Category: Technology


BC Hydro, power and authority

Lots of no trespass signs about and some on old hydro meters. Dell from Coopers says they were by and changed his. Some people say they don”t want them because of health issues. Other say they wanted a choice for no wireless connection. The fact is they are being installed and adds in the papers are asking for clear access.

The hydro has worked since it was nationalized in BC as a  monopoly and  as socialism goes it was considered  draconian. However the lower rates we are supposed to get from the monopoly are supportive of the vision of Canada being a mixed economy. As a Non profit crown corporation it is not allowed to have retained earnings and must lower rates for efficiencies it gets. Still you have to watch that the government does not raid it for revenues like raising water licence fees, to accommodate good water levels for the utility.

The off-peak time dynamic will be the next issue us consumers will be watching as we still want it to be an under girding of our economy and not go to profits.

BC Hydro has the rights to all water in the province for generation purposes and a lot of power.  When good snow packs occur the next year should see rate reductions, as they have in the past.

The lines and poles are public property and that always raises an issue when they talk about co generation ; recently the utility has replaced a lot of poles and  is working to have a third 500 KV line to the lower mainland from the interior.

Today in history December 13 ,2003

Saddam Hussein is captured in Iraq. ( The Ace of Spades)

lending library

An Amazon Kindle Powered Off

Image via Wikipedia

The electronic world is expanding with a lending library on Kindle readers.  The local  Public library  has a Kindle reader for lend , and they have paid for some titles, now a source says that Amazon the internet book seller is also going to be offering  an entry menu of some publishers books  on lend. We will watch  and wait on this. However reasons for not having a tablet  device are getting fewer and far between.

Today in History, November 23,2001

The convention on cyber crime is signed in Budapest Hungary.

Snow

There is a beautiful continuous snowfall here today. An accumulation of about 5 inches is making for a picture postcard . The forecast is for the same the next few days. And the 14 day forecast  is weighted towards snow.

Looking forward to a White Christmas and lots of  good photo ops here in Merritt.

 Truck traffic on  routes are a great concern of coffee goers so think in terms of a defensive strategy when driving to routes that have transport trucks.

Today in history,November 18 1977

Born Fabolous, American Rapper.

  • World War II MemorialThe Japanese needed security and provoked the second world war for fill. Yes fill, the crafty fellows thought that the world would respond by firing artillery shells into the island nation, plugging holes and filling cracks so that they had land to live and grow on. That has to be true as when the game went atomic the war was over because no more fill.
    England, Japan and New Zealand are about the same size with the latter being slightly larger than the Japanese 4 islands that house their 100 million people.
    Points
  • Snakes, there are no snakes in New Zealand as In Ireland they didn’t make it out of the ice age.
  • Did I mention that the Mauri go down to spirit bay to start their long, long journey to Paradise?
  •  A least one 1200 year old tree centers the splendid sand and greenery for the fauna in New Zealand
  • A small lizard survives the from the Dinosaur age we think he must have liked to eat frozen snakes.
    • Did I mention that the Mauri go down to spirit bay to start their long, long journey to Paradise?
  • product placement
  • 1/4 acre syndrome; the  inhabitants of New Zealand have lawns and single family dwellings and their favorite pastime is self home renos.
    • Did I mention that the Mauri go down to spirit bay to start their long, long  journey to Paradise?
  • 20 to 1 sheep, there is peace and contentment as the 3 million odd people in New Zealand can all count sheep to go to sleep at night.
  • *
    • Did I mention that the Mauri go down to spirit bay to start their long, long journey to Paradise?

It’s a long, long way to paradise from spirit bay….

If the Japanese can make it to Vancouver they can fly for about a thousand dollars to New Zealand  via commercial air carrier .

Note there are poisonous sea snakes in the ocean off New Zealand     .

  • Did I mention that the Mauri go down to spirit bay to start their long, long journey to Paradise?
  • please note the one pointless note….*

pellet plant

Inside a woood-pellet heater

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I went by the new wood pellet plant today and took a picture of the a man supervising a bagging operation.
A source says that there may be some hiring when the dryer is finished in about 6 weeks.
The wood pellet plant seems new and modern and clean without clutter or grease. On the way over I upbraided a child that was playing between the wheels of a parked logging truck. He agreed it was a danger and took his plastic gun and played elsewhere. The truck had nothing to do with the pellet plant however; people should pay attention to their own children.

Today in history, November 4,1970

Genie a thirteen year old feral kid is found after being locked in her bedroom most of her life.

The Sydney Opera House, designer, architect an...

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There are some significant activities this week in Merritt, tonite the Alexander the Great Seminar continues at the library, presenter al Horne and his wife coördinate the slides and the talk.An Academic venture,in progress as the credits for photos of antiquity are yet to be published.

