Month: September 2022

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I’m over it! 3 months and not 1 usable watt generated.

The other half decided to have solar panels installed on the roof.

Panels

Their reasoning was that Edison and PGE were trying to work out some B.S. where they would no longer have to buy any excess Kilowatts from homeowners whose solar panels generated power in excess of their usage during the day.

To my way of thinking this is blatant theft. Even if Edison or PG&E wanted to put free panels on my roof, I’d still charge them space rental based on SqFt. I’m sure we could work out some arrangement where they paid for the usage of my roof space in electricity. That being said I’m equally sure they’d find a way to make the power so expensive that the space rental would be negligible.

Simultaneously, Edison has been raising rates and re jiggering their Tier rates such that the only time you’re not paying the most expensive Tier is early in the morning and very late at night. Basically it’s like they’re doing everything in their power to screw their customers.

This is happening throughout the year but it’s especially annoying because the only high usage appliances we have are the refrigerator, the A/C unit, dishwasher, and the washer. The Fridge we can’t do too much about. The A/C is rarely on, the washer and dishwasher are only used with full loads.

More often than not we hand wash the dishes.

Every single light in this house is LED, or fluorescent. The lights are only on in the room we occupy. Even our ceiling fans are EneryStar Compliant at the highest level we could purchase. We’ve dialed our power consumption down to bare minimum and yet the Electric bill kept going up. I was all set to put padlocks on all the external wall sockets because we were wondering if someone was stealing power from the house. It wasn’t until I started running comparisons between bills that I realized that wasn’t happening. Our power consumption is very constant and predictable.

Our path lights and even the exterior Christmas lights, (In season) are solar powered.

I’d sort of given up on Solar panels on the house because snow on those panels in the wintertime coupled with the general overcast would make the panels useless for 3 to 4 months a year. The other half pointed out that much of the rest of the year, if we could put enough panels on the roof we’d bank the excess power during the Summer and possibly not have to pay much of an electric bill during the Winter.

I saw the merit of this logic and agreed that panels could potentially do us some good. Because the panels were installed prior to the date Edison and PG&E were going to implement their nefarious plan, we got in under the wire and will be banking our excess and Edison will have to pay us prevailing rates according to their own Tier schedule.

So we went ahead with the installation. The panels were installed in June.  Edison will have to pay us prevailing rates according to their own Tier schedule. You can bet your ass, we’ll be calling them out on any discrepancies or delinquent credits or payments. After all essentially, we’re an independent power company now…

You’d think all of this would be great. It would if everything was actually connected. Here we are in September and the panels are still not producing power for household use. The panels have the potential and god knows they’re getting tons of light during the day but this installation and interconnect to our house circuits is still not complete.

Some electricians were out today to install a subpanel.

Now we find that we’re going to have to wait 3 to 4 weeks for Edison to get off their asses and inspect / approve the actual connection. Before we can turn the damn things on.

That’s annoying, so is the hole in the exterior wall where these connections were added.

Apparently, the installation company is going to send out carpenters to patch the hole and pretty things up. Great! More waiting!

By the time these panels are online, it’s going to be Winter. So they’ll do very little good. Perhaps we’ll start to see a return on the investment by Spring of 2023, if we’re lucky. At this rate, I’m beginning to think we’re not going to have these things online until next Summer.

I don’t want to install backup batteries until we know the panels are working as expected and that the power distribution is so automatic that we don’t notice the changeover from Solar to Edison at night. Only then will I consider backup batteries, so that when the inevitable rolling blackouts hit California, we’ll be able to keep running. I’m looking at UPS (Uninterruptible Power System) systems now for the more delicate electronics.

I just saw the guy up the street Tesla on the back of a tow truck again. That has become at least a monthly event. I think it’s being towed to a charging station.  If he follows the normal routine, the car will be driving back up to the guy’s house in a couple of hours.

I don’t know why the car doesn’t charge at his house, but obviously something isn’t working right. Perhaps he should consider buying a new house in a new neighborhood where the power infrastructure can handle his car? His house was built in the 1950s it may be that the place just can’t handle to power requirements. Alternatively, he could just go buy a gas powered vehicle.

