Looking For Ideas - May Give Up

[Chotu]

May I just say this stuff is freaking me out too?

https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/...as-station-ban

I’m trying to make a choice for the next 20-30 years. One I can stick with. And the variables are crazy. Girlfriend/wife? Who knows. Ban on fossil fuel? Who knows? The boat can still least move without fossil fuels. So I get into these loops. Flip flopping.

Where’s that life coach? Ha ha.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Chotu

May I just say this stuff is freaking me out too?

https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/...as-station-ban

I’m trying to make a choice for the next 20-30 years. One I can stick with. And the variables are crazy. Girlfriend/wife? Who knows. Ban on fossil fuel? Who knows? The boat can still least move without fossil fuels. So I get into these loops. Flip flopping.

Where’s that life coach? Ha ha.

Honestly, I worry a bit about stuff like that with the boat too. But I figure that any level of change that would turn most of our boats into worthless junk isn't going to happen suddenly and without warning. So there would be time to plan, figure out the impacts, what changes might avoid the problem, etc.

[Westcliffe01]

The Psycho Californians can go ahead and cut off their legs/commit suicide. They are rapidly going to run into a wall with this nonsense since they have no plan for where the electric power is going to come from for all the new electric vehicles and clearly they have no plans to build any more fossil fueled power stations. Nuclear power stations - not a chance in hell. Their grid infrastructure is already not working and the big electric push is just going to destroy it faster. They will be into load shedding in no time at all, which is going to mean more than just your AC not running in summer or your electric heating not working in winter.

Originally Posted by Chotu

May I just say this stuff is freaking me out too?

https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/...as-station-ban

I’m trying to make a choice for the next 20-30 years. One I can stick with. And the variables are crazy. Girlfriend/wife? Who knows. Ban on fossil fuel? Who knows? The boat can still least move without fossil fuels. So I get into these loops. Flip flopping.

Where’s that life coach? Ha ha.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Westcliffe01

The Psycho Californians can go ahead and cut off their legs/commit suicide. They are rapidly going to run into a wall with this nonsense since they have no plan for where the electric power is going to come from for all the new electric vehicles and clearly they have no plans to build any more fossil fueled power stations. Nuclear power stations - not a chance in hell. Their grid infrastructure is already not working and the big electric push is just going to destroy it faster. They will be into load shedding in no time at all, which is going to mean more than just your AC not running in summer or your electric heating not working in winter.

Right. I understand that. I’m not trying to get political on this thread at all. I’m just merely talking about investing my future in a petroleum powered RV. That might not be the smartest thing in the world because you can see the restrictions everywhere on this. Europe has huge restrictions. You can’t drive Into most urban areas or suburbs with one.

Change is coming. I don’t want to get caught in something that doesn’t work anymore in 10 or 20 years.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Nothing is Covid related. We have made it a point not to get Covid through any loopholes. It’s from a traumatic upbringing which she jumped from straight to traveling with me.

Sorry, when I said covid related, I meant just the general atmosphere caused by it not necessarily catching it.

Lots of people are struggling with mental concerns as a result of the constant news, restrictions and general fear related to it. If things settle down, I expect a lot of short term mental issues to ease up.

But if it's been a longer term issue, covid fading might not ease the concern much.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Sorry, when I said covid related, I meant just the general atmosphere caused by it not necessarily catching it.

Lots of people are struggling with mental concerns as a result of the constant news, restrictions and general fear related to it. If things settle down, I expect a lot of short term mental issues to ease up.

But if it's been a longer term issue, covid fading might not ease the concern much.

Oh yeah. It’s a long-term thing. Nothing that will ease anytime soon. She needs years of going to counseling. That hasn’t really worked out well as travelers. Because you’re supposed to stick with one. And she doesn’t really like the Tele psych stuff. That hasn’t really worked out well as travelers. Because you’re supposed to stick with one. And she doesn’t really like the Tele psych stuff.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Right. I understand that. I’m not trying to get political on this thread at all. I’m just merely talking about investing my future in a petroleum powered RV. That might not be the smartest thing in the world because you can see the restrictions everywhere on this. Europe has huge restrictions. You can’t drive Into most urban areas or suburbs with one.

