The Coffee House

[jcdeboever]

Python is the bomb

 

[terri39 10]

I suspect that many of the areas destroyed will be allowed to revert back to nature when the flood waters recede and the rebuilding starts.

I don't know about that. They will probably want to rebuild every scrap - since there's no state tax there, state and local Texas government gets a bulk of its income from property taxes, as well as other ad valorem taxes. They just have no financial incentive to *not* let people build where they shouldn't.

Maybe this kind of natural disaster will have them re-think this, but I wouldn't bet on it.

I dunno, the hit of reconstruction and the revenue loss from nonproduction is cause for many/most companies to think thrice about going back to the same location with the same annual threat of disaster. Last year it was Louisiana this year Texas ...

Time will tell; this is hardly their first rodeo and, as you noted, many areas don't have zoning codes. It's all about calculating their potential revenue gains against events like this, but the point was, there's not much in the way of anyone to tell anyone else No - so far. And they like it that way in Texas.

MLW is getting a promotion. The Fire Chief's administrative aide is retiring and the chief picked her to be his acting aide; it will become permanent once the paperwork and approvals are done. She's worked for him when he was a Deputy Fire Chief (aka Lt. Colonel) and again when he was appointed to "Chief Deputy" (we have four Deputies) so they have a good working relationship.

That is so cool! Congrats to her, Charlie! I'm sure she'll be great.

 

[Gary A.]

Maybe this kind of natural disaster will have them re-think this, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Like you I doubt it. We have the same issues in our state. Greedy politicians and developers put naive buyers at risk

Those are nation-wide issues and Gary strongly suspects even world-wide.

While many my frown upon the liberal policies of California ... But .... development in this state is not easy (or cheap) due to the numerous and varied hoops from state mandates down to local restrictions. e.i. Ventura county has a zero growth policy ... in order to put up a building/house one as to come down. Ventura desires to maintain its existing quality of life and mix of agriculture with urban. With all the levels and opportunities for public input and mandatory legal reportings (CEQA), development is very tricky and difficult. But, having a few politicians in your back pocket always helps and in some cases hurdles public input and legal obligations. Overpopulation requires over-governance.

We have a board overseeing coastal development, named the Coastal Commission (oddly enough, lol). It was created in the 1970's out of an initiative process and voted into creation by the citizens of California. The Coastal Commission mandate was to restrict unbridled development along our 800+ mile coastline. For decades the Commission took its mandate seriously and was resolute in its charge of protecting the coast and balancing development with public benefit and was so powerful that it was actually feared by developers big and small. There was a good balance balance of board members between pro-develop advocates and pro-public advocates. Within the past few years pro-development members have crept into the majority. There has been a lot of controversy and outrage regarding the pro-development makeup of the board resulting in the firing of the Commission's executive director (a pro-public advocate).

*Sigh*, but Gary is digressing ...

 

[Gary A.]

@Frank F. your recipe is pretty close to what I have. Going to print it out to compare side by side.

I guess they took traditional recipes and adapted them to the needs of the diet. That might be the reason for some inconsistent ingredient lists. In my dreams I would not have thought of combining cinnamon with Sauerkraut and nutmeg in a broth of home cooked beef'n'bones with Meatballs. But it turns out to be a great combination!

Must be some eastern European origin. I love the soups from Poland and Russia!

Yes, a seemingly unholy mix of flavors.

 

[Gary A.]

Yesterday we sat by the dying dog of a friend. The friend was more in pain than the dog. The dog was desoriented, aphatic but only seemed to feel pain when someone touched the left eye area. It stopped moving as if it had forgotten what to do, how to continue. It did not bark when we rang the bell, no storm of love declaration. It is a large dog. Berner Sennen Hund. It drank some buttermilk mixed with water and did not raise his leg when peeing. Not a lot left of his former personality. Possibly had a stroke, sure had an epileptic episode and a lot of other throuble.... Pity.

That is sad.

 

[Gary A.]

I suspect that many of the areas destroyed will be allowed to revert back to nature when the flood waters recede and the rebuilding starts.

