I’m thinking through my options for replacing the car I got rid of a year ago.
I need something to use when it would be inconvenient to borrow my wife’s car. As a result, I won’t be driving it much, and probably won’t be driving it far.
So how about a nice used Nissan Leaf? That’s the subject of this post.
Source for artwork for this post: The AI picture generator at Gencraft.com
If you thought the efficiency data for electric motorcycles was sketchy, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Best guess, consistently driven at or below 20 MPH, an e-bike might appear to be about ten times more efficient than the best electric car. But even with that, in my situation, it’s not a cost-effective way to avoid carbon emissions.
Note: The artwork in this post is from various free text-to-picture AI sites. So far, the only thing I’m learning about such sites is that you can waste a considerable amount of time on them.
Answer: About twice as efficient as the most-efficient electric cars. Continue reading Post #1823: How efficient are electric motorcycles?
About mustard, the condiment, I know nothing. I follow recipes.
I’ve now tried making two batches of mustard, from seed I harvested a little earlier this year. You can look at recent prior posts to see how I went about harvesting, threshing, and winnowing the mustard seeds.
Continue reading G23-048: Uncooked mustard. Handle with care.
Suppose my town cancelled fall vacuum leaf pickup and disposal.
Would the fuel saved by that offset additional fuel burned to run mulching lawn mowers, to take care of those leaves, in-place?
Best guess: Yes. Every lawn in Town could get an estimated five additional mowings per year, for the fuel currently used to vacuum and dispose of residents’ leaves. Continue reading Post #1822: How much mulching could you do, for the fuel currently used for fall vacuum leaf pickup?
This is just a brief note, to the effect that some varieties of green beans (snap beans) don’t like high nighttime temperatures when they are flowering. Anything consistently above 68 F can lead to reduced yield, depending on the variety. Continue reading Post G23-047: Et tu, snap beans?
Source: clipart-library.com To me, the original for this seem as if it were genuinely old. But I got it, presumably without copyright restrictions, from that source. If this is new, kudos to the creator for the look of it.
Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) employees recommended discontinuing fall vacuum leaf pickup. Continue reading Post #1821: Fairfax County staff recommend discontinuing fall leaf vacuuming.
Today I stumbled across the dollar value of the 1961 Town of Vienna operating budget, in an old Town of Vienna newsletter. It seemed small to me, even after considering inflation. So I decided to compare a few key statistics for the Town of Vienna, 1960 (ish) versus 2023 (ish). And, in fact, it was small.
N.B., one U.S. dollar, in 1960, was worth just over $10, in current (July 2023) currency. Actual silver coinage (90% silver coins) did not disappear from U.S. circulation until 1964.
Town of Vienna, VA: 2023 versus 1960
Population: 43% increase
Dwelling units: 100% increase:
Persons per household: 26% decrease.
N.B. 2 x .74 = 1.48, so even though the data above come from different, independent data sources, the math very nearly reproduces the actual increase in population (44%, not 48%) over the period.
Median house price: Roughly five-fold increase.
Town of Vienna operating budget: Roughly 10-fold increase.
Most of the operating revenue for the Town comes from real estate taxes. To reconcile the 10-fold growth in house prices, and the five-fold growth in the cost of government, you have to know that the tax rate per $100 of market value fell by roughly 50% over this period. In 1961, it was $1.35 per $100, assessed at 32% of market value, or (1.35 x .32 =) 0.42 per $100 of market value. That, from the June 1961 Town newsletter. Currently, the rate is just over $0.20 per $100 of market value, per the 2023-24 Town budget.
References:
1960 Census of Population and Housing: https://usa.ipums.org/usa/voliii/pubdocs/1960/pubvols1960.shtml
2020 Census: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/viennatownvirginia/PST045222
Town of Vienna 1961 newsletter: https://www.viennava.gov/engagement-central/newsroom/vienna-voice-town-newsletter
Town of Vienna operating budget: https://www.viennava.gov/your-government/town-budget
Inflation calculator: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
Today in Vienna VA we have rain. And forest-fire smog.
This seems unfair, somehow.
This post asks two things.
Does rain clear the air? That is, remove dust, pollen, and fine particulates? And if it does, then why is my AQI in the 80s for fine particulates, after it’s been raining overnight.
On the flip side, does forest fire smoke generate rain? That is, does the smoke in the air increase the chance of rain, as cloud seeding does?
Bottom line: Rain clears the air. But only a bit. A typical value for PM 2.5 reduction by moderate rain might be 25%. Forest fire smoke doesn’t appear to make it rain. But if the atmosphere is already primed for rain, there is some evidence that a high load of smoke in the air will intensify thunderstorms.
I’m still struck by how poor the day-ahead smoke forecast is for my area. Via Airnow.gov. Separately, I remain surprised at how quickly the actual AQI can change.
So this is, in effect, an extension of Post #1803. I still have no clue why there is such a high variance. Continue reading Post #1818: Why is our AQI forecasting so bad?
