potate

I think that the scale of investment involved in oil sands development necessitates MUCH longer range planning than relatively short political cycles.

There's may be something to be said maximizing CAPEX when the commodity pricing sucks. Spending pullback from the more boom/bust centric conventional/frac operators reduces competition for trades and key manufacturers.

I think the differentiator at the moment is the lack of predictability. Normally your financial models only have to factor in modest price uncertainty. Right now the tariffs change so quickly that who knows what things will cost. I don't have a clue how you price a project in this environment. I pitty project managers.

Steel plate and pipe is easy to source domestically - especially when the US buyers aren't tying up Evraz capacity. Big inch valves would start to get tricky I think - but it's been over a decade since I was working in that space. Coatings are Dupont and 3M for buried assets - so lots of risk exposure there.

Personally, if I operated any major facilities (fractionation/refineries) I'd be looking at what turnaround/maintenance work I could be pulling forward right now. When oil's booming, you don't want to shut down your money machine to do repairs.

Huh, I thought it was just me that did that - I just assumed everyone else was so much more disciplined than me...

I've got a 5kW array of panels so yea, piddly stuff like charging USB is nothing - it's more the principal of the thing.

My EV charger is definitely the biggie. The system will dynamically adjust charging current in 1A steps to make use of available excess generation. It works pretty well - 16kWh spinning my meter backwards would earn me a whole $1.50 - instead it added ~20% charge to the car.

I know a number of people who got too much buildup from over applying and decided it was crap. My advice was always - be more lazy.

I damn near bankrupted myself to buy a Bertazzoni induction range. Zero regrets. It ain't Canadian but the EU are homies (mostly) and have some damn nice appliances. We have a Bosch dishwasher that was made in Germany and I didn't realize that dishwashers could actually wash dishes until I got it (ten years old and still works beautifully).

Shit's expensive as hell so there's a lot of privilege that goes into my 'damn the cost' strategy and it definitely isn't for everyone.

Try the dry lube - it changed my life. That said, don't over apply - every complaint I've seen is due to over application.

Okay, I'm curious, I'll see what I can find. I just got a made in Canada Razor, shave bar, and brush so I've been down parallel rabbit holes ;)

Naw, I have a super efficient heat pump and my water heater has been on for about ten minutes today. When high demand stuff kicks in my system kills off discretionary loads until I'm not exceeding my production. And this is in Canada...

I think California has ~80% of the almond market which is absolutely absurd considering the water demand for producing almonds.

I've switched to oat milk in my coffee but am still divesting from almond flour...

The EU is currently pushing for a non-US alternative to the big two credit card processors.

It still uses the same networks, but you should check out Neo Financial - great cashback, they work specifically with small vendors, and their offices are in the same building as me here in Calgary.

Check out Whistler Performance Lubricants (WPL) - locally made and my favourite chain lube.

North Shore Billet does chain rings, pedals, stems, brake adapters, and other small parts.

I've also got some We Are One carbon wheels on one of my bikes which are amazing despite my qualms about the sustainability of carbon.

My next set of hubs are going to be Project 321.

Oh and Kruch and Schon both make amazing steel frames by hand. I have a Kruch Shrimpalicious that I adore and was built within pedal distance to me.

I watched the video taken by one of the medics. It's brutal.