I don't know about that. They will probably want to rebuild every scrap - since there's no state tax there, state and local Texas government gets a bulk of its income from property taxes, as well as other ad valorem taxes. They just have no financial incentive to *not* let people build where they shouldn't.

Maybe this kind of natural disaster will have them re-think this, but I wouldn't bet on it.

I dunno, the hit of reconstruction and the revenue loss from nonproduction is cause for many/most companies to think thrice about going back to the same location with the same annual threat of disaster. Last year it was Louisiana this year Texas ...

Time will tell; this is hardly their first rodeo and, as you noted, many areas don't have zoning codes. It's all about calculating their potential revenue gains against events like this, but the point was, there's not much in the way of anyone to tell anyone else No - so far. And they like it that way in Texas.

MLW is getting a promotion. The Fire Chief's administrative aide is retiring and the chief picked her to be his acting aide; it will become permanent once the paperwork and approvals are done. She's worked for him when he was a Deputy Fire Chief (aka Lt. Colonel) and again when he was appointed to "Chief Deputy" (we have four Deputies) so they have a good working relationship.

That is so cool! Congrats to her, Charlie! I'm sure she'll be great.

@ Terri: Gary's view is that reconstruction for larger companies, will be determined by the company's accounting department, which will develop a risk analysis document. For smaller companies, they may have no choice but to build where they are.

 

[Gary A.]

Buenas Dias Coffee Hosers. Tom, my friend with the heart attack, who, according to the charts actually died and was brought back, has moved in and is recuperating from his triple bypass surgery. My cousin is still in ICU hopefully recovering from his stroke and The Cook is about the same. Gary has his hands full.

 

[limr34 3]

Buenas Dias Coffee Hosers. Tom, my friend with the heart attack, who, according to the charts actually died and was brought back, has moved in and is recuperating from his triple bypass operation. My cousin is still in ICU hopefully recovering from his stroke and The Cook is about the same. Gary has his hands full.

 

[jcdeboever]

Pawn shop kitty. Not for sale....

 

[Gary A.]

Everything has a price ... lol.

 

[snowbear120 51]

Buenas Dias Coffee Hosers. Tom, my friend with the heart attack, who, according to the charts actually died and was brought back, has moved in and is recuperating from his triple bypass surgery. My cousin is still in ICU hopefully recovering from his stroke and The Cook is about the same. Gary has his hands full.

Good news for your friend. Thoughts and prayers for your cousin and the Cook

 

[jcdeboever]

This^^^

 

[smoke665]

Everything has a price ... lol.

Several years ago an arm of the Corp of Engineers cleaned out a large channel under their control that ran through a portion of our property. As part of the process the leveled the berm on each side. Shortly there after we received a letter from NRCS that we had destroyed a wetland and would be fined $10,000/day until it was restored. We finally prevailed over the action, but since then I've seen cities/counties routinely fill, drain, clear real wetlands with impunity,.

So apparently the federal laws don't apply equally.

 

[snowbear120 51]

Everything has a price ... lol.

Several years ago an arm of the Corp of Engineers cleaned out a large channel under their control that ran through a portion of our property. As part of the process the leveled the berm on each side. Shortly there after we received a letter from NRCS that we had destroyed a wetland and would be fined $10,000/day until it was restored. We finally prevailed over the action, but since then I've seen cities/counties routinely fill, drain, clear real wetlands with impunity,.

So apparently the federal laws don't apply equally.

More than likely they are not enforced equally.

 

[Gary A.]

Everything has a price ... lol.

Several years ago an arm of the Corp of Engineers cleaned out a large channel under their control that ran through a portion of our property. As part of the process the leveled the berm on each side. Shortly there after we received a letter from NRCS that we had destroyed a wetland and would be fined $10,000/day until it was restored. We finally prevailed over the action, but since then I've seen cities/counties routinely fill, drain, clear real wetlands with impunity,.

So apparently the federal laws don't apply equally.

At one time, most of the California coastal areas were wetlands. Out here we are spending a ton of money restoring damaged wetlands and restoring much of destruction done by the Corps of Engineers. The Corps' primary concern was to control water and used copious amounts of concrete and rip-rap to attain said control. We are now undoing the sins of the past and restoring our rivers and wetlands back to a 'more' natural state.


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