Perhaps I could point out that I’ve got some solar panels on the roof that aren’t doing anybody any good? Nah, I’d probably have to have the electricians back out to install another panel specifically for his car. God knows what kind of inspection process that would entail.

Then there’s the risk of his Tesla deciding to ignite some of its batteries in my driveway. Yeah, not interested.

The really weird thing about having solar panels up here is that people are always asking if our house is off the grid. When I say “no, we don’t have the battery backup option and are still reliant on Edison when the sun goes down,” I get this blank look.

Then I have to explain that the panels only generate power they don’t store it. This is usually followed by a blank look and them repeating the question. I’m constantly astounded at how little people understand about simple science.

The next person who puts me through this I’m going to clamp jumper cables to their nipples and connect ‘em to the solar panels. At least that would be a test proving that the panels are actually working. Yeah, I still don’t know if they’re working.

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Wildfire Season

Wildfire

Awake at 3:00AM

At first I’m not sure what woke me up. As I lay there my awareness expands.

The house is silent, as is the neighborhood. The sound of crickets is normal, and the oppressive heat of the day has abated.

There’s a coolish breeze blowing through the open windows. The dog is sleeping, I can tell by his snoring he’s probably laying on his back under the breeze from the ceiling fan.

Completing the evaluation of my immediate surroundings I notice there’s the scent of smoke in the air.

From experience, I know it’s the smell of a brush fire. The smell isn’t strong, nor is it the same smell that is present when the fire is close.

Somehow this smells “cooler” like it’s traveled a distance.

It is strong enough that it woke me. There hadn’t been any smoky smell when I went to bed.

Instinct is interesting. We think of sleep as “Turning Off” but that’s not really true. It’s just a different state of awareness. Somewhere in the deep primitive part of our brain there’s something monitoring our surroundings. An odd sound, light, or smell triggers a primal response.

That response in my case is accompanied by a hit of adrenaline that says, “Get your ass moving!”

The smell is strong. Apparently, it was enough to trigger my alert system. I can see the sky, and the stars clearly. I know there’s no smoke in the air, or rather not enough to obscure the sky. I roll over and try to go back to sleep.

I can’t.

The evacuation inventory list is playing in my head. What to take, what to leave, exit routes, and all the rest.

Eventually I can’t not think about fire.

I get up, wake the computer up, and start checking the Cal-Fire incident site.

The nearest reported fires are miles away, they’re 98% contained. The next nearest fire is in Hemet, 50 miles away so that’s not a threat to me. Although I note that two people  lost their lives. That’s bad. I don’t know the circumstances they were in but it reenforces my belief that if there’s a wildfire I’ll run, I’ll grab the dog, and what papers or sentimental items I can, and the rest can burn.

Anything can be replaced except your life and the lives of your loved ones.

For me though, tonite the damage is done. I pour myself a drink and write this blog. It’s going to take a while for the adrenaline to leave my system. 

Until then I’m not getting any sleep.

I hope your night was more restful.

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The moment I saw the word, I knew this would happen

The word is PureBlood.

This is a term that some unvaccinated people are using to identify themselves. These folks are specifically referring to the COVID vaccine and while they’re probably vaccinated against other common childhood illnesses they’re drawing the line at the mRNA vaccines.

In a way it makes sense. Unvaccinated people were demonized as pariahs. Many of them lost their jobs, some of their children are being denied the opportunity to attend school (in person or via remote learning), our military is still dismissing trained soldiers who have requested and been denied religious exemption. Latest reports I’ve read, put the number of unvaccinated at a little north of 30% of the population.

The story of the COVID vaccine has shifted over the past 2 years. First it was, “you won’t get sick,” then the storyline morphed into, “you won’t get as sick”. The story in the beginning was that if you got vaccinated you’d not spread COVID, now data is suggesting that you can still spread it and that may be worse because you might be asymptomatic. Therefore spreading it unknowingly, although this is no different from unvaccinated people who are asymptomatic so that’s probably a wash.

The shifting winds of the efficacy and repeated boosters have not lent a lot of credence to the narrative presented by the powers that be.

President Biden said COVID was a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Then went off and got COVID after being quadruple vaccinated. It’s interesting to note that President Biden’s entire Presidency seems to have been about identifying and then demonizing “The Other”. First it was the unvaccinated, now it’s MAGA.

