dave

Like. It's weird. I like Zak. I like Lando. But something about McLaren gruffs me. Bearing in mind I joined the sport in 2010 and was a BUT fan during their Vodafone livery days and started watching with ALO at Ferrari ... They've just been shit to their drivers from the HAM/BUT days onwards. Bad choices in partnerships. Yadda yadda.

At least they got more sponsors on the car since 2016.

They just make me shrug.

They're fine, but they're kinda fuckups.

I want to see more privateer teams like them and Williams do well. But I also want 12 teams on the grid and I don't want to see teams disappear.

Somehow the formula needs to have more chance for competition?

Shrug.

Very good read. Thanks for sharing.

How did the current administration "cutback" in oil? You're speaking of a for-profit industry that is famously the most boom and bust of commodities, no?

It's appropriate to flock to the future. I expect our government to be forward looking and invest in the future.

I would be disappointed to see the American government prop up the hydrocarbon industry and its move to single-use plastic production rather than incentivize the growth of renewable energy.

Is the current level of US government fossil fuel subsidies of $10-$50 billion per year too little?

Getting the tax credit back up to 30% instead of 26% and trending downwards for individuals on solar and geothermal has been fantastic for me. That's in the infrastructure act - The Inflation Reduction Act.

Actual dollar incentives in my pocket in order to dramatically increase my personal energy efficiency while reducing my fossil fuel consumption. All while in no way directly negatively penalizing fossil fuel consumption.

That's pretty sweet.

Did the Trump administration sign any legislation to do anything in particular to incentivize renewable energy at the individual level?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubus_armeniacus

Huh, TIL! Now I get to spend twenty minutes going down a Wikipedia rabbit-hole about blackberry species.

I think mine are a native cultivar, but now I have a weekend identification project! 🙂👍

Oh, and just to add, it gets to be about 12" tall? It was shorter last year because it wasn't ready to flower. There's a very low % of red clover, which is taller.

It takes to a light mow with the electric mower just fine and loves to put up new leaves. Maybe once a month. Looks organized and happy.

Tilt shift just for privacy, really.

It's your basic white and red clover mix. So not perfectly native to Eastern America, but still better than a simple grass lawn.

I've down probably a total of 125 lbs, so 5 bags over the last 1.5 years. So much came up this spring on its own. Super happy.

Lots! They mind their business and so do I! Zero bad experiences.

And the yard smells amazing. We have a lot of low bush blueberry, blackberry around the yard edges.

We've planted some hazelnut and bearberry this year as well. Our state has a municipal nursery of all native species. On our .6 acres we've planted ~200 saplings of native trees. White pine, paper birch, sugar maple, spruces, cedar, etc. The tallest from last year are soon to reach 3 feet. I can't wait for the privacy and the young forest on all the edges.

We were attracted to this home because there's conservation land somewhat surrounding us, so while it's a single family home we are preserving nature more than many developments.

Also, we have tree frogs, turkeys, and an absolute pile of fireflies! I had thought fireflies from my childhood were good and gone. It turns out now ( based on my cursory reading) that fireflies are an anchor species.

I love my clover yard. When I bought my place, it was hydro seeded. I made sure to sow clover shortly after the grass was sprouted and trying to establish. The first year was pretty tough, but even in the peak of summer when grass was getting baked, clover hung on longer. This year, the clover is amazingly successful. I would absolutely recommend a sea of clover to keep your mowing needs down while promoting diversity and a pretty, deep, green.

It looks great!