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CO2 Pipelines

CO2 Pipelines seem to be all over the news in Iowa. The idea is to capture the CO2 that is being produced by Ethanol plants in Iowa, compressing it into a liquid, and piping it to another place to sequester it underground. This would prevent the CO2 from entering the atmosphere and further depleting the ozone layer. Sounds pretty good, huh?

Sounds pretty good until you dig in and get the details about it.

Fact is, there aren’t a whole lot of details about it. There haven’t been a lot of studies about it and the dangers aren’t really well understood. There is one incident that we can look at – a rupture in a small Mississippi town in 2020 that resulted in the entire town of Sataria to be evacuated. The rupture spewed CO2 into the air, sickening many people and requiring hospitalization for many of them. Two years later, some have not yet been able to return to work and their normal lives. We don’t yet know the long term effects of such a rupture.

There are several companies working towards putting in these pipelines in Iowa. These companies are private companies that will make a profit from the CO2 capture by charging the Ethanol companies to take the CO2 and by selling to CO2 to other companies that use it for Enhanced Oil Recovery, which is fracking.

Navigator Ventures is one such company, and their pipeline would cover 1300 miles across South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and finally Illinois. It would gather 15 million tons of CO2 per year from around 20 Ethanol and fertilizer plants and dump it in deep wells in the earth in Illinois.

The project is possible due to huge tax credits and will use just as much CO2 creating fossil fuel to complete and operate it as it claims to save the environment from the gathering process. This industry is under-regulated and dangerous, and as we saw in Mississippi, can cause loss of life in the event of a rupture.

Why do I care so much about this? Well, I am concerned with the environment and what we are doing to our ozone, but as it stands, this pipeline will pass by my house only 1/4 of a mile away. The town in Mississippi was 1/2 mile away. If the pipeline ruptures, gone is the farm my family has owned and operated for nearly a century and a half.

If this pipeline goes through, I get to spend every day worrying about a rupture for the rest of my life. Do you think it helps my land value? If you were someone looking to buy farmland, would you choose farmland with a pipeline under it or one that doesn’t have a pipeline under it? Of course it will lower the value of my land.

Other concerns revolve around the damage done to the topsoil during construction. They claim that they will separate the topsoil and place it back the way it was but I have yet to see one farmer confirm that this has happened with other projects in the past. All of the reports point to damaged land and reduced yields for years to come.

Navigator was supposed to notify landowners when they were come to survey the land. DId this happen? Not in my case. I even sent a letter to them back in February asking them to coordinate with me as we had a huge pile of trees out there to burn. No contact requesting permission. They entered my land and did a survey without my permission or notification which is against the law.

Until yesterday, I had not returned any messages to them regarding this. I got a voicemail from one of their representatives yesterday so I called them back. He immediately offered me $6000 more per acre than what was originally offered. I asked for it in writing and he sent me a revised Easement and Crop Yield/Damages report with the updated figures. I responded with the following:

<Agent name withheld>,

The first issue that needs to be addressed is the illegal trespass on my land to do the survey.   I sent a letter to Navigator (see attached) requesting notification of the survey and did not receive it.    That point is mute, however, because the law states that a proper 10 day notice be given to me which wasn’t.     I will accept payment of a fine in the amount of $1000 to settle this matter.   If that isn’t agreeable then I will file charges with the Webster County Sheriff and submit a complaint to the Utilities Board and we can let the courts decide.   I’m not willing to discuss anything further until this is resolved.      Any further access to my land is not allowed without proper notification via certified letter or there will be further fines assessed.

If we get past the illegal trespass, I’m asking for compensation for loss of revenue for my business as I won’t be able to operate during construction. I’m also asking for compensation for mental anguish for having to worry about a fucking rupture for the rest of my life. Oh and compensation for the loss of value to my land and my home. That is if I decide to sign.

What happens if I decide not to sign?

Navigator will exercise the right it will be given by the Iowa Utilities Board of eminent domain, and they will take the land anyway. Eminent Domain, you ask? How is this possible? Isn’t eminent domain reserved for government use only and only for the purposes that are for the public good like roads, bridges, utilities, etc? And isn’t Navigator a private company constructing a pipeline for their own profit? How is this even possible?

It’s possible because the CEO of Navigator has Terry Branstad on his team. Terry appointed two of the three members of the Iowa Utilities Board and the third was appointed by Kim Reynolds, our current governor-ess. It’s the Utilities Board that gets to decide if eminent domain can be used. Isn’t this just a bunch of horseshit?

Keep your eyes on this category for further events as this drama unfolds.

This guy is getting around.

My alter ego has been taking some trips lately.

Tonight he’s staying at the Oceano Palace Beach Resort in Mazatlan. I got his review form from Orbitz asking how his check in was.