Fauci suffered the same embarrassment over vaccinations, He still got COVID, and later suffered a Paxlovid rebound.

Through it all there were people that chose not to get the vaccine. For some, it was a matter of religion, for others it was a matter of their particular biology which resulted in the vaccine being contraindicated. Still others had COVID early on and saw no need to be vaccinated against something they’d already had and survived. Others just didn’t trust the government and their mistrust only grew as the government brought force and shame to bear.

But one aspect has been fairly constant. Demonization. The unvaccinated were “Dirty”, “Unpatriotic”, “Selfish”, and “AntiSocial”. There were media pundits that suggested putting the unvaccinated into camps.

None of this would engender compliance for people who made their own decisions and were willing to live with the consequences.

Some of the unvaccinated believe that the mRNA vaccines will cause long term health issues and reproductive harm. Fauci himself admitted in an interview that abnormal bleeding and irregular menstruation, post vaccine, needed further study.

It seems that a lot of the unvaccinated also believe that the vaccines alter the DNA of the person. I’ve seen interesting justifications both pro and con in this stance. I don’t have sufficient information about genetics or the interaction of RNA / DNA to comment nor is there any need for the purposes of this post.

The point is, PureBlood is being used to describe in a broad sense unvaccinated folks. The unvaxed are owning it instead of covering it up. Now they’re making dating and mating choices based on their status.

There are PureBlood dating sites. 

In a way it makes sense. If you’re a PureBlood and you believe that reproductive harm is caused by COVID Vaccines, then you’d want to date and perhaps marry another PureBlood in order to insure that your children had the best shot at a healthy life without genetic abnormalities.

The added benefit is that you’re more likely to share similar political or religious beliefs.

Lots of people on the internet are sneering and making nasty comments about these sites. Why they’d bother? I have no idea. The unvaccinated are probably not going to be interested in them, and they’re not going to be interested in the unvaccinated. But the internet at large seems to NEED to find fault.

For the unvaccinated, it’s just more of the same.

Some of the younger unvaccinated males have made interesting responses. The best was a guy responding to a particularly nasty thread saying, “Don’t worry ladies, my sperm will only cost you 10K a vial when your man finds out he’s sterile and you want a kid. You have no worries that I’d ever put my dick in your diseased cooch!”

I read that, and blew water out my nose. (I should learn not to drink when I’m scanning comment threads.)

The responses from some of the nastier women were very unladylike. Most were generally along the lines of, “In your dreams you racist, misogynist, transphobic, homophobic, piece of shit, better the species die out than have to carry your seed in my belly”

His response was, “Yeah remember that when you’re begging to jerk me off.”

Funny thing to me, (aside from his responses,) is that so many really nasty women put in the time to search for the site, and then took the time to raise a vitriolic stink by writing comments. They could have done what a lot of “Normal” people do, not bothered!

As I was reading about these sites, and there are a growing number, I wondered how long it would be before small enclaves started. This could be the seeds for the next Waco or Ruby Ridge type commune. 

A lot of the unvaccinated seem to think that the vaccinated will die off. I’m not sure where that belief comes from. There are statistics from other countries that suggest a higher than usual mortality due to all causes over the past two years. The numbers seem to be increasing.

I think that this is probably due to people not getting in to their doctors for routine checkups. By the time folks did get to the doctor, things had progressed too far to be stopped. In other words, I think the unvaccinated folks belief may be due to coincidence instead of provable fact.

Again, I’m not a doctor, biochemist, virologist, or anything in the medical field so this is just my opinion.

It struck me that this is how religions and / or cults get started.

Viktor

I wonder if the President’s next speech will attempt to demonize white supremacist PureBloods.

I have to admit, hearing something like, “The PureBloods are dangerous to us all, they’re evil!” has a lot sexier ring to it.

With a little PR I’ll bet you could make PureBloods out to be practitioners of blood rituals and satanic rites aimed at the destruction of democracy.

I probably shouldn’t give the spin doctors any ideas…

After all, I too am a PureBlood.

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So I’ve been looking at Fascist Clothing…

Hey, those SS uniforms really looked sharp.

NAZI Fashion

Why not? As a white, CIS, conservative leaning, male, I’m already suspect.

According to the media and to some extent The President I’m already a bad guy.

