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California AT folks, you okay? Governor issues historic drought restrictions:

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NutBucket said:
I was just reading this morning that some farmers planted almond orchards due to high profitability. So if/when water cost goes up significantly they can still turn a profit.
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That isn't how it works, at all.

They moved to almonds simply for profit, water use be damned.
 
Muse said:
I've always detested the planned obsolescence corporate strategies and a great deal of my lifestyle is in opposition to it. For instance, Detroit automobiles used to change their body styles every year and dramatically in the 1950's and 1960's. My first car was a VW beetle, the first car I was aware of whose body changed little if at all year to year. Mine was a 1961. Non-US made cars have tended to be more sensible in terms of not coercing the public to buy a new one unnecessarily. I think that trend has been largely reversed in recent years, the American public realized that it made more economic sense to buy a car that was built to last and Detroit had to adopt that philosophy to survive and we have cars that can last 250,000 miles instead of the 100,000 you might get from cars decades ago. I think we are going to see this philosophy in other things American. Manufacturing in the USA has considerably disappeared, we've seen it lamented time and again. It's in large part because America didn't adapt to economic needs, i.e. people can't or don't want to toss and buy a new this or that all the time. I sure don't.
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Where I live, most people have newer cars.

American's certainly love their new cars every 3-4 years.

Heck, look at the subprime lending going on with car loans. Still hasn't imploded.
 
Vdubchaos said:
Where I live, most people have newer cars.

American's certainly love their new cars every 3-4 years.

Heck, look at the subprime lending going on with car loans. Still hasn't imploded.
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I think that American cars are not built with planned obsolescence in mind nowadays, not like they used to be before the Japanese revolutionized the automobile manufacturing industry with the QC methodologies. Maybe the people where you live couldn't care less if those cars are designed to last more than 200k, but a lot of Americans do care, is my sense of it.

My car's getting older (Japanese, a Mazda) but I don't care all that much about it. With less than 30k on it, I figure there's no good reason to replace it. It doesn't have ABS, but I am a good and careful driver, it's not a concern for me. I think American's are likely keeping their cars longer than they used to, maybe not where you live, but they do last a lot longer, almost 3x as long as they used to.

I wouldn't take out a loan to buy a car, I'd buy it outright, myself. One of my bosses told me (an engineer) that he figured he'd never buy another new car, would always buy used. I think that might be the best idea, if you know what you're doing.
 
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Vdubchaos said:
Where I live, most people have newer cars.

American's certainly love their new cars every 3-4 years.

Heck, look at the subprime lending going on with car loans. Still hasn't imploded.
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Sub prime on cars works since the risk is much lower. Plus, we're not dealing with adjustable rates.
 
Today's news reports Cali water usage was down a mere 3.8% in March vs. the previous March. Just a little bit shy of the 25% mandatory cut that the Governor ordered.

They said 70% of the water supplied by utilities is for residential use, and 80% of that is used outdoors (gotta keep that lawn green). Beverly Hills and Bakersfield residents used an average of 215 gallons per DAY. Gotta be pretty moist around there.
 
Muse said:
I think that American cars are not built with planned obsolescence in mind nowadays, not like they used to be before the Japanese revolutionized the automobile manufacturing industry with the QC methodologies. Maybe the people where you live couldn't care less if those cars are designed to last more than 200k, but a lot of Americans do care, is my sense of it.

My car's getting older (Japanese, a Mazda) but I don't care all that much about it. With less than 30k on it, I figure there's no good reason to replace it. It doesn't have ABS, but I am a good and careful driver, it's not a concern for me. I think American's are likely keeping their cars longer than they used to, maybe not where you live, but they do last a lot longer, almost 3x as long as they used to.

I wouldn't take out a loan to buy a car, I'd buy it outright, myself. One of my bosses told me (an engineer) that he figured he'd never buy another new car, would always buy used. I think that might be the best idea, if you know what you're doing.
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I see FAR more cars with temp license plates (which I assume = buying a new car) these days then previously. If anything people are CLEARLY buying cars WAY too fucking often and more than before.