Change is coming. I don’t want to get caught in something that doesn’t work anymore in 10 or 20 years.

I have trouble commiting to plans for next week. 10 years? 20 years? Nearly impossible to make most decisions with that sort of timeframe in mind. About the only things that warrant that sort of commitment are 1) a spouse, 2) a house, 3) retirement savings.

The west is in the last decade of the dominance of the internal combustion engine... but who keeps a vehicle for 10+ years anyway (besides me ). Buy what meets your needs now. The future will be there and waiting for you when it's time to replace it.

[Westcliffe01]

Chotu, if you invest part of your savings into a long term fuel supply (one can keep quite a lot of diesel safely for a long time) you should have absolutely no issues for the next 10 years. And I believe the electric fraternity will be "hitting the wall" within 10 years give the current electric car trajectory and the very high ICE vehicle prices which are helping the move to electric seem painless for city dwellers who dont have to go far. Maybe you have to buy a little bit of rural property to keep your fuel supply without jumping through a lot of hoops but if that also happens to be in a nice scenic area, it could also be your "base camp" when running the RV.

Originally Posted by Chotu

Right. I understand that. I’m not trying to get political on this thread at all. I’m just merely talking about investing my future in a petroleum powered RV. That might not be the smartest thing in the world because you can see the restrictions everywhere on this. Europe has huge restrictions. You can’t drive Into most urban areas or suburbs with one.

Change is coming. I don’t want to get caught in something that doesn’t work anymore in 10 or 20 years.

[JPA Cate]

Chotu,

One place to get recommendations for counselors is the Psychology Dept at the closest university to you. Once you get some names, you can then check them out on the net, and then, try one. You should be able to tell you'll be able to work together well in the first meeting; so if you don't click, you'll have to try another one. For your gf, I would suggest she ask in the Women's programs in Psych, and that she look at group therapy from a group where the members have suffered similar traumas...such folks have a lot to teach each other, including that the isolation doesn't have to be forever. If it were I who was looking, I'd be looking at licensed Social Workers, too, as well as people with a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology. If there are medical issues, (as with you), maybe a psychiatrist (licensed MD), but avoid psychoanalysts--too long a process for you. You want short term goal oriented therapy, whatever name it goes by now. You set the goals, and review progress towards them with the one you select. Sometimes enlightenment comes following behavior change, so don't make understanding a goal, but emotional expression, which will facilitate release of "stuckness".

Ann

[lestersails]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Right. I understand that. I’m not trying to get political on this thread at all. I’m just merely talking about investing my future in a petroleum powered RV. That might not be the smartest thing in the world because you can see the restrictions everywhere on this. Europe has huge restrictions. You can’t drive Into most urban areas or suburbs with one.

Change is coming. I don’t want to get caught in something that doesn’t work anymore in 10 or 20 years.

Could it be helpful to think of it like any speculative investment? Don't invest more in than you can afford to lose.
The car electrification thing is going to start happening reasonably briskly. Semis, dump trucks, RVs? Not so fast. As prior posters have said, RVs depreciate pretty fast and if the pressure on fossil fueled RVs isn't coming super fast, then it is likely to depreciate naturally irrespective of that.
Try to back away from the 10-20 year horizon decisions - you will add stress and anxiety to your decision making and your (any of our) predictions are not that likely to be that good two decades out.
Buy an RV you can afford, taking into account perhaps a 3-5 year depreciation a bit on the harsh side that you can afford, and sail off. Set a date for a sober reassessment in that 3-5 year window, and vow that you will make a good decision for yourself then.
Who knows, you two may get bored with the thing before this fossil fuel transition becomes an issue!

[captlloyd]

Originally Posted by Westcliffe01

The Psycho Californians can go ahead and cut off their legs/commit suicide. They are rapidly going to run into a wall with this nonsense since they have no plan for where the electric power is going to come from for all the new electric vehicles and clearly they have no plans to build any more fossil fueled power stations. Nuclear power stations - not a chance in hell. Their grid infrastructure is already not working and the big electric push is just going to destroy it faster. They will be into load shedding in no time at all, which is going to mean more than just your AC not running in summer or your electric heating not working in winter.

