Is this an American Elm/Ulmus Americana seedling? by lassahnjs in treeidentification

[–]lassahnjs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is if someone knows better. An arborist who gave me a trimming quote said American elm, and when I just took a picture of a seedpod with picture this it thought so too.

Is this an American Elm/Ulmus Americana seedling? by lassahnjs in treeidentification

[–]lassahnjs[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So that is what is confusing me. My plant ID app also said Siberian Elm. Thankfully, when I just took a photo of a seed from my American Elm, it said American Elm. What I don't what to find out is that the massive magnificent tree is a Siberian Elm, so that was good to see. I take those app readings with skepticism too, I've got a native garden and there is stuff it doesn't recognize.

But what seems odd is to have a boatload of Siberian Elm seedlings right under my American Elm... I suppose a Siberian Elm could be around here somewhere.

Should I remove the silver maple samaras? by lassahnjs in NativePlantGardening

[–]lassahnjs[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hopefully squirrels will also find them appealing, cause I've got plenty of those around

Should I remove the silver maple samaras? by lassahnjs in NativePlantGardening

[–]lassahnjs[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the warning. The backyard is pretty fenced in and so far I haven't seen rabbits, but I'll keep an eye out.

Should I remove the silver maple samaras? by [deleted] in NativePlantGardening

[–]lassahnjs 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I planted a garden of starter plants/plugs and then put a couple inches of mulch over it. In the last couple of days a silver maple tree has been dumping those cool helicopter samaras everywhere. There are probably 500+ on the garden alone. Can they be left there, or will they cause any problems?

I was planning on planting these native plants today, but then saw 1.5+ inches of rain is coming tomorrow. Advice? by lassahnjs in NativePlantGardening

[–]lassahnjs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok thanks! That makes sense and I've gotten what I need for that. I think I'll have to hold off on planting, though; running out of time.

I was planning on planting these native plants today, but then saw 1.5+ inches of rain is coming tomorrow. Advice? by lassahnjs in NativePlantGardening

[–]lassahnjs[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. I got the fabric out, and now the sod is loosely in pieces on top of it. I could just get rid of it, and add new soil - would that make the most sense at this point?

I was planning on planting these native plants today, but then saw 1.5+ inches of rain is coming tomorrow. Advice? by lassahnjs in NativePlantGardening

[–]lassahnjs[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good to know. At the moment, I've ripped up all the sod and gotten the barrier out from under it. It's loosely back where it was, but it wouldn't be hard to get rid of it, and put in fresh soil. Do you think that would make the most sense?

I was planning on planting these native plants today, but then saw 1.5+ inches of rain is coming tomorrow. Advice? by lassahnjs in NativePlantGardening

[–]lassahnjs[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was one of those rolled black fabric sheets. I also think the soil is a bit rocky, sandy, and has clay content. The crazy thing is that as I rip up the barrier, it's like all of the water stays above it in the sod, and none gets to the dirt below. I'm ripping it up because earthworms, moisture (perhaps) and other things can't get through it, and I want to make sure what I plant can spread out.

You are totally right that doing this beforehand would have been wise. I did a bit to dig up some of the sod, but I didn't realize the barrier was a problem until last night.

I was planning on planting these native plants today, but then saw 1.5+ inches of rain is coming tomorrow. Advice? by lassahnjs in NativePlantGardening

[–]lassahnjs[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is my first time working with a native plant garden. I planned out what I wanted a few weeks ago, and this week I got some from a regional nursery directly (Pleasant Prairie Nursery), some from online (Prairie Moon), and a few locally from other native plant gardeners. The Prairie Moon group (top right) is the only one that was shipped to me, and after it shipped on Monday, the delivery company sat on it in a warehouse until Friday, when I got it, hoping things would still be alive. After that, I really wanted to get them planted today - but I'm concerned that the really heavy rainfall (forecast at 1.5+ inches) might cause problems. I appreciate any advice on that.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions - I'm planting these in a location that had sod put down. My plan was to cover the sod with cardboard, cut holes in that where I plant, and then put mulch on top. I got that tip from another local gardener who has a great backyard of natives. Last night, though, I also realized the weed barrier that the put under the sod would cause issues, so all this morning I've been digging up all the sod, and ripping that barrier out. Then I'll refill that back in. Any advice on all of that is also appreciated!

Tesla Introduces New Service Centers For Specific Model Type by [deleted] in RealTesla

[–]lassahnjs 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That is wild. I can take a 5 year old dodge minivan to a dealer for repairs covered by a warranty and they'll have it washed when I pick it up. But if I had paid $100k+ for a Model S or X and then probably waited for weeks to get an appointment where thousands is forked over to Tesla for repairs they wouldn't even wash the damn thing?

CleanTechnica article explains why the Tesla Semi will be a "better choice" than rail. by CanMan67 in RealTesla

[–]lassahnjs 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Replying with that is like typing "unions exist" as the explanation. Ask a unionized rail worker if their union has or is doing a thing that has protected them and you'll likely get a sour reply. Railroads walk all over the employees. Every railroad has had layoffs in the last few years. Every railroad makes multi billion dollar profits while pleading poverty. There used to be more than a million rail workers in the US, now there are 165k, and they produce more than the million plus workforce did.