Also, as far as paying outright for a new car that is debatable in my eyes. If they give me 60 months (or whatever) of 0% APR... it would seem stupid in my eyes to NOT take the loan (of course ensuring you pay it off at the 60th month). Of course, I've also heard those interest free loans simply come at the cost of a higher vehicle price (as in you can give up the 0% APR and pay less for the vehicle overall). I wouldn't know, since I haven't ever bought a car new out of a dealership (nor had a single loan in my life).
 
kranky said:
Today's news reports Cali water usage was down a mere 3.8% in March vs. the previous March. Just a little bit shy of the 25% mandatory cut that the Governor ordered.

They said 70% of the water supplied by utilities is for residential use, and 80% of that is used outdoors (gotta keep that lawn green). Beverly Hills and Bakersfield residents used an average of 215 gallons per DAY. Gotta be pretty moist around there.
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Last I heard Bakersfield had become an extreme humidity region due to the water-intensive cotton agriculture. Beverly Hills, yeah, the lawns.

If rainfall doesn't return the shit will hit the fan, folks. There's only so much water. Could be desal will enjoy a hayday.
 
Muse said:
Last I heard Bakersfield had become an extreme humidity region due to the water-intensive cotton agriculture. Beverly Hills, yeah, the lawns.

If rainfall doesn't return the shit will hit the fan, folks. There's only so much water. Could be desal will enjoy a hayday.
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I will take recycled water at 1/2 the cost.
 
s0me0nesmind1 said:
I see FAR more cars with temp license plates (which I assume = buying a new car) .
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no. temp tags are used until the DMV gets the paperwork from the dealer. **If its a private sale in cash and you get the title you dont need temp tags.

**Disclaimer i am speaker of Colorado laws.
 
Just shutoff the sprinklers on my front lawn for good. Getting estimates on artificial turf, and landscape (Xeriscape). First company came out today for turf uses Tiger Turf (USA). Installed for $7.50 sq/ft. It has that newer brown thatch mixed in for a natural look.
The next few years we'll probably get torrential downpours and snow pack. It usually works out that way. 😀
 
Paladin said:
Just shutoff the sprinklers on my front lawn for good. Getting estimates on artificial turf, and landscape (Xeriscape). First company came out today for turf uses Tiger Turf (USA). Installed for $7.50 sq/ft. It has that newer brown thatch mixed in for a natural look.
The next few years we'll probably get torrential downpours and snow pack. It usually works out that way. 😀
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Does your local water district offer rebates for removing turf?
 
Brovane said:
Does your local water district offer rebates for removing turf?
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Yes, both SoCal ($2 sq/ft) and San Diego city ($1.5 sq/ft). The SoCal one still has funds, and ends June 30th. The city one started again at the beginning of April, and quickly depleted all the funds. They are starting that back up on 7/1 with the start of the new fiscal year. only $450K available, first come, first serve. The city rebate also requires some plants, only can do up to 75% synthetic turf.
 
OutHouse said:
no. temp tags are used until the DMV gets the paperwork from the dealer. **If its a private sale in cash and you get the title you dont need temp tags.

**Disclaimer i am speaker of Colorado laws.
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CA works differently than here in CO. In CA the plates stay with the car in almost all cases, including buying a used car from a dealer, so over 90% of the time seeing temp plates means it was a new car in CA.
 
Well if they had built the Northamerican Water and Power JFK proposed in the 60s Calif and other states would'nt be in this mess...........................and for our next trick the EPA................
 
Jodell88 said:
Now they're asking farmers to cut down on water use.

'murica is gonna starve. 😱
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Nah, a lot of the food grown in Cali can be grown throughout much of the country. But, much of the country doesn't have a state that subsidizes their expenses, artificially lowering their costs and thus prices.
 
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