Fianna and I managed to optimise our 100m2 flat to make it feel much bigger and by the threat of losing my job in the near future I'm thinking of extending this concept to apartments.  I have been looking at tiny studios (10-12 m2 ) and seeing how they can be optimised become efficient and comfortable.  While I still have a job and therefore a good credit rating I could do a first one which will allow me to then find financing and develop the concept.  Ultimately I will become an ethical slumlord in Paris renting tiny but "luxurious"apartments to students and immigrants in Paris!  The best part is that it would allow me to finally exorcise the frustrated architect within me. 

Day 141: August

I've been back in Paris since Tuesday and I've been enjoying the relative emptiness.  Paris in August is a completely different city.  The few people who are left are much less stressed even if they are still working everybody feels on holiday.  A lot of the shops and restaurants are closed which means there is much less opportunity to needlessly spend money.  Its a pleasure to walk the nearly empty streets and to get around with very little traffic. In fact its so nice that I'm thinking it would be ideal if Paris was always half empty.  I'm thinking if all private cars were banned from Paris a lot of people might decide they would rather move out than be carless.  So double benefit no more cars and less people in the city.  Instead of just banning all petrol cars by 2030 (the city's existing plan) lets go one better and just ban cars altogether. 

Day 140: Clutter 2

Dinner Menu (thank you Francis):

• Carpaccio de coeur d'artichauts au parmesan
• Tartare de thon et pommes frites
• Eau pétillante
• Thé à la menthe
• Carré de chocolat noir 85%

Following yesterday's blog thanks go to my sister and my wife for offering me advice and assistance in sorting through and disposing of my surplus clothing.  However before I embark on this task  I have decided to approach this scientifically.

First some assumptions:

Assumption 1: The laundry gets done (by magic - thank you Fianna) once a week
Assumption 2: I do not need more then two weeks worth of any item
Assumption 3: I do wear slightly different clothes in winter and in summer

On this basis and starting from the bottom up, here is my initial list of necessary items:

• 3 pairs of dress shoes
• 2 pairs of casual shoes
• 1 pair of walking shoes
• 1 pair of tennis shoes
• 1 pair of flipflops (for LA)
• 2 pairs of summer casual shoes
• 14 pairs of socks
• 7 pairs of summer/tennis socks
• 2 pair of Jeans
• 2 pair of summer trousers
• 4 pair of formal trousers
• 5 pair of shorts
• 14 pair of boxer shorts
• 2 pair of swimming trunks
• 2 belts
• 4 T-shirts
• 7 polo shirts
• 10 dress shirts
• 4 cardigans/sweaters
• 2 sweat shirts and pants
• 2 business suits
• 2 summer jackets and 2 winter jackets
• 1 winter coat
• 1 spring/autumn coat/jacket 
• 3 scarfs

I think that covers all eventualities (I've left out specific clothing such as for skiing)

I will start the confrontation process (theory to reality) this weekend so any comments or suggestions should be made before Saturday morning 9 AM.

Day 139: Clutter

I'm back in Paris and the first thing I did when I got home was go through my closet to reorganise and reassess.  Having spent a couple of weeks in a house which was overflowing with stuff I was keen to get rid of anything superfluous in my wardrobe.  It's actually harder than it seems.  Although I don't think of myself as a big shopper I have accumulated a lot of clothes which can be split into 4 categories:

1. Clothes I wear regularly
2. Clothes I wear for specific occasions or activities
3. Clothes I have not worn in over a year
4. Clothes which are a bit too small but I'm hoping will fit me again one day!

Categories 3 & 4 are the difficult ones.  Part of me feels I should just get rid of all of the items in those categories but then I feel that I am throwing away some perfectly good items which would be wasteful.  Maybe I should do a list of what would be a reasonable amount of clothes to have and then give away everything I have in surplus.  I'm sure that I would need less than half what I have.  Actually I'm going to do that exercise and I will come back to you with the results.