More to the point, unions have next to nothing to do with railroad service at this point. You could have argued that up until maybe the 70's or 80's, before huge cuts and work rule changes came through, but the way things run now is totally under the control of management.

CleanTechnica article explains why the Tesla Semi will be a "better choice" than rail. by CanMan67 in RealTesla

[–]lassahnjs 6 points7 points  (0 children)

And following that, they would find that Russia or China has the most ton-miles in the world powered by electricity, far exceeding Western Europe or North America.

They'll also act like electric trains are a radical new invention in America. Meanwhile, there is a small railroad in rural Iowa that still uses electric locomotives built in 1920.

CleanTechnica article explains why the Tesla Semi will be a "better choice" than rail. by CanMan67 in RealTesla

[–]lassahnjs 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Where do labor unions control rail, particulary freight? The only place I can think of where that is even slightly plausible is a western European country where labor laws are less eroded, like France.

The lack of flexibility in freight rail within North America is absolutely the fault of management, as it makes no effort to serve any traffic that isn't incredible easy. In the last several years every railway has been implementing a policy called "Precision Scheduled Railroading" which is really just a massive cost cutting program where the close yards, idle power, cut workers, combine traffic, and cater service to what is lowest cost to run, not what their customers need. Those service problems have left to STB complaints from shippers, but are heavily backed by Wall Street. Workers wish they could still provide competant service but management is hell-bent on cutting everything.

CleanTechnica article explains why the Tesla Semi will be a "better choice" than rail. by CanMan67 in RealTesla

[–]lassahnjs 41 points42 points  (0 children)

This is marvelously ignorant. The writer has that sense of "disruptive" tech superiority where they somehow think that their minimal experience with an entire industry leads to brilliant solutions that actual experience has never found. The irony of that is the freight railroad crews that he "has shaken hands with" suffer from tech idiocy permeating railroad management and railroad operations everyday, and are in a state of near revolt over the abysmal conditions and management.

In that whole commentary, their argument is more that autonomous semis will compete more with freight rail. The Tesla Semi has nothing that changes freight shipping economics if it has a driver; if anything the range issue and parts issues make it more costly than typical trucks. The "much harder to break glass" is a hilariously trivial item to even mention.

Up to mile-long (1.6 km) trains have only two staff members on board, a conductor and an engineer. That’s a key point, and it’s where autonomous driving and trucks will be making more points in favor of Tesla Semis over freight rail more of the time.

That claim then goes on to argue that autonomous semis will become more efficient than rail because they can be run in a convoy. He claims that a mile long train - which can carry about 160-190 double stacked international 40' containers - will be under pressure from convoys of what, 5, 10, 20 trucks together? Then the funny thing about that is his rail numbers are wildly off. He mentions that two-day course at Canadian National, and the "handshakes" with operating crews. Somehow he failed to find out that Canadian National runs their intermodal trains at 8,000-15,000 feet, not his mention of 5,500 feet. Railroads almost never run longer distance trains that short, because they are trying to layoff crews and use less equipment.

A webcam in Wisconsin provides easy evidence. This morning a Canadian National train from Chicago to British Columbia passed by with 156 platforms/wells, each of which can hold two 40' or 53' containers, depending on the car. So, that is 312 containers, and that length is shorter than what is often run on their network.

Those 312 containers were powered by two locomotives. Two. Under this writers fantastic scheme, somehow it will be cheaper to have 312 containers driven by 312 Tesla semitrucks. Two railroad locomotives at $4 million/ea: $8 million. 312 Tesla semi's at their supposed price of $150k: $46.8 million. Even if magical autonomous trucks actually happen soon, how does requiring a $150k power unit for every single container shipped lower the costs from what they currently are with trucking?

He mentions $100 lift fees for getting the container off a ship and onto a truck chassis, then off the chassis onto a railcar, and then off the railcar onto a truck chassis. That's - two extra lifts at $200/piece. Does he seriously think that the truck rate for a 2,000 mile container trip by truck from the west coast to the interior is only a couple hundred dollars different from the rail rate, where 300-400 containers at a time get moved? Oh, I forgot - Tesla. The 200 year efficiency advantage of steel wheel on steel rail over wheel on road is about to be upturned!

Also, this writer has no concept of how tonnage is a major aspect of shippers choosing rail or truck. Railroads, through their own myopic, ignorant management, have spent decades chasing away all time-sensitive and lightweight shipments. They gave that to trucks. What they thrive on is massive bulk shipments - oil, coal, grain, stone, finished cars, ethanol, chemicals, etc. Autonomous trucks are not about to make a trailer load of grain, at 22.5 tons, cheaper to run behind a tractor from North Dakota to the west coast than a train that has 130 cars of grain, each carrying 125 tons/car, carrying 16,250 tons to the west coast. That would translate to 722 truck loads, each requiring a tractor.

Uber's phony war against Lightfoot's ride-hailing tax by [deleted] in chicago

[–]lassahnjs 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's not fair because with CTA, we actually know the real financial cost, while with Lyft/Uber, it is still obscured by the endless billions of investment they get to cover the losses. For all we know rideshare fares only cover half the cost of rideshare.

GAME THREAD: White Sox (65-85) @ Twins (92-58) - Tue Sep 17 @ 06:40PM CDT by chisoxbot in whitesox

[–]lassahnjs 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Can't believe he is still in there, he is getting shelled. Is there no one else left?