I’m white – OH NO!!!!
 – I don’t have my requisite KKK uniform. Designer sheets just don’t cut it. The Brothers in the Klan don’t think pretty little flowers are appropriate. I also have not had myself pilloried in the public square so that I may renounce my whiteness, and have no intention to do so.

I’m CIS – Oh My God! 
– I’ve never felt the need to be other than a male and I’m pretty happy with my tackle. In this day that too, is apparently some sign of deep psychosis.

I’m conservative learning – Oh SHIT! 
– Just because I want smaller government, a balanced budget, responsible spending, lower taxes, and our leaders to do their jobs for all of the nation, I’m likely to be on some list somewhere.

I’m a male with no need to declare my pronouns – DAMN! God must really hate me.
– I’ve really tried to contain my toxicity, but there’s nothing to be done. By definition I must be a misogynist and therefore a threat to every single woman anywhere within a 50 mile radius.

Now I’m a fascist too.

Damn, I just can’t catch a break.

There may be a silver lining. Since I’m already guilty of all these terrible things, with no hope of redemption, I’m free.

I’m free to step on toes, free to speak my mind, free of walking on egg shells around people.

Because it just doesn’t matter anymore. I no longer have any need to “BE GOOD”. Now for the first time since I can remember I can just fucking relax.

The only way to win this game we’ve been sucked into… Is not to play.

I can go out without a mask, I can purchase guns, and ammunition. I can drive my gas car and maybe I’ll buy myself a gas powered truck too. Heck, I might load my car up with trash and drive down the freeway tossing it out the window. Forget about me separating recycle from household trash!

I’m free to catcall a woman or man, I’m free to use the “N” word or any other racist epithet as much as I want to. I can smoke, drink, fuck, eat red meat, or whatever the hell else I want to do because nothing I do trying to be a good guy matters.

If someone drops on the street due to a heart attack, I can ask what their political affiliation is. If they’re not my party… Sorry dude, you’re gonna die. I’ll skip away happily, after all I don’t want to trouble someone from the other party’s conscience. Imagine the everlasting horror they’d have to carry were I to save their life.

Given all this, I thought, “Hey those Nazi uniforms made the guys wearing them look really sharp.”

So I’m looking for a supplier.

Why bother looking like everyone else? Anyone seeing me on the street will know to avoid me for any or all of the aforementioned irrevocable personality defects. 

Oh… Look there’s a good price on “wife beater” undershirts!

Yes, I’m being sarcastic but there is a kernel of truth here.

When you continuously demonize a select group of people, they’re left with only one choice. Become exactly what they’re expected to be. They’ve already PAID the price over and over again. Why bother trying to change people’s perception?

Wasn’t this the justification put forth by liberals in the 70’s & 80’s to explain the higher crime rates, and justify spending more money in inner city black neighborhoods?

Just asking…

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Funny, I don’t feel any better!

President Joe Biden gave a speech last night.

Normally, I dutifully ignore his speeches because they are often full of inaccuracies and hyperbole. This is true of most speeches any President, Premier, Prime Minister, Potentate, Dictator, or whatever may make.

I would have ignored the Biden Speech as well. Except that all the sudden my phone started buzzing with News Alerts. Those too I would have ignored, except for this image.

GettyImages 1242872745

Upon seeing this image, I pulled up the entire speech and sat through all 29 grueling minutes.

I was very annoyed at the fact that I had to keep adjusting the volume on the TV to hear him. One second, he’s whispering and the next he’s bellowing. (I feel really sorry for the sound crew. They must have been losing their minds too.)

On the one hand The President was saying some things I actually agree with. We should all be working together, political violence is wrong.

Okay, I thought, “I agree with you.”

Then The President veered into his MAGA, Semi-Fascist, rhetoric and he totally lost me.

The President wanted us to know that he doesn’t hate all Republicans. He came close to sounding like the racist who proudly tells someone he has Black Friends. The President wanted us to know he knows America’s heart. That didn’t quite ring true because he is clearly not listening to an increasing number of Americans of all stripes who say they think the country is heading in the wrong direction, (If polls are to be believed.)

I’m a visual kind of guy.

As The President and The First Lady walked out to the podium the lighting was a basic white reflecting off Independence Hall. Then as The President started talking the lighting changes to a somber angry red. This isn’t a color scheme that’s uplifting, it’s dark, brooding, and forbidding.

