Category: California

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My GOD! I hate Bureaucratic little despots!

The saga of the solar panel installation may be coming to an end.

That’s a good thing. I’m really kinda over it. As in losing my ability to give a shit!

This morning, the final inspection is supposed to take place. The representative from the panel installation company has been out. He’s doing some final tweaks which is a good thing.

But first thing this morning he hands me a clipboard with a a county form on it asking me to sign to attest that I have smoke a CO2 sensors in my house. The paperwork also wanted to verify that the water heater is grounded. It’s natural gas, and the pipes in the house are copper going to ground. So uh yeah! The water heater is freaking grounded!

I ask him what any of this has to do with the dang solar panels on the roof.

He’s not sure, it’s just something The County requires.

I look at the form and tell him I’m going to get my glasses to be able to throughly read the document he’s handing me, so that I know what I’m actually signing.

When I come back, the first thing I notice is that the documents have someone else’s name and address on them. So I ain’t signing shit.

But it got me to thinking.

The invasiveness of regulations has been a royal pain in my ass since this house was rebuilt, and even before then.

When I bought this house, there was a fire suppression system installed. This was mandated by the County when the house was originally built in 1992. For 15 years or so, I paid $300.00 every year to have someone come out and inspect the system. This was to prevent the antifreeze from draining out of the suppression system back into the main water lines.

When the house burned, the fire alarms worked, the fire suppression system didn’t. One of the inspectors had left the dang valves closed so that fancy assed fire suppression system was offline. (That’s what comes from constantly fiddling with something. The possibility of mistakes increases.)

When we rebuilt the house, the county mandated that he have 6 CFB fixtures built into the ceiling of the house (This was more lights than we had total in the house prior to it burning.) Supposedly this was to make the house more energy efficient. I asked the building inspector how having more lights in the house made the house more energy efficient. Those lights still pulled, (at the time 40W). 

Five years later someone in the State of California noticed that compact fluorescent bulbs contained mercury vapor. Fluorescent lights have always contained mercury vapor. That’s how they work. OMG! These bulbs if improperly disposed of can be environmentally dangerous! 

A few years after that, someone else realized that as these bulbs age they can emit high levels of UV, which might be hazardous. Again, DUH! It’s not rocket science. Pass a current at a specific frequency through mercury vapor and it emits UV light, coat the inside of a glass tube with a fluorescent material that glows when exposed to UV light and you get visible light.

It’s simple science. Pity we apparently don’t teach Science anymore.

At the time I was laughing because it was another case of unintended consequences due to petty bureaucrats deciding they had a good idea with absolutely zero knowledge of the underpinning science and therefore no understanding of the potential consequences. I also had a good laugh at the sudden plethora of UV sensors that hit the market to make sure you were safe from the evil older CFBs the State demanded you put in your house.

My sensor, was my glasses. Yeah, my Photo-chromic eyeglasses. See, they darken due to UV light so if I suspected that a CFB was aging or the fluorescent coating was getting flaky, I’d hold my eyeglasses near the bulb. If they got dark, I knew it was time to change the bulb.

Again, if you know how things work at a basic level, you can save yourself $29.95! Unfortunately, retrofitting the fixtures to LED costs a lot of money. Although, all of the other lights in the house with standard A26 screw in sockets have been updated to LED and if those lights are on full blast they use less power than the fluorescent fixtures. 

Move forward a couple of years and the County comes through telling us that we have to remove plants at the very edge of our property line from our landscaping because these plants can burn. Uh yeah sure, but the plants in question have been in that position on the property for 20 years. Oh and they survived the actual house fire that burned the house to the ground. Not to mention that ALL plants can burn!

Another expense, due to bureaucrats. I just know one day these morons are going to figure out that native Pine Trees can burn and demand the removal of trees from my property.

FYI, some of these trees have been here since before the house was. I also water them regularly because I happen to like trees. That’s becoming more difficult due to water restrictions in California, however I’ve adapted.

In Winter, I pile the snow up around the trees and in my yard in general. It doesn’t last the whole summer, but the trees are watered by this process throughout the spring and into early summer.

Again, not rocket science, just using the natural elements and conditions to my, (and the trees,) advantage.

