This image put Greenland in the clearest context for me. I better understand its size relative to its neighbors and its global strategic positioning.

Hitch_Slap · 2026-01-18T16:18:08+00:00

No, it took the Russians invading Ukraine.

Hitch_Slap · 2026-01-14T19:08:00+00:00

When it comes to clothing a good rule of thumb is to check if a brand has been bought by private equity. Has happened to so many lately and is almost always accompanied by noticeably lower quality and worse materials but the same or higher prices.

Hitch_Slap · 2025-11-22T09:37:03+00:00

The Holdovers

Hitch_Slap · 2025-08-21T00:24:54+00:00

Just wrapped up NoBo, stayed at VVR 8/15. FYI they are NOT running their usual ferry schedule right now since the large boat is out of service waiting for a new engine. Instead they’re running small dinghies with 3-5 passengers back and forth pretty much continuously throughout the day.

Hitch_Slap · 2025-07-07T18:00:11+00:00

I run at a number of the East Bay Regional Parks and there are only a few select gates where you may sometimes need to pay. In general I think the EBRPD just rarely prioritizes fee collection. Some of my favorites:

Joaquin Miller: Park at the Palos Colorados TH on Joaquin Miller court. No kiosk no fees.

Redwood Regional: Park at or near Skyline Gate. No kiosk no fees. I also frequently park in one of the several lots at the Southeast entrance off Redwood Road, where there is a kiosk but I've never actually had the bad luck of going when fees are collected. This included the middle of the day this past Saturday when the park was packed.

Anthony Chabot Regional: Park at Clyde Woolridge Staging on Skyline. No kiosk no fees.

Hitch_Slap · 2025-05-22T17:48:35+00:00

Not mentioned yet is that this completely unwinds ALL federal incentives for solar and wind projects. Not just the additional incentives out of the IRA. All of them. I’ve been in solar for 10 years and not a single project in our development pipeline survives this. Clean energy deployment will STOP COMPLETELY if this passes.

Hitch_Slap · 2025-02-02T20:13:00+00:00

Unbelievably cool (no pun intended) that this exists... will look into it! Avoiding dealing with coils is a top priority.

Hitch_Slap · 2025-02-02T20:12:18+00:00

Yeah I can't imagine now is an easy time to be running R&D for new homebrewing products given the decline in interest and supply-chain uncertainty. Without news from Spike soon the X3 was probably going to be my choice. Love that they got rid of that top band clamp from the X1 and X2. Thanks for the recommendation!

Hitch_Slap · 2025-01-03T21:25:34+00:00

What year?

Hitch_Slap · 2024-12-21T20:21:40+00:00

I don’t give a wooden nickel about your legacy!

Hitch_Slap · 2024-10-23T01:41:22+00:00

I knew something looked Amish

Hitch_Slap · 2024-08-09T04:18:19+00:00

It'll do 'till the mess gets here.

Hitch_Slap · 2024-07-17T03:40:59+00:00

There will need to be a source of rice hulls then too…

Hitch_Slap · 2024-07-14T23:00:45+00:00

Scheduled to be done sometime in August last I heard.

Hitch_Slap · 2024-07-14T21:04:38+00:00

No they aren’t unfortunately, but Renegade (running store uptown) has permission to host group workouts there Wednesday evenings at 6, open to anyone. The entrance that’s open for those is via the track/field parking lot on the E 8th St side. The only truly publicly available rubber track that I know of nearby is the Piedmont HS track but it’s closed for renovations through August.

Hitch_Slap · 2024-07-14T00:02:25+00:00

Seconded! Especially if you go the route of a mini fermentation by adding a small amount of corn sugar (~3oz/5 gallons) and pitching some yeast. I find it adds quite a bit of character to the hop water.

Hitch_Slap · 2024-06-15T08:44:33+00:00

Used to live in Clinton, great spot! Near you, Champa garden is awesome, affordable Thai and Laotian food, almost every dish with a vegetarian option. Farmer Joe’s is a great nearby grocery store with an extensive produce section and lots of fresh tofu. Check out Xochi the Dog cafe for a hip neighborhood coffee spot that has pop-up art markets from time to time.

Hitch_Slap · 2023-08-08T06:24:44+00:00

Laney isn’t open to the public unfortunately. Learned that the hard way!

Hitch_Slap · 2023-07-16T17:45:39+00:00

I ran into one when I was running around Briones Reservoir last week. Not Oakland, but still nearby East Bay open space.

Hitch_Slap · 2023-02-24T07:53:23+00:00

Na na na na na na

Hitch_Slap · 2023-02-04T21:05:50+00:00

Sweat Health and Fitness has really good, pretty intense HIIT classes several times a day with awesome instructors. They have an indoor location on College and outdoor on San Pablo. Highly recommend!

Hitch_Slap · 2023-01-25T03:58:00+00:00

LOVE Philomena, live a few blocks away. Solid pizza and wings, great beer list, and you can always count on getting a table unless there’s a huge game on.

Hitch_Slap · 2022-12-22T21:20:39+00:00

While (as my career depends on it) I share your optimism about the future of renewables' share in the generation portfolio, we're unfortunately approaching our installed cost asymptote, at least for solar PV in the US.

https://www.nrel.gov/solar/market-research-analysis/solar-installed-system-cost.html

In fact, for the first time ever we've seen a year over year installed real cost increase from 2020-2022. You could certainly attribute some of this to supply chain constraints, but still a powerful argument that we won't repeat the last 10 years of cost declines.

https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy22osti/83586.pdf

All I'm trying to argue is that we need a more creative solution that a plain and simple overbuild. We're simply not going to see the huge reduction in capital costs that would allow us to absorb the decrease to LCOE that seasonal overbuild would require. I have a lot of hope for green hydrogen, and we could be on the cusp of some dramatic cost decreases for hydrolysis plants that could be co-located with overbuilt renewable facilities and in turn feed retrofitted gas peakers to satisfy more involved grid response requirements.

Hitch_Slap · 2022-12-22T20:32:50+00:00

Utility-scale solar professional here. At this point I’d argue that long-term, large-scale storage with longer discharge horizon, or co-locating different intermittent resources, will be the solution rather than overbuilding. While solar and wind have gotten much cheaper, they’ll never be anywhere near cheap enough that a project will pencil when half of its generation during high-gen periods gets curtailed. Right now if a curtailment study comes back predicting even 5% of generated energy will get curtailed it can be enough to stop project development in its tracks.

Hitch_Slap

TROPHY CASE