The Off Topic Topic

[Josquius]

Is the Bourgogne so poor?

Dispite josquis' views I think France also has some wacky house laws that make renovations and teardowns very difficult*. So if it wasn't blown up during the war(s) you've got a lot of old stock housing.


*Duque can confirm or deny.

From what I hear there's a weird cultural difference there. French generally hate old buildings so all the old farm houses and castles* get bought up by well off but not rich rich Brits.
I've not heard of many problems with renovations though.


*I wonder if escape to the chateau is at all known over there.

[Valmy]

I think the French like them, they just don't like to live in them.

Is the Bourgogne so poor?

Generally, yes. Because they are agricultural areas.

[HVC]

I knew someone who thought of buying an old one cheap but then realized why it was cheap lol. It was a onerous process to renovated. Needed like materials to the historical build. So to repair the roof you'd need to use copper and not modern materials since it had a copper roof. Luckily they found the one honest realtor that talked them out of buying. Ended up moving to france still, but in town in a newer home.

His story is where I got my, third hand and lacking, understanding of the above mentioned "wacky house laws".

[Duque de Bragança]

Is the Bourgogne so poor?

Dispite josquis' views I think France also has some wacky house laws that make renovations and teardowns very difficult*. So if it wasn't blown up during the war(s) you've got a lot of old stock housing.


*Duque can confirm or deny.

I will do both.  If and only if the old building is deemed to be a historical monument, by the local bureaucracy of course. 

[Sheilbh]

I knew someone who thought of buying an old one cheap but then realized why it was cheap lol. It was a onerous process to renovated. Needed like materials to the historical build. So to repair the roof you'd need to use copper and not modern materials since it had a copper roof. Luckily they found the one honest realtor that talked them out of buying. Ended up moving to france still, but in town in a newer home.

His story is where I got my, third hand and lacking, understanding of the above mentioned "wacky house laws".

True in the UK too if the property is listed (and there are different grades of listing). It can be difficult.

My flat isn't in a listed building but it is in a conservation area which means I need planning permission for any changes that would be visible from the street (like changing the windows, door etc).

[HVC]

Canada, or at least Toronto has similar laws for historical buildings or areas, but it's pretty limited. My (perhaps faulty) understandings is a lot more properties are viewed that way in France ( and I assume the uk). Blame Duques local bureaucracy . Funny thing though is you just end up with properties slowly going to ruin.

[Josquius]

OK. Mad theory time. This has just come to me.

Go back 20 years and transphobia existed. But it was very laddish.
Rowdy jokes where a man pulls a super attractive woman only to find out she has a dick.
Transphobia sort of existed but it was in the style of the old school  "backs against the wall he's a gay and he will bum you" sort of silliness. A low key fear that trans women were predators preying on unsuspecting straight men.

Since then gay rights have come on a lot. Now we've huge acceptance there.
....
But alongside this transphobia has morphed.
Now it's less "watch out boys" and more "protect our women".
The idea isn't trans women are predators hunting for men but predators hunting for women.
And the level of hate has shot up sharply from a quick offensive joke but ultimately who cares to prime culture war nonsense.

Have to wonder if there's a relationship here.
More acceptance of homosexuality but a flip in views of trans women and who they are supposedly creeping on.
But what does it say. Could be interpreted as trans women are woman or men.


And yes. Trying to look for consistency in bigotry doesn't work. But as I say. Random theorising.

[crazy canuck]

I'm not sure it has anything to do with men wanting to protect women.

I think it has a lot more to do with the definition of what a woman is.

[Syt]

The various music line-ups at the annual (free) Donauinselfest in recent years have been a bit disappointing. In the past they had a dedicated metal stage that had niche but not completely unknown bands playing, and even later they had gigs that were worth visiting - Kim Wilde followed by Billy Idol, Tito and Tarantula, Simple Minds, Goombay Dance Band (ok, that one was probably more for me ), ...

... but the last 5+ years it was very "meh" so we stopped checking the band lists. Now it popped up for me that this year it might have been worth going - on Saturday two or so weeks ago they had Airbourne and Nanowar of Steel as evening headliners.

[mongers]

Well this is promising, from Nature, but article about sodium-ion batteries behind paywall:

[HVC]

Unfortunately lithium batteries are significantly lighter and also have more energy capacity. 

[Richard Hakluyt]

But there could be a role for large(r) stationary batteries; eg for household storage of solar power?

[crazy canuck]

But there could be a role for large(r) stationary batteries; eg for household storage of solar power?

And less expensive cars that are designed for short range commuting.

[HVC]

But there could be a role for large(r) stationary batteries; eg for household storage of solar power?

True. And I believe  they work better in cold temps so good for outdoor batteries in colder climates.

[Sheilbh]

But there could be a role for large(r) stationary batteries; eg for household storage of solar power?

Also China has control of around 98% of the supply chain for lithium batteries. So alternatives strategic opportunities for the rest of the world and I'd expect they can make them lighter.

The long term/bulk storage is still the big challenge on batteries and the technology does not exist yet and we don't know when/if that breakthrough will arrive. At least at grid-level - we can displace hours of energy supply but not yet days or weeks which is what we need.