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https://www.sandiegouniontribune.co.../sd-fi-sdge-wildfire-plan-20190207-story.html
Investor owned San Diego Gas and Electric has been trying since 2007 (I think) to get ratepayers to reimburse them for a multi hundreds of millions of dollars fire that they started due to antique equipment that fell apart in a wind. They are now appealing in the California Supreme Court having lost everywhere else so far.
On the Other Hand SDG & E has spent over a Billion dollars in recent years to mitigate fire dangers. Something like 60% of SDG & E transmission lines in fire prone areas are now underground. SDG & E of course have charged we rate payers with the cost of doing this so it is not altruistic. We have a three tiers rates 0-400 KWH 29 cents per KWH. 401-800 KWH = 45 cents, 801 and above 55 cents. I have always stayed in the 29 cents bracket.
I live in a hilly rural area that, until 1952, when the rancher built a home for himself. His family owned and operated this huge beef ranch since 1850. 1950 he began developing this land. My living room is 400 square feet since that was the showroom. My kitchen and both bathroom counter tops are ceramic tile as are the bathroom floors. With the exception of the kitchen linoleum floor I have bare maple floors in the rest of the house. And real plaster walls and ceilings on perforated metal lathe. The paved roads here are narrow and twisty because they follow the paths that the cows walked; there are no sidewalks or streetlights.
We all used to have lights that illuminated our front yards and parking areas and shined out into the road. We all have off-street parking driveways, garages or a parking lot like me. There is a 12 x 20 room on the north side of my home with it's own outside entrance. This was the newly created Stevens Construction Company office. The Rancher's name was George Stevens and the Stevens Construction Company is still in business but now only builds large high end commercial and residential.
I put my Kill-A-Watt on my 27 years old 50 watts bulb Low-Pressure-Sodium parking lot light. Then my 42 watts CFL front porch light. Between the two they shined out to the road. 92 watts per hour x 12 hours daily = 1,104 watts times 30 days = 33.12 KWH times 29 cents = $9.60 x 12 = $115.20. In my immediate neighborhood all of we 60s-70s living on Social Security have shut off our outside lights. Looks like an ink well out there now after dark.
I live on four tenths of an acre - 17,424 square feet. The only thing is that our property lines meet in the middle of the road and me being on a corner about 400 lineal feet of asphalt road ten feet wide is part of my spread. Don't worry there still is plenty to mow winters when water falls out of the sky and dormant weeds wake up.
Zillow currently has a $519,000 price tag on my home, I paid $130,000 in May 1995 and I paid it off in 2008. Recently the teller at one of the two banks I frequent asked what I pay in rent. He was incredulous when I told him $350 a month. $4200 a year for property taxes and homeowners insurance.
From the fall of 1995 winters when water falls out of the sky and all kinds of different dormant weeds in my former cattle yard wake up. Twenty-one years I mowed it with a self-propelled walk behind 22 inch wide mower and it took me four hours. The easiest way is to mow weekly. Some weeds grow faster than other's so weekly I would walk around behind my mower.
Now getting around with a cane and a walker I cannot walk behind. June 2017 I got a contractor to cut it, it took two men with commercial gas engine weedie-whips two days and cost me $1200. 2018 a neighbor 'car-guy' with more cars than space hit me up to park some of them in my backyard. In exchange he offered to take care of my weed mowing. 2018 he did a fantastic job, 2019 he pretty much ignored me doing a small portion now and then - he mowed the north end of my backyard where he parked his excess wheels. Right now I have six feet tall very dry weeds in my backyard; but his vehicles were still in my yard.
I spent about six months researching riding lawn mowers and last Thursday bought a John Deere Z345M - z345m_ztrakmower.jpg attached. $3,822.71 assembled and delivered. I first tried a traditional front engine mini tractor but I had a hard time getting on and when there with the seat pushed as far back as it goes my knees were almost up to my chin.
