Hi, I'm Pete Sessions and I'm your moron

"Ignorance can be cured through education, but there is no cure for stupid."
- anonymous

For the past several days, I've been targeted by a thinly-veiled "auto-dialer to re-elect Pete Sessions" -- in theory, he's my US Congressman. In truth, he's just another Republic Party Moron, who only reaches out to us constituents when it's election time.

This one was a fairly typical Republic survey (lasting about three (3) minutes) where they ask loaded questions designed to pander to the Republic Party base. Only yes or no answers are accepted - so if you'd like to reply "maybe" or "it depends" then you're out of luck. In this one, he repeats "Pete Sessions, your congressman" at least 4 times. I suspect that's because surveys show he has virtually no name recognition, and does nothing other than vote the way his Republic Party leaders order him. Pete Sessions is incapable/unwilling to think for himself.

Sessions' claim to fame is that he's the one responsible for gerrymandering the district and taking away our real Congressman, Martin Frost, in a Karl Rove-inspired slander campaign. Since then, we've been without real representation.

The twist on this call is that it was recorded by the candidate, so it was almost like (golly!) he was talking to me. Of course, in real life that doesn't happen.

Two of the questions concerned nuclear energy, which Pete Sessions calls "NUCULAR" (just like his bootlicker, George Dubya Bush). One of my first insights into whether a person has an IQ above 100 is their ability to pronounce the word NUCLEAR and .. no surprise .. Sessions fails that test.

I've blogged about this before, but it bears repeating: my two US senators (Hutchison and Cornyn) and my US congressman (Sessions) are all Bush-licking Republics, which means that I have no representation. All three of these clowns are there to support Big Oil and other large donors, and couldn't care less about the people who live here, except in the few weeks preceding any election where they use their franking (free mail) and auto-dialers to give the illusion that they're doing something.

Sadly, most Texan voters are poorly educated and will re-elect these clowns year after year (none of the three have any discernable skills, other than pandering).

growing to (heart) $4 gas

As I started my day with a read of the New York Times* I noticed:

"Oil has dropped more than $23 a barrel, or 16 percent, and gasoline prices have fallen as Americans drive less."

Conservatives Small brainers will attribute this to Dubya's threat to open up more offshore drilling (even though the oil companies haven't drilled in 80% of the areas already permitted for same). The truth is that prices fell when the magical $4/gallon barrier for gas/petrol was reached and demand eased -- Americans simply started driving less. Part of this has to include the economic meltdown that's underway - just yesterday another restaurant chain (Benigan's/Steak & Ale), and another department store chain (Mervyn's) failed.

Dubya's Oil Puppets would like you to believe otherwise, but the offshore drilling threat was hollow and had no impact. This drop in oil prices was based on sticker-shock, and is temporary.

Oil producers know that "$4 gas" will soon become accepted as the norm, at which point they can aim for "$5 gas". I heard some MSM pundits muse "now we're paying European prices for gas!!!!" while anyone who can Google knows that's a lie; many Europeans would love to see American gas prices at their local station.

I suspect this will be similar to any plateau effect; Americans will grow to think of "$4 gas" as The Good Old Days and behaviors will slip away from our New Thrifty Habits:

1. driving at the speed limit;
2. combining trips;
3. carpooling;
4. buying more efficient vehicles;
5. using mass transit

The local bus/train company (DART) has placed orders for larger trains - with better bicycle capacity - but by the time those orders arrive, I suspect we'll be back to Business As Usual as we'll have adapted to stagflation.

Likewise, American car makers are falling over themselves as they try to retool their factories for more fuel-efficient vehicles, but it appears they cannot turn on a dime and I've heard predictions of 18 months before those adaptations are complete.

I was talking to a friend last night about the price of new cars, and she said that while her paycheck has stayed the same, the price of her Target New Car has increased - on the order of 10% or so. My theory is that in order to make a vehicle 1% more fuel efficient, the price had to increase by 5% - the law of diminishing returns has begun to set in. As Americans return to our wasteful habits (outconsuming the world by 5:1 in some cases) this is only bound to get worse.

