Goodbye ecomafia

On December 18th, 2011, I let my domain name ecomafia.com expire. I first registered it twelve years ago. Even though it has expired, the registrar still has it pointing at this blog, which is where I've had it pointed since I discontinued my Website a year ago. I'll be curious to see if someone else decides it is worth buying for any reason, and when the forwarding will get turned off. Below is my slightly edited explanation of why I chose the name. This explanation used to be posted on the Website.

The idea of "Ecomafia" sprouted on the Negit Islands during summer 1999 CaliforniaGull research. I think it was Justin's idea, but

Seven Solstices

Mike Klapp and I spent seven solstices in a row together watching the sun rise somewhere in the Mono Basin. Well, actually two specific locations: Warren Bench and Black Point. Not the sun, us. This was a grand solstice tradition by the time it ended when Mike

California Utilities Still Freeloading on Independent Solar Power Producers

The state government is still being controlled by the big utilities, preventing full reimbursement for small power producers with Net Energy Metering contracts.

In 2001 I installed Mono County's first solar photovoltaic grid intertie on my Lee Vining home. The electricity was accounted for through "net metering," which means that during a one-year period, you subtract the energy you produce from what you use and pay for what is left--what you used that you did not generate. Typically the net use is positive, meaning you use more than you produce and have to pay a bill at the end of the year. State incentives are designed to create systems that aren't oversized, and prior to this year if you generated more than you produced--a negative net use--your bill would be zeroed out and you would start the next year without a credit.

One remarkable year that happened to me. I really

Boycott Chase Bank

I've never been harassed quite in this way by a bank before. My address changed six months ago and during those six months Chase has sent me 15 pieces of unsolicited mail--that is about one every other week. It is extremely annoying, and when I realized in September that they weren't just going to stop on their own, I called their privacy center at 888-868-8618. They told me I'd be removed from their list, but to allow 90 days for mailings already started to get through their system.

The unsolicited mail (two types of offers 7x each) from Chase Bank I've received during the last 6 months after I moved.

My Dentist's Advice: Eat Ice Cream and All the Halloween Candy You Can (and Exercise, Eating Right, and Brushing are Optional)

I went to my new dentist on Halloween. Yeah, I thought that was funny too. I bought and ate a doughnut afterwards but didn't eat any Halloween candy.

They make their new patients that drive take a test. If you park in the parking lot, you see a sign that has an arrow to the left that says "Back Entrance" for Dr. Herschleb. He isn't listed under "Front Entrance" with the right arrow. When you get to the back entrance, you see only a couple of doctors' names on a small door--with all those doctors listed on the left, there must be another entrance--so you keep walking around the building until you get to the front entrance, which lists all the doctors. It wasn't until I just wrote this a day later that I realized the "Front" and "Back" labels next to the arrows atop the two columns of doctor names on the sign on the parking lot side are not headings for the doctors listed beneath. My wife had the same trouble when she first went to this dentist a few months ago. Don't get me going on poorly-designed signs... I've got another whole blog post in my head about confusing signs at Samuel P. Taylor State Park. It is kind of like designing a Website--some people just shouldn't be allowed to be in charge of making and placing signs, and when they do the rest of us must suffer.

So after managing to figure out how to get into the building, and waiting for the mandatory waiting period for seeing a doctor, I really liked the guy.

Fixing Prop 13

I've always tried to think of ways to bring down housing costs. Houses should be places to live, not investments. Just like high gold prices right now are too expensive for people that actually use gold, if you took the speculation out of the housing market, housing prices might actually be affordable for people that need a house just for living in.

The economic downturn combined with my planned move to Marin County (and knowing that it would be difficult to afford to buy a house here) had me writing a letter to the Mono County Board of Supervisors last year. I proposed

Getting to Know the Local Environmentalists, Part 1: Under One Sky

Last week I attended "Under One Sky: Climate Change and Your Back Yard." It was a climate change discussion sponsored by the Environmental Forum of Marin and Transition Mill Valley at the Throckmorton Theater in Mill Valley. As I walked in the door, I was handed a flyer for "Norman Solomon for congress" by a grizzle-bearded gentleman that told me the candidate isn't accepting any corporate campaign contributions. "Sounds good to me," I thought as I took the flyer, "and also impressive he has dedicated volunteers that aren't dressed and groomed like Jehovah's Witnesses." I looked at the flyer while waiting for the event to start, and liked what I saw. Before sitting down, I spoke to a woman about what "Transition Mill Valley" was, and she told me about some of their upcoming events.

After some preliminaries and inspiring music (this youtube video isn't what they played but you'll get the idea), John Wick of the Nicasio Native Grass Ranch and the Marin Carbon Project gave a very enjoyable and detailed presentation of his work on ranching, carbon sequestration, and