potate

joined 2 years ago
[–] potate@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The provided link is to a directory site and the link dead ends. There seems to be a ton of low effort copy-paste spam from this directory site.

I can understand providing a link to the directory site in one post - but a post about a specific business should provide direct links to the Canadian business in question - not to this directory.

[–] potate@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I kinda like pet-chem if we're going to do more upgrading - and sure enough we're seeing activity in the space.

Refineries produce gasoline (for old cars), diesel (for old trucks), and oils (there's alternatives). Refineries are for antiquated tech that were trying to phase out IMO.

Upgrading light ends (methane, ethane, propane, etc) are what I'd be investing in if I was looking at fossil fuels investment. We have LOTS of gas plants sweetening and fractionating that stuff so the product streams are there and the emissions intensity of that end is WAY better than liquids.

Dow is building a huge ethane cracker to produce polyethylene. IPL has the Heartland petrochemical complex that's going to be soaking up immense amounts of propane to produce polypropylene pellets. I haven't checked what Nova is up to lately, but I can promise you they're looking to grow in the space.

I don't love polymers, but we COULD recycle it if we were smart and unlike combustion where everything ends up in the atmosphere, a landfill full of plastic is actually carbon sequestration when you think about it.

Methane (natural gas) is worth approximately nothing at the moment, but coastal LNG exports will help China et al. ween off coal while they continue to build out renewables and Europe needs LNG for similar reasons and timescales.

Source - random internet person

[–] potate@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 month ago

I live and work downtown Calgary in an O&G related field (emissions reduction analysis - it's a frustrating job). I listen to a LOT of anti-Smith diatribes. The UCP mostly gets elected by rural ridings. They have about half of Calgary, and I don't know why they even bother running candidates in Edmonton.

There's a lot similarities to BC actually - BC votes conservative (whatever they call themselves) most places outside of Vancouver and Victoria.

There's even recall campaign talk in Calgary at the moment because people are hoping to force an early election to try and force the UCP out. (abresistance.ca for any Calgary homies who are interested in getting involved)

[–] potate@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 month ago (4 children)

I think that the scale of investment involved in oil sands development necessitates MUCH longer range planning than relatively short political cycles.

There's may be something to be said maximizing CAPEX when the commodity pricing sucks. Spending pullback from the more boom/bust centric conventional/frac operators reduces competition for trades and key manufacturers.

I think the differentiator at the moment is the lack of predictability. Normally your financial models only have to factor in modest price uncertainty. Right now the tariffs change so quickly that who knows what things will cost. I don't have a clue how you price a project in this environment. I pitty project managers.

Steel plate and pipe is easy to source domestically - especially when the US buyers aren't tying up Evraz capacity. Big inch valves would start to get tricky I think - but it's been over a decade since I was working in that space. Coatings are Dupont and 3M for buried assets - so lots of risk exposure there.

Personally, if I operated any major facilities (fractionation/refineries) I'd be looking at what turnaround/maintenance work I could be pulling forward right now. When oil's booming, you don't want to shut down your money machine to do repairs.

[–] potate@lemmy.ca 65 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Huh, I thought it was just me that did that - I just assumed everyone else was so much more disciplined than me...

[–] potate@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I've got a 5kW array of panels so yea, piddly stuff like charging USB is nothing - it's more the principal of the thing.

My EV charger is definitely the biggie. The system will dynamically adjust charging current in 1A steps to make use of available excess generation. It works pretty well - 16kWh spinning my meter backwards would earn me a whole $1.50 - instead it added ~20% charge to the car.

[–] potate@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I know a number of people who got too much buildup from over applying and decided it was crap. My advice was always - be more lazy.

[–] potate@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 month ago

I damn near bankrupted myself to buy a Bertazzoni induction range. Zero regrets. It ain't Canadian but the EU are homies (mostly) and have some damn nice appliances. We have a Bosch dishwasher that was made in Germany and I didn't realize that dishwashers could actually wash dishes until I got it (ten years old and still works beautifully).

Shit's expensive as hell so there's a lot of privilege that goes into my 'damn the cost' strategy and it definitely isn't for everyone.

[–] potate@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Try the dry lube - it changed my life. That said, don't over apply - every complaint I've seen is due to over application.

[–] potate@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 month ago

Okay, I'm curious, I'll see what I can find. I just got a made in Canada Razor, shave bar, and brush so I've been down parallel rabbit holes ;)

[–] potate@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 month ago

Naw, I have a super efficient heat pump and my water heater has been on for about ten minutes today. When high demand stuff kicks in my system kills off discretionary loads until I'm not exceeding my production. And this is in Canada...

[–] potate@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 month ago

I think California has ~80% of the almond market which is absolutely absurd considering the water demand for producing almonds.

I've switched to oat milk in my coffee but am still divesting from almond flour...

 

tl;dr: Police "Insulted" by insinuations photo radar has been used as a cash cow. Also police: Requirement to restrict photo radar to school zones, construction sites, and locations with demonstrably higher collision rates due to speeding has resulted in a $28M funding gap for Calgary ALONE.

 

Shoes and boots are one of the few items where you have a ton of made in Canada options.

I've gotten pairs from a few different brands and the stand out value is the WM. Moorby line by Canada West. My set haave been durable, and look as good as boots I've bought at twice the price. They aren't cheap ($300+) but they can be resoled so they should last roughly forever.

 

Got the pretty brutal news that one of our three cats is suspected to have FIP. Luckily, treatments have become available in the last couple of years so I'm trying to not get carried away freaking out - but this poor thing has had a tough go.

She came to us as part of a foster litter of kittens without a mom. She was half the size of her siblings and super malnourished. Long after her siblings were adopted, she stayed with us. She had allergies requiring special food and daily (expensive) meds and no one wanted to adopt a higher needs cat. She then had a reaction to her meds which caused excessive gum growth so the shelter decided she needed all of her incisors pulled. At that point she'd been with us for over a year and was fully integrated with our two cats. We decided that maybe this was her forever home and hoped that we could better manage her care by working directly with our vet instead of coordinating through the shelter.

Wrapping our heads around her now having FIP is rough - but we're going to do everything we can to help her through it and are hopeful she'll recover. Poor kid deserves a win...

 

I have an absolutely incredible set of moose hide trigger mits by Hides In Hand - a traditional leather crafter in Canada who use locally sourced hides.

I backcountry ski a lot and DESTROY gear. My hides in hand mits are the most durable and comfortable mits I've ever had. The issue is the acrylic fleece liners - I blow through them.

So I decided to make a set of sheepskin liners. I went to Bill Worb Furs - who source pelts from traditional hunters and trappers (read: mostly, but not all indigenous) and scored some hides.

I deconstructed the original liners, made a pattern and made these new liners. Cost me $30CAD and I have material for a couple more.

Totally pointless, could have bought replacements, but it was a super fun project for someone who has never made something like this before.

 
 

I put this together to help me understand how fluctuating emissions from the electrical grid and outdoor temperature impact the environmental performance of a heat pump compared to a natural gas furnace.

Would love feedback!

 

Information is limited - and likely to remain that way given the recalcitrance of police when it comes to their own.

Right now all of the news outlets are running the same wire service article, but hopefully a journalist digs in farther.

 

The Calgary Police Service wants to divert $13M intended for supports for people who are unhoused and/or struggling with mental health in order to pay for a new shooting range whose budget has gone up 130% in just one year.

 

According to the article, this is the seventh death of a First Nations person in police custody in the last three weeks.

 

Officer accessed police databases over 100 times in order to further inappropriate relationships with vulnerable women - including showing up at the home of a 19 year old whose father was just murdered.

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