I ordered some accessories that were not in stock so that will take about a week. I added a rear bumper and trailer hitch for $152. A utility cart with a plastic box $279. A boarding step that will cut in half how high I have to lift my foot to get on $112.70. A waterproof protective cover $85.99, a rubber traction mat kit -- for that shiny green painted foot platform so hopefully I won't slip $39.99.
My backyard is surrounded with a six feet tall chain link fence on the east and south so I need a vehicle gate to get the mower into my yard. That is scheduled Friday November 15. I am getting two six feet wide x 6 feet high gates.
I will need to build a shed to hold my tractor and trailer and a place to maintain it. So with my 12 feet wide gates, a concrete delivery truck can back in and pour me a foundation.
In normal use I will need open only one gate to get out. I will need to drive around the corner on the road to get to and mow my front yard. For now I will park them beneath my deck where I used to keep my walk-behinds.
A couple days ago I told the car guy to take his toys home with him. He was unhappy and tried to argue but I am done. I had no idea he had SO MUCH in my yard, he has it all crammed in his front yard, more than cars and trucks, a two axle flat bed trailer overflowing with stuff and a bunch of cast off furniture.
Once the gate is in John Deere will deliver my new toys and the truck driver will teach me how to start and drive it. Push the levers ahead to go forward pull back to go in reverse. Push one lever forward and one back to go around in circles. There are no service brakes it has a parking brake. The twin blades rotary mower cuts a 42 inches wide swath. It has a California CARB - California Air Resources Board - compliant 12 volt electric start, electronic fuel injection, full oil pressure, automotive type screw on oil and fuel filters 750 cc 22 HP v-twin Kawasaki gasoline engine.
The State of California has spent a LOT of money in perhaps the past ten years improving CalFire the State Fire Service. Wealthy San Diego County, that happens to own the Port of San Diego, has spent big bucks upgrading the county fire services. The first thing they did was get everyone on the same radio channels. Now statewide ALL fire departments (and Police Departments) monitor one channel.
In 1993 a fire that began inland was finally contained, only after it had burned out a portion of Laguna Beach, when the fire reached the Pacific Ocean.
http://www.light-headed.com/asite/laguna/laguna_history/laguna_beach_fire.php
That way everyone knows what is going on. And of course being able to talk to each other is a good thing. New fire stations have been built and provided with state of the art fire fighting vehicles by both the state and county. The county owns two and SDG&E owns two water or red fire retardant capable twin rotor sky crane helicopters with built in tanks - helitankers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_firefighting
The north border of Vista is the south border of US Marine Corp base Camp Pendleton.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Corps_Base_Camp_Pendleton
MCRD Marine Corp Recruit Depot
https://www.mcrdsd.marines.mil/
Is located adjacent to San Diego airport. Four times a year MCRD graduates a class. All of them are loaded onto US Navy Amphibious Assault ships in San Diego that sail north off Camp Pendleton where they stage an amphibious assault. Using tilt rotor fixed wing aircraft, air cushion vehicles, landing craft, swimming battle tanks and helicopters. There are large athletic field type aluminum bleachers on top of the cliff overlooking the beach below. The recruit's families are invited to witness the assault.
Some Marine Corp helicopters have a hook attached on the bottom of the fuselage to pick up water buckets named Bambi Buckets that they can dump on fires. Camp Pendleton has a LOT of brush fires, ignited when they are playing with guns and cannons. The Marine Corp readily makes these helo's available to help fight off base civilian fires in this area.
Camp Pendleton has a huge railroad marshalling yard, a ships port, and an airport. When the Marine's were being deployed to the middle-east for Gulf War One, they had a miles long string of motor vehicles being loaded onto ships, lined up on the west shoulder of Interstate Highway 5. Ground and air assets are based on Camp Pendleton.
In the old days when someone reported a rural brush fire a single 6-wheel drive Brush Truck with two fire fighters was dispatched. Now when a fire is reported EVERYONE within a geographic area rolls, including helicopter and fixed wing aircraft. We are talking ALL fires here - a structure fire can start a wild vegetation fire, so EVERYONE rolls. Limiting the fire spread and putting it out as fast as possible is now the norm throughout the county.
