Good morning early birds............
I went to bed earlier than usual hoping to get up in the morning a bit earlier and I did, right around 3:30 am.
I am hoping to go to Home depot later today to buy a table for my 3D printer. I spent around two hours searching the internet yesterday for something suitable. And maybe later spend some time trying to school myself on FreeCAD.
I did some "prepping" several years ago and now I have to remind myself to search my stash box for canned goods to eat as they are all approaching or are at the end of their "freshness date". Some folks say canned items will last far past the date on the can, but I have noticed a lack of taste in a couple of canned goods only a month past their date. And yes all my stash is kept in a cool dry place.
Talking about voting here, not politics.
I was hoping the voters would wise up and we would have a new state senator but the do nothing incumbent is still in the running.
More bad news for Texas..................
Meanwhile, a much larger project—Project Matador—is under construction about 12 miles northeast of Amarillo. Led by Fermi America, co-founded by former Texas Governor and U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, this 11-gigawatt AI data center campus will span nearly 6,000 acres and integrate nuclear, solar, wind, and natural gas power. It is currently facing community scrutiny over environmental and water concerns, particularly related to the Ogallala Aquifer.
This thing is supposed to have 6 nuclear reactors to run 6 giant turbine generators to supply electricity. To put this into perspective, it would generate enough electricity to run 2 cities the size of New York.
And the water problem here in west Texas is critical. It has not rained here in almost 5 months except for what we got during that cold blast some weeks back. Some stock ponds around my area are at 1/3 now and dropping.
And the area around Amarillo is the largest cotton producing area in the United States. Farmers say that a water shortage there would cut production by 75%. Of course the data center folks say they will only use a small amount of water and that water will be recirculated over and over with the use of retention ponds. What those city slicker dumb a$$ have failed to consider is it gets HOT in the Spring, Summer and Fall in Texas and evaporation of water in those ponds will require they use more and more water.
Data Centers don't sustain life........water and crops do !
Oh well, maybe I'll find time to run a train and do a bit of kit building I had put on hold.
SWAL.....Get well soon!
Willie......At least you didn't have a "Ken Patterson" moment on your layout from that runaway locomotive. Sure could have been worse than just some worn down wheels.
Everybody have a great day.........John
