S08.E29: The Power Grid

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Main topic: Electricity and the power grid

Also: NJ State Senator Ed Durr; COP26 climate summit; people on TV saying things wrong

Original air date 2021.11.07

[ahisma]

On 11/6/2021 at 10:32 AM, PrincessPurrsALot said:

people on TV saying things wrong

I wish that this had not been 100% women on TV saying things wrong. Surely there are some men who mispronounce words.

Chicken I’m Sorry is a great name for a casserole!

John wasn’t kidding—there are so many aspects of electricity to cover. One thing’s for damn sure—PG&E needs to stop deferring maintenance. 

[scarynikki12]

The power grid is a great subject for Ollie to tackle.

Coloso winking was amusing as was Ollie's perplexed response.

Of course Rep Johnson refused to see the return on necessary energy investment as anything other than monetary. And the monetary return on investment does exist! It just wasn't the only factor and he didn't want to hear it.

Reframing the issue as us failing the power grid rather than it failing us is a smart move. That balloon video was actually a good representation of that.

Come on, Ollie, a well made casserole can be one of the most delicious things you can make. In my house it was always mac and cheese and tuna noodle casseroles and they are YUM. But, hey, if you don't want cheesy goodness, then fine. More for me.

[JustHereForFood]

I like how it recently seems that the main topic is somehow linked to some of the previous "what has happened this week" news, like the electricity being related to the need for more clean energy. And I share the frustration with the climate summit seemingly being all talk and no action, we have been there before and the time to do something serious is rapidly ticking out.

That money obsessed senator was something. "I hear your words, but how is this gonna profit us (read: ME) monetarily?" Seriously, fuck off!

[paigow]

7 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

Come on, Ollie, a well made casserole can be one of the most delicious things you can make. In my house it was always mac and cheese and tuna noodle casseroles and they are YUM. But, hey, if you don't want cheesy goodness, then fine. More for me.

Food snobbery the week after homelessness...

[peeayebee]

11 hours ago, ahisma said:

Chicken I’m Sorry is a great name for a casserole!

It really is! "Tuna Surprise. Chicken I'm Sorry," made me LOL.

I didn't notice where that Tesla documentary came from. Anyone know?

I wish that Dept of Energy (?) person trying to answer Rep Johnson's question had responded with the example John gave. "Rep Johnson, that's like asking what the return on investment is for police and fire departments."

 

[swanpride]

I am not hopeful regarding the next 10 years. 

I suspect that there were only woman in that segment because of the "Am I saying that right" phrase...male pundits would just push through not caring if it is right or not. 

Oh, yeah, the power grid....another problem is btw. that you can't store energy. Germany and other countries have worked on this problem for decades, but so far no dice....

[letter8358]

I am with John about Avatar....overrated POS...

[Hanahope]

John John John, not a great research on details this week.

the Dems didn't treat RBG like PGE treated the hooks, she didn't want to leave SCOTUS, PG&E could have replaced those hooks anytime they wanted.  

Oh, and how come you didn't report on the good Dem news in GA, where they flipped 41 state seats?  It wasn't all bad last tuesday, quit focusing on 2 failures.  

[DoctorAtomic]

39 minutes ago, Hanahope said:

Oh, and how come you didn't report on the good Dem news in GA, where they flipped 41 state seats?  It wasn't all bad last tuesday, quit focusing on 2 failures. 

The VA race was national news because there weren't a lot of governor races, and it's a big state. However, the Democrats ran a tepid candidate who ran a bad campaign and said some duuumb things. I don't think it means as much as people are making it out to be, precisely because of races like in GA. I know John only has limited time in the intro segment, but the show usually does better with context. 

I'm all about the power grid. I do think much about. It's literally my job. I wish John called me. 

I'm not going to rip on Biden. *Everyone* falls asleep at conferences. 

[andromeda331]

9 hours ago, letter8358 said:

I am with John about Avatar....overrated POS...

So am I. Thank you John for saying so. 

[Brandi Maxxxx]

15 hours ago, paigow said:

Food snobbery the week after homelessness...

What we have found in this forum, and maybe we're more aware of it now, is one problem that we've had, even in the best of times, and that is the people who are making Tuna Surprise, the casserole-eaters who are eating casseroles, you might say, by choice.

[purist]

On 11/8/2021 at 9:27 PM, JustHereForFood said:

That money obsessed senator was something. "I hear your words, but how is this gonna profit us (read: ME) monetarily?" Seriously, fuck off!

IKR? John saying 'First of all ... shut up' just after he showed the clip was my favourite moment of the episode. It was so perfectly timed and so perfectly uttered that I re-wound and watched it again. Genius.

On 11/8/2021 at 4:01 PM, scarynikki12 said:

Come on, Ollie, a well made casserole can be one of the most delicious things you can make.

Agreed! And they're always better the next day, too. Casserole leftovers FTW!

[Annber03]

Finally got a chance to catch up and watch this episode!

On 11/9/2021 at 6:43 PM, purist said:

IKR? John saying 'First of all ... shut up' just after he showed the clip was my favourite moment of the episode. It was so perfectly timed and so perfectly uttered that I re-wound and watched it again. Genius.

I loved that bit, too. I was thinking that very thing during the clip. I also cracked up at his comments about that black and white clip of the women learning to use that iron, and the way he kept mocking the image of the men standing and staring at that thing on the wall :D. 

On 11/8/2021 at 12:04 PM, letter8358 said:

I am with John about Avatar....overrated POS...

I saw that movie once years ago - my sister and her then boyfriend were watching it one night and I caught some of it. I got bored pretty quickly and indeed, I can't remember squat about it other than there were blue people wandering around some big forest :p. 

Interesting story about the power grid situation in this country. I loved the clip of the one guy talking about how he shouldn't have to care about what's happening in another part of his state. Yet you know full well he'd be singing a very different tune if he were among those who lived in the part of the state being affected by this stuff. I live in the part of the country that would have the means necessary to expand out to the coasts and I'm more than happy to support any efforts to make that happen, because  y'know, the world doesn't revolve around me and other people need stuff, too. Crazy concept, I know. 

I do like that John did have some positive news to share on this issue, though, with the fact that the infrastructure bill that just passed will do a lot to at least begin tackling this issue. It's nice to have a story that actually ends on a somewhat optimistic note. 

On 11/8/2021 at 11:16 AM, swanpride said:

I suspect that there were only woman in that segment because of the "Am I saying that right" phrase...male pundits would just push through not caring if it is right or not. 

I loved that one woman who kept on saying "Banky" instead of "Banksy", even after learning the correct pronunciation :p. The bungling of "Cape Canaveral", though...hoo boy. 

The ending with John holding the flashlight to his chin had me wanting an episode, or at least a segment, where he just sits and shares ghost stories with everyone :p. 

[Lantern7]

Question about the end . . . do you think John knew that was going to happen? No, I don't mean the balloons "shorting out" the power. I mean that one big spark behind him as he was saying his goodbyes. If he knew, he sold his shock really well.

On 11/8/2021 at 5:27 AM, JustHereForFood said:

That money obsessed senator was something. "I hear your words, but how is this gonna profit us (read: ME) monetarily?"

Cut to John watching that clip for the first time in his office, biting into a pillow and screaming. I'm thinking a small percentage of the LWT budget is reserved for biting pillows for the entire staff.

 

[xaxat]

My neighborhood had a power outage today. The weather wasn't bad so I don't think it was a downed line, maybe another squirrel suicide.

At one point, the lights flickered for a second and then the power went out again. Two hours later, the lights came on again. . . and then it went dark ten minutes later. 

I swear I heard everyone in the neighborhood yelling "NOOOOO!"