Monday, January 8, 2024

Windy Today

 I'm starting to see a little dust in the air. And I'm dealing with stuff. Gee, I really detest our Governor. Abbot, Paxton, and that other shithead whose name always escapes me are all cut from the same soiled scrap of toilet paper-- in my humble opinion. How about some VISTAS?








Sunday, January 7, 2024

JN.1??

I'm starting to see headlines about this new Covid variant but they seem sensationalized. I'm as vaccinated as anyone can be, but I don't know whether the latest vaccine offers any protection or what degree of protection. I've seen no signs of local hospitals under any strain. I suppose if you are in poor health, have numerous risk factors, and have not been vaccinated at all, you are likely to have severe illness if you are infected with JN.1, but even a case of the flu would be risky for such people. So, although I think, I just don't know. Wait and see. The latest winter storm does not seem to have any potential to bring us any particularly severe winter weather. There's nothing very much out of the ordinary in the extended forecast. No precipitation of any kind. But since weather forecasts are subject to change without notice, from day to day, who knows? Again, I must wait and see. 








The local "freedom to choose" one's energy provider is not likely to make anyone very happy. In fact, it seems that in every case one must pay a hefty deposit, enter into some sort of long term contract with a nasty early termination fee, and I wouldn't be surprised to find that most of the options available are actually mini-ENRONs, and likely to fold within a few years, leaving you dead in the water, with no electric service. Researching the many options is a time-consuming affair, and I think many do not realize how much they will have to pay upfront, and that their electricity will cost them MORE. I had about 12 cents per kilowatt hour with the local utility. I've seen options up to 16 cents, and the best deal I've found so far is at 13.9 cents with a $150 deposit. Most of these "companies" are more like brokers than generators and I expect rotten service. I called up one customer contact number and found someone who must have been in India. Local? What does local mean anymore? This is shit for the birds. 

Saturday, January 6, 2024

HEY HEY HEY

 How about some VISTAS today?







Meanwhile, I think we are about to discover, here in Lubbock, that the "power to choose" is a rip-off. Higher electric bills, another deposit to pay, and needless complications. A lot of people are going to be screwed, badly. 

Friday, January 5, 2024

It's Hard To Be Optimistic

 Let's face it. Most people just aren't very bright, and even those who are fairly bright have a tendency to be short-sighted, selfish, mean-spirited, and painfully superstitious. I consider any and all religions to be forms of superstition. And then you've got your psychopaths and sociopaths. What a zoo. Humanity isn't much of an improvement over a tribe of chimpanzees. In fact, a chimpanzee with the capacity to produce weapons of mass destruction is quite frightening. Bang bang. Shoot shoot. I'm still waiting for the appearance of a viral agent that will devastate the human reproductive apparatus in males AND females. Put on the brakes! I've been looking at the various alternatives for electric service and they all look about equally bad to me. So far I've found lots of bad ratings. If I do nothing I'll be assigned to one of three default providers. And none of them look good. What a mess. I believe in natural monopolies, and in general I detest private sector, for-profit, utilities and healthcare. If anything accelerates entropy, the transformation of our environment into waste that can't be transformed into anything useful, it's capitalism. Party hearty and turn the planet into a mass of what amounts to shit. Toxic shit. But some people make obscene amounts of money doing that, so, obviously, the process will go on until it can't anymore. Finally, everyone and everything is dead. RIP. 








See the moon? It's dead. But the chimps have already claimed it! They've left their shit on it!

Thursday, January 4, 2024

Trying To Sort It Out...

 Electric competition in Texas. What a hassle, courtesy of our governor. I can't see this as anything other than a profound screw-up. I'm sure that nobody is enjoying this crap, trying to sort through that laundry list of providers and their plans. I like municipal power generation. I like the public sector. Competition is wasteful and inefficient and chaotic. I have yet to encounter any provider with good reviews for anything like pricing and customer service. These providers appear to me to be sharks, and, if so, we are going to be their prey. And if Texas consumers turn into shark bait, who do we have to thank? Abbott, that's who. Truly, I loathe that self-serving politico. I trust him about as far as I'd trust a TV evangelist. I guess I'll go with the biggest company with the longest track record, but I expect higher rates and poor service, no matter what I do. And some of these companies appear to be subsidiaries, resulting from mergers and private equity deals. We're going to be royally screwed. I'm pretty sure of that. Does old Abbott give a damn about Texas consumers?? I don't think so. I think, if it's not money or power, it doesn't even register on Abbott's radar. I hope this crap costs him the next election. But are Texans even smart enough to throw the bum out? Probably not. Texans had to be stupid to vote for him in the first place. 








On the other hand, if I have a GOOD experience, I'll describe it. And if I have a BAD experience, I'll describe THAT. Time will tell.