He flew on Sun Country Airlines

Suncountry was nice enough to send me his flight check-in reminder, complete with flight number SY595, his reservation code (I18j8Y) and buttons to check-in, check bags, view my trips and check current flight status.

In the screenshot below you’ll the email address in question – jaylarson@gmail.com. My email is jay.larson@gmail.com. Google says dots don’t matter, but we both signed up for gmail in the beginning – he with jaylarson and me with jay.larson. I’m saying that the dot does matter in this case.

Sometimes I like to see how far I can get. In this case, pretty far. Suncountry has now given me his middle name and his birthday. Peter. July 21, 1962

How to use AccountingSuite to run your AirBnb Properties.

AccountingSuite is an accounting, order management and inventory software built for small businesses. It’s built in the cloud, so there is no need to worry about being at the right computer when you need to access your account.

I use it for several endeavors, but this article will discuss how I use it with the rentals I manage via AirBNB.

The Software

The software can be purchased at https://accountingsuite.com. I use the business edition, as I don’t need inventory. It’s $25/month, and well worth it. They have good documentation and a stellar support team.

Setting it all Up

AccountingSuite has a getting started wizard to get the account setup and it walks you through the process. When you get to the part about the Chart of Accounts, I would add an expense account for the AirBnb host fees and also accounts for any business related expenses that you might be able to deduct on your taxes.

Now that the account is set up, create some custom fields so you can keep track of things. I created several custom fields on the Sales Order (my “reservation) including Check-in Date, Check-out Date, Additional Guest Names and the code I assigned them for their voicemail (I have a guest phone in the room). I also have a field for the AirBNB confirmation number and which rental unit they have reserved (I have 3). All of these fields are on a tab called “Reservation Data”. The screenshot to the left shows my custom fields.

I’ve also pre-created items for a Stay, additional guest charge, cleaning fee and host service fee which I can record on my Sales order. See the screenshot on the left. These items will populate the description and price automatically and give me a total on the bottom which I compare to the breakdown that is given in AirBnb.

When the guests check in, I create a sales invoice. It’s a simple process: Click Generate / Invoice from the Sales Order. I then create a cash receipt and record it to my AirBnB Clearing account. That way I know how much I’m waiting on AirBNB to payout. When I see it hit my back account, I just accept the transaction that flowed in automatically from my bank and match it to the invoice and the transaction gets closed out.

There are some great reports that I can run to see how I’m doing with sales and expenses, and I can have additional users. There is a built in video conferencing tool and a messaging system.

Why I don’t eat walnuts

We have a big old walnut tree in the back yard. It been there for close to 100 years. Every year it dumps thousands of walnuts off of the ground and we pick them up and put them in buckets. Some dude comes and picks them up.

In my quest to explore options of making money off of the land that comprises the yard and is about 1.75 acres, selling the walnuts popped into my head last year so I started collecting them little by little.

Bucket after bucket was filled. Any empty container that I could find became full. Finally I started using the truck and after a few weeks, the truck was full. Time to go sell them.

As it turns out, the black walnut market ( as opposed to the legit one, I suppose) is dominated by Hammonds in the midwest. California is the largest producer of walnuts in the US, contributing 99% of all walnuts grown in the US and 38% worldwide. Hammonds has several hundred buying stations around the midwest, and there happens to be one about 15 miles away from our house.

So I take my full truckload of walnuts that I probably have spent 20-30 hours collecting to the walnut buying station. I’m required to shovel all of the walnuts out of the truck into a hopper that takes off the shell and bags them up.

My back is nearly broken in two when I’m done, but the satisfaction of doing all of this is strong and the reward is forthcoming. As the nut collector pulls out his checkbook and starts to write, he says “Well, that was about 560 pounds, so let me see here” as he clacks on his calculator. He hands me the check and it’s written for $45. I nearly shit myself. $1.50 per hour for that.

So what does a pound of black walnuts cost at the store? Around $12. So. Of that $12, 8 cents is what goes the farmer. That just pisses me off and leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I’m having peanuts on my ice cream tonight.

Dots DO sometimes matter……..

For some strange reason, I like to start blogs. I have about 10 other ones that I write, most of them anonymously for one reason or another but I don’t think I’ve ever started one on my main website. Not sure why, but that is all changing with this.

The reason, I believe is because of the topic I wanted to write about tonight – it wouldn’t make sense anywhere else but this site. That topic? Other people named Jay Larson, and the black hole email address that I got when google first started handing out email addresses. I call it a black hole because very few emails that come to it were written to me. Spam, you’re thinking. Advertising. No, quite the contrary. I get emails meant for other people named Jay Larson in this inbox on a daily basis.

Now that you think I’m absolutely off my rocker, I will present the evidence and my theory on what is happening.

