Why I am leaving California

it used to be that we had peak during the day when all those factories were using electricity and they would pump water uphill at night for energy storage. now they would have to pay you peak charges during the day when all those panels are generating so now they say peak is at night so they can charge you more when you are not generating. pretty slick. all those central sierra tunnels and castaic tunnels pump water, it would be interesting to know if they now pump uphill in the daytime
 
da big hills said:
it used to be that we had peak during the day when all those factories were using electricity and they would pump water uphill at night for energy storage. now they would have to pay you peak charges during the day when all those panels are generating so now they say peak is at night so they can charge you more when you are not generating. pretty slick. all those central sierra tunnels and castaic tunnels pump water, it would be interesting to know if they now pump uphill in the daytime
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That’s exactly what they do...when San O was operating they pumped uphill at night on nuke. Now they pump uphill on solar. And what solar they can’t use, they give to Arizona for pennies on the dollar, hence the new facilities.
 
tick said:
That requires a lot of spreadsheet work, it depends on a whole lot of things...but the used car battery market will make home batteries very affordable as they start to become available in large quantities. So I’m holding off for a bit, even though the tax breaks are phasing out.
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Good points... thanks! Storage seems like a good thing to take advantage, but only if the costs make sense.
 
What has been the general trajectory of prices for solar installations over the last 5 - 10 years? I would have thought early adopters would pay the big $, and then costs would plummet as technology increased, but I have the sense that hasn't been the case. I never really looked that seriously into solar, but got a quote recently after buying an EV. Our roof makes things a bit more challenging, and it looked like a minimum of a 10-year break even for us, so that was a pass.
 
buggravy said:
What has been the general trajectory of prices for solar installations over the last 5 - 10 years? I would have thought early adopters would pay the big $, and then costs would plummet as technology increased, but I have the sense that hasn't been the case. I never really looked that seriously into solar, but got a quote recently after buying an EV. Our roof makes things a bit more challenging, and it looked like a minimum of a 10-year break even for us, so that was a pass.
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Prices have dropped but so have the government incentives and the deals with the utility keep getting worse. Overall it’s cheaper though. It’s worth getting a quote.

I have just about the perfect south facing roof, so that helps...
 
Mikie said:
I’ll be in Dallas Fort Worth next week. Let you know if I see anything...:whistling:
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Texas suckers you in with low home prices, then whacks you with 3% property tax, and the electricity is cheaper but you use so dang much if it keeping your 5000 square foot mcmansion habitable...

it has its upsides, but going outside to ride bikes isn’t popular in much of TX. Overeating is. The food is awesome and plentiful. Brisket, shipleys donuts and Cajun food could make Houston tolerable until you need to buy bigger pants.
 
I've been around a lot of places in the country. While many of them were nice to visit, very few were places I would want to live. Add to that, I have a job with a pension plan, hard to walk away from that.

I'll likely be sticking around for a long time, though I won't say I WON'T move. Just that this place has most of everything I currently want in life, and the downsides (cost of living) is manageable for me. I live really cheap energy wise. Fuel efficient vehicle, when I drive (mostly ride). Use very little water. Then again, I am planning on vanlife soon, so my ability to be wasteful will greatly go down from how I already lived (I think my typical electric bill was $40 a month before the divorce).

All those places with lower cost of living also come with lower paying jobs, and lower quality of life.
 
tick said:
Texas suckers you in with low home prices, then whacks you with 3% property tax, and the electricity is cheaper but you use so dang much if it keeping your 5000 square foot mcmansion habitable...

it has its upsides, but going outside to ride bikes isn’t popular in much of TX. Overeating is. The food is awesome and plentiful. Brisket, shipleys donuts and Cajun food could make Houston tolerable until you need to buy bigger pants.
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I lived in Houston. Never again, i dont care if its cheaper. Way too hot and no mountains. I want to leave Socal but thats the wrong direction.
 
Mikie said:
I was thinking of going and checking out the Bentonville Arkansas area. Rumor has it it’s a mountain biking Disneyland.
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I'll be there this fall, and I'm looking forward to checking out the place myself.
I signed up for the Oz Trail 50 in Oct.


Bentonville might be part of my "Grand Plan" of buying a few VRBO in desirable destinations and traveling between them when I retire.
 
Mikie said:
I was thinking of going and checking out the Bentonville Arkansas area. Rumor has it it’s a mountain biking Disneyland.
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I have half a dozen friends that live in Bentonville. All of them have trails within walking distance from their front doors. The only downside is most of the trails are relatively flat. Lots of pedaling. If my parents and inlaws weren't in SoCal, Bentonville would be where we'd be going. The Ozarks are beyond beautiful.
 
