utilitus

Yes, of course. But knowing what to expect is an aspect of 'financial' engineering... And there can be surprising rules and exceptions. Off the subject, but I hope that Mexico revives a wholesome version of the Maquilladora program to produce solar gear as the Chinese wear out their welcome in the US, because Mexico of all the oil producing nations is reportedly running out the fastest.

Thanks for the sensible suggestion, which would provide information at any stage of such a project (though I would not bet the ranch on a casual bureaucratic inquiry in any country.) This home-design project has been in the planning stage for years (when I was last at Lakeside a year ago I visited the U. Guad. engineering dept.) and it will be 'deeply' engineered in advance rather than cobbled together over time.

I wonder...would a raked, 35 sq mt solar panel installation suspended 2-3 mt over a walkable roof qualify as taxable 'roofing'?

"The EMA panel said although there is already an approved vaccine for preventing the disease caused by the dengue virus, Takeda's vaccine showed wider protection for young children and those aged above 45 years." As discussed on this site previously, the first dengue vaccine has narrow and complex applicability - how this new vaccine improves on it probably requires more time and *ouch* more cases. See: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/eu-regulator-adopts-positive-opinion-dengue-vaccine-2022-10-14/ and https://www.takeda.com/newsroom/newsreleases/2022/takedas-dengue-vaccine-candidate-provides-continued-protection-against-dengue-fever-through-4.5-years-in-pivotal-clinical-trial/

But seriously, the informed commentaries (such as those of the estimable LQ above in this thread) that I've seen seem to indicate that a generic router attached to the SL gear would support an affordable ethernet cable (say Category 6) of 100 meters, which should include the gentle bending required to fit the cable to your indoor gear, plus, if needed, the burial of the cable in some cheap PVC pipe to reach the neighbors house, and then their installation. I did such an installation to my office in the redwoods, and at 100 mt (the published maximum spec) there was no signal slowdown for DSL. Goofy people everywhere use WiFi unnecessarily, but if it were appropriate in your situation, I don't know if it would effect performance. There are Microwave systems for a few hundred bucks that require line of sight and many have a range of a mile or so that might interface with SL - some of them are considered 'plug and play'. I've always thought this kind of facility sharing was a great idea, with the right partners...

UC Davis cooked up a data sheet on the CB: https://wric.ucdavis.edu/information/natural areas/wr_R/Ricinus.pdf

Thanks for the input. Some sources indicate that some species of rats enjoy fruit and insects, though the only published material referencing (using the local collective noun) a rodent 'plague' Lakeside I came across describes an infestation last November around poorly managed garbage in Joco, which sounds like the classic case.

Got a cryptic email from a neighbor on the hill in SJC suggesting that my undeveloped lot was hosting rats (just wait 'till I move in...). If this is true, the only possible food sources would seem to be animal or vegetable. Is there a 'plague' of delicious insects currently in progress? In the later category, the only candidates would be grasses and the two meter tall specimen shown below, which does seem to produce fruit of some sort. Can anyone please comment on these factors? TIA!

Our ranch east of Napa has shown evidence of tunneling termites about every decade. The last time it happened several years ago, there was some talk about using a convenient 'baiting system'. Check it out (without recommendation): https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef639#:~:text=The bait station housing is,other termites to the station.

Sr. Luis' combination of character and skills sounds exceptional. But how, customarily or just pragmatically, does one gladly reward such service? Is a liberal cash tip straightforwardly appropriate and welcomed? (When Ilox was introduced, as a phase of due diligence, I found online that their linemen made about US$20/day.)

Hopefully, such vendors aren't expecting any "dangling"... I've seen one or two 'store-bought' domestic elevators Lakeside - looked like miniature versions of the cars in the Embarcadero Hyatt in SF. I always waste volumes of time researching ideas and options to death, including in this case browsing the vast industrial production of the PRC via Alibaba (and "I get ALL my knock-off Moncler items from AliExpress!"). Youtube captures a number of 'hlilbilly Hilton' elevator projects.

Please do report back - I'm trying to find an engineer to help design a new house featuring among other gizmos a small exterior wall mounted passenger elevator to a rooftop garden, and any frame of reference provided by an actual thoughtful design and installation would be very interesting.

As to livability or SJC property values, I don't know authoritatively, but I get a good impression after several visits. I've had a small lot on Cutzalan (off Dominguillo) well up the hill for about five years and nice middle-class homes have sprouted up all around it (maybe 50% gringo), to the point where I'm waiting to build to verify that a splendid view will survive such development (looks likely because it's so steep). Other, larger Racquet Club style houses are sprouting up a hundred meters away, and you may enjoy one of them. Note that there are no supermarkets in the area AFAIK, though I think I heard a rumor that there was such in Joco - closer and less traffic than points east.

A computer-sculpted molar crown installed at Dental Express a few years ago failed, which in turn led to an infection only discernable by X-ray, necessitating an extraction. In the process, the dentist also broke an adjacent crown. I will never go back, and am of the opinion that DE specializes in English and marketing.

Thanks, LQ - my recent cursory research into alternative ISPs for our ranch in a tight little valley in the wilds east of Napa revealed that further to the northeast about 40km, there were two SL ground arrays within about 20km of each other - the only 'twin' installation displayed by the tracker app. I imagined that this was great, until just now when tracing their activity, it appears that due to the sparse geometry of the orbits (over the north Pacific?), two such sites were required, and there are still periods when no transmission is indicated. Good to know. Thanks again.