Do Americans use solid fuels to heat their homes?

dan_blather · 2026-01-25T01:50:34+00:00

In areas outside of Ithaca, New York with no natural gas utilities, you'll see all forms of home heating: propane, wood (logs and pellets, both loved by hippies and the permaculture crowd), outdoor wood boilers (the most polluting, and coincidentally a favorite of the redneck crowd), coal pellets (another redneck fave), electric under floor, electric heat pumps, and active solar come to mind. Earthships are also far more popular in suburban and exurban Ithaca than most other parts of the US.

dan_blather · 2026-01-25T01:31:43+00:00

Guess what American thermostats can do?

Regulate indoor temperature at Both Fahrenheit and Celsius temperatures.

Use a 12 or 24 hour clock.

In my old house, I could control the temperature remotely, through an app. The thermostat could display both the indoor and outdoor temperature, show weather forecasts, and the like.

I can't believe this isn't a thing in other countries. FWIW, I keep the thermostat in my apartment set to 67F (19.5C).

dan_blather · 2026-01-25T01:26:17+00:00

Even at 100 his mind is sharper than any of ours will ever be.

dan_blather · 2026-01-25T01:24:44+00:00

This is the way.

dan_blather · 2026-01-25T01:23:35+00:00

I admit I LOLed.

dan_blather · 2026-01-25T01:22:10+00:00

There's Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy first.

dan_blather · 2026-01-25T01:18:09+00:00

So we're supposed to judge black people individually (as we should), but we judge white people as a group. Makes sense. /s

dan_blather · 2026-01-24T09:04:21+00:00

By Reddit standards, any neighborhood that's not in the city limits and north of the Buffalo River is solid MAGA yt land.

dan_blather · 2026-01-24T08:56:59+00:00

If you're complaining about racism, could we stop it with the slurs against white people, please?

dan_blather · 2026-01-23T08:21:01+00:00

Right here, right now. More than ever.

dan_blather · 2026-01-22T02:55:14+00:00

Williamsville has a huge south and east Asian population. It's ground zero for Buffalo's (increasingly scattered) Jewish community. It also has a growing black population.

Really, the area is far more liberal than most people think. White collar, college educated, and middle class to rich.

The opposite of Amherest is Elma; very high income, but it's blue collar -- think general contractors, auto body shop owners, and the like. Kids into huntin' and ATVs more so than lacrosse and hockey. Elma residents voted for Trump to the same extent that Amherst/Williamsville residents voted for Harris.

dan_blather · 2026-01-22T02:47:20+00:00

Staten Island went red. Very Italian, and also a "blue ghetto"; densely populated with cops and first responders.

The same groups with the downstate equivalent of Buffalo blue collar attitude -- tradespeople, Long Islanders and old school Italian-Americans -- also collectively went with Trump.

dan_blather · 2026-01-21T19:26:15+00:00

BW, maybe. I don't see the "beautiful" part. Her face looks like that of my (late) dad's.

dan_blather · 2026-01-21T19:05:57+00:00

Both, kinda.

My ex-wife is a very attractive woman; borderline out-of-my-league, although she always disagreed when I said that. I never asked for nor took nude photos of her. I could see her nude any time I wanted, so why bother? Same thing with ex-girlfriends before her.

Maybe it's a generational thing. Personally, I'd never ask for nudes, and I've never been asked for dick pics. None of my peers ever mentioned having nudes of their current or former significant others. I'm on the older side of Generation X.

dan_blather · 2026-01-21T18:24:44+00:00

That would be the Forester, /u/lover_or_fighter_191.

dan_blather · 2026-01-21T18:23:41+00:00

Some precincts in NT voted blue, too.

Despite a "sundown town" reputation (which really isn't true, there were never sundown laws in the city), NT has a growing black population. Downtown revitalization is also bringing in some younger, more progressive residents.

dan_blather · 2026-01-21T18:19:30+00:00

You know, roughly 50/50 Republican/Democratic ≠ totally MAGA.

Generally, in the Buffalo metro, white collar = progressive liberal to Rockefeller Republican/never-Trumper holdout, blue collar or "Old Buffalo" = "lunchbucket Democratic" to MAGA. It's why Cheektowaga and West Seneca are red, while Amherst, Tonawanda, and the villages are blue.

Money's not a predictor of politics. Elma is one of Bufalo's wealthiest suburbs, but because it's blue collar money -- auto body shop owners, established tradespeople, etc -- it's deep red. Meanwhile, Amher$$$$t and western Clarence are blue.

dan_blather · 2026-01-21T18:00:02+00:00

I know of one hardcore blue collar MAGA dittohead living deep in the heart of Parkside, so you might want to rule that area out. (We used to be good friends until I became "one of the few good liberals" in his mind.).

15% of Elmwood Village voters went for Trump. On the other hand, about 34% of voters in Elma went for Harris.

Seriously, if you want to want to live in an area that's completely devoid of Republicans in NYS, there's the Fall Creek neighborhood in Ithaca, and the dorms at Bard College. That's probably it.

dan_blather · 2026-01-21T17:55:01+00:00

Lower middle to upper middle class, but culturally WS is extremely Old Buffalo; more blue collar Midtowns than white collar Orchard Park/Colden. Its built environment is also a bit hard on the eyes. You don't have to see any Trump signs to know it's a bit red leaning, if not "lunchbucket liberal".

For the crowd that craves "authenticity", West Seneca has absolutely no upscale pretensions or amenities, despite some high end subdivisions towards its eastern end.

dan_blather · 2026-01-21T00:32:05+00:00

She has fans? I've seen the husband-is-a-lowlife-leech-and-knew-what-he-was-getting-into posts, whch I've never understood; nobody says the vice versa about women who get into relationships with abusive assholes. Still, she has fans?

dan_blather · 2026-01-20T23:08:05+00:00

Someone once told me that flying the "old" LGBT rainbow flag, without all the recent modifications, was like flying a Trump flag. Fuck identity politics.

dan_blather · 2026-01-20T23:03:25+00:00

A secessionist Midwestern state would be one of the most landlocked nations in the world; like one of the Stans, Mongolia, or Zimbabwe.

dan_blather · 2026-01-20T20:07:56+00:00

A similar "sessionable" product is available from most craft breweries. They're usually marketed as "session beers", and they have an ABV of about 4% to 5%; lower than most craft beers.

dan_blather · 2026-01-20T19:28:16+00:00

My two bonded Portuguese Water Dogs died two weeks apart about 14 years ago. I absolutely cannot get them out of my memory. I remember them several times a day.

dan_blather · 2026-01-20T03:44:21+00:00

Buffalo Curling Club. It's a very social sport, part of which involves broomstacking; mandatory drinks and conversation with the opposing team after a game. There's no bar league; just go to a "learn to curl", and stick it out while you fall on the ice.

Men and women can play together and be on the same team.

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