sherpa

"Farms" aside, and I can't believe the solar yield in Western NY justifies the cost without some other influence, on a domestic basis it's simple cost vs benefit. I've been following this industry for years. The house I currently had built and live in has a garage that points true south, the roof is stressed for solar panels and the slope is very close to our latitude, which is what you want. The stressing only required additional joists bonded together, and I think it only cost me a few hundred bucks. The issue is that absent government incentives, which have diminished significantly, it still isn't worth it from a purely financial standpoint. I built a 30x40 barn last year, and even with minimal electrical requirements, it is still more efficient to purchase a very small gas generator rather than solar power the thing.

Many considerations. First, you say it has no access or frontage. I assume you mean by road. That means that if anyone was to build on it, they would require an easement, which is a huge negative. What about zoning? Is it possible to develop? Of so, how many units/lot size requirements? You may plan to use it for your enjoyment, but such a consideration impacts value considerably. If used strictly for farming, what is the tree situation? How about grade/slope/drainage/soil condition issues? What local crops are grown successfully, and what is a reasonable price to expect? When those questions are answered, I would start at looking at local farmland sales, if there are any, and I'd look at what the owner paid and subtract a reasonable amount for the house, adjust for time of ownership, and come up with a starting offer. If you plan on doing some kind of agriculture on it yourself, spend the necessary time researching the amount of work that takes based on the specific crop, the equipment you'll need, if aggressive preventive spraying is needed and the tax consequences. Some localities will provide a significant tax break if the land is in agricultural use but may require an income producing crop to justify it. I own 30 acres in wine country here, so I have run a commercial vineyard for twelve years. It is extremely labor intensive from March through mid Sep. Much more than I thought when I constructed it, and doing things at specific times is not an option. The county requires proof of sales to justify my tax credit, and the credit is significant. If you are doing some agriculture on it, refi options are greatly limited since 2008. Anyway, lots to consider. Good luck.

From personal experience.... This ishihara test plates linked to in the original post can lead to misleading conclusions. My profession required a physical with a color blindness test every six months. Fail the physical and you lose your medical and thus, your license. Typically, you go to the same doctor every six months, because very few are certified to perform the exam. I had never had any trouble on anything in the physical until I moved here, and found a new certified MD. His nurse was a no sense of humor, no nothing kind of woman. She gives me the test using those plates, which I had done tens of times before, and I was really struggling. Barely got through it. thought maybe I was just tired or something. Six months later same thing. When she was done doing her thing, the MD shows up and finishes his portion. I told him about the difficulty with the ishihara plates, and that I suspected his plates had faded a bit. When I got out, I contacted a few others in the area in the same profession, and they claimed the same thing. So....I called the MD and told him about it, and that since my license/living was on the line, I'd go somewhere else, but I just wanted him to know. Found another qualified guy 50 miles away and no problem for the next 14 years. Point is, if you have trouble with one color blindness test, don't always conclude it's you.

Ya. Lots. Only in the cathedral a few times, but used to cut across Lle de la Cite frequently to get to the left bank and Latin Quarter/Sorbonne area.

Which led to a famous quote from a then Deputy Undersecretary of Defense. "Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without an accordian..." I never found them any different that anyone else, but witnessed one of the strangest behaviors ever. After 9-11, we stayed in hotels near the DeGaulle airport for a couple months because of security. The hotel would provide twice daily bus transport to downtown Paris, dropping us off at the Quartier de l'Opera, and pick us up three hours later. One day, as we were approaching the downtown area, I was sitting on the right side. There was a small car on our right who was trying to get into our lane, but our driver would not allow him in. This went on for about three traffic lights, with horns blowing and gestures made. Finally, while at a light, the elderly man driving the small vehicle jumps out of his car and bangs on the bus door. Our driver opens the door, gets out of his seat, and goes down the three stairs to confront the old man. He then head butts the man, leaving a bleeding wound to his forehead. The man's elderly companion, who I assume was his wife, is screaming. A couple of blocks later, but only about a block from the drop off point, the police stop the bus at a light and take the driver off. We all left and walked. Quite bizarre, but kind of funny.

It's on it's own island. It isn't peculiarly dense at all.

I used to go there quite frequently, including landing the day after Princess Diana was killed. There are a million other places to go that make it a most enjoyable place.

No love for The Herd?

I am both a resident of Charlottesville, a vineyard owner, and the father of one child who graduated fro "Blacksburg," and one who graduated from UVA. The people who did what they did in Charlottesville were not from here. They were imported lunatic white supremacists who came here to cause trouble. One has been convicted of murder and given a life sentence. He is from Ohio. A number of other "imports" are in jail, or will be soon enough.

Jim Ritcher wasn't a center.