Day 138: Fianna

Although I am writing this on the evening of the 20th, I know that most of you and most importantly Fianna will be reading this on the 21st so Happy Birthday Fianna!!!

In my blog I try to focus on issues and ideas rather than personal feelings and life events, however I make occasional exceptions and this is going to be one of them.  Spoiler Alert: If you are uncomfortable with romance and emotions you better skip today's blog.

I cannot believe how lucky I am to have been conjured up by Fianna as her soulmate (I told you this would get schmaltzy).  I could probably do a whole year's worth of blogs on the reasons why I love her but I will limit myself to 5:

1. Her smile and capacity for happiness go straight to my heart
2. She gives meaning (and structure) to my life 
3. Her emotional generosity knows no bounds
4. She loves me for who I am even though I know I can be difficult some times 
5. She makes it easy for me to hold our marriage vows

And as a bonus she is 20 years older than she looks.

I wish I could have been with her today on her special day but I also know that she will have a great time with Theo & Eliot (and her friend Tiia), even if she may miss me a little.  

Day 137: Transition

Tomorrow evening I'm flying back to Paris after 18 days holiday.  This year I  really needed to disconnect so I did not do any work during the whole time.  Although its been great to be switched off, I'm now worried that the return will be a bit of a shock, especially since I will have to go to a client meeting as soon as I arrive in Paris.  I think I should have allowed myself more of a transition. It would be a good idea to have a decompression day whenever you come back from a long holiday work.  The decompression day would mean that your first day at work you would limit yourself to reading e-mails and attending meetings.  You would be expected to be only in reception mode rather than having to actually contribute anything.  Come to think of it, I believe a weekly "reception day" would probably benefit everyone.  If there was one day a week where I could not answer e-mails or participate in meetings I would have to think carefully about my contributions on other days.  With different "reception days" for different people it would also allow a wider range of contributions from people with less forceful personalities.

Day 136: Rockport

We spent the day in Rockport which is on the coast 1 hour away from Boston.  I have been to Boston before but never in the New England countryside.  In the morning we went to a beach and had a swim in the slightly colder water of the East coast.  In the afternoon we had a pleasant walk along the coast despite a slight drizzle.  Walking around this fisherman's village confirmed to me that I would like to have a house by the sea again someday.  I don't know where, although I think I prefer the more rugged and wild coasts of the North Atlantic. Then again I would like to be able to go for a morning swim all year round (not in a pool!).

I'm very grateful to Fianna's  friends, a Franco-Indian couple living in the Boston, for having given us the opportunity of experiencing a quite different part of the United States.

Day 135: Airplanes

After flying from LA to Chicago yesterday we continued on our journey with a plane from Chicago to Boston.  The plane left an hour and a half later than it should have and then was further delayed on arrival which meant that a 2 hr  journey ended up lasting 4 hrs.  In addition to the delays flying involves getting to the airport which can be an hour away from the centre,  arriving 2 hours early to go through security and checking in your bag if you have certain items such as shaving cream  (what is the risk? I will threaten to shave the pilot's head if he or she doesn't do my bidding).  Airports are doing their best to make this process as smooth as possible but its still one of the most complicated ways to travel.  I understand that for intercontinental travel we have not yet found a solution but for any travel which does not involve crossing an ocean I wish we could move to generalised TGVs (high speed trains).  A fast train could do Los Angeles in 6 hrs as opposed to the 4hrs it took by plane plus an extra 2-3 hours of taxis and waiting time.  The cost of building a Los Angeles to Chicago high speed train would be around $100 billion.  If the USA halved its military budget it could build 10,000 kms of High Speed Tracks per year while still having a military budget 50% bigger then the next biggest military budget in the world.