* the local newspaper (the "Dallas Managed News") has become little more than a repurposing of Associated Press stories, plus a hefty Religion section and right-wing pundits. They shouldn't let the door hit them in the arse.

100% green electrons

For the third time in five months, I have a new electricity provider. I switched because my last provider's promotional rate of $138/mwh zoomed to $168 in June -- that's the highest I've ever paid, although still far from being Texas' most expensive ($206).

I now look back to 2005 with fondness, when I was paying $92/mwh!

In Texas, the market's deregulated, which means you're not stuck with the default provider (TXU @ $159). All your choice really means is (a) who you pay and (b) who feeds The Grid on your behalf. None of the infrastructure (cables, meters, repair crew) changes.

My last provider's business model is: "attract new customers with a low initial price, and hope they're too oblivious/lazy to change when we raise the rate after 30 days". It's not like I wasn't warned; the contract terms said:

"The promotional month-to-month electricity rate is for new customers enrolling for the first time beginning May 1, 2008. This rate will transition to a variable rate at the end of the Promo month period. Current variable rates for service are published on our website."

The good news is that their contract was month-to-month so no early termination penalty applied.

Electricity rates in Texas are among the highest in the country - typically 10th. The highest are (in order) Hawaii; New York; Connecticut; Massachusetts; Rhode Island; Alaska; New Hampshire; California and Vermont. Is deregulation working here? Since The Texas Republic Party has been in power (and lining their pockets with oil money) for the past 20+ years, it's obviously their fault. But, they are the party of Never EVER Taking Responsibility, so .. the high prices will continue until they're thrown out - probably in 2072 or so, given the stupidity of the electorate.

Given the wild fluctuations in the energy market, I decided to seek a fixed rate for a year. There are 27 providers (!) and 80 different plans (!) available for my ZIP code .. lots of companies want my money, apparently. Of those 80 plans, fifty (50) are fixed rate contracts.

The choices

The cost/megawatt hour ranged from $138 to $220, and I could choose between fixed and variable rates; 0-100% renewable; 1-60 month contracts; and a $0-399 (!) early-cancellation penalty. The ideal contract doesn't exist, of course:

• lowest rate/kwh
• 100% renewable
• 60 month lock-in
• $0 early cancellation penalty

In the past, renewable providers charged significantly more than traditional providers (coal and lignite; natural gas; nuclear) but the fixed rate plan difference is now $146 vs $153, so I'll pay the few extra quid to be 100% Green.

Twelve (12) providers matched my criteria (fixed rate, 100% renewable, 12+ months) with rates ranging from $153 to $206/mwh. So, my new provider is Gexa (JEKS-uh) Energy. The Gexa Green 12 plan is 100% wind energy.

There was a matching company: YEP Energy (same criteria and price) but Gexa will give me AAdvantage Miles (!) so that clinched the deal.


Also, Y.E.P. sounded like a funny name .. which wasn't in my criteria. Their tagline is "The Official Sponsor of Absolutely Nothing" (keep rates low by not sponsoring sports stadiums, etc.)

Now, I've locked in a fixed rate of $153/mwh for a one year term -- with a $150 early-cancellation penalty. My usage troughs in April (<1 mwh) and peaks in September (>3 mwh), so .. keep those wind turbines turning.

Nuon batteries = Junk

I've blogged before about the poor quality of rechargeable batteries; much of what's available for sale is just So Much Junk. I have another to add to the list: the Nuon brand sold by Batteries Plus.

In late September, I took a chance and bought four (4) 4-packs of Nuon Rechargeable NIMH batteries. By April, I found that at least four of the cells will no longer hold any charge. My BC-900 simply registers "Null" when I tried to charge those cells last week. It's not like these have been doing heavy duty, either .. this particular set was in a clock-weather gadget that communicates to a remote unit (outside) to provide correct ("atomic clock") time & temperature.