Last night a building exploded in Oceanside it was extinguished in 45 minutes. Literally every fire station in service within a certain distance rolls everything. It is a LOT less expensive than a devastating fire. City cops, San Diego County Sheriffs and CHP block off the streets and highways keeping the public safely away allowing the fire service to work unimpeded. Don't worry the local news choppers will all dash over there and begin broadcasting it live. It is a LOT easier to put out a little fire than a big one. I am impressed.
I am sure you all have heard that California is inhabited with fruits and nuts which is true. Pretty much the bulk of California folks volunteer doing something. People are striving to improve conditions for all facets of our area. We have a huge homeless population throughout the state. If you were homeless where would you rather live Minnesota or California? Things happen in fits and starts.
Many 'homeless' have recreational vehicles that they park on residential streets. Many homeless live quietly and neatly, others do not, spoiling it for everyone. Laws have been enacted forbidding this parking then dropped only to be enacted again. It is a problem.
Santa Barbara County started using ride sharing parking lots located adjacent to freeway on and off ramps. Typically they are virtually deserted at night while packed during the day. So daily homeless RV's can check in around sunset but need be gone by breakfast. It seems to be going well and is spreading around the area. Local Police agencies provide onsite security.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Legislature
Quote
The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legislature convene at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The California state Legislature is one of just ten full-time state legislatures in the United States.
The Democratic Party currently holds supermajorities in both houses of the California State Legislature. The Assembly consists of 61 Democrats and 18 Republicans, with one vacancy, while the Senate is composed of 29 Democrats and 11 Republicans. Except for a brief period from 1995 to 1996, the Assembly has been in Democratic hands since the 1970 election. The Senate, meanwhile, has been under continuous Democratic control since 1970.
Unquote
You can think what you want but check out the history of the US and tell me which political party began social programs that benefited ALL Americans. We now have ranked choice voting for primary elections. The top two winners campaign against each other regardless of political affiliation. Meaning mostly a pair of Democrats campaign against each other.
While I was sailing offshore prior to January 1972 we lived in Duluth, MN. I sailed mostly to 'Nam ten months a year 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971. When I came home to Duluth for my sixty days July and August vacation. My MEBA Marine Engineers Beneficial Association Union leaned on me to give these poor Great Lakes engineers a vacation. Because they have to wait another four months before they get THEIR annual sixty days vacation aka winter. So in December 1971 we sold our house and moved out right after new years 1972.
We were driving a brand new with sixty miles 24 foot Ford F-600 U-Haul Box truck. I was told to press down hard on the gas pedal and hold it there. That will burn out the 45-MPH governor on the engine. Located between the carburetor and the manifold it worked by squishing down the fuel and airflow. Using engine vacuum it pushed a pair of stiff copper half round disks towards each other. I burnt it out in 100 miles. We were flat towing our stout 1971 International-Harvester four-wheel drive Scout.
First we rented a house near Beach Blvd and Adams Avenue in Huntington Beach.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntington_Beach,_California
Driving down Beach Blvd spotted a real estate agent with a sign for house rental and stopped. Went and looked at the house then came back to the office and rented it. In a neat neighborhood of interesting people two miles east of the surf. There were weekend parties in the neighborhood. One fourth of July a guy had a timber floor flat bed truck so we nailed down a couple of old bicycles upside down and attached rockets to the bare wheel. Light off the rockets and the wheel went round and round as we paraded on the street.
After a year there we bought a house a mile and a half-closer to the beach. Walking to the beach was nice but we sometimes wished that we had said something sooner to our landlord, since when we did, he offered to sell us the house. We moved into a snooty neighborhood, where NO ONE never ever spoke to a neighbor, all ya got was a nasty glare.
