Friday, September 01, 2017

Off the Grid but Not the Sauce

 Quite the interesting drama.  Excerpt from the Napa Valley Register:

The Caves at Soda Canyon relies on a generator, not Pacific Gas & Electric, for power. It recently learned that the Bay Area Air Quality Management District won’t give a permit for the existing generator and that it needs a newer, larger model, a county report said.
...
“In our county code, we do not have a requirement that says, ‘Thou shall be hooked up to PG&E,’” county Supervising Planner Charlene Gallina replied.
...
That story begins in 2006, when the Planning Commission originally approved the winery. Commissioner Terry Scott, the only current commissioner who participated in that decision, recalled the generator as being a temporary measure pending a PG&E hookup.
Greenwood-Meinert said the winery has tried over the years to bring PG&E power to the location. PG&E required an easement across a neighbor’s property and the neighbor wouldn’t grant it unless the power line was underground.
“That undergrounding cost north of a million dollars,” Greenwood-Meinert said. “So that’s cost prohibitive at this point.”
----- 

If I end up building raw I too will be off the grid. 

For Houstonians:

132 comments:

Lawyerliz said...

Gas, 2.449.

Rob Dawg said...

Roughly $2.99 here. Must be because we have oil rigs and refineries so close.

Unknown said...

I'm pretty happy with our utility up here (PSE). The do a good job of keeping the juice flowing..fix outages quickly..and our electric bill has been running in the $35-$40 per month range this summer (no ac..just use run a fan late afternoons if it's warm)..

not much to complain about there..

(gas appears to be about $2.80 per gal going into the weekend)

Unknown said...

aerial images of the flooding
https://storms.ngs.noaa.gov/storms/harvey/index.html

Rob Dawg said...

http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/shared/npr/styles/x_large/nprshared/201709/547715723.jpg

Fascinating to see the previous paths the river once followed.

Unknown said...

cut down day for the NFL teams. Can you imagine how nervous the guys on the bubble must be?? If you make the team ..you're guaranteed a minimum of $540,000 between now and January (assuming you are on the active roster each week)....if you get cut..zero.

Rob Dawg said...

Mike, I had no idea that's how it worked. I thought they got released sometimes rarely but more likely became an employee on the practice squad kinda thing.

I still say the Patriots second string would be a serious NFL team in its own right.

Unknown said...

They cut from 90 down to 53. There's also an 8 man practice squad, but they only earn $8000 a week.

LBD said...

Wow! that's some Studebaker Prairie Schooner! Do they still sell High Jackers?

Rob Dawg said...

> Studebaker Prairie Schooner

Hah hah. These are the times I remember why I bother with the blog.

Rob Dawg said...

When I played international rugby it was 15 and two, and only two substitutions.

Unknown said...

There's also an 8 man practice squad, but they only earn $8000 a week.

yeah..good point about the practice squad as a possible consolation prize.

The Seahawks manage their practice squad in kind of an interesting way. Rather than the same ten guys being on the PS all year..they'll rotate about 20-25 guys thru the squad..often releasing and resigning the same guy several times thru the season. I think it's there way of getting some cash into the guys pockets while keeping effective control over a bigger group of players.

Rob Dawg said...

In case anyone doesn't see it yet. The NFL is an entertainment organization. It is not a sport. Deal with it on those terms.

LBD said...

Warped minds think alike!

Unknown said...

The guy I hope the Patriots pick up (if the Seahawks cut him) is Tanner McEvoy. 6'6" wide receiver..runs like a deer..great hands..excellent football instincts (former college qb). Seahawks have him stuck down at #5/#6 wr for some reason (just plays special teams). He makes big plays at WR every time he's given the chance..but they are in love with Jermaine Kearse for some reason as WR #2.

He'd be fantastic in the Patriots system imo..

Rob Dawg said...

D'accord.

And imagine the late season play when Tanner gets the shuffle pass and tosses the game winner.

Unknown said...

oh yeah..you know Belichick would come up with some plays to make use of his qb skills.

He's great at blocking punts too (long arms)..

(full disclosure..McEvoy is a U-Wisconsin grad..so I'm not bias free in this matter) :<)

Unknown said...

wow..just announced..Seahawks trade J Kearse to Jets for Sheldon Richardson (DL)..

looks like McEvoy is staying!!

(sorry to turn this into a football thread)

Rob Dawg said...

We wander here on EN. Cars, aerospace, real estate, governance. Football is a distraction. No worse than many. It also highlights core distortions. The LA stadium may have the most expensive buy in prices in NFL history.

Rob Dawg said...

FTR. I see nothing wrong with launching kick blocks off the backs of teammates.