Day 134: Network

My son Louis graduated this year and after an intense July building a zero energy house in China and August playing tennis with his father in Los Angeles he is now back in Montreal actively looking for a job.  Over the course of the summer he has been getting a lot of advice about how to get his first job and most of it can be summarised in one word: Network.  It seems that the best way to get a job is by using your network to its fullest extent.  It's sad to hear that. Using your friends' and family's contacts to get opportunities leads directly to entrenching privilege.  How can society be perceived as fair if your chances of earning a living are dependent on the people you know rather than on your demonstrated abilities?  And yet many studies show that social cohesion and harmony are very dependent on the perceived fairness of the society we live in.  There are no obvious remedies to the network effect, unless we could create artificial networks which would be open to all.  Maybe there is an app idea here ...

In the mean time if any of my readers has an opportunity for a young civil engineer ... You will get 10 points in the competition.  (Bribery is the second best way to get a job)   

Day 133: Feedback

It seems I lost one of my American subscribers today.  I have been accused of being overly critical and negative in my recent blogs thus making them a bad start to the day.  Despite the natural panic at the loss of what probably represents 10% of my readers, I do appreciate the "door slammed in the face" departure rather than "the slinking away discreetly" approach.  I cannot fault my ex-reader's reasons as it is true that my recent blogs have been both critical and possibly humourless. In my defence I would like to highlight three mitigating circumstances:

1. I'm on holiday (You might argue that would give me more time to polish my posts but in fact I find it harder to find the time and the inspiration when my days are filled with family events, swimming in the ocean and early morning tennis).
2. Criticism is the easy option when you don't have inspiration there is always something annoying that you can blow out of proportion.  It's human. Look at Adam he was in paradise and he still wasn't satisfied.
3. Finally I think there are blog cycles.  A variety of factors (moon phases, last meal, star positions, tidal height, weather patterns, result of the morning tennis score and temperature of the cold shower) will impact the tone of my posts.

This does pose the interesting question of how much should I pander to my readers in the hope of retaining them rather than sticking to my line even if I end up preaching in a desert.  I'm too stubborn to tone down or amend my positions, so I'll just have to hope enough of my readers will bear with me until the next cycle.

Be that as it may, I am still grateful to my ex-reader for having held out for so long and for her feedback.  Positive or negative,  engagement is always better than aloofness.   

Day 132: Hate

Since we are in LA we went to the cinema tonight.  We saw a good film by Spike Lee called BlacKkKlansman which talks about the infiltration of the Klan by a black policeman in the 70s and makes some parallels with the racism which still exists today in America.  I was particularly struck by the hate that permeates these people's world.  I don't really understand why people feel so much fear and hate.  What makes a person adopt such a dark world view?  I particularly don't understand because I don't see any advantage to living in such a world.  Humans are by definition social animals. All their greatest achievements have been obtained through collaboration and exchange of ideas.  So what is it that makes people become insular and suspicious? I don't have the answer but I think it would be an interesting area of research if it hasn't been done yet.  And if it has why are we not using our knowledge to remove hate wherever possible?

Day 131: Irresponsible

Today we went to a small beach café in Malibu.  After lunch Louis, Theo and Eliot decided they wanted to jump in the ocean from the fishermen's pier that went out from the beach.  Having checked the depth of the water they walked to the end of the pontoon, climbed over the signs that said no jumping and no diving and jumped into the water.  Having swum back to the beach they were accosted by a lifeguard and 2 people from the café who told them they had to leave the beach. As they ignored the signs they could not on the beach.  No amount of negotiation could deter these gentlemen from "doing their job".  There is no rationality involved here.  It this country as in many western countries it is assumed that people are irresponsible and therefore must be protected against themselves.  Instead of warning people that they jump at their peril or that they should not jump at low tide a total ban is implemented. So in America you can walk around with a loaded gun  but you can't jump into the ocean.   Just under 2,000 people died in drowning accidents in natural waters in the US last year compared to over 15,500 from gunshots.  So which should be a priority? Regulating beaches (where you can only hurt yourself) or guns where you kill others?   I believe it would be better for our societies and our democracies if the assumption was that people are responsible rather than assuming they cannot make their own decisions. 