The Nicola Naturalists also have and AGM tonight  at 7 o’clock at NVIT about 3 kilometers from the 6-8 presentation at the library.

There is also a member picture presentation after the expected brief business meeting.

Last evening there was an eco health forum that featured such speakers ad Scotty Holmes the chief o the Upper Nicola Indian band  and others including representation from the Community round table at evening it was sparsely attended and  coming to a conclusion in its second day of presentations and discussions.

Today in history, October 20th 1973

The Sydney Opera House opens.

Smart meters

Elster A3 ALPHA type A30 single-phase kWh smar...

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The  provincial hydro authority is going to be installing smart meters around the province. This will give them the ability to better manage power. As well the customer will also be able to do the same .No word on the thought that there will be two rates, one for off-peak and one for on. There was a proposal for an energy project that took water out of our own Nicola Lake and stored it till peak usage time. The marriage is more than obvious and we will be listening for the re-emergence of that project here in the future.

The local library has a meter for you to borrow to test where you are using your power the smart meter will build on that principle.

Today in History, October 17,2010

Mary Mckillop is canonized to be the first Saint of Australia.

Card lock

The Esso agency had a customer appreciation day today .The Cold Creek Agency of Nicola Avenue had the radio station, prizes , hamburgers and a celebrity Mobile Oil sponsored formula one car on site .To appreciate  their customers.The business is  located in a heavy commercial zoning beside a road contractor an unconfirmed source is saying you don’t have to be a business to have a card lock and their prices change daily with oil prices and are emailed out to card customers at levels of discounts.Implying volume.

Its a clean and uncluttered business you may want to check it out if for some reason you need volumes of fuel and don’t mind competing with logging trucks for fueling.

Today in history, August 31,1537

The Honorable Artillery Company, England’s oldest is formed.

Job fair

This is a public photo. Category:Columbia River

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A small job fair was held at the campus of NVIT on monday, Teck the mining giant that runs the Highland Valley Copper Mine was there . A representative said they would be hiring around  the middle of December. A training company/ society for people who would work on the hydro site at Revelstoke and Mica also had a booth, as did the Community Futures Society for the first nations of the Thompson Nicola.

A rep from  Western Bio Energy of Richmond BC  for their proposed hydro co-gen plant was giving out information. Fred Scott was saying that when the project is approved for permits it will have a strong contact with hydro that prohibits fuel being used that is not green wood waste ie railway ties. The boiler is only capable of taking 1900 degrees and toxins must be burned at higher temperatures \(legally).

There is one toxic waste facility in the province it is in the lower mainland. This project is strictly green and for hydro co gen to the public utility BC Hydro.The plant would be on the Tolko mill site here in Merritt, the company plans public consultations in the next 5 months to accommodate their permitting process.

The VP of business development Fred M. Scott said that it was not to be confused with a proposal that failed 8 years ago which included medical waste. We say that a proposal of some decades ago that generated a ground swell of protest should not be mitigated by this corporate goodwill to ward green coming from the proposal and BC Hydro.That one was for toxic waste and the interest went to a plant in Swan Hills Alberta after being soundly rejected.That proposal was encouraged by then Mayor H.P.Kroeker and his administration that included an economic development officer that was a former used car sales rep. Kroeker still sits as a counselor here after some years as a justice of the peace and after a failed  Mayoralty  reelection bid.

The job fair was aimed at young people and training opportunities in the resource sector. Nadine Israel, represented BCAMTA as a coach. That organisation is the Aboriginal Mine Training association. www.bcamta.ca

Today in history, August 16 1989

Solar activities interfere with electronics ceasing trading on the TSX.

Seagulls

 Twenty odd seagulls were at Voght park this  AM they would have come up on the winds that brought rain from the coast last evening.

Today in history, July 12, 1962

The Rolling Stones perform in their first ever public concert in the Marquee

Club in London.

Go fish BC

The Society formed in 2002 now stocks all lakes in British Columbia with game fish.A source says that 52 % of the licence fee to game fish goes to funding the society.

Some lakes do not have good spawning beds or outflows inflows of water so they are stocked with sterile fish and all their makeup goe to producing weight rather then eggs. Sixty to 100 thousand live fish are carried in one of their trucks and are matched to water temperature  to relief stress on release. One truck crew I talked to was on its way to the Bridge river area to stock lakes yesterday.

One of the chamber themes here is a lake a day as long as you stay and the worker said they do a lot of stocking here.

Today in history, June 10th,1190

Third crusade Frederick the first Barbarossa  drowns in the river leading the way to Jerusalem.

Fish policeing

Fishery and Oceans , the federal government are being seen moving craft  about; they are concerned about what runoff goes into fish habitat this time of the year.

Today in History, May 11 1987

Klaus Barbie goes on trial for Second World War crimes.