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| Oriental Honeysuckle. Each specimen had a canopy that was 10' to 15' in diameter. It took about 3 hours to clear 2000 square-feet. The hardest thing was that the crowns were so entangled that I had to make multiple cuts and yank them apart. |
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| Maybe 6" through the base |
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| I count thirteen rings. |
I was cutting brush today and house-sitting. So you will get half-formed thoughts.
California fires
New reports indicate that some property insurers dropped fire coverage on the polices because the California board that sets rates were forcing them to insure houses in high-risk areas and not cherry-pick the lower risk regions of the state. Additionally, the board did not allow them to pass on the cost of purchasing secondary insurance on the open market. The secondary insurance is one of the ways that insurance companies dilute the risk.
Many policy holders probably did not even open the letters that informed them of the changes to their policies.
Expect this story to get uglier before it gets better.
Also germane to this story is that the cost of property insurance is relatively low in California. $200k of coverage costs an average of $1000 a year in California compared to $3800 in Nebraska and $4400 in Oklahoma. In effect, policy holders in the mid-West are subsidizing the property insurance in California.
A few weeks ago, just before the most recent fires, the California board capitulated and ruled that insurers WILL be allowed to pass on the cost of buying loss-insurance. The articles from a week ago were bemoaning the fact that in some cases the insurance rates might double or triple (!!!!) and however would California home-owners be able to afford it?
Maybe they could go to Nebraska or Oklahoma and ask how they do it.
Sprite's grandson
Sprite lets her grandson hunt on her property.
Michigan's late antlerless season ends January 12, 2025. I suspect "T", her grandson, is done hunting for the season. I heard him burning through a couple of boxes of ammo yesterday.
I never understood the need to mindlessly shoot all of the current season's ammo. "T" shoots a 450 Bushmaster and MSRP on the ammo runs about $45 a box. So he just flushed $90 down the toilet. More to the point, sometimes ammo is hard to find in stores.
There are baseless rumors of a bachelor hunter in a northern region buying three boxes of ammo in 1980. He sighted in his rifle and then fired a single shot at the start of the season to verify the zero. The rumor is that the bachelor hunter is still holding out for a trophy buck and is now half-way through the third box of ammo which cost him $8.97 at KMart, back in the day.
I would bet the actuarial risk of loss is lower in Nebraska and Oklahoma as well.
ReplyDeleteInsurance is just bookies/gambling writ large. If the House cannot have a slight advantage, why would they ever take a bet?
ERJ, I have a little experience with Property Insurance in CA.
ReplyDeleteFor many homeowners or property owners, they did not even get the opportunity to pay higher premiums: they were simply cut off. The Insurance Pool that the state of CA created will cover you for higher costs (more like what you listed there), but only for fire: other sorts of insurance (general homeowners, liability, etc.) are tacked onto that.
I have no idea how CA is going to fund the claims that are going to come out of this.
lol… I have some of that $8.97 KMart ammo left as well. Still shoots ok
ReplyDeleteWe are in an area that is liable to flooding on average every 35 years. We had that excitement last year. The insurance gives us a maximum of 5000 Euros coverage for flooding and they will not offer you more. The local government has just recently said that they will give 400 Euros compensation to anybody in the area that has more than 10000 Euros of uninsured damage. They expect us to be grateful for that.
ReplyDelete