25 posts were split to a new topic: Switching to electric vehicles
I recall you saying your property taxes are like 5-600/yr?
Maybe I’m remembering wrong, cheap property taxes in rural Ontario are like 2500.00
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Been coming down pretty good here since about 5:00 pm.
You are right. About 600 is upper limit here for a one family house. 2500 seems a lot and impossible to escape from 
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Yep no escape other than move to a cheaper locale. A big house down the road from me sold a few years back for about 470K, taxes on that one was $6000.00/yr.
That’s why I would rather have high consumption taxes, I can’t escape my property taxes by DOW😩
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That kind of sums up what I am saying about the personal vehicle concept. It grew out of a found bonanza of fossil fuel energy. To come up with the true energy footprint of that by alternate means will require a far greater cost and energy generating effort. Really I think wood, either charcoal or woodgas are the next practical answer on the energy scale, and it’s already a significant cost step. Natural gas, and above all reducing curb weight are the important beginning steps. Without addressing the over all energy footprint of the vehicle concept the cost going forward will become unsustainable.
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This is the worst snow event I have seen in years. We had about 7 inches two days ago. It was soo cold yesterday I couldn’t go out and plow with an open air tractor in the wind. Now we have 3 more days of snow with 2 feet of snow on the way one day off and a repeat 3 days of snow with 1 to 2 feet of snow scheduled. I can’t remember the last time I have only has 2 non snow days in a 8 day spell. There will be some big snow banks out there by the time this is done. I have to go out in the snow now and open it up because there is a big mess out there. But it is better today then yesterday. Today is 8 F with snow in the air that is better then 8 F with wind chills down around -10 F.
Well my d15 just picked today to remind me that the alternator conversation only works when it feels like it and it wasn’t feeling like it the last time I used it. Now my truck is hooked up to get it running enough to get it to the house where I can put it on the charger.
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Several times I had projects in Tampa and once in Del Rio, TX and during the winter there were lots of SNOWBIRDS!
Seriously I admire the gumption of folks like you to stick it out
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California is getting some rain. The 770 ft. Oroville dam was 4 ft from the top. The inflow was equal to the volume of the Mississippi river at St. louis. http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/09/oroville-emergency-spillway-may-be-used-for-first-time-in-dams-history/
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Well I got that snow cleaned up around the front of the property anyway that I’d the important part the tractor is on the charger now so it should be good to go for the next round of fun.
Oh as to staying I think we are probably just to much old school Yankees to leave.
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Check out http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
You can look at the change maps or the drought history. Northern Cali is no longer in a drought, and most of the worst drought is gone in the state. D2-D4 in 2016 was 81% of the state, and this year it is 11% with very little D3 and no D4 conditions. Last year D4 covered 38% of the state.
If I were going to guess, I would say it is the net effect of all the EVs and solar, and wind they put in that lowered the temp enough for it to rain, but I am sure that isn’t the whole story if it even is part of the story. 
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I am not touching that one with a 10 foot pole. If I did Chris would have to give me one of those warnings…
Did you know the expression I won’t touch that with a 10 foot pole actually comes from leading a bull with a noise ring? I asked my uncle about it once and he pulled out an old 10 foot pole they used to lead bulls around with a hook on one end. Too bad that pole vanished somewhere over the years.
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I didn’t know that, but the pole is probably still in the barn somewhere. 
You hid them so the kids didn’t start playing with the bull. Nowadays the kids have noserings so you actually need the pole.
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A couple years back my son and I were out riding when he turned his base ball cap backwards on his head ( like he had seen many on TV ) I very politely pulled over to the side of the the road and told him to GET OUT . It only took him a second to figure out front and back of the cap 
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Looks like we’re getting 15-25 cm here by tonight.
That’ll go nice with the 1.5" of ice underneath it 
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It is 65 F here at daylight and forcast of 71 F mid day.
I’m glad it is not too cold because I will be battling those xxxxxxx beavers today . It will require going in the water chest deep
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Break the dam during the day go DOW till dust them at sunset go back and wait they will come out to fix it back up. They sleep all day waste of time trying to catch them before dusk.
Oh wait till you see the first wood floating down the water to the dam then you have them all out working
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Or the standard conibear at the lodge entrance, or along the dam face.
Beaver ebola would be nice, please…
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Good morning Dan
The beavers seem to have a very good surveillance system and must be keeping up with my every move. If I am any where on the farm or within a mile they never show themselves. I believe they have a couple of scouts than can monitor my house and know exactly when I hit the bed and sleeping.
I believe my next move may be finding a 300 pound alligator and tie him at the culvert 
.
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