Yesterday, I stopped by the local Batteries+ outlet to see if they knew how bad these things really are (25% failure rate in 7 months!) and thinking maybe they'd even exchange them. Not only did they profess ignorance about the poor quality, but wouldn't exchange them without a receipt. This was particularly distressing since Batteries Plus is the exclusive North American distributor of Nuon batteries.

Garland Goes Green

Earlier today I waddled over to Garland, to see their Garland Goes Green event. As I suspected, it wasn't huge .. but not bad for a suburb (as well as a way to showcase their sprawling Firewheel Town Center Mall).

One of the more entertaining things was a rare Corbin Sparrow -- an all-electric three-wheeled one-person vehicle, owned by a Garland resident who drives it every day. (more details here: John Brecher's 2002 Corbin Sparrow). What remains of the company that made this car is now online at MyersMotors.com, although the $35K+ price tag will scare off all but the most determined tree-hugger.

The Sparrow was part of a three-car display by the North Texas Electric Auto Association, which is a group of guys who learn about (and convert to) electrically powered cars. I had a nice chance to chat with them for about 15 minutes, learning about the various challenges faced by someone who wants to forgo gasoline-powered vehicles .. in Texas. The 30-mile range is a definite handicap, and I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of an encounter with a Chevy Suburban. Still .. since Dallas is not really in Texas .. it fills a niche.

More: EV Album: Electric Vehicle Photo Album

e-cycling

Well, I got rid of 1.5 boots (BritSpeak for "trunk") worth of e-waste today. The City of Dallas was sponsoring a Quarterly Recycling Event at a nearby park, so .. I took advantage and got rid of all sorts of circuit boards and cables and .. stuff .. that I will never use again.

Turns out the City had contracted with BCD Electro ("Electronics Recycling – Surplus Electronics – Computer Recycling") to handle all the electronics waste, and -- despite the rain -- they were doing a reasonable amount of "business" when I was there.

I still have 2 CRT monitors that have been sitting in my garage; I'm reluctant to part with them because -- even though they probably have zero value -- they cost hundreds of dollars and still work (they just take up lots of space and use lots of amps).

Now, I simply have to avoid the same mistake - buying stuff that'll ever be obsolete. Where do I start?

numerology: from 12.2 to 9.2 (with a stop at 14.5 en route)

Ah, the joy of electricity deregulation. My provider waited until 1 picosecond after my contract expired to raise my electric rate from 12.2¢ to 14.5¢ (per kwh). So, I logged onto Power To Choose and switched providers - again. I think this is about the 5th time I've changed since deregulation happened here. Now, I have a rate of 9.2¢ per kwh but that's expected to fluctuate, and since there was no contract I can switch without penalty if they get out of line.

The fact that my new provider uses about 50% coal is irrelevant. If it was important that we conserve resources and use renewable sources of energy, the Texas legislature would mandate it, right?

raise rock. drop. document effect.

A few weeks ago, I checked the US Department of Energy's Insulation Fact Sheet and noted that I should have R-38 insulation in my attic, based on 3 factors:

1. new or existing;
2. type of heat (oil, gas, electric);
3. location, location, location

A quick measure showed that what's up there was only R-16 or so and using recent-technology loose-fill (blown-in) insulation would be the best.

Playing with the Insulation Calculator was educational. For my ZIP code, they recommend R-38 in attics where the fuel is natural gas; oil or a heat pump but R-49 for electric or LPG [Liquid Propane]. For all new construction, they're recommending R-49.

The contractor said it would take one day to "install" the additional insulation, and they were finished on schedule yesterday. Now I can wait for my energy costs to drop like a rock, right?

yet another power event

Another thunderstorm moves through town and another power outage - this one, for about 40 minutes. It's been an unusually wet spring here with many more storms and resultant outages than normal.