Maybe I'm in the minority, but it's fairly easy for me to not get all twisted up about the things I have little or no control over with this great state, and just chalk it up as the price of admission for living in this place of endless beauty, bounty, and opportunity. And I say that as someone who hails from, and still very much loves, the rural South. Not pretending the warts don't exist here, but I find myself thinking about them less and less, and not more and more. We may end up moving out of state when it comes time to retire, simply because it will be too hard to ignore what the proceeds from our real estate would do elsewhere. Or maybe I'll work a few extra years to help offset that. If I had it my way we'd go to Mammoth, but my better half won't have it. My way plan B would be to end up in Atascadero or Paso Robles, or maybe the other way down in Carlsbad. The wife wants Florida, which I simply couldn't handle. Maybe we'll end up being neighbors with @BonsaiNut.
 
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Mikie said:
I was thinking of going and checking out the Bentonville Arkansas area. Rumor has it it’s a mountain biking Disneyland.
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Bentonville is definitely going off with the trail building and more importantly, it's sparked trail building all over the state. Some of the best trails are outsider of Bentonville nowadays. Slaughter Open in Bentonville gets plenty of hype but Hot Springs, Bella Vista and Mt Ida have great looking trails as well.

North Texas actually has plenty of MTB riders and XC style trail systems. I have a few buddies that are serious racers doing the 50 miles races all over teh region. One guy has been series champion at his age group more than once. When it's off season, the do a CX series where you race as hard and fast as possible for 45 minutes. You'd fit in great because they all wear spandex full time. My buddy insists it's cooler than baggies.

I have family in Houston, Killeen, Austin, Kerrville and several smaller farming areas like Yoakum, original home of Tandy Leather (I'm sure we all remember the leather stamp kits you could buy to design your own belt, wallet, etc...that's Yoakum). None of the areas have riding anything close to the quality we have out this way. Much rockier overall, heat and bugs are also things you'd deal with but worst of all, all teh BIG cities have horrendous traffic which aside from politics is the #1 reason I want out of CA.
 
mtbMike said:
Bentonville is definitely going off with the trail building and more importantly, it's sparked trail building all over the state. Some of the best trails are outsider of Bentonville nowadays. Slaughter Open in Bentonville gets plenty of hype but Hot Springs, Bella Vista and Mt Ida have great looking trails as well.

North Texas actually has plenty of MTB riders and XC style trail systems. I have a few buddies that are serious racers doing the 50 miles races all over teh region. One guy has been series champion at his age group more than once. When it's off season, the do a CX series where you race as hard and fast as possible for 45 minutes. You'd fit in great because they all wear spandex full time. My buddy insists it's cooler than baggies.

I have family in Houston, Killeen, Austin, Kerrville and several smaller farming areas like Yoakum, original home of Tandy Leather (I'm sure we all remember the leather stamp kits you could buy to design your own belt, wallet, etc...that's Yoakum). None of the areas have riding anything close to the quality we have out this way. Much rockier overall, heat and bugs are also things you'd deal with but worst of all, all teh BIG cities have horrendous traffic which aside from politics is the #1 reason I want out of CA.
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I'm only going to Texas on business travel... Starting Monday and should be back late on Thursday...
 
Left and loving it. 43 years in Orange County and I thought I would never leave and own a house haha. Here I am in Phoenix with a beautiful house and a great job. My wife was able to transfer with same pay and I found a job that hired me for the same I was making in California. With the lower taxes and cost of living it was like a raise. Yea I use a ton of electricity in the summer but actual out of pocket is not far off of Irvine. Riding is great, yea I miss the long Santa Ana climbs but I’m rewarded with miles of single track. I used to surf a few days a week and that’s out but I hear scottsdale is getting a new wave park. For this California kid I’m very happy to be here and out of California.
 
Mikie said:
I was thinking of going and checking out the Bentonville Arkansas area. Rumor has it it’s a mountain biking Disneyland.
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Was just there, well almost 30 miles north. Last Nov. It is cold but not for a Canadian. Lots of 500 ft faces, lots of deep hardwood forests. They actually have water in the bottom of every draw. It looked like my kind of riding 5, to 600 foot climbs and big drops with roots and limestone rocks. They are sharp, I have ridden limestone before, the screed sounds like glass as you pass. My sister moved there so I even have family there.
Happy limestone paths in the deep woods

PS two cases of Wuhan Flu in the entire county.
 
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