Day 130: European

I understand why many people love California.  In many ways it is the epitome of the American Dream.  The weather is always good, everyone has a house and at least one car,  the fruits and vegetables look great, nature is beautiful, the lifestyle is relaxed and informal (by American standards), its at the forefront of technology, people can feel good about being environmentally and socially conscious.  Despite these many qualities I don't think California is really for me,  for some reason it feels a little superficial.  Maybe its because I don't know it well enough, but I don't have the same feelings about New York or Montreal.  It seems that despite considering myself a citizen of nowhere and having had an international upbringing, ultimately I am a European and that's where I feel most at home.  

Day 129: Big

Everything is big in this country.  This evening after an active day including the bat-mitzvah ceremony our hosts ordered a pizza.  The pizza (like everything in America) was oversized (probably  80cm in diameter).  I'm not sure why everything needs to be big in the US.  I have already talked about oversized houses but it is true for everything.  Restaurant portions are usually double what they need to be.  You see pickup trucks and big SUVs everywhere usually with only one person in them.  Houses and hotel rooms must have at least two TVs and often 3 or 4.  Fridges are at least twice as big as a big European fridge. What happened to small is beautiful?  Although I find the big open spaces in the American west quite stunning,  I prefer my human spaces to be more compact less intrusive on the environment.

Day 128: Traffic

I am sitting by the sea in San Diego in the amazing private beach house lent to us by our friends T & M.  We came here for their daughter's bat-mitzvah and are spending the weekend.  The trip from Los Angeles to San Diego is 120 miles of 4 lane highways and yet it took us 4 hours.  We left relatively early (2PM) to avoid the traffic!  This was a normal Friday not a bank holiday or special occasion and I understand its always like this.  The  whole journey was practically one big traffic jam.  I don't understand where all these people are going?  Why are so many people driving from one big city on the ocean to another big city on the ocean.  There isn't that much difference between the 2 places.  I'm not sure what would justify spending 4 hours in a car to go from one to the other.  I am notoriously impatient with traffic (this is why I only use scooters in Paris if I have a choice), but are there really people who don't mind being bumper to bumper for 4 hours?   Here I am in one of the richest and most technologically advanced countries in the world and yet it takes me 4 hours to do a journey that would take 30 mins on a TGV in France or a Bullet train in Japan.  And so people in California, the most environmental state in the US, continue to drive and fly around their state while complaining about global warming (I think I may have read a recent blog on double standards)!

Day 127: Standards

I read in the news today that Donald Trumps parents-in-law just received American Nationality thanks to the fact that their daughter Melania had herself become a US citizen after immigrating here.  This process is called "chain migration" in the US and the current president has publicly spoken (and tweeted) against it many times.  Having double standards (preaching one thing and doing the opposite) is something which I find particularly unacceptable .  Not only is it lying to yourself but it is assuming that others are dumb enough not to notice your internal contradictions.  And yet as I write these lines I realise that possibly it is fundamental human characteristic.  Often the things we say and the rules we make for ourselves are aspirations rather than absolutes:

• Plastic bags are bad for the environment ... but they are convenient when we forgot to bring our own  
• Private schools are an unfair privilege... but they are the only option as my local public school has a bad reputation
• Global warming must be stopped ... but I need a car and electrical ones are not yet practical
• Cold showers are healthier ... I'll start tomorrow

Day 126: Principles

After spending a month in China building a zero energy house as part of an international competition, Louis has joined us in LA for a week of R&R.  In between playing tennis and going to the beach he is also looking for his first full time job.  As a civil engineer he could work for a wide range of companies some of which are participating in the destruction of our planet.  So the question becomes should you work for a company that goes against what you believe in?  What comes first a full stomach or your principles?  Here are ten companies which many people would be happy to work for but that I would find it difficult to justify:

1. Philip Morris (Cigarettes)
2. McDonald's (Junk food)
3. Exxon (Oil)
4. Boeing (Armement)
5. Fox News (Media)
6. Monsanto (Agribusiness)
7. Porsche (Luxury cars)
8. Nestlé (Coffee and baby food)
9. L'Oréal (Beauty products)
10. Facebook (Social media) -  have you deleted your account yet?