Attached: z345m_ztrakmower.jpg (57.9 KB)
Greg Hayden
Vista, CA
Investor owned San Diego Gas and Electric has been trying since 2007 (I think) to get ratepayers to reimburse them for a multi hundreds of millions of dollars fire that they started due to antique equipment that fell apart in a wind. They are now appealing in the California Supreme Court having lost everywhere else so far.
On the Other Hand SDG & E has spent over a Billion dollars in recent years to mitigate fire dangers. Something like 60% of SDG & E transmission lines in fire prone areas are now underground. SDG & E of course have charged we rate payers with the cost of doing this so it is not altruistic. We have a three tiers rates 0-400 KWH 29 cents per KWH. 401-800 KWH = 45 cents, 801 and above 55 cents. I have always stayed in the 29 cents bracket.
I live in a hilly rural area that, until 1952, when the rancher built a home for himself. His family owned and operated this huge beef ranch since 1850. 1950 he began developing this land. My living room is 400 square feet since that was the showroom. My kitchen and both bathroom counter tops are ceramic tile as are the bathroom floors. With the exception of the kitchen linoleum floor I have bare maple floors in the rest of the house. And real plaster walls and ceilings on perforated metal lathe. The paved roads here are narrow and twisty because they follow the paths that the cows walked; there are no sidewalks or streetlights.
We all used to have lights that illuminated our front yards and parking areas and shined out into the road. We all have off-street parking driveways, garages or a parking lot like me. There is a 12 x 20 room on the north side of my home with it's own outside entrance. This was the newly created Stevens Construction Company office. The Rancher's name was George Stevens and the Stevens Construction Company is still in business but now only builds large high end commercial and residential.
I put my Kill-A-Watt on my 27 years old 50 watts bulb Low-Pressure-Sodium parking lot light. Then my 42 watts CFL front porch light. Between the two they shined out to the road. 92 watts per hour x 12 hours daily = 1,104 watts times 30 days = 33.12 KWH times 29 cents = $9.60 x 12 = $115.20. In my immediate neighborhood all of we 60s-70s living on Social Security have shut off our outside lights. Looks like an ink well out there now after dark.
I live on four tenths of an acre - 17,424 square feet. The only thing is that our property lines meet in the middle of the road and me being on a corner about 400 lineal feet of asphalt road ten feet wide is part of my spread. Don't worry there still is plenty to mow winters when water falls out of the sky and dormant weeds wake up.
Zillow currently has a $519,000 price tag on my home, I paid $130,000 in May 1995 and I paid it off in 2008. Recently the teller at one of the two banks I frequent asked what I pay in rent. He was incredulous when I told him $350 a month. $4200 a year for property taxes and homeowners insurance.
From the fall of 1995 winters when water falls out of the sky and all kinds of different dormant weeds in my former cattle yard wake up. Twenty-one years I mowed it with a self-propelled walk behind 22 inch wide mower and it took me four hours. The easiest way is to mow weekly. Some weeds grow faster than other's so weekly I would walk around behind my mower.
Now getting around with a cane and a walker I cannot walk behind. June 2017 I got a contractor to cut it, it took two men with commercial gas engine weedie-whips two days and cost me $1200. 2018 a neighbor 'car-guy' with more cars than space hit me up to park some of them in my backyard. In exchange he offered to take care of my weed mowing. 2018 he did a fantastic job, 2019 he pretty much ignored me doing a small portion now and then - he mowed the north end of my backyard where he parked his excess wheels. Right now I have six feet tall very dry weeds in my backyard; but his vehicles were still in my yard.
I spent about six months researching riding lawn mowers and last Thursday bought a John Deere Z345M - z345m_ztrakmower.jpg attached. $3,822.71 assembled and delivered. I first tried a traditional front engine mini tractor but I had a hard time getting on and when there with the seat pushed as far back as it goes my knees were almost up to my chin.
