Monday, July 23, 2018

Stetching A Point Until It Breaks



"Nobody wins a trade war."  We've all heard it for near  half a century whilst China has been winning a trade war.  To exhibit how far some people will go to stretch a point here is an article.
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Add rising lobster trap prices to the growing list of difficulties facing Maine’s lobster industry.
Some trap makers had already increased their prices in the spring to cover the rising cost of steel and labor. Then last month, the U.S. levied a 25 percent tariff on raw imported steel, driving up the cost of the Canadian, Mexican and Chinese steel used to make the plastic-coated wire mesh used in traps. American steel producers quickly raised their prices to match.

As a result, the biggest U.S. supplier of the mesh used to make Maine lobster traps, Riverdale Mills Corp. of Massachusetts, has seen the price of its raw steel double in 2018, said CEO James Knott Jr. But Riverdale is absorbing that price hit so far, by slowing the rate at which it is retiring construction debt and dipping into energy savings.
“We are who we are because of the lobster industry, so we’re doing everything we can to make sure this won’t hurt the industry,” Knott said. “We can take the hit for a while, but we need the tariffs lifted as soon as possible. It’s very damaging to us. These tariffs mean we can’t invest in our business, our employees, our equipment or technology. There is real trickle-down.”
Knott hopes the Trump administration eliminates the tariffs before he must decide between trimming jobs at Riverdale, which employs 100 people, or raising the price of its lobster trap wire, called Aquamesh. Raising the price would undoubtedly force trap makers to pass that cost along to lobster fishermen, including many of Maine’s 4,800 commercial lobstermen.

The state’s two largest trap makers, Friendship Trap Co. and Brooks Trap Mill, buy wire mesh from Riverdale. The companies said Riverdale has not passed on the cost of the steel tariff increases to them.
Still, they saw Aquamesh prices go up in 2017 and 2018 to offset the rising cost of steel, zinc and labor. That was before the tariff was implemented.

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Anyone who thinks the input cost of retail lobster is anything like a few percent after labor, interest, fuel, other capital is insane.  Then remember that it is 25% of the landed valu not the retail value and then remember it is 1/3rd of all imported steel. 

Thursday, July 19, 2018

When is a Drought No Longer a Drought?

November 2006 was the last time Ventura County was not in drought conditions.  Sorry but what we have here is clearly a major mistake in establishing baseline conditions. 

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Our Way or the Highway

The owners of the Montecito Inn are coming up against those rules in an attempt to add an awning to their building on Coast Village Road.
The Inn was damaged in the January mudflow, and the owners hastily cleaned up, repainted, and reopened to welcome guests.
The owners of the Montecito Inn are trying to pitch a black awning over the door to their newest restaurant, Frankland's Crab Shack.
The city says the Inn is a structure of merit, and black is not one of the colors allowed for awnings.
The city has recommended dark green for the black and white building, but the owners have rejected that suggestion and are appealing that at a special hearing.

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Approved awning colors.  Welcome to the nanny state.  

Monday, July 16, 2018

Craigslist as Social Commentary

It's just cheap laminate but how it got on Craigslist for free is the story.  Two fewer dwelling units in the area:

2 illegal garages worth of removed laminate flooring (Camarillo)

I got work tomorrow and want my truck empty I removed two illegal garages worth of flammable flooring. Half are unblemished the other half have some chips. Available for free this day. Must take all. Might have been 600sq ft of flooring. Tongue and groove panels. Most 4 ft or 3ft some 1 and 2 foot prices. I would keep but won't be installing soon enough.

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Testing price limits

My favorite canary in the coal mine zip code 92397 is calling a plateau.  This is the extreme low end of the housing supply and they tried to push the pricing.

Price History

DateEventPrice$/sqft

06/28/18Price change$169,000-5.6%$263

05/21/18Price change$179,000-10.1%$278

04/26/18Listed for sale$199,000+109%$309

07/14/11Sold$95,000+5.6%$147






As you can see $300/sf isn't going to fly.  Good.  Let's follow this so we see where it sells.  Click address:

1582 Laura St, Wrightwood, CA 92397

2 beds 0.75 baths 642 sqft















This is what as known as "low side of the street."  Not always bad but this is an example of why high side is better.  But ignore that.  Look at the features.  3/4 bath 642 sf.  This is a turn around slowly domicile.   























Monday, July 09, 2018

What's with that silly side board?

Jim the Realtor noticed an "unusual" feature of the great kitchen remodel.   What's up with that shallow side board?  Only 12" deep and at the far end of the room.  Three things.
1. Being shallow there will not be an urge to turn it into horizontal storage.
2. Perfect for staging big dinners into the adjacent dining room.
3.  Tells everyone this is one room and not two rooms spliced together. 

Check out the oversupply of Wilton Armetale and Moscow Mule mugs. 



1 ft by 6 ft matching the rest of the kitchen.

Admit it.  There's miscellaneous stuff that you'd use if you could get to it easily. 

Cheese planks, Thai chicken salad bowls, baked bean pot, display fruit bowl.  You got them too but can you get to them? 

No Splash Backsplash

Jim the Realtor was a bit concerned about the durability of my range art.  Luckily i know an engineer and it will work out.  The porous travertine tile field is double sealed and has zero grout line.  The inset is hard polished stone as is the pencil border. 
The oven exhaust  and the stone work.
Notice the high polish on all the material. 

Sunflower bunch at the Davis, CA farmer's market.



Saturday, July 07, 2018

Finished Kitchen Pics

Here are a few finished work images before we move in tomorrow:

Four door fridge!

interior lighted cabinets!

Hidden microwave!

Linear concept squared!

Lighting, lighting, lighting!

Cabinets galore!

A cool little sideboard!

Right outside the dining room. 

Tile and space to move. 

Sunflowers 07 Jul 18 in Woodland, CA.  The haze is from the Yolo Fire. 

Monday, July 02, 2018

Downtown San Diego is Nice if Missing "Something"

Gaslamp District

USS Midway

USS Reagan? 

View from the deck og my little sister's La Jolla purchase. 

Sunday, July 01, 2018

Kitchen Remodel #06

Washer tech

Washer bling

I designed this back splash

I designed this edge

I designed this pattern

A cute built in side board