Don’t fret too much about algal blooms; we hate the inverted yield curve; in defense of dumb humor

It gets awfully warm around here. It seems like the smart thing to do would to be to go jump in the water ... a lake or one of our rivers. But earlier this year we were warned constantly to be wary of the water because, from all the snowpack we had over the winter, the runoff was keeping waterways swift and extra cold and hypothermia was a real concern.

Now? We’re hearing about harmful algal blooms. Types of algae, in the right conditions, explode and create a toxic byproduct that can be very harmful to people and fatal to pets.

There was a scare going around on social media a few times.

But if you go to the state website, mywaterquality.ca.gov, and click on the item about algal blooms, you’ll find no reports of problems in Yuba or Sutter counties. There was a report filed on Englebright Lake back in July. And there were some reports up around Oroville in the past. But nothing local reported at this time.

By all means be careful. Don’t let kids or dogs play in algae-tainted water; and if you see bright blue-green on the water, for sure stay out of it (in fact, report it at the website listed above). But maybe it’s time to get your summer-run-and-jump-and-splasharound-thing taken care of.

*. Thumbs Down: We can’t pretend to understand it, but we’re pretty sure we hate the “inverted yield curve.” The phenomenon occurs when shortterm bonds generate more in interest than long-term bonds, according to some reporting in Thursday’s edition. It’s been the talk of economists and politicos on talkie shows for the last week. There’s been an occurrence of the curve preceding every recession since 1955, it was reported. So we worry about our retirement funds.

Local financial management experts mostly say to not worry too much -the curve, alone, doesn’t necessarily indicate a recession; and we should all be looking long-term not short-term (except some of us don’t feel like the long term is that long any longer).

The best takeaway? If you’re worrying excessively, tell your problems to your advisor. If you don’t have one and have a substantial amount to worry about, maybe you should look

for one.

At the least, you’ll get a cup of coffee during. Maybe a donut.

* Thumbs Down: We weren’t there; and we aren’t privy to all the information; but it seems that a local high school teacher bumbled a joke a bit... Making a comedy bit out of the urgency to get students to turn something in on time, the teacher threatened use of corporal punishment as a condition for missing the deadline. Kidding, of course. And from what we hear, most people got that.

But it triggered an investigation. The teacher was on leave, last we heard. We’re a bit afraid of the state of mind we find ourselves in over the use of words, comedy, satire, irony, un-self-censored speech. Are we going to have to go through some process to bleach dumb stuff from our brains so we don’t cause trouble?

Of course, we should not make dumb jokes... but sometimes you try and fail (you can start looking for an example in this space each week). Could a judgment call be made without suspending the teacher and calling in police investigators? Or must we go through every motion every time someone lets something slip past their lips that should have been killed by the little censor who lives (or should be living) in our brains? Steve Miller is Editor of the Appealdemocrat

* Ugh. Speaking of bad humor: A man and woman, both 60, went to dinner to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. Just as they were finishing, a genie magically appeared. He asked the wife: “What’s something you’ve always wanted?” She replied, “A trip around the world.”

Bam! Two tickets on the QE2 appeared on the table along with a pile of cash for spending money. She was ecstatic. The husband got a little gleam in his eye as the genie turned to him and asked, “What have you always wanted, sir?”

“I want a wife who’s 30 years younger than me.”

Bam! The man was 90.