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Post by captbob on Aug 3, 2015 12:40:54 GMT -5
I'm painting the house and putting sprinklers in my front yard, which I will then have to resod. Move up there and I wouldn't have to.....
hmmmmmmmm
"Honey, pack your bags!"
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,411
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Post by jamesp on Aug 5, 2015 7:53:19 GMT -5
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,473
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Post by Sabre52 on Aug 5, 2015 17:34:52 GMT -5
Gettin dry herein the hill country. We got half an inch last week but it didn't so much. We could use some of that Florida rain!......Mel
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Post by snowmom on Aug 6, 2015 4:18:09 GMT -5
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Post by Pat on Aug 7, 2015 16:55:43 GMT -5
THUNDER, LIGHTNING AND RAIN! Here! Last night : ) Just four days later! We're getting the hang of it now!
I think it was 0.02", and it filled one of our off-the-roof rain barrels.
Something to make you smile.
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Aug 8, 2015 18:37:23 GMT -5
An update on our weather situation here in my part of Texas. After all the record rainfall in May,when it stopped,hasn't rained since.I cut the last hayfield Thursday,took about 7 weeks to get through everyone that was backlogged. Burn bans going into effect,dry grass galore in all the area. I hit a rock with the cutter and started a fire in one hayfield the other day! Temps hitting 100 most every day now. Typical August weather here.
snuffy
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Post by adam on Aug 8, 2015 19:16:35 GMT -5
Taming the west was never easy... I love the landscape and flatness and mountains, but so many problems to live in the dry lands and desert.
100 degrees is a sure-fire nope, no going outside for me.
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rockpickerforever
Cave Dweller
RIP Jean Bradley, you are forever loved
Member since July 2011
Posts: 12,069
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 12, 2015 15:52:02 GMT -5
Do as I say, not as I do...
Seriously? What were they thinking? At a time when we are all being told not to water our lawns, to let them go brown, Caltrans decides it is appropriate to plant sod along a freeway off ramp? This is just a few miles from me, I watched as they graded the hill, then covered the ground with large rocks. Wondered why they had installed a sprinkler system... I thought maybe they were going to put in some xeriscape.
Saw this on the local news 8/3/15. www.10news.com/news/team-10/team-10-caltrans-criticized-for-planting-sod-wasting-water-in-lemon-grove
And then some moron goes and overwaters the new sod. DOH! I don't care what their reasoning is (grass keeping dirt from washing into the sewer system, supposedly). Seems to me if they didn't water it in the first place, dirt wouldn't wash into the storm drain? Ten inches of rain in a normal year is not going to be a problem. Unless they were preparing that off ramp for rain from the El Nino coming later this year? This one location will be the least of their worries at that time.
Wonder what this whole little landscaping project cost us all? I'd think there are a butt load of projects that could better use that money. Hello, infrastructure anyone? Seems there is at least one major water pipe breakage somewhere in the city every week. Pipes 50+ years old that should have been replaced years ago. Hmmm, thinking they feel like they can beat the odds, put that maintenance off for some time, hoping the pipe doesn't break in the meantime. Traffic disrupted, business inconvenienced, water wasted. Gallons of water straight into the storm drains, straight out to sea. And more water dumped after it, to flush the repaired pipe before it goes back into service.
I get that we have to conserve water, no brainer. But what gripes me is that because we are saving water, the water districts are not making enough money, so they have to raise our water rates. How long before we won't be able to afford to live here??
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spiritstone
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2014
Posts: 2,061
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Post by spiritstone on Aug 12, 2015 16:08:19 GMT -5
rockpickerforever, you may not want to read this one, yeah right. Shaded Balls? Hahahaha. Los Angeles is the first city in the US to use shade balls, which city officials say should last about 10 years. After that date, they will be removed, recycled, and replaced, the LADWP said. But the shade balls – which now total 96 million and cover three other reservoirs – have cost the city a spectacular amount of money, coming in at just under $35 million. www.rt.com/usa/312219-shade-balls-california-drought/
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spiritstone
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2014
Posts: 2,061
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Post by spiritstone on Aug 12, 2015 21:19:02 GMT -5
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mrzulu
starting to spend too much on rocks
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star_teal.png)
Member since May 2015
Posts: 245
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Post by mrzulu on Aug 14, 2015 10:04:42 GMT -5
Godzilla El Nino!
Yikes!