I also want points after taken straight out from where the TD crossed the plane.

Unknown said...

yeah attendance will be interesting to watch there. Rams have a lousy team..but have a decent fan base (holdovers from when they played out in Anaheim). Chargers have a decent team..but I doubt the San Diego folks are going to make the trip up.

Raiders moving to Las Vegas will be a huge success imo.

Unknown said...

haha..black smoke seen coming out of chimney at soon to close Russian Embassy in SF. Fire dept showed up and they were turned away..

Rob Dawg said...

> Raiders moving to Las Vegas will be a huge success imo.

Without admitting or denying any potential personal exposure I expect all those new type timeshare properties to be winners.

Unknown said...

ha ha..c'mon fess up..what did you buy??

Rob Dawg said...

I will go so far as to admit to having a small stake in HGV. Hilton Grand Vacations. Up bigly since IPO in January but I was late to the party. Spent the past few months flat but back on trajectory.

Unknown said...

timeshare properties to be winners.

five words you don't often see together...lol

Unknown said...

47 properties..how many in Vegas??

Rob Dawg said...

I absolutely agree. This is a black swan. Or is it a golden parachute or ...?

Still. For whatever reason the peak accommodation segment of Greater Las Vegas had been revitalized. Like Comdex without nerds.

Rob Dawg said...

Trump. Alara. Three more big branded strip locations IIRC. Attractive business model.

Unknown said...

interesting..20 p/e for an 7-8% grower..not bad. I'd be a little worried about that secondary offering they announced last quarter..not sure what kind of dilution that will cause (though I guess it's priced in by now).

Unknown said...

I was thinking more along the lines that the raiders will be a big success in LV because LV has a big gang population..lol

Rob Dawg said...

A company 8 months IPO the p/e doesn't mean much. The offering went to paying off the blood sucking VCs and the rest to direct asset expansion. Since they legally sell the same room about five times over that's a good use of the money.

Unknown said...

I saw an interview with the CEO of an interesting start-up..basically it's like Air BnB..but for meeting rooms/conference rooms at hotels, etc. So..say you are travelling on business..and need to rent a conf room for a couple hours on short notice..you go to this app..and it shows you everything available in the area. Brilliant idea I think..we'll see if it flies..

Rob Dawg said...

The US is massively overbuilt for both secondary retail and class B office space. This might soften the blows to come.

Unknown said...

yeah..i'm guessing most hotel conf rooms sit empty for most of the day...so making better use of them is a nice profit opportunity

Rob Dawg said...

Long term it all gets replaced by

Rob Dawg said...

Closing your robe and making sure the "empties" aren't visible in the background.

Unknown said...

ha ha..yeah there was this stock analyst guy getting interviewed on Skype..all of the sudden his kids run thru the room screaming

Unknown said...

I'm not sure what the demand will be..but I can picture companies with a lot of offsite and/or distributed workforce using it to get people together occasionally.

Lawyerliz said...

Better than nothing.

Lawyerliz said...

Gee, wonder what they were burning. Not paper????

Unknown said...

once they walk out that door..no diplomatic immunity..so burn it all!!

sm_landlord said...

Local news for RD: I drove through the 'Nard today and noticed a bumper crop of conapts is going up on the field where the Cowboys used to practice - next to the River Ridge CC at Vineyard and Ventura Rd.

They look pretty cheap from glancing at the framing. Thank heavens they are only building two stories... but still, it's a shame to see density going up in that area.

Rob Dawg said...

Black smoke so no new President.

Lawyerliz said...

Hahahahaha

Rob Dawg said...

Those rabbit warrens are decades in the making. You have no idea what went on behind the scenes. Lawyers full employment for more than a generation.

Lawyerliz said...

Haven't heard much about the pope lately.

Unknown said...

Pope is throwing stones from inside his glass house..

sm_landlord said...

> Haven't heard much about the pope lately.

I think he's on "ignore" at this point.

sm_landlord said...

> Those rabbit warrens are decades in the making.

I heard that the city had to put in moar low-income housing to get state funds sent their way. As if the 'Nard needed moar low-income housing...

LBD said...

Good Morning!

Time to finish getting the RV ready to roll.

Rob Dawg said...

Saw the La Tuna fire last night from the 101 Freeway. Big. Bright. Time to check the news. 3000 acres. Little containment. Wind concerns. Mandatory evacuations.

Lawyerliz said...

Hahaha

Lawyerliz said...

The supremisists are risht; goddess is very mad at us.

Lawyerliz said...

Irma is getting us somewhere on the east coast pprolly. What will zap us from the north? Invasion from canada?

Rob Dawg said...

The Irma spaghetti models are all over the place. Days before we can guess where or even if.

