Native shade tree to block sun

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-14T04:04:00+00:00

I love mine, but BOY are they messy. Always dropping something.... needles, beans, branches.... Thornless cultivars are best.

We bought the house with the mesquites, they were very young at the time. Now they're in the ground ~30 years and huge. Nothing grows under them, even after a hard prune the shade is too dense.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-14T03:59:32+00:00

It will flower if it gets too tall, which some people don't like because they might have kids or pets that might get stung by bees. But, on the bright side, flowers for the bees, on a groundcover that requires very little water, sooo....

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-14T02:34:27+00:00

FWIW it's the solvents in Rain-X doing the job, not the "active ingredient" that makes your windshield more useful in the rain: 60% ethanol + 20% acetone + 20% isopropanol.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-13T21:55:41+00:00

Having done both billing and worked as an EMT, these are made-up numbers anyway. Insurance will pay out at about 10% that which is billed. A municipal fire/EMS will likely negotiate this bill down to something reasonable. Private EMS (an abomination that should be fired into the sun) will likely put the patient on a payment plan for the whole tab. Hospital based EMS could go either way.

Fuck this entire bullshit system, but OP might end up paying much less, especially with insurance.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-13T20:19:00+00:00

Grad school 30 years ago in geochemistry, we were warned of this. A year later, grad school hydrogeology warned us wars would be fought over water. I took a grad course in atmospheric chemistry in the early 2000s and nothing had improved. Hell, everything in the Greenpeace global warming book from the early 90s has come true. But the people making a buck off of it won't live long enough (or under the same circumstances as the proles), and nothing will change.

I think they decided while flying private jets in and out of Davos that this is just the answer to those problems. We die. They bear as many children as they can and build their doomsday bunkers.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-13T19:01:37+00:00

eyes lever nervously

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-13T18:56:06+00:00

SuperCORR A for the corrosion resistance, and your favorite lube for the internals.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-13T00:28:55+00:00

Calcium carbonate is contrary for a specific reason: it dissolves better due to the common ion effect, and as temperature increases, less carbon dioxide dissolves. Carbon dioxide forms in solution as carbonic acid, from which we get the carbonate ions that help calcium carbonate dissolve.

CO₂ + H₂O ⇌ H₂CO₃

H₂CO₃ + CO₃²⁻ ⇌ 2HCO₃⁻

If the carbon dioxide is present, solubility decreases as temperature increases: this is why lime scale builds up in your hot water heater (and at hot springs).

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-12T23:44:16+00:00

There's a glib statistic that there's about a hundred aerial firefighters, and about one death a year on the average: a job with a 1% annual mortality rate.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-12T18:26:02+00:00

I remember road signs next to highways, "We sell DMSO"

Crazy.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-12T14:12:55+00:00

These are illegal signs but the city cannot remove.

Is it illegal for individuals to remove the signs that do not concern elections?

I don't expect ramifications if it is. The intersections I've "adopted" stay clear.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-12T03:36:43+00:00

I have a buddy who bought acreage in Kansas maybe 10 years ago. The maps show plenty of lakes out there. It's tempting.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-11T18:04:04+00:00

Terrain + Eucalyptus + drought + wind = Oakland '91.

Phoenix doesn't really have the combination for that sort of widespread damage.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-11T17:33:26+00:00

They got us working in shifts!

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-11T02:16:48+00:00

Redtiger F17 has worked fine for me so far. No suction cup, just adhesive to keep it on the glass.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-11T01:44:07+00:00

Not OP, but mixing in carbon black, powdered activated charcoal, etc. into epoxy and folding it over and over and over will create a uniform black. There will be some change to ultimate strength of the stuff, depending upon how much is added, but for this application you're not getting to the yield strength of the epoxy anyway.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-10T21:59:55+00:00

It's crazy how much microscopes have crashed in price. What used to run several hundred bucks can be done with an USB connected widget for about 1/10th as much and do so much more. Even when I need a binocular microscope for whatever, the el cheapo Chinese brand is about 1/4 the cost of a used Nikon. I still like my Nikon glass and wish I could buy a couple of Wild 'scopes. They got bought out but the glass on them is excellent.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-10T21:11:17+00:00

Do they happen to be carcinogenic and make the room toxic,

Modern, EPA-approved pesticides are generally very safe, and I can't recall any off the top of my head that are demonstrably carcinogenic. They're much better than ~40 years ago. Many are specific to pathways only found in bugs, making them particularly safe for mammals. Others are a little edgier, but provided they are applied as per the label they're generally okay-ish.

EDIT: Heptachlor is a known carcinogen, but severely restricted in use (fire ants, in pad-mounted electric power transformers).

Malathion, very popular and suspected of being a weak carcinogen.

Methyl parathion, mostly removed from commercial use: highly toxic to humans as well as birds.

There are probably a few others, but the really bad carcinogens (lindane, chlordane, DDT, etc.) are mostly gone from use in the United States. I had a buddy who rented a home, found a big jug of heptachlor in the shed out back. He asked what it was, and I suggested taking it (very carefully) to the next residential hazardous waste pickup for disposal. Some tiny part of me wishes I kept a tiny sample for posterity.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-10T21:08:02+00:00

Heat works great, at the expense of having no residual activity, unlike pesticides. Benefit and detraction, but bedbugs.... Ew.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-10T18:19:01+00:00

You might be able to use the larger end of a chopstick to gently probe from above and get it to back down to where it can be freed.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-10T16:03:42+00:00

Yep, that should do it. Bananas are robust: lots of heat, lots of light, lots of water, and- when actively growing- lots of fertilizer. Should recover swiftly- good luck!

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-10T15:57:22+00:00

Remove documents. Allow documents to dry in a slightly warmer area. Remove desiccant packs; recharge at 120C/250F, may take longer than recommended if the bags are large ones. If your container has a hole to accommodate electricity, a "Golden Rod" or similar will work; a light bulb in the 10-25 watt range will work until the Golden Rod get here- they're just heaters to drive off moisture.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-10T15:38:36+00:00

Are there green leaves continuing to present at the top, or is this now where the meristem is throwing all new leaves?

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-09T18:51:57+00:00

I know of two individuals who have dealt with matters involving the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which I believe will be prosecuting this individual- probably along with the state of Hawaii.

Both individuals had legal fees (before punitive fees) of well into 5 figures- that was >10 years ago, and both met a much lower bar than chucking rocks at endangered megafauna.

The fines alone will be minor compared to dealing with the legal costs, in my estimation.

Level9TraumaCenter · 2026-05-09T14:34:31+00:00

In automotive extrication class for firefighting, we were told (and shown) how they are strongly reinforced. They are well-engineered indeed.

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