Christmas weekend has been another reminder that the majority of America’s power grid is outdated and most of the country’s transformers are getting close to the end of their expected lifespans.Congress recently passed a new infrastructure rebuilding program, but it will take years to complete. And there’s a shortage of new transformers, which is increasing the price by 20 to 50%. One utility paid 10 times more for new transformers. 

When temperatures drop, many of you start your car and then return to the house while the car warms up. Others leave their car running while they run into the gas station to grab a hot coffee.  Thieves love it when you do this, which is why cold weather is a hot time for car thefts. Many states have passed “puffer laws,” which refer to the puffs of emissions coming out of a car’s tailpipe in cold weather. Thieves watch for those as signals of a car that is running but nobody is inside. And, by the way, you really don’t need to warm up your car anyway. I will explain why.

Now that you have made it through the Christmas storm of 2022, you may be wondering if this is one you can bore, I mean tell, your grandchildren about years from now. You can, but it still does not compare to some of the worst winter storms in American history, including the great storm of 1888. Let me tell you about that and a few more, many of which occurred much later in the season than you might expect.

And a judge has ruled that two people who paid to see a movie can sue the filmmakers because the movie trailer promised that an actress would be in the film. But she was cut out. The judge says a trailer is essentially an advertisement and ads, under California state law, must be true. The plaintiffs each paid about four dollars to see the movie and are suing for five million dollars.