So, I'm happy to have five (5) Uninterruptable Power System (battery backup) on my various PCs (and the TiVo - which is a Linux box, after all). The problem is keeping the batteries happy. One of my PCs did its graceful shutdown within about 90 seconds of the outage, so it's time to replace that battery. Several of the others went 30 minutes or more.

springtime in Dallas

Two more power outages today - both relatively short. The first one was about 1pm and lasted 8 minutes, and the 2nd was about 4pm and lasted about 2 minutes (not even long enough for my one battery-challenged UPS to power down).

power outage #2 .. will that be all today?

I accidentally discovered the ideal way to endure a power outage: leave home.

A line of thunderstorms rolled through Dallas today; this is not unusual this time of the year. So, when the power failed soon after 4pm, I watched and listened as the UPS on my various computers dropped to battery and started beeping. Yeah, yeah .. I've been through this before many times. If I just wait a few minutes, the power will come back on and I won't have to reboot anything. And indeed, that's what happened on all but one PC, which apparently didn't have enough reserve to handle the 7 minute outage. At least the software did the right thing: a graceful shutdown.

A few hours later, the storms had mostly passed when my PDA started chirping, reminding me of a 7pm meeting. Okay, fine .. I'll go. Heck, I'll even get a free carwash since there was a wee bit of rain still falling.

So, when I returned home around 9:15 I was mildly surprised to see that my lights were out, along with my neighbor to the south. The neighbor to the north still had power, so, I moseyed inside to Go Through The Routine of calling TXU Energy Delivery and reporting the outage (it's mostly automated, based on my CallerID). The automated darlin' told me power would be restored no later than 11pm and indeed it came back up at about 9:45pm. Looks like power was out here for about 1:52.

By then, I'd made a few amazing (!) discoveries:

1) my DSL circuit was still up, since I had plugged the DSL modem-router into the UPS in a moment of brilliance -- long ago.

2) Since DSL was still up, I could use my laptop for the duration of its battery life (about 2 hours) and check email, etc. After about 15 minutes of that, the power returned.

3) I switched my home alarm to the wireless version a few months ago, and it appeared to work well .. as a nice test if someone decided to break into my home after cutting the power first. When I entered my dark home, the alarm system went off immediately (which I cancelled in the normal way). That's harder to simulate .. short of flipping my primary circuit breakers which is .. well, annoying.

Don O'Treply speaks!

Since today was the day that The Morons chose as "boycott gas stations day" I made sure to fill up my tank. It was $3.15 for premium and my credit card deducts 5% for gasoline purchases, so I paid $3/gallon.

Sometime around noon, I heard that Jerry Falwell died. He's the disgusting creature who, along with Ronald Reagan, elevated bigotry and hatred to new levels in American politics.

Bet #1: President Quagmire and his minions are hoping for a good photo op at Jerry's funeral.

Bet #2: James Dobson is already sniffing Falwell's corpse, wanting to know how he can get his hands on Jerry's Followers' money.

Bet #3: Jerry didn't leave a dime in his will to AIDS research.

What would make me happy? To see Fred Phelps picket Falwell's funeral .. that would be poetic justice. Maybe the KKK will fund their bus tickets? (Wednesday update: they're actually going to do this .. woo hoo!)

Finally, I'm thinking of changing my name to Don O'Treply. That would be so kewl to use in email. Hmmm.

Live Green in .. Plano??

Given the various demonstrations of solar and wind power at today's Live Green in Plano Expo, the last thing I expected to see was a portable generator, but .. there it was. Inside, the air conditioning was keeping everyone from sweating (the humidity was 90%+) yet the exterior doors were wide open .. I didn't know it was possible to cool the outside of a building.

I only stayed about an hour - being around that many Right Wingers was starting to give me hives. The only place in the MetroPlex that's further Right than Plano is The Park Cities - which surround the ultra-right Southern Methodist University.

Anyway, I did find some entertaining stuff at the Expo:

Aggie (Texas A&M) Horticulture - advised me on a "grass problem" that I have;
Computer Take Back - recycling old PCs (we talked about RoHS a bit);
Collin County Master Gardeners;
Dallas Organic Garden Club;
Eco Dallas - biodegradable forks, spoons, plates;
Foil Barrier Insulation;
Nature Maids (only green products);
Texas Campaign for the Environment.

