Ishkur, Mesopotamian god of storms
Despite a week of weather forecasts predicting rain on Saturday, the day of PrideVisalia 2019 was sunny, clear, and warm. How did that happen? Well, now the story can be told.
The very first PrideVisalia hosted by The Source LGBT+ Center was in June 2017, and the summer gods were out in full force. 105 degrees in the shade (40 for those of you who are on the Celsius thermometer), with relentless solar radiation made for a sweaty and uncomfortable festival. The powers-that-be decided that it’s difficult to be gay (or lesbian, or bi, or trans, or pan, or anything else for that matter) under such conditions, so the festival for 2018 was moved to the end of May. Cooler weather usually prevails, and the festival can be truly festive. It did and it was.
As PrideVisalia 2019 approached, our weather apps began giving us ominous warnings. Thunderstorms, rain, and warm temperatures were threatening to make the festival a muggy, wet, sodden affair. Nerves were on edge, a brave face was put on by organizers, and extra awnings were put on standby.
Why didn’t it rain? I simply asked for a favor.
Yep, I set up a conference call, and got all the gods on one hookup. You wouldn’t believe how difficult that was to arrange! Some of these characters really don’t like each other. Some kept insisting none of the others even existed! I finally appealed to their better natures (for some their vanity, but that’s another story) and got them all on the line.
I managed to snare the major players: Zeus, Ishkur, Tlaloc, Indra, Fryer, Odin (who, like some of the other major players, insisted on being included even though he doesn’t usually handle weather himself), and Tempestas (who you would think from her name wouldn’t be a easy sell, but she was a joy to talk with). Some native American weather spirits joined in, especially those of the local tribes here in the valley, and of course Allah and Yahweh. (I tried to get Lucifer on the call, just to keep some balance, but he was unavailable. Apparently he’s on vacation. In Los Angeles. Odd.)
After some small talk that seemed to last an eternity (God time is very different from human time, it seems) we got down to the issue at hand.
I was prepared for a long, hard fought battle to convince them to hold the rain off for a day, but it was amazingly easy.
Seems the gods are really fond of their LGBTQ+ children, and were eager to grant such a request. They also love a party, and once I described what was going on, they were all on board with very little convincing required. I think the drag queens and the Ballet Folklorico dancers of Mexico Moderno really put it over the top.
I got a bit of flack from Yahweh about my being an atheist and all, but I’m pretty sure he was just ribbing me. (see what I did there?) He, of course, loves all the rainbow gear at Pride. Allah was silent for most of it all, but I’m pretty sure I heard a نعم فعلا from him.
So there you have it. One conference call, some friendly chatting, a bit of ego stroking for the more vain characters, and they all agreed to push the rain to the next day. Sunny and warm, with a slight breeze prevailed for PrideVisalia 2019.
I’m a little concerned what they might require of me as payment for granting my favor. A couple of them were putting on an ominous tone, but I’m pretty sure they were just teasing. Fairly sure. Oh boy… what have I done! Whatever the reality of that is, I’ll deal with it at some future date. A very far-off in the future date. Maybe they’ll forget. One can hope.
Oh, and you’re welcome!
P.S.
OK, maybe it’s not the Earth that’s 
JimmieJoe / KC6YRU 
VUSD – $60,000 now, $26.5k every year
June 6, 2026
Jim Reeves commentary, geek, News visalia, VUSD, Visalia Unified School District, bus radios, Faber Communications, cellular networks, buses Leave a comment
Wait, what?
Visalia Unified School District’s Board of Trustees next meeting includes a consent calendar item for a “digital radio upgrade”. The packet includes information that this is a $60,781 “one-time” cost for the hardware upgrade. What the item doesn’t say, but is included in the invoice, is an annual subscription cost of $26,522 from year 2 onwards.
So what is a “digital radio upgrade” you might ask? Well, I’m glad you asked.
From their own agenda packet:
Backup Radios TransportationDownload
They want to ensure the ability of bus drivers to communicate with the District Bus office when they take the buses beyond the range of the current two-way radio system.
Reasonable.
The problem?
They want to outfit 75 buses with these new units, and have 10 handheld units.
Here’s my thoughts on the matter. While being able to communicate with the buses when they’re on what we used to call ‘field trips’ beyond the range of the currently installed two-way radios, they’ll never have a time when all 75 buses are out of range.
$60,000 initially, and $26,500 a year after that, to solve a limited problem, seems a bit pricey.
Here’s a cheaper idea. Check your records. See how many buses are on field trips out of range at once during the past two years.
Once you have that number, you know how much technology you need.
Here’s the solution. Buy that many cell phones, and assign them to the transportation division. When a bus is going out of radio range, give the driver a phone pre-programmed with 9-1-1 and the transportation office phone number.
The proposed “radios” will be using the cellular network, so a bundled cell phone plan should be a lot cheaper.
You don’t need to outfit every bus with the technology needed to leave it’s radio coverage area. And if your solution is using a cellular network to solve that problem, a relatively cheap cell phone works exactly the same way.
Or, pay drivers a stipend to carry their own cell phone with them, and use that when circumstances require communications with base.
And there’s no $26,500 annual subscription fee.
10-4?
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