I ordered some accessories that were not in stock so that will take about a week. I added a rear bumper and trailer hitch for $152. A utility cart with a plastic box $279. A boarding step that will cut in half how high I have to lift my foot to get on $112.70. A waterproof protective cover $85.99, a rubber traction mat kit -- for that shiny green painted foot platform so hopefully I won't slip $39.99.
My backyard is surrounded with a six feet tall chain link fence on the east and south so I need a vehicle gate to get the mower into my yard. That is scheduled Friday November 15. I am getting two six feet wide x 6 feet high gates.
I will need to build a shed to hold my tractor and trailer and a place to maintain it. So with my 12 feet wide gates, a concrete delivery truck can back in and pour me a foundation.
In normal use I will need open only one gate to get out. I will need to drive around the corner on the road to get to and mow my front yard. For now I will park them beneath my deck where I used to keep my walk-behinds.
A couple days ago I told the car guy to take his toys home with him. He was unhappy and tried to argue but I am done. I had no idea he had SO MUCH in my yard, he has it all crammed in his front yard, more than cars and trucks, a two axle flat bed trailer overflowing with stuff and a bunch of cast off furniture.
Once the gate is in John Deere will deliver my new toys and the truck driver will teach me how to start and drive it. Push the levers ahead to go forward pull back to go in reverse. Push one lever forward and one back to go around in circles. There are no service brakes it has a parking brake. The twin blades rotary mower cuts a 42 inches wide swath. It has a California CARB - California Air Resources Board - compliant 12 volt electric start, electronic fuel injection, full oil pressure, automotive type screw on oil and fuel filters 750 cc 22 HP v-twin Kawasaki gasoline engine.
The State of California has spent a LOT of money in perhaps the past ten years improving CalFire the State Fire Service. Wealthy San Diego County, that happens to own the Port of San Diego, has spent big bucks upgrading the county fire services. The first thing they did was get everyone on the same radio channels. Now statewide ALL fire departments (and Police Departments) monitor one channel.
In 1993 a fire that began inland was finally contained, only after it had burned out a portion of Laguna Beach, when the fire reached the Pacific Ocean.
http://www.light-headed.com/asite/laguna/laguna_history/laguna_beach_fire.php
That way everyone knows what is going on. And of course being able to talk to each other is a good thing. New fire stations have been built and provided with state of the art fire fighting vehicles by both the state and county. The county owns two and SDG&E owns two water or red fire retardant capable twin rotor sky crane helicopters with built in tanks - helitankers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_firefighting
The north border of Vista is the south border of US Marine Corp base Camp Pendleton.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Corps_Base_Camp_Pendleton
MCRD Marine Corp Recruit Depot
https://www.mcrdsd.marines.mil/
Is located adjacent to San Diego airport. Four times a year MCRD graduates a class. All of them are loaded onto US Navy Amphibious Assault ships in San Diego that sail north off Camp Pendleton where they stage an amphibious assault. Using tilt rotor fixed wing aircraft, air cushion vehicles, landing craft, swimming battle tanks and helicopters. There are large athletic field type aluminum bleachers on top of the cliff overlooking the beach below. The recruit's families are invited to witness the assault.
Some Marine Corp helicopters have a hook attached on the bottom of the fuselage to pick up water buckets named Bambi Buckets that they can dump on fires. Camp Pendleton has a LOT of brush fires, ignited when they are playing with guns and cannons. The Marine Corp readily makes these helo's available to help fight off base civilian fires in this area.
Camp Pendleton has a huge railroad marshalling yard, a ships port, and an airport. When the Marine's were being deployed to the middle-east for Gulf War One, they had a miles long string of motor vehicles being loaded onto ships, lined up on the west shoulder of Interstate Highway 5. Ground and air assets are based on Camp Pendleton.
In the old days when someone reported a rural brush fire a single 6-wheel drive Brush Truck with two fire fighters was dispatched. Now when a fire is reported EVERYONE within a geographic area rolls, including helicopter and fixed wing aircraft. We are talking ALL fires here - a structure fire can start a wild vegetation fire, so EVERYONE rolls. Limiting the fire spread and putting it out as fast as possible is now the norm throughout the county.