I found the whole image profoundly disturbing. Perhaps this is because in my visual memory are images of Adolf Hitler giving fiery speeches decrying the evil of the Juden against a background of Nazi flags.

Adolf Hitler speaking at the Lustgarten Berlin 1938

There was something really off about The President’s speech painting Independence Hall in that somber red flanked by Marines.

Perhaps it’s just that I’m old enough that we studied Hitler and Nazism in depth, in Social Studies. Let me say, Hitler was a fantastic orator. The cadence of the words in his speeches was mesmerizing even if you didn’t understand German.

Apologies for this image of Hitler’s back, there are very few surviving color images from that time. This one came to mind but the first one I thought of was him at a podium with the Nazi flag behind him. I can’t locate that image online right now.

The more The President spoke about the threats to Democracy and the danger of MAGA Republicans. The more I felt like I’d heard speeches like this before. Thankfully President Biden isn’t the orator that Hitler or other despots were.

But by the end of his speech I was profoundly uncomfortable. I didn’t sleep well last night at all.

I’m not a MAGA Republican. That being said, Hillary versus Trump was the first time I’d never cast a vote for President.

Two questionable choices isn’t a choice. Voting for bad or worse isn’t a viable option for the future of our nation.

In 2020, presented with Trump versus Biden. I voted for Trump. It was a simple choice because Biden was such a poor candidate, and Trump was the “Devil” we knew.

By that time, Trump had survived an impeachment, the Steele Dossier had been disproven, and claims of Russian Collusion were falling apart too. Trump is definitely not a saint, but by 2020 it had become fairly obvious that something more was afoot. The man called it as he saw it, sometimes he called it wrong but at least he spoke plainly. He didn’t take any bullshit.

By 2020 we’d seen the hypocrisy of many in Congress and the double standards were being exposed. The economy was running well, at least until COVID, yet even in the face of COVID, I think people were still pretty positive given the circumstances.

Does that make me a MAGA?

I don’t think so.

I am in favor of an America first agenda. I don’t think rabid nationalism is the solution, but I have no problem thinking of my nation first. I don’t see that as a crime, or particularly selfish. We shouldn’t be feeding our enemies when people in our own country are homeless and hungry.

I’ve always appreciated the wisdom of the airline flight safety briefing.

“In the event of cabin depressurization, secure your oxygen mask before helping others.”

That concept of securing my own well being so that I have the strength and capacity to help others is just plain common sense.

The more President Biden spoke, the more my mind played tricks on me. In my mind’s eye I saw the background of speech altering. By the time The President finished speaking…

Biden Speech Altered 1

This is what was in my mind’s eye. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t sleep well. I couldn’t shake the image.

The Marines standing in the background was completely un-necessary and I took it as an implied threat. Recently President Biden has said essentially, if you’re worried about giving up your AR-15s or other guns you shouldn’t because we have F-15s and your guns aren’t going to be much use against them.

He couched that in more florid terms but that’s what his statements have boiled down to in my head.

Marines standing behind The President comes across as a threat. Those Marines didn’t appear to be armed, they were too far from The President to afford much in the way of protection. The construction of the stage, walkway, and position of the podium itself precluded either of those Marines from taking action if The President was threatened.

They were Window Dressing.

The choice of location for this speech was also disturbing. Independence Hall, the place where our Founding Fathers debated and approved both, The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution is a place that has very special meaning.

President Biden has said publicly that The Constitution is not absolute. During his speech, he singled out a group of Americans that simply disagree with he and his party. Mind you this is a group of people exercising their First Amendment right to free speech and that includes their right to disagree.

Somehow, The President’s speech and his earlier comments about The Constitution made it seem like he was intentionally defiling Independence Hall.

I want to believe that wasn’t his intention. I want to believe that his handlers and “Show Runners” just didn’t think about it in that light.

Nonetheless, it still feels like somehow The President diminished the revered status of the site last night.

As a conservative leaning Libertarian this President concerns me greatly.

This speech left a very bad taste in my mouth and I suspect that it had the same effect on millions of other people who generally speaking, are middle of the road politically.

The President may have created more MAGA Semi-Fascists last night than he intimidated.