In this episode – Powering the West . . . Welcome back to On the Fly, your podcast for curious minds exploring the unexpected. Today, we're soaring across the Pacific Northwest down to sunny California, tracing the fascinating history of the Pacific Northwest–Pacific Southwest Intertie. Imagine a massive power line stretching over 800 miles, carrying electricity from the mighty Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest to the sun-drenched valleys of California. This is the Pacific Northwest–Pacific Southwest Intertie (Intertie) , a marvel of engineering that revolutionized power transmission in the Western United States. Professor Carl Magnusson from the University of Washington had a vision as early as 1919 to create a high-voltage network that would connect the Pacific Northwest, rich in hydroelectricity, with the energy demands of the Southwest. This vision gained momentum during the droughts in California during the 1940s, highlighting the need for a reliable power source beyond
In this episode – What Time Is It . . . In the era before smartphones, let’s say we’re on a telephone call, and you ask me, “What time is it?” As a five-year-old, my reply is, "The big hand is on the two (2) and the little hand on the eight (8).” You would then say, "Alright, it's ten minutes after eight o’clock or eight-ten, right?" This is how we learned to tell time as children–remember? Well, what happened . . . During dinner last week in Westfield, NJ, a retired high school teacher told our group, “Did you know that children today cannot read the time on a traditional watch with an analog face?” “Why not?” we asked. “Because of smartphones and the proliferation of digital clocks.” “Wow! That’s hard to believe.” Welcome to this week's episode of "On the Fly." Today, we'll compare classic mechanical watches to modern quartz watches and explore an unexpected social shift. To begin with, let me take you back a few days. I’m a traditionalist and pre