I spotted a couple guys (part of the Event Staff?) riding on Segways, but couldn't get close enough to take a picture. They were whipping around the outdoor part of the Expo (hybrid cars, wind+solar demonstrations, faux grass) at a high rate of speed.

Earth Day 2007

I moseyed over to Starbucks tonight, and happened to notice that my receipt contained a pointer to Planet Green Game .. so, having a few extra cycles today, I gave it a whirl and earned a merit badge of sorts:

I'm not sure I learned anything, since I'm already über-knowledgable about Being Green, but .. the music was nice to listen to while I bicycled through their faux city, watching a few mini-movies and such.

They mentioned something about bringing my own coffee cup, to spare a few of those cardboard cups in which they insert my favorite delicious hot beverage. I have to wonder whether my own cup would hold a tall, grande or vente. Hmmm.

(beep) beep BEEP - enough already!

I have a UPS (not the parcel company) on each of my PCs at home; they don't cost much more than a surge protector and provide nice, clean power so my computers won't gag with the over/undervoltages provided by TXU.

So, after adding Yet Another Random Patch to one of my Windows XP boxes (and the subsequent obligatory reboot), the UPS monitor (APC PowerChute) complained - once too often - that I hadn't replaced the battery in 3+ years. Wanting Instant Gratification, I waddled over to BatteriesPlus with the old battery and waltzed out with a replacement in about 48 seconds, my wallet a mere $29.99 lighter.

I came home, plugged in the 2 connectors (red to red and black to .. uh .. black?) and suddenly the world is a somewhat quieter place. Until at least April 2010 (3 years from now, for you Math Wizards).

In a related note (wha??) Drew-Bob sent an email asking if I wanted to Do Lunch on Wednesday. Sure, I mused .. knowing that I'll get about 15 minutes warning as he leaves his employer's parking lot. Hmm .. what burger establishment will get our business today? (1:45pm answer: Sonny Bryan's BBQ - not exactly a burger place)

POTUS 2008

Yet another Texas Idiot has surfaced: US Congressman Joe Barton (Republican from Ennis, TX). This putz (whose pockets are surely lined with bribes from the oil & energy companies) claims that Global Warming is a fraud. He's probably an IDiot (Intelligent Design) too.

I guess that means he'll soon be the Next Precedent of the United Staits! Rudy and John and Mitt had better watch their backs.

when the lights go out ...

I was reading Pat-Bob's blog, and spotted an interesting exercise: how many machines/electronics did you use today?. Weekday or weekend? Do AA batteries count? Hmmm.

Should I attempt this from midnight-midnight?
6am-6am?
Will that matter?

Should I keep the list on a piece of paper, so that my PDA doesn't become part of the mix? Do I include light switches? Should I include my home alarm if I merely go outside to fetch the mail (and hear the alarm sound as the door opens/closes)?

I suppose I could go into the "would this device fail if the electricity were out?" mode but then that would include my home furnace (sparked by a thermostat) ...

His next day's post was slightly different .. the number of times he had to identify himself as he went through The Daily Routine. Perhaps I could start there, then progress to the much larger list. Hmmm.

Santa's Elves Versus TXU

Conspiracy theorists may suspect that TXU controls the weather.

I wonder how today's Lump Of Coal For TXU distribution will go, given the heavy rain and thunderstorms that are prowling about?

In case you Missed The Memo, here it is (which landed in my inbox yesterday afternoon):

---

Elves? In Dallas? That's right.

Wednesday morning at 11 am, Santa's Elves will arrive in full force ... sleigh and all. This year they'll be giving out gifts of a different kind.

TXU wants to build 11 new dirty coal power plants across the state. Governor Perry has fast-tracked the permits for the proposed plants. If TXU's plan is approved, the result for Texans will be the equivalent of a one-ton lump of coal for every Texan, every year, for the next 50 years. So Santa's Elves have to come to the rescue.