Last night a building exploded in Oceanside it was extinguished in 45 minutes. Literally every fire station in service within a certain distance rolls everything. It is a LOT less expensive than a devastating fire. City cops, San Diego County Sheriffs and CHP block off the streets and highways keeping the public safely away allowing the fire service to work unimpeded. Don't worry the local news choppers will all dash over there and begin broadcasting it live. It is a LOT easier to put out a little fire than a big one. I am impressed.
I am sure you all have heard that California is inhabited with fruits and nuts which is true. Pretty much the bulk of California folks volunteer doing something. People are striving to improve conditions for all facets of our area. We have a huge homeless population throughout the state. If you were homeless where would you rather live Minnesota or California? Things happen in fits and starts.
Many 'homeless' have recreational vehicles that they park on residential streets. Many homeless live quietly and neatly, others do not, spoiling it for everyone. Laws have been enacted forbidding this parking then dropped only to be enacted again. It is a problem.
Santa Barbara County started using ride sharing parking lots located adjacent to freeway on and off ramps. Typically they are virtually deserted at night while packed during the day. So daily homeless RV's can check in around sunset but need be gone by breakfast. It seems to be going well and is spreading around the area. Local Police agencies provide onsite security.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Legislature
Quote
The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legislature convene at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The California state Legislature is one of just ten full-time state legislatures in the United States.
The Democratic Party currently holds supermajorities in both houses of the California State Legislature. The Assembly consists of 61 Democrats and 18 Republicans, with one vacancy, while the Senate is composed of 29 Democrats and 11 Republicans. Except for a brief period from 1995 to 1996, the Assembly has been in Democratic hands since the 1970 election. The Senate, meanwhile, has been under continuous Democratic control since 1970.
Unquote
You can think what you want but check out the history of the US and tell me which political party began social programs that benefited ALL Americans. We now have ranked choice voting for primary elections. The top two winners campaign against each other regardless of political affiliation. Meaning mostly a pair of Democrats campaign against each other.
While I was sailing offshore prior to January 1972 we lived in Duluth, MN. I sailed mostly to 'Nam ten months a year 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971. When I came home to Duluth for my sixty days July and August vacation. My MEBA Marine Engineers Beneficial Association Union leaned on me to give these poor Great Lakes engineers a vacation. Because they have to wait another four months before they get THEIR annual sixty days vacation aka winter. So in December 1971 we sold our house and moved out right after new years 1972.
We were driving a brand new with sixty miles 24 foot Ford F-600 U-Haul Box truck. I was told to press down hard on the gas pedal and hold it there. That will burn out the 45-MPH governor on the engine. Located between the carburetor and the manifold it worked by squishing down the fuel and airflow. Using engine vacuum it pushed a pair of stiff copper half round disks towards each other. I burnt it out in 100 miles. We were flat towing our stout 1971 International-Harvester four-wheel drive Scout.
First we rented a house near Beach Blvd and Adams Avenue in Huntington Beach.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntington_Beach,_California
Driving down Beach Blvd spotted a real estate agent with a sign for house rental and stopped. Went and looked at the house then came back to the office and rented it. In a neat neighborhood of interesting people two miles east of the surf. There were weekend parties in the neighborhood. One fourth of July a guy had a timber floor flat bed truck so we nailed down a couple of old bicycles upside down and attached rockets to the bare wheel. Light off the rockets and the wheel went round and round as we paraded on the street.
After a year there we bought a house a mile and a half-closer to the beach. Walking to the beach was nice but we sometimes wished that we had said something sooner to our landlord, since when we did, he offered to sell us the house. We moved into a snooty neighborhood, where NO ONE never ever spoke to a neighbor, all ya got was a nasty glare.
Attached: z345m_ztrakmower.jpg (57.9 KB)
Greg Hayden
Vista, CA