Lawyerliz said...

Mostly those places are on the coast of the US

Rob Dawg said...

Alright. I will guess. Cape Hatteras Cat4 with a crumbling eye wall.

Unknown said...

I've got it...once the path is established..let's try a nice orderly evacuation for a change..

Rob Dawg said...

And don't allow barrier island rebuilds.

LBD said...

Let Kali fall in the ocean and don't rebuild. ;)

Rob Dawg said...

Hard to believe but we have ash from the La Tuna Canyon fire at the Dawghaus. No danger just funny winds.

Lawyerliz said...

Son said there was a rainband over Pennsacola. Friend here had a very wimpy tornado pass over. Branches down, neighbors trees uprooted motor cyclists tossed around

Unknown said...

motor cyclists tossed around

???

Unknown said...

you buried the lead on that one..hahaha

Lawyerliz said...

I got rid of 3 pieces of clothing and 6 books, and that was painful. And I found a bunch of books I wanted to read!

Lawyerliz said...


Ok, the motor cycles n may have fallen off the bridge, bUT my fried exadigeres sp?

Lawyerliz said...

Omg friend.

Rob Dawg said...

Fried exadigres works for me. 🤕

Starting to get those random winds. Abc7 has continuing live coverage.

sm_landlord said...

I figured there was a problem when I saw a band of low yellow clouds coming over the one of the passes yesterday, either Conejo or Santa Susanna.

Now the sunlight is orange out here at the beach.

Rob Dawg said...

Seems the tv stations have something more important to cover than a massive fire threatening neighborhoods. Well you know, college football.

Lawyerliz said...

RaiNing and thundering now. Luckily the weed puller had finished. We've had so much rain, the aquifers may have started to fill up.

Lawyerliz said...

The house shook a little with that one.

Cinco-X said...

Word... CFB is baaaaaak!

Cinco-X said...

I'm baaaaaak

LBD said...

Who?


Hope you had a great time!

Rob Dawg said...

Now I have to sign back on to Reddit so I can give you upvotes.

Lawyerliz said...

That' me, but I am on my 8 inch hill. With flood insurance.

Lawyerliz said...

Good .morning.😀 everybody.

LBD said...

Good Morning!

Glad I live in the mountains of central America!

Rob Dawg said...

I'm keeping a low profile seeing as it is oppressively hot and humid and the air quality is bad due to the La Tuna Canyon fire.

so. The Norks are gonna EMP the US. The Chicomms will use this to isolate SK in the aftermath. They are also planning a Yuan based oil exchange. Lots of challenges.

sm_landlord said...

> The Chicomms will use this to isolate SK in the aftermath.

The Chinese whining is getting louder and louder about how unfair it is that they are being asked to rein in the Norks.

sm_landlord said...

> it is oppressively hot and humid and the air quality is bad due to the La Tuna Canyon fire.

This is one of those four weeks per year that beach-dwellers wish they had A/C. It's 84 degrees here and 60% oppression.

Air quality not bad here, as we do have a light breeze from the West.

Rob Dawg said...

Not worth washing the car for a week.

Ash from the fire. Fallout from the Nork air burst. Whatever.

Rob Dawg said...

US is willing to trade 10 tonnes of grain for every missile.

Rob Dawg said...

Cinco. sm_refugee. Are you seeing any of my recent comments on Reddit? I think I am being secret banned.

Lawyerliz said...

Now I am gonna hide under the bed. Was putting together family photo albums, if anyone is gonna survive. Or, should I get and stay drunk?

Lawyerliz said...

Why, what on earth are you saying?

Rob Dawg said...

nPoic has censored me several times in the past both on Reddit and his own blog. My last few comments seem to have generated no attention whatsoever. A very unlikely event.

Lawyerliz said...

Poic?? Why??

Rob Dawg said...

Long story. He didn't like me complaining about being treated poorly. He decided it was easier to ban me than address the issue. He compounded by making it clear that his banning was justified by a retroactive change on the rules. When it was pointed out that even under the retroactive rule change there was no violation he just lost it. He felt bad about that and decided to make himself feel better by calling my censoring a vacation.

Unknown said...

fyi..I see your W Becker post from this morning

Rob Dawg said...

Thx. Maybe just a slow day.

Unknown said...

Interesting..Trump thinking of banning trade with any country that trades with NK (looking at you China!!) I wonder if that would include IPhones..which are made by Foxconn in China..and then shipped here.

Lawyerliz said...

Well they are opening a plant here,no?

Lawyerliz said...

Trump doesn't think, but actually that might work. Ban anything that fatboy likes.

Lawyerliz said...

There are other phones. I've never owned an I anything.