Help deliver the message to John Wilder: "Thanks - but no thanks - on the dirty coal plants." Head down to 1500 Main Street (about five blocks north of Dallas City Hall) and look for the sleigh and elves.

What: Elves will hand out individually wrapped lumps of coal to Dallas citizens. Citizens will receive a postage paid envelope and are encouraged to re-gift the coal to TXU CEO John Wilder.

When: Wednesday, December 20, 11 am.
Where: Pegasus Plaza at 1500 Main Street, near Iron Cactus' Patio on the Plaza.
Look for the sleigh and elves.

Happy Holidays! Help keep them healthy by sending a lump of coal to John Wilder.

Thank you,
The Texas Team at Environmental Defense

What'll you bet TXU's John Wilder takes all the coal and immediately sets it on fire, so that we all can get a whiff of what he thinks about environmental sanity?

the end of an era

Just about now, Jill-Bob is losing her -Bob status, crossing from Texas into The Great Abyss. Part of this is due to global warming, you see, as the Texas summers just got to be Too Much To Bear. You see, she discovered that it's far more pleasant to run in 40F weather, than 80F. So, she packed up her duds and critters and moved north, perhaps a few miles closer to Medicine Hat.

I've known Jill since, uh .. 1993, when I moved here from Los Angeles. It'll be weird knowing that she ain't within (easy) driving distance. Will The Saucer Crowd fade into extinction without her Maternal Guidance? Time will tell.

I suspect Jill's a pioneer of sorts, as past mass-migrations from the cold northern climes to the sunny beaches begin to reverse. Within our lifetime, we may see the extinction of the polar bear from the wild parts of the world, relegated only to zoos where they may be supplied an uninterrupted food supply. I also heard that the European ski resorts are having a tough time, given both a shorter season and less of their product (snow) to go around.

Politically, I have to wonder if the red-blue divide will turn into a north-south pattern, versus the current coastline-interior split. Those who remain in denial about global warming will stay in the south, sprinting from air-conditioned vehicles to air-conditioned buildings, while scarce energy continues to influence an upward price spiral. Eventually they may realize that there's a price to pay for those lofted ceilings and entryways, in the form of the BTUs needed to keep the human occupants comfortable. Eventually, but not yet. For now, the typically red-voting southerner will be happy to buy another Hummer (or F250 clone) to haul around whatever it is they haul around. Naturally, the elevation of those vehicles provides them ample opportunity to (literally) look down upon The Little People.

And the divide widens.

Back to present day reality: I suspect Jill will be rolling into her new digs around midnight* with Marvin, Simone and the others seeking a warm place to whiz. Good luck with The Grand Adventure, Jill-Bob.

* not being a classic Morning Person, it didn't surprise me that her 7am start time came and went.

Today, it's already 71F and aiming for a high of 81F. In mid-December. Go figure. Meanwhile, I programmed my TiVo to record the 8pm (24 Dec) [Spotlight] on LinkTV (DirecTV 375), titled "Global Warming: Bush's Climate of Fear". Sounds like a cheery way to celebrate The Holidays, eh?

no victory at Victory

Check another "thing I've never done before" off the list: I rendezvoused with a DART train (34°F on the platform) so that Jill-Bob and I could ride to a Dallas Stars game. Following her directions closely, I allowed a Red Line train to pass, then hopped onto the one which goes directly to Victory Station at the American Airlines Center. Voila!

Here's the view of the rink from our seats in section 312:


The only one doing any scoring (the Stars lost 0-2) was Jill-Bob, who scored a free Chipotle burrito coupon:

from the Chipotle blimp (doing acrobatics a few feet above our heads):

Jill-Bob was entertained by the guys from a local radio station (the "Jack FM Speedo Team"):

while I was entertained by the Dallas Stars Ice Girls. I wonder if they make house calls? I have some snow that needs shoveling too!

Aside: one of the advertisers was Yet Another Energy Drink : HAVOC. Isn't that market (pardon the pun) oversaturated?