Made a friend in San Francisco who motorcycles

[William Weiler]

This is great. Potential riding buddy. I met him on zoom and got his number. I live 2hrs away but this works, since North Bay is the best. Imagine riding through the hills in the fog, then stopping in Bodega Bay for crabs on the Pacific. Did the fog part. Of course, everything is burnt to a crisp. But I can see for myself and understand what has happened better. The insurance claims will go through the roof, worse than Paradise. Lots of request for bailouts. Not just houses, but wineries and businesses. I just voted for a prop (forget the number), so you can move (from a dangerous area) and not incur a huge tax penalty. Who to give money too? Because I am lazy and don't want to leave the house. (I am joking here but it is a good thing I do something. No one at work will do anything. It is not on their radar. I think most people are like this). This kind of started as me meeting a new friend.

 

[oregano]

I wish I could go up there, but in my experience places like recent burn scars are just crawling with cops because of not only looters but vermin like construction scammers, unlicensed contractors who sweet talk people into handing over their life savings for work that never materializes. Anybody who tries to sightsee is generally chased away by the cops. Maybe in spring I will be able to go up there and see the land starting to heal and wineries rebuilding and replanting their vines.

 

[William Weiler]

Wow, thanks for the tip. I hear the battery in a car has so much lead when the car burns and the battery plastic melts and the lead goes into the ground. It is now a toxic waste problem and has to be cleaned up. I told a guy at work not to overworry about financials due to costs. The pandemic and fires will affect our bottom line far more. That we could have blackouts and lose essential services because of money diverted for recovery and preparation. There are already budgets cuts before. Trump initially refused to give needed disaster relief because he has a vendetta against California. Ironically, almost all the money goes to his supporters in the more rural areas.

 

[oregano]

Yeah, it's likely there will be even more "public safety" blackouts as PG&E desperately tries to evade the howling mobs calling for their heads, not realizing that they're simply digging their own grave that much deeper. I would recommend a solar panel hooked to a glass mat (AGM) battery. That will at least enable you to cook during the outages. Also, yeah stay out of the burn zones for a while, the cops will think you're looting and you may end up in the slammer if the cop is having a bad day. Best to chill until spring, the burn areas will likely come back as grasslands and also that's when the wineries will start to rebuild and replant their vines.

 

[William Weiler]

I bought an air quality meter because the online measures are estimates based on satellite measurements and weather data. Two popular phone apps I use have completely different values. There aren't any actual stations near me either. I also bought an air purifier that does smoke. I was able to keep inside at AIQ of 45 while it was 300 outside. Batteries and solar panels will not run an air conditioner. I need an air conditioner during blackouts during the heat wave. So a 7000 Watt generator is good. They are about $1000, but quiet reliable ones are much more. I guess the gold standard is Honda. I full time in an RV, so one that runs on gasoline and also propane would be good. I have to keep it outside and lock it up. I may have to share if a elderly, poor neighbor experiences something that could be fatal. This is the new normal I am afraid. I just found out October is the worse month here for wildfires.

 

[Au Naturel]

Rode a bike for three decades before I decided age had gotten the better of me.