So many worries over things that have not happened yet ! To paraphrase Mark Twain; “ I am man who has had many worries, most of which never materialized “.

[Westcliffe01]

Really ! Does the word Enron ring a bell ? That was California was it not ? Do you remember what just happened in Texas a few months ago ? You want to suggest the US grid is going to withstand the addition of hundreds of thousands of new electric vehicles without a problem ? Im not worried. I have a diesel generator and diesel fuel. It has just run solid for 6 days since a windstorm blew through the area last thursday and knocked out power to over a million people in SE Michigan. My power was just restored an noon today. But my gas and diesel vehicles kept running and I didnt have to worry about how to charge batteries. Oh yes, the Ford and Tesla owners are going to plug their cars into their houses and power their houses without needing generators for 6 days, right ?

Originally Posted by captlloyd

So many worries over things that have not happened yet ! To paraphrase Mark Twain; “ I am man who has had many worries, most of which never materialized “.

[captlloyd]

Originally Posted by Westcliffe01

Really ! Does the word Enron ring a bell ? That was California was it not ? Do you remember what just happened in Texas a few months ago ? You want to suggest the US grid is going to withstand the addition of hundreds of thousands of new electric vehicles without a problem ? Im not worried. I have a diesel generator and diesel fuel. It has just run solid for 6 days since a windstorm blew through the area last thursday and knocked out power to over a million people in SE Michigan. My power was just restored an noon today. But my gas and diesel vehicles kept running and I didnt have to worry about how to charge batteries. Oh yes, the Ford and Tesla owners are going to plug their cars into their houses and power their houses without needing generators for 6 days, right ?

Oh, I guess I should be worried then.

[Capt Clark]

Originally Posted by Westcliffe01

Really ! Does the word Enron ring a bell ? That was California was it not ?

No, it was also a Texas fiasco.

[Buzzman]

Originally Posted by Westcliffe01

The Psycho Californians can go ahead and cut off their legs/commit suicide. They are rapidly going to run into a wall with this nonsense since they have no plan for where the electric power is going to come from for all the new electric vehicles and clearly they have no plans to build any more fossil fueled power stations. Nuclear power stations - not a chance in hell. Their grid infrastructure is already not working and the big electric push is just going to destroy it faster. They will be into load shedding in no time at all, which is going to mean more than just your AC not running in summer or your electric heating not working in winter.

Actually, this is just alarmist nonsense. The electrical engineers in charge of the various grid around the globe are pretty sure they know what power we will likely need, and where and how to provide it.

The principal sticking point has always been that it cost more to do away with the caol and nukes and to adopt renewables.

What the existing installed renewables hav edemonstrably proven, is that they are a dman sight cheaper to produce per kWh that power fomr coal, gas, or nukes, and the only 'sticking point' remaining is the need to provide storage of various kinds for night-time supply.

And that can be lowered by 'load shifting' (no load shedding) from night-time to day-time when solar is available. For exasmple, in Australia, we have an 'off peak' system that provided cheaper (non-peak-time) power supply to heat hot water systems. Originally, in the 'coal grid' this sytem was developed to utilise the unloaded spinning generators in the coal stations, thereby providing them with some load to justify keeping them spinning when there was otherwise no real load, and thus not have to shut down and start up every day.

Now, that system is no longer relevant, and so those hot water heating loads can be re-allocated to daytime generation and thus reduce the night-time load on the grid. This load will then only be the 'constant' loads like 24hr industry such as aluminium smelters. We have one in my State of NSW that is literally 10% of the entire State's load (overall per annum), requiring about 850MW per day. So that load will then be the only load (apart from a few lights) at night.

And that smelter has recently signed an agreement with a renewable power aggregator to source al of its power from renewable sources when it's existing contract with the local coal-fired generator expires in about 8 years.

Another issue that is as yet unknown is to what extent EV vehicle batteries, connected to the grid, wil be able to account for fluctautions in supply, both at night and during the day.

What engineers in Oz have recently realised is that storage abtteries can mimic the synchronous delivery that previoulsy was only able to be supplied by large synchronous generators (e.g. coal fired), which negates the whole 'renewables voltages fluctuate causing grid instability' issue.

So, yeah, the grid can go 100% renewable, over time, and probably we won't even notice.