Unknown said...

the Foxconn plant in WI is for display panels I believe (different business)..and they haven't even bought the land yet..let alone break ground

Unknown said...

if you ban anything sourced in China..I think that will get the Chinese's attention..

Unknown said...

Foxconn is actually a Taiwanese company..with factories in China (and elsewhere) building IPhones for Apple (+ other things)..that's why you have to ban everything built in the country you are targeting..not just the national origin of the manufacturer

Rob Dawg said...

If it were not for iThings from Apple you'd be $99/quarter for a subscription to Windows 5.3 now featuring overlapping windows.

Unknown said...

Apple really isn't an innovator..excellent at execution though.

Windows peaked with XP imo..been downhill since (Win 10 has been pretty good though)

Rob Dawg said...

I disagree. Xerox may have had lab stuff but stolen copied leveraged whatever Apple made it work. That is innovation.

IPod. IPhone. Never existed before.

Anyway. XP worked. 7 ultimate worked better. Everything since terrible. Dedicating 2/3rds of the code to digital rights management poorly being a problem. Feeling the need to have their own backdoors and government other access both fatal issues imo.

Unknown said...

So..if China refuses to stop trading with NK..and Trump places a ban on all Chinese products...do you think Apple (and the other companies who build their products in China) should get a pass?? Wouldn't be a very effective ban if yes imo..

Rob Dawg said...

I think the threat will be enough. Chicomm has an untenable position. They want Taiwan. They want to control the South China Sea. They do not want a unified Korea. At least a western aligned unified Korea but in truth no unification at all. They do not want the restrictions of being a superpower while being a superpower.

Chicomm is in the hot seat here.

Unknown said...

China's top exports to the US are electronics (incl computers), household goods and clothing. Most of that stuff comes in under non-Chinese brands (e.g. Nike)..so you would need to apply the ban on where the goods are produced (not who the importing company is) to make it work.

Lawyerliz said...

Gas 2.599. 10 cents more.

Lawyerliz said...

Really? Omg.

Unknown said...

Looks at personal budget..sees electronics, HHG and clothing makes up less than 1%..I'm ready!!

Lawyerliz said...

Household goods and clothes can be made anywhere. Brazil used to have a thriving shoe industry. They could again.

Lawyerliz said...

I could do with what I have prolly for 5 years. One always wants new shoes of course but I don't really need them.

Unknown said...

I usually treat myself to new underwear every year on my birthday..but I can skip a year or two for my country if necessary!!

LBD said...

Montana fire smoke here. Orange moon, cool down coming from the NW.

Dough boy really pushing some buttons.

LBD said...

I bet a lot of other countries would be willing to take up the slack, India, Africa, etc.

Unknown said...

Vietnam would be a logical one..I think a lot of American companies have started second sourcing there already..

Unknown said...

either way...I think it would be a brilliant move by Trump to make China finally commit one way or the other. If Obama would have done it five years ago we wouldn't be in this mess now..

Lawyerliz said...

I think you are thinking about this wrongly.

Lawyerliz said...

Yep, ok, how?

LBD said...

Clinton was the first failure with NK.

Unknown said...

Yep, ok, how?

not sure if that was directed at me..but if so..here is how (from the POTUS himself)..

The United States is considering, in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea.

Lawyerliz said...

Stop trade with China? Ok. How?

Anonymous said...

Karl has been making sense again recently

https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?singlepost=3426583

LBD said...

Good Morning!

Same way trade shifted away from Japan, Germany etc. Slow start but just starting would be effective. First Hyundai (SK) sold in the US was a Mitsubishi (JP). China would take notice real fast, they have a lot to lose and nothing to gain backing the dough boy at this point. IMO

LBD said...

Yep, no where to go now and the ball is in China's court short of military action. Thanks to Obummer and the Clinton crime family. What would they do now that the old talk and and bribe didn't work?

Cinco-X said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cinco-X said...

Saw one from 20 hours ago, (currently 9:14 EDT on Monday) concerning Walter Becker...

Cinco-X said...

Massachusetts had a thriving shit industry as well. You'll not that a lot of the American brands importing shoes are headquartered in Massachusetts...

Cinco-X said...

Hah...a lot of Chinese companies source there as well...

Cinco-X said...

In what point size is he posting?

Unknown said...

Stop trade with China? Ok. How?

same as you do with Iran right now..by making it illegal for US citizens to do business with them..seizing goods at the dock, etc

LBD said...

I noticed Menards (survivor of the lowes, HD war) on their website now has a box to show made in USA products. Sign of the times changing? We can only hope. :)

Rob Dawg said...

New post. Irma.

And yes, I see more "Made in the USA" being touted.