I'm pretty sure that the world would be a better place if these companies or what they represent were not around.

Day 125: Daylight

Dinner Menu:

• Guacamole avec chips au mais bleu
• St Jacques au vin blanc, olives et crême fraîche
• Spaghetti sans gluten
• Carré de chocolat noir salé

Daylight hours are quite different in LA compared to Paris.  In summer the sun rises around 6AM and sets before 8PM where in Paris in the sun will set closer to 10PM.  Those 2 hours make a big difference to how I feel in the evening and to the time I go to bed.  I find it interesting that despite humanity's capacity to adapt its environment (rather than adapt to its environment) we are still affected by external events.  As I sit inside writing my blog with the light on I realise that I am more tired than I would normally be at this hour (and its not the jet lag).  I'm not sure which one I prefer.  On the one hand its nice to go to bed earlier as it makes for a longer morning and I can imagine that its probably to have a constant amount of daylight time.  Summer and Winter daylight times are quite close in LA.  In Paris it is nice to have long summer evenings and cosy winter evenings but you do need to adjust to big differences in daylight time between summer and winter.  Before pronouncing myself on this important question I think I would have to live for a full year in LA in order to have had the experience of a relatively even summer and winter.  Maybe I should suggest a family Xmas in LA!

Day 124: Property

Today was a fasting day ... I think its harder when I'm on holiday.

The more I stay in america the more I understand communists (even though I'd say I'm more of a libertarian than a communist).   How big a house does a person or family need ?  Walking around Pacific Palisades ( a relatively chic but not ostentatious area of LA) I notice many houses which are over 500m2.  I can't help feeling nobody really needs or uses that much space (assuming a normal family of 2 adults and 2.1 Kids).  Maybe there should be a cap on the size of family homes or  apartments? I could imagine a law that says that a home or apartment cannot be more than 100m2 + 25m2  per person occupying the home.  People occupying oversized house would have 2 choices either vacate their premises and look for a smaller home or increase the number of people in their home.  Or maybe we should just follow Proudhon's well know phrase "La propriété, c'est le vol" (Property is theft).  After all in France for example you cannot privatise beaches, they belong to the state which can "rent" them out for limited periods of time and under strict conditions.  If that is true for beaches why not extend that principle to all land?  The government could then sell leases for a limited period (50 years for example) after which the property would revert to the government.  this would significantly reduce the cost of housing and would redirect capital which is at present locked in real estate to more fruitful purposes.  According to recent estimates the total value of land and buildings in the world is over 300,000,000,000,000 $.  If that amount was invested in a trust fund that would allow the world to easily spend 2x as much on education as it does now.  

Day 123: Medicine

Dinner:

• Chips & salsa
• Pizza californienne
• Salade verte française

As you can see from my above mentioned menu I have well and truly arrived in California.  As I do my exercise in the morning I now listen to American political podcasts rather than my usual BBC4 News Channel.  Today, a democratic candidate for congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is deemed to be extreme left in the US, was talking about socialised medicine.  Her "radical" proposals included a universal health care system which seemed pretty close to what we have in Europe (that hotbed of radical solutions).  I do find it strange how so many people are prepared to vote against their own best interests. As part of the programme they interviewed they interviewed a republican woman who had been to an Ocasio-Cortez rally to see what it was like.  Her main remark was that it was dangerous to go to these rallies because if you listen to them you might end up agreeing with the fact that it would be a good thing to have a minimum  wage, access to medicine for all, higher quality schooling and free universities.  I do find it strange that people are worried that they might change their mind for rational reasons rather than emotional.  Most people who voted Trump did so for emotional reasons rather than rational ones that is reassuring on the one hand as there is nothing more fickle than emotions but it also quite worrying, because it means that no amount of rational argument will win the day.  

