Posts by — SuperJoe

Buffalo developer Carl P. Paladino has filed separate lawsuits against National Grid and Verizon over what he claims are outrageous charges for moving utility lines and poles to accommodate new businesses.

Describing the utilities as “sick with greed,” Paladino says he has no choice but to take legal action because the state’s Public Service Commission has failed to hold “monopolistic” utilities accountable.

Paladino,a GOP politician, claims the utility companies refuse to detail how they arrive at prices when running lines to a newly constructed building or reconfiguring service to renovated properties.

The refusal, Paladino says, indicates the utilities have something to hide.

“In both cases, there has been collusion, overbilling, mis-billing and fraud,” he said. (more…)

IF YOU READ the article on Global Storming last month, you will know why changes in weather patterns are making extreme weather so common, and natural disasters so much more likely. Then there are the signs of imminent economic collapse to consider, plus geopolitics, terrorism and disease. Finally there is the distinct possibility that each of us face that our home, our job, our family, might be the next one sacrificed on the roulette wheel of our national economy.

But the key question is: what do you do about it?

Resilience is far more in the mind that in the larder or the fuel supply. There are three principles for people to find meaning and inspiration when times are the blackest. (more…)

Many ways around the law

As the numbers who cannot afford a conventional home continue to climb,there is greater interest in living off grid as a solution to the housing crisis.  The problem is that property developers sit on available residential land, making it unaffordable for groups of ordinary people to get together and live somewhere pleasant.  Sure its always possible to move to some god-forsaken windswept piece of moorland or desert, but living off the grid should not be so miserable. Here is a summary of the rules and how to get around them: (more…)

“A storm is coming,” says a new documentary featuring  84-year-old Congressman Roscoe Bartlett.  the movie takes a “common sense” view of the problems city-dwellers will face if there is a event such as economic collapse or a natural disaster.

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Debra Robinson explains why this book is the one to take with on your off-grid quest.

“Back to Basics” is an old book, but it can still be purchased. If you are looking for a starting point on your off-grid journey this is the book you will refer to over and again. The full title is “Back to Basics: How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional American Skills” Amazon still carries it - I got it for a gift, maybe fifteen years ago, and I use it all the time. This book is always the perfect place to start a new project. (more…)

A letter in today’s Napa Valley Times-Herald:

An open letter to Gov. Jerry Brown:

As you are probably aware, we are getting robbed blind by a very dishonest (and dangerous) public utility called PG&E.

A critical evaluation would show that they generate only a very small percentage of the power that they “retail.” They buy most of the power off the “grid” at an exorbitant price, and then they mark it way up. Then they ration that power with the “ratchet” to prevent excessive usage. (more…)

Buying solar panels is one thing – making sure they work efficiently and also hanging on to them is quite another matter. By definition, the panels have to be in an unobstructed area with relatively clear access for maintenance. That means theft is a serious risk, especially as the price of energy continues to rise. Theft of solar panels rose 17% in the US from 2008 to 2009 reports SolarInsure, a Costa Mesa, Calif. company.

With the number of households owning solar panels doubling every few years, companies are springing up to offer solar insurance. Naturally buying insurance is a risk in itself – the premiums are usually too high, and the insurer may not pay out even if you do suffer a problem not of your making. They also offer insurance against another big risk facing owners of solar panels – that the installer is not around to honor its guarantee in five years time or so, if the panel develops a fault. (more…)

Eureka, CA is the cheapest town on the Happy list – the list of the top ten places to be happy, as reported in Sunset.com.

The average price of a home in Eureka is $207,000,compared to $569,000 in the town which takes the No 1 spot on the happy list, Salt Spring BC/ Eureka is still considerably cheaper than Creston, CO, number ten on the Happy list and one of the main off-grid centres in the USA. In Creston the average home is $250,000.

Eureka, on the Redwood Highway in Humboldt County, has a population of about 36,000, except during cannabis harvesting when it grows to about 70,000.

Here’s the full list of the happiest places to go off-grid: (more…)

Here is an excerpt from Seth Stevenson’s new book about travelling the world sans airplane. Of course, ground transport is just as polluting, and just as subject to snow delays as air transport, but somehow its less total – schedules are more flexible – there is always another bus, or another cargo ship coming along:

“Walking down the sidewalk, I instinctively check my pocket. There are no keys there, and it’s a bit unsettling. I find I keep reflexively patting at the void. I feel a moment of panic each time. Until I remember there’s nothing I need keys for anymore. No apartment, no mailbox, no car. I feel untethered. I’m carrying the whole of my existence in a backpack.

It’s a bright August day. We’re walking to the metro stop. Last week, my life lacked purpose, but today every step seems like a purposeful stride. Those people in front of us? They’re going to the office. Us? We’re going on an adventure. (more…)