It's always good to pause and take note of the positive. After BOTH my dogs ate human poo on their freestyle walk this morning I had to really search for the positive. Thanks for providing it.

Holly at least they didn't find a decomposed decapitaed human head and carried it around like a soccer ball.

http://youtu.be/L1rfV0A_ito

My dog likes chewing people's used gum that he finds glued to the sidewalk, not much of a poo eater.

Hah - you're welcome, holly. And the gum thing is funny, Ppen.

You live in a desert. That pretty costs hundreds of firefighters lives and it will cost the starvation of millions within 50 years

For the record, I have NEVER, in the perhaps 15 years I've lived in this house, watered this bougainvillea and my landlord's sprinkers do not reach it. I didn't really realize that until I read your comment, luj.

I actually tend to make an effort to be conservationist.

If this were my house, instead of having the postage stamp lawn that is here, I would have mulch and stones and native plants that don't require water. (Gregg got me the morning glories -- I feel too sorry for plants under my care to ever buy any.)

My morning glory I have been watering with water I remove from the refurb Sous Vide the Eades gave me. To save electricity, I heat water in my fast-heating coffee pot and get hot water out of the sink and pour it in there to get it up to temperature.

By the way, the house I rent is over 100 years old and the bougainvillea is probably about 50 years old, if not older. It really doesn't seem to need a lot of water.

Is that a sarcastic comment, Lujlp? I'm seriously curious. I would have thought so but the non-tongue-in-cheek answer from Amy makes me think otherwise.

That is beautiful, by the way, Amy. I have managed to only conserve by repopulating my beds with the Vincas that are multiplying like bunnies. It's such a crazy thought to have to conserve water out here when it's humid enough to sprout ferns and mushrooms everywhere right now. Too much of a good thing is, well, you know.

Nope, not sarcastic. I live in AZ and over the last 20yrs the number of people moving out here refusing to acknowledge the reality of the environment keeps going up.

SoCal steals the ground water that farmers would normal use and uses it to keep the golf course and grass and palm trees green, requiring the use on the Colorado. Which reduces the amount other western states can draw from it.

Az inst much better theses day with all the fake lakes, I swear to god there is a neighborhood near my mother place nothing but maple trees, maple trees in the desert.

All the rerouted water leaves drier forests which lead to more forest fires which lead to firefighter deaths.

As for people starving in the future. We pull water out of aquifers faster than it filters back in, which means were going to run out.

Couple that with the shrinking Rocky Mountain snow cap it means less water in the Colorado, which means there simply wont be enough water to pull t for crops sooner or later. Latest report puts us at less than 6 years before the water level in Mead drops to the point that the federal government will implement rationing.

Ew boy, so I'm not involved and have no idea how dire the drought over there is (I have heard tidbits), but I will say that it seems that the blunt statement that a watered plant costs firefighters' lives and will cause the starvation of millions is a bit much. I'm sure we will figure something out, seeing as the West Coast is pretty important to the US, and overall there is more than enough water to go around, trust me. More than enough. So calm down. If it gets to the point of starvation or gunpoint rationing, you can always move. I think that's a nicer more sane thought than condemning a person in public of whom you don't know the circumstances behind your scrutiny.

If it gets to the point of starvation or gunpoint rationing, you can always move.

At which point everyone else does too, and in the new area, well, I dont like that tree. Lets import something from the rainforest cause I think it looks cool.

My point is not that we are facing a water crisis.

My point is people are generally stupid if not down right fucking morons who cant be bothered to think things thru and not destroy the area around them.

Its the same mentality you see for people who throw their trash out the window while driving down the road. After all there are street sweepers and chain gangs and adopt a highway groups to pick it up for them

Also I wasnt blaming Amy personally just pointing out the cost of the terraforming of the SoCal desert

See, this is why I visit Amy's blog here - She posts a picture of the pretty plant outside in her yard and this whole very interesting conversation takes place.

Amy, I agree, it is good to be reminded that it's a desert there. I have relatives in AZ who have a "desert scene" for their yard (i.e., some barrel cactus, some prickly pear along the walk, and a big saguaro, along with some strategically placed rocks - all very pretty).

Many of their neighbors have green lawns like we have here on the East Coast. Lujlp is right - what a huge waste of water! If they want to have a green lawn, they shouldn't live in the desert.

Its the same mentality you see for people who throw their trash out the window while driving down the road. After all there are street sweepers and chain gangs and adopt a highway groups to pick it up for them. -- lujlp at August 9, 2014 10:35 PM

What is the difference between a redneck and a good old boy?

A redneck pitches his beer cans on the side of the road and a good old boy throws them in the back of his truck.
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The problem that will occur when Californians finally abandon CA is if they bring their concepts of "good" government with them. CA has some of the highest taxes in the country. They are in competition with NY. A lot of the rest of the country doesn't have or want a nanny state.

So if they overwhelm the original population it is a steady down hill slide. Look at Colorado as an example.

Using hot tap water to get a start on making coffee requires filling the pipe with maybe 2 gallons of hot water, heating the pipe along the way, and discarding the water previously in the pipe.

Hot tap water also dissolves more of the pipe surface and any old, lead solder joints.

It is much more energy efficient to start with cold water and heat it entirely in a microwave, an electric coffee pot, or in a pan on the stove.