Day 122: Housing

One of the strangest and most incomprehensible things about LA is the size of the houses.  Apart from the business distinct which has its obligatory skyscrapers, LA is an unending suburb of bungalows and 2 storey houses.  There are two things that puzzle me:

1. The comparative size of the lots to the houses.  House's seem to occupy as much as possible of the land leaving very little space for garden.
2. Los Angeles houses (especially modern ones) are extremely wasteful.  They comprise large rooms, multiple toilets and bathrooms, formal (little used) areas and they often run with constant air conditioning.

California is one of the birthplaces of the environmental movement and yet its largest city is setting a poor example in energy and land conservation.

I'm getting this short, due to continued jet-lag.  Its 9PM and my head has already dropped onto my keyboard twice. 

Day 121: Things

This year Fianna decided we would do a home exchange rather then staying with her parents.  Our exchange house is very well situated in Pacific Palissades one of the nicest areas in LA in my view.  We are close to the beach, to a massive natural park and to Fianna's sister's house so the location is perfect.  From the house we have a view of the ocean and of the mountains near buy as we eat breakfast on the patio.  You are probably saying to yourselves this all sounds fantastic there must be a catch somewhere.  There is.  The house belongs to a couple of professors from UCLA who have lived here for over 30 years.  In that time I am under the impression that things have gone into the house but nothing has come out.  The house is absolutely choking with "stuff".  Books are piled everywhere, carpets are strewn across floors sometimes in layers, decorative dishes and statues occupy all available flat surfaces, lights, fans, phones and other electric gadgets are dotted around haphazardly, electrical wires crisscross the different rooms. In the fridge half the items were long past their sell by date.  I realise that this isn't my house so however satisfying it would be, I can't rent a skip and throw away 90% of what's here.  I think I'm pretty good at getting rid of stuff but after living in this clutter for 2 weeks I will be even more zealous when I get back to our flat.   

Day 120: Transit

I’m writing this blog in between timezone in a plane on my way to LA for a well needed (if not well deserved) holiday.  Los Angeles is a strange place for a vacation. On the one hand you have nice beaches, the pacific ocean, great weather and huge natural parks within a few minutes drive. However you are in a big city, you need to drive everywhere, and the food is … American. There are many things to enjoy while being on vacation there but I think its the kind of city that you should live in rather than holiday in. I can see that living and working in LA could be a great lifestyle: the weather is always good, most people have a house, the ocean isn't far way and most people are very friendly. But my idea of a vacation is to go somewhere a little more deserted to experience a bigger change from the bustle of Paris.

16 hours after leaving Paris I am sending this form the patio of our accommodation in LA.

Dinner Menu (Thanks Z.)

• Corn on the cobb
• Lettuce, tomato and onion salad
• Tortilla chips
• Water

Day 119: Lies

Tomorrow I'm off to Los Angeles, so I'm giving advance warning that their may be some timing issues with my blog.  I'm not sure if you'll get it early or late, but don't panic it will be coming.  Everybody knows the story of George Washington who owned up to having damaged his father's cherry tree with an axe and then was rewarded for his honesty rather than punished.  And yet I wonder if that is entirely rational behaviour?  Why would you own up to a "mistake" if you can get away with it?  We recently discovered that our ceiling light was damaged probably during a party Eliot had at the flat for the end of his school.  Once we discovered the broken light the debate was more about the fact that nobody owned up to breaking it rather then the breakage itself.  As a child you are taught that lying is a bad thing but who benefits from this ?  Surely the main thing is to not be caught in the lie rather then not lying? I'm pretty sure my daughter lied to me quite a lot as a teenager especially about her use of recreational drugs, and many parents would find that unacceptable.  But I can't say that it would have made a real difference to either of us.  Maybe Sasha would have felt a little less guilty (I don't think she lost much sleep about lying to me) and I would have patted myself on the back for having such a good relationship with my daughter.

In conclusion I think lies are only given importance when there are fundamental problems in a relationship.  A strong relationship can easily survive an occasional lie.