It’s really common sense. 

Move forward 10 years after the house was rebuilt, and the fire suppression system FAILS, flooding my living room. Oh, we’d been having it inspected every year like usual. Guess what? While the specialized Fire Suppression contractor was repairing the system, they discovered that the system had been installed incorrectly in the first place and the petty bureaucrat of a building inspector has missed the fault. At this point in time however, I got to pay for the repair and fight with the insurance company about it.

Ahhh, my tax dollars at work!

I probably wouldn’t be so annoyed except that county inspectors kept blowing off their appointments when the house was being rebuilt. It was so frequent that about 3 months got added onto the building cycle and not one of them ever thought to apologize about missing appointments.

So here we are, trying to get the solar panels finished. Once again I’m being held up because of a country inspector who probably doesn’t have a clue about the actual power going through the cables or how the system works in detail. This is the building equivalent of TSA bag checks, or the masking controversy with COVID or half a dozen other examples of hand waving without actually doing something functional.

That’s the sad part of this, we’re trying to “Go Green,” after all. Isn’t that what gruesome Newsome & Sniffy Joe want us to do?  Note the panels have been on the roof since June 2022.

Today the solar panel company sent their guy out and he arrived on time, we’re still waiting for the County Inspector to show up. At this point that county jackass is two hours late after specifying a two hour window. The difference between a business, and bureaucrats feeding on the tax payer dime is striking!

I doubt that the panels will be operational today, and it might not be until Spring of 2023 at this point. I could still be surprised, but I’m not foolish enough to hold my breath.

I’m debating about giving the county jackass a dressing down when they get here. If you’re going to make an appointment, you keep it. If you’re going to be late, you call. It’s just common courtesy.

On the one hand that might prevent me from getting the panels online, and could subject me to a bunch more County bullshit. On the other hand, if no-one calls jackasses out for being jackasses, they’ll never change except to get worse.

The County person arrived. She was late but didn’t bother to apologize. I kept my mouth shut and went back inside the house. 

A half hour later, the solar guy says the inspection is good, and that the panels are online. 

I guess I could have held my breath! I’m calling this a good day.

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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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As if living in California wasn’t shame enough…

When the redistricting goes into effect, I’ll be in Adam Schiff’s district.

Good God Almighty!

The new congressional district map even looks like a penis. Schiff’s district has traditionally been Pasadena, Hollywood, La Cañada Flintridge, and mostly the snooty rich folk in LA.

The new district, in a breathtaking act of insanity draws Schiff’s district from those places right across the spine of the mountains into San Bernardino County and encompasses my little town.

There are Democrats here in town that are I’m sure, giddy with anticipation.

As If Adam Schiff (or his staff) could even find our town on a freakin map!

Our soon to be previous congressional representative lived in Big Bear. He wasn’t a career politician, he was a businessman. And he knew the communities of the mountains and desert.

Folks from Pasadena and the areas Schiff has traditionally represented assume that past the 605 Freeway is “Off the Map, There be monsters here.” I’d bet very few even know of the communities up here much less have any clue about the people or our needs.

The penis shape of the district map is appropriate. We’re going to get fucked!

Ewwww fucked by Adam Schiff.

Honestly, I can’t imagine why the hell they’d draw the lines like that. So much for the redistricting committee attempting to keep community needs and like interests together.

Personally I think it was about making sure that our little Redneck Town and the others along the spine of the mountain who voted pretty much RED got our votes cancelled by the dazzling urbanites.

A great deal of the desert communities vote RED every election. That’s why we have Republican House representatives and Republican State representatives. Often our representatives are business people and / or retired military and police.

It’s California! We can’t have that!

While California is overwhelmingly represented by Democrats, if you look at the counties that are not coastal shitholes they’re pretty red. Trouble is the large majority of the coastal cities are way more densely populated so they carry the state.

Although… Given the past 18 months that might just change.

While I don’t think I’ll be able to vote for Schiff’s opponent in the upcoming midterms I’ll be very interested to see who it is and how well they do.

I’m sure that Schiff, Waters, and all the rest of the Democrat dumbasses in congress will win their elections. Californians love their jackasses in Congress.

For any state that wants to make a case for term limits.

