Author | Lightnews

Reposted by Brian Edwards-Tiekert

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 12h

the sort of headline we're seeing all over: www.syracuse.com/politics/cny...

Democrats flip the Onondaga County Legislature for first time in nearly 50 years

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Reposted by Brian Edwards-Tiekert

Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 13h

When you stop using X then open it back up after a while, you realize how obviously it’s designed to elevate vicious jerks who share Musk and Trump’s cruelest, dumbest beliefs. Harder to see when you’re addicted to it; blazingly apparent from the outside looking in.

Journalists: It’s bad for you!

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 9h

Ref share.google/6kXMhM4mGDQ9...

Why It's Still So Expensive to Build Homes in America | Odd Lots | Podwise

In this episode of the Odd Lots podcast, hosts Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal interview Brian Potter, author of the Construction Physics newsletter ...

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 9h

Also you have to engineer pre-fab modular stuff to hold up to stresses during shipping that it doesn't have to hold up to on-site.

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 10h

One multifamily modular went up near me, but the developer said the transportation costs cancelled out the construction savings.
My neighbors have an ADU designed by a pre-fab company -- but site-built by a contractor, because the pre-fab company went bankrupt after pulling their permit.

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 10h

There's a graveyard's worth of companies that thought they were going to wring significant savings out of prefab/modular and went under.

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 10h

The Post never disappoints.

Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 10h

The compressor's so quiet i can barely hear it when it kicks on next to me. Leagues quieter than the roar and groan of the aging tankless gas heater it replaced.

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 10h

Yes, the tank's super-insulated. It stores hot water all night and only reheats it after morning showers, when the sun's hitting the rooftop PV.
Also: it stores water at scalding temperature, then mixes it down to tap temperature--the volume we get from the tank is roughly twice what we store in it.

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Reposted by Brian Edwards-Tiekert

esti @estibass.com · Jun 25

Zohran at the rally for trans youth on february 8 ❣️ he was polling single digits.

Zohran standing amidst a crowd in winter clothing

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 13h

How it started / how it's going

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 13h

IMPROBABLY, VOTERS ELECT CANDIDATE WITH CHARISMA, LOOKS, POPULAR POLICIES, SUPERIOR CAMPAIGN ORGANIZATION, AND CONSPICUOUS LACK OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT ALLEGATIONS

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 14h

Andrew Cuomo kicking himself for not running for Staten Island Borough President instead

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 17h

Especially when it comes to housing policy debates that pit rank-and-file YIMBies against tech investors that fund the orgs. California Forever seemed like a big fault line.

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 17h

I'd be curious what she sees as the biggest divides in YIMBY circles today.

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 18h

He's not mayor yet, and he's already broken Red America's brains:

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 1d

Just terribly shoddy police work to not collect the weapon and enter it into evidence.

Dave Jamieson @jamieson.bsky.social · 1d

Defense is now questioning Lairmore on cross-examination. They show a video still of the sandwich and wrapper on the ground, post-throw.

"Do you recognize that sandwich?" the attorney asks.

Lairmore won't confirm.

"I did not go back to collect it," he says.

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 1d

But honestly you could say we started when we did a cash-out refi with super-low interest rates in 2020. That's how we paid the up-front costs of everything.

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 1d

We pulled permits for solar just before the 4/15/2023 cutoff for NEM 2.0 and installed that fall. Put in our last upgrade--the hot water heater--this summer. We went slow because we were researching everything as we went, and often waiting for state, utility, or IRA subsidies to roll out/re-open.

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 2d

It's all so good, the technologies are mature, you don't have to give a fuck about climate change--the benefits are obvious once you're using them.
I'm kind of furious there isn't an all-of-government effort to make everyone's lives better by electrifying all the homes.

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 2d

Aside from a nominal monthly fee for being connected to the grid (we're on California NEM 2.0) we'll be paying:
0 electric
0 heating / gas
0 fuel / gasoline
0 oil changes, engine maintenance, etc.

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 2d

I hate hate hate cars, but we need one often enough that we'll probably get an EV. We have enough excess solar production to do all the charging we'll need at zero added cost.

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 2d

Rooftop solar: it's noticeably cooled our upstairs in the summer (because the panels shade the roof). Also probably going to extend the lifespan of our roof.

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 2d

Induction range: heats pans more quickly and evenly. Super-easy to clean. Our home air quality is *noticeably* better while we're cooking. And it's way harder to start a fire by accident.

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Brian Edwards-Tiekert @bedwardstiek.bsky.social · 2d

Heat pump water heater: it's the cheapest form of energy storage you can install.

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