First a bit about gmail.com email addresses. Google made them so that certain punctuation in the email address is ignored. For example my.email@gmail.com is the same as myemail@gmail.com – messages send to both addresses will land in the same inbox. If you have a dot in the first part of your email address you try this yourself. Here’s an article written by google themselves on the subject: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7436150?hl=en

For those of you too lazy to click, here’s the text of the article:

Dots don’t matter in Gmail addresses

If someone accidentally adds dots to your address when emailing you, you’ll still get that email. For example, if your email is johnsmith@gmail.com, you own all dotted versions of your address:

  • john.smith@gmail.com
  • jo.hn.sm.ith@gmail.com
  • j.o.h.n.s.m.i.t.h@gmail.com

Note: If you use Gmail through work, school, or other organization (like yourdomain.com or yourschool.edu), dots do change your address. To change the dots in your username, contact your admin.

No one else gets your emails

No one can take your username

Your Gmail address is unique. If anyone tries to create a Gmail account with a dotted version of your username, they’ll get an error saying the username is already taken.

For example, if your address is johnsmith@gmail.com, no one can sign up for j.o.h.n.s.m.i.t.h@gmail.com.

No one sees your mail

Your account is still private and secure. Emails sent to any dotted version of your address will only go to you.

For example, johnsmith@gmail.com and j.o.h.n.s.m.i.t.h@gmail.com are the same address and go to one inbox.

What to do if you get someone else’s mail

Adding dots doesn’t change your address, so dots aren’t why you got someone else’s mail. Instead, the sender probably mistyped or forgot the correct address.

For example, if someone meant to email john.43.smith@gmail.com but typed john.smith@gmail.com, the message went to you because you own johnsmith@gmail.com.

Notify the sender

If the email seems irrelevant but not suspicious, reply to the sender saying they have the wrong address.

Report a suspicious email

Do not click any links or share personal information. Report the email as spam or phishing.

Unsubscribe from newsletters you didn’t sign up for

Contact the website to remove your address from their mailing list. Learn how to unsubscribe from emails.

Note: Unfortunately, we can’t prevent people from accidentally or maliciously using a dotted version of your address to sign up for subscription emails. Was this helpful?How can we improve it?YesNoSubmit

Sometimes dots matter.

I have other emails from gmail that work exactly as described above. I also have one that makes many of the statements above a lie. I’ve sent help requests to google, reported the issue to the senders, taken all of the suggestions above and yet I’m still getting emails with very personal information send to me. I don’t want it, I’m not asking for it but can’t stop it.

How do I know they just weren’t meant for me? Here’s a good example of an email I received on Monday.

  1. My name. Looks like me at first. I actually freaked out, thought I may have had too many shots of jager one night and made plans to go to Palm Springs. I do like to go there after all.
  2. Well, here’s my confirmation number.
  3. And my rewards club number.
  4. And my points balance.
  5. Hmmm… could I modify this reservation? Let’s find out.

The answer is yes. I can change the check-in or check-out dates, the room, the rate, hell I can even cancel this. How can we be sure it’s really a real reservation?

I called customer service and although the shoved me to about three different departments, this is indeed a real reservation made by someone that has a credit card that is not the same as mine.

Not a bid deal though, right? I mean I’m not going to go cancel his reservation, I’m not an asshole.

And for him, it’s a good thing. From other email I’ve gotten from his employer, his benefits department, his neighbors, the place where he got his car, his dentist, his doctor – the list goes on and on – I am certain that I know more about him than his wife does. If she knew what I know, she wouldn’t still be with him. I mean considering some of the sites he is a member of, she’s not really his type anyway.

I know his birthday, his place of employment, his social security number, his employee number, his health plan, his prescription for eyeglasses, need I go on? His cable provider is Century Link (I have his 4 digit authentication code). His daughter plays soccer. He goes to a church where volunteers as a deacon. He was born in 1984 and has two kids. One of them Rose, plays softball and soccer. He like to golf and enjoys photography and outdoor recreation. He’s lived in Grantsville UT, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Amesbury, MA and Indio California – all of which I have full addresses. He goes to Spectrum eyecare. His coworker Trista asks for help from time to time. He been a member of NENA (Nakomis East Neighborhood Association). In 2017 I received a 7 minute video from his friend Angela, who was very sad. She evidently is deaf and was signing most of the message so I’m not sure of the story behind that.

His deposits go to his Chase account ending in 4990. He was eligible to buy a new Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, or Ram for 1% below factory invoice in 2016. He submitted his taxes to H&R Block on Feb 2, 2017, it cost him $19.95. On Tuesday, January 10, 2017 he went to Nokomis Chiropractic and either had Roasted Pork Loin or Penne Pasta when his friend Mitch got married to Miss Kong during the summer of 2016.

More recently, someone named Elizabeth had a wreck in an vehicle insured by him. Geico is the company. I have the claim number and all of the details about the refund from Uhaul he just got for $27.76.

Have I reported this to google? Yep. Their answer? Dots don’t matter.