California is the poster child.

I can only hope there is a RED wave in November and that I get to watch Schiff and all the rest having to answer Congressional Subpoenas!

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They Said this would never happen.

The SAID it couldn’t happen.

They said that they weren’t making a database. They said the information was safe. They said anyone who questioned them was a child hating, war mongering, insanely violent, racist, monster.

Yet here we are.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting a California DOJ breach of every single Concealed Carry permit holder in the state. Initial reports said the breach was limited, but subsequent reports now state the breach was all the records.

Other news outlets report that the data exposed not only those who had concealed carry permits, but all those who applied for permits, granted or not.

Breaking news… It appears now that even the information about people who’d obtained a California Gun Safety Certificate had their data exposed. FYI a California Gun Safety Certificate does not mean you own a gun, it only provides proof that you’re aware of pretty basic gun safety rules and some of the California laws surrounding gun ownership.

The California Gun Safety Certificate is a quick and easy way for California to collect $20 every 4 or 5 years and have you pay the California DOJ for the privilege of having your name, address, and other personal information put into their database. The safety certificate is a big nothing burger, but it’s required before you can purchase a gun.

All the better to identify law abiding citizens who may, possibly, need to have their homes raided by a SWAT team at 2AM, if California decides that person might, possibly, just maybe, need to have red flag search and seizure of property contained in their home.

Back in Oct of 2016, The California DOJ had another “oopsie” and released the names and addresses of 3500 firearms instructors.

I haven’t checked, but I seem to recall there was some kind of gun control law moving through the California Legislature which was encountering a lot of opposition. I don’t remember if the firearms instructors were being vocal about opposing the legislation at the time. It would be an interesting coincidence if they were.

California wants a complete gun registry. The California DOJ wants to know about every single gun in the state. Even if those guns were legally owned by a citizen prior to them moving into the state.

California lawmakers claim this is to provide better safety to the people of California. They often use the safety of California children as their justification.

Really? Using Children? How about lawmakers actually address the problem of crime in the state? That would be a refreshing change.

Lest I forget… the California DOJ approves of guns via a very expensive testing procedure that gun manufacturers must pay for, and must also provide every variation (even if the variation is color,) of gun for testing.

If a manufacturer chooses not to provide a weapon and pay a fee, then the California DOJ will say that gun can’t be sold in California. The funny thing is that the California DOJ will drop guns from the approved list after that gun may have been approved for several years. Does that mean anyone owning such a gun is now in possession of an illegal firearm? Is that otherwise law abiding citizen committing a felony?

The fact is, there are some guns which are family heirlooms (think grandpa’s gun). Others that were gifts. All legally owned, and handed down father to son, or brother to brother. California, wants all of these guns to be subject to registration and investigation. How does California deal with these guns, many of which were likely never approved for sale by the California DOJ ?

While California dilly dallies around investigating, those weapons are supposed to be handed to a licensed gun dealer for a fee until California “approves”. Which means, that those guns are now not under the physical control of the owners. Should the gun go missing, and be used in a crime… The owner of record is still responsible even though the gun in question, wasn’t in their possession due to California’s regulations.

It doesn’t matter to the California legislature, that the guns may have been sitting in a law abiding citizen’s safe for a decade or more and haven’t been used in some horrendous mass shooting.

Various gun owners associations have repeatedly pointed out that such a gun registry doesn’t help Law Enforcement, nor does it make law abiding citizens safer. Law abiding citizens aren’t the folks engaging in the rampant gun violence plaguing California. Criminals are responsible for the gun violence. Guess what? They’re probably not buying their guns legally!

What such a registry does, is allow weaponization of various police agencies. It provides unscrupulous politicians an avenue of retaliation against those who might speak in opposition to them.

Or, as in this latest data breach…

The California DOJ has exposed the names, addresses, driver’s license numbers, home phone, and other personal data to anyone who might wish to engage in identity theft, target certain judges, citizens, or law enforcement personnel, or who might be looking for a target of opportunity to steal guns.

Great job California DOJ! Well Done! Instead of insuring the safety of law abiding citizens… You’ve painted a target on their backs!

On the plus side… You’ve destroyed any credibility of a gun registry!