Not trying to bump this, but her statements as chairperson of the Financial Services Committee are positively frightening, The link I provided is quite short, but in addition to being completely ignorant on the student loan issue, she further soils herself at at the 50 second mark/ When accusing these guys of not making loans to small businesses, the response is that "We have made 8 billion dollars in loans to small businesses...." She then tells them, seemingly completely ignorant of the response, that "her time is up." Got to admit, in the interest of full disclosure, I've got a thing for Maxine. I flew the Dulles to LA thing for two years straight. She was on all the time leaving Dulles on Friday and coming back on Monday. She was incredibly pretentious and rude, to the point where I used to make it a point to get to the cockpit door early to try to force eye contact or any kind of human respect interaction with her. She would always drop her head in an intentional effort to not acknowledge me or others. She would have her "staff member" drop all her reading crap on her 1st class seat, then go to his seat in the back.then, board very late,never talk to or even address anybody except to eat, and leave an absolute trash pile in her seat. Completely dismissive an rude. She is one of about five people of the hundreds of pols/celebs I carried that were completely rude. Rant complete.

The woman who chairs the House Financial Services Committee has absolutely no idea what she is doing. "What are you guys doing to help us with this student loan debt?" Big bank no. 1. "We stopped giving student loans in 2007." Big bank no. 2. "We stopped giving them in 2009." Big bank no. 3. "We stopped giving them in 2010, when the Federal Government took them over." "Thank you." I have no idea what I am talking about. And only in a minute 50 or so.

Not going to happen with Virginia.

Just a little help by timing the takeoffs to benefit from a rising bow. which if mistimed would have been disastrous. It would have been interesting to see if they would have made it to their Chinese landing sites except for being discovered and reported by a Japanese picket ship, which necessitated launching 10 hours and 160 miles further from Japan.

The last surviving crewman of the 16 B-25 bombers that took off from USS Hornet died today. Known for the incredibly aggressive mission taking off from an aircraft carrier and bombing Tokyo, the group is well known for its annual reunions. Each member had a goblet with his name engraved in both directions. At each reunion they would toast the fallen of that year, drink a shot of cognac and rotate the goblet. Today, the last goblet is turned over. So well done.

Goodness. This is stupid.

You grossly misstate any claim on who Virginia recruits. They aren't lemons or sad sacks, and nobody ever said they were. Kyle Guy was Indiana's "Mr. Basketball." Bennett runs a great program. When (last) head coach Dave Leitao was running the program you wouldn't want your wife or kids within 15 rows of the bench. Gross profanity. Coach K was like that as well, but may have settled down. Not like that at all now, and it goes well beyond the court. Bennett runs an intelligent, hustling pack line defense, which is basically a combination scheme, and it really works when played well. They have stumbled in the tournament in the past, and this is the first year they've gone into it without serious health issues. Great program. Great coach. National champions.

Not going to bother quoting this nonsense. It is a great group of kids on a great team coached by a truly great guy, that just won a national championship after winning their conference twice. Virginia is never going to get the kids that Duke or UNC Chape Hill get. I lived in Raleigh during the Laettner years and loved those programs. It is completely different now. Virginia still does is right, and I am immensely proud of my home town team.

Just stupid. What "came out of Charlottesville" is a national championship, this year, from an incredibly well coached, talented team that lost a total of four ACC games the last two years. Ya...He doesn't like offense, and he just won the national championship. So proud of this team and this program.

Your post read as if it was directed at UVA basketball, and again, it is a program I am very familiar with. They don't get the five stars. They get kids who are very disciplined, very serious academically, and very good. Tony Bennett is all about what is good in collegiate sports. Root for either team you want tonight, but Virginia is a tremendous program that competes against other ACC teams who have unique advantages. So proud, and so hopeful. Go Hoos.

You are absolutely, totally, dead wrong. I am very familiar with this program and these kids. They are the least "pretentious" group in the ACC, and if you don't know that, you are not aware of what goes on at UNC or Duke. It is a great program, run by a great coach, and full of great kids.

Easy now. The Vulcan canon is an internal gun. A round can cook off in the firing process. By the way. Strafing with the Vulcan, 20mm rounds at 6000 per minute, (100/sec) is really fun. Line up the gunsite on the HUD. Squeeze the trigger on the stick for about two seconds. Get off the trigger before you hear anything. Hear the "bzzzzzzzz" as the gun fires, airplane yaws left. Roll 120 degrees and fly over the school bus just as it explodes. No holes. The thing explodes. A nine foot by nine foot wall of high explosive incendiary does interesting things. Go Hoos.

My Hoos of course. If they can play close to as sell as they did in the regular conference season, they should be fine. Ty Gerome is the key.

There is precedent. I was born in South Buffalo and swam in local waterways as well. Had a non gender specific neighbor named "Cazenovia." We called it "Nove," and it was never selected during youth sporting contests. Our oldest is named "Lasagna." Folks can figure out why, but those fine Italian dinners lead to "activities." Best thing we ever did for him though. All the girls would say "I'm going out with tonight's special....Lasagna"

Well stated. There has been a lot of talk about UVA, but what is never mentioned is that they almost always win the second half, and never give up a second half lead. They generally struggle in the first half and strangle the other team in the second half. Major kudos to Auburn.