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bushmanbilly
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2008
Posts: 4,719
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Post by bushmanbilly on Aug 14, 2015 10:39:36 GMT -5
rockpickerforever, you may not want to read this one, yeah right. Shaded Balls? Hahahaha. Los Angeles is the first city in the US to use shade balls, which city officials say should last about 10 years. After that date, they will be removed, recycled, and replaced, the LADWP said. But the shade balls – which now total 96 million and cover three other reservoirs – have cost the city a spectacular amount of money, coming in at just under $35 million. www.rt.com/usa/312219-shade-balls-california-drought/ One would think that if they were smart they would use white colored balls to reflect heat. But that would be racist!! ![](http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr330/bushmanbilly/11896256_10153394316826311_4574733472414094699_n_zpsltfi8av0.jpg)
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rockpickerforever
Cave Dweller
RIP Jean Bradley, you are forever loved
Member since July 2011
Posts: 12,069
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 14, 2015 11:52:47 GMT -5
We had that same exact thought (why black instead of white?) when we saw it on the news. Maybe because white ones will turn green when algae grows on them? Had to do a little research... I had never heard of them being used before, but discovered black balls have been in use since 2008. www.amusingplanet.com/2011/11/ivanhoe-reservoir-covered-with-400000.html
In 2007, the Department of Water Protection in Los Angeles detected high levels of bromate (a carcinogen) in the Ivanhoe Reservoir. 400,00 black balls were dropped onto the reservoir's surface, the goal to cut the sunlight from creating bromate (naturally occurring bromide + chlorine added to kill bacteria + sunlight), not for the main purpose of reducing evaporation from the reservoir. The balls were only supposed to remain in place for four or five years, until a new underground reservoir could be built in Griffith Park (LA area). Don't know how well they lasted, nor what happened after that. Reason for black color? They said "The coating contains carbon and black is the only color strong enough to deflect ultraviolet rays." In 2008, those balls cost 40 cents each. The ones in the news recently, dropped into the LA reservoir, cost 36 cents each. Maybe they are not the same? Do they have a carbon coating? Or maybe quantity discount - 96 million! - lol.
Twenty years from now, they'll probably determine that they shouldn't have put those into a drinking water reservoir.
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mrzulu
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Member since May 2015
Posts: 245
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Post by mrzulu on Aug 14, 2015 11:54:15 GMT -5
It is going to be interesting to watch where the balls go if this supposed "super" El Nino takes place and fills the reservoirs past capacity... ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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rockpickerforever
Cave Dweller
RIP Jean Bradley, you are forever loved
Member since July 2011
Posts: 12,069
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 14, 2015 11:57:17 GMT -5
Ha ha, keen observation! In my minds eye, I can see them spilling over the causeways, like so many little rubber duckies!
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mrzulu
starting to spend too much on rocks
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Member since May 2015
Posts: 245
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Post by mrzulu on Aug 14, 2015 12:40:44 GMT -5
ROFLMAO
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mrzulu
starting to spend too much on rocks
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star_teal.png)
Member since May 2015
Posts: 245
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Post by mrzulu on Aug 14, 2015 12:42:50 GMT -5
I can see it now...
90 Million Shade Balls Cover Southern Cal Beaches
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2015 14:30:57 GMT -5
Ha ha, keen observation! In my minds eye, I can see them spilling over the causeways, like so many little rubber duckies! The upside of that is, they will be a whole lot easier to pick up than globs of oil but still a lot of stooped over. lol Jim
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,411
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Post by jamesp on Aug 14, 2015 15:03:55 GMT -5
Black is cheapest way to make polyethylene sun resistant. Duck weed purifies water. Creates a blanket. Spreads like crazy. Does not plug drainage systems. May not do alkaline water though. ![](https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=JN.rS4Ck2hjPJeOWXpPCAn8XQ&pid=15.1&P=0&w=300&h=300) Watch out for rocks ![](https://sp.yimg.com/ib/th?id=JN.UM36MpszsinEb%2bkVdPauVg&pid=15.1&P=0&w=300&h=300) Visiting dogs try to run across it, thinking it is a lawn-not ![](http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/04/73/56/fc/crocs-waiting-to-be-fed.jpg)
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rockpickerforever
Cave Dweller
RIP Jean Bradley, you are forever loved
Member since July 2011
Posts: 12,069
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 14, 2015 16:19:53 GMT -5
Ha ha, keen observation! In my minds eye, I can see them spilling over the causeways, like so many little rubber duckies! The upside of that is, they will be a whole lot easier to pick up than globs of oil but still a lot of stooped over. lol Jim
Hey, they can contact members of rock clubs in SoCal, and convince said members that those black balls are actually some kind of rare rock. Maybe even organize some field trips. Problem solved!
Or (and this is how the government in Kommiefornia works), they can pay a bounty on them. For each one picked up and returned for recycling, they can pay the finder a sum that exceeds what they are worth. They are already doing it for aluminum cans, why not black plastic?
ETA - I was wondering if by covering the surface of the reservoirs, if it will kill any fish, frogs, whatever in the water? There's probably no bass or catfish (we'll find out soon enough, if they all start to die!), but was thinking of Gambusia for eating mosquito larvae. I'm sure mosquitos will still be able to breed and lay their eggs between the balls, the larvae will still have access to the surface. Oh wait, this is drinking water, right? They can just spray it with poison to kill those pesky mosquitos! (I'd laugh, but I can actually see some dim bulb doing this... sigh.)
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