Your recollection does not align with history. DDT was far from the first significant agricultural pesticide.

In the real world, pesticides and specifically insecticides date back thousands of years. Sulfur was burned to produce a noxious gas, and various naturally occurring substances, biological and mineral, were gathered and used. Hydrogen cyanide gas was used to fumigate citrus trees in California in the 1880s. Zyklon A, which was a compound designed to release hydrogen cyanide on the application of heat and water for pesticidal purposes, dates back to before WW1. It was banned after a similar compound was used as a chemical weapon in WW1.

Zyklon-B was a cyanide-based pesticide with an irritant additive to serve as a warning, dating back to the early 1920s. It was used for delousing clothes and controlling pests in ships, warehouses and trains. It was co-opted for more infamous purposes later. One of the inventors was executed in 1946 for knowingly providing the substance to a certain evil state actor.

Organophosphates were used as pesticides, followed shortly by use as nerve "gases".

It's been a long, long time since I have seen an engine with anything other than self-adjusting hydraulic valve lifters, too.

We don't get our UPS deliveries until after 12 noon.

My UPS _never_ comes before 7pm. These guys drive a long, long route carrying a zillion packages to a zillion destinations. Did you suppose they call a driver, hand him one package, and tell him to hurry up and take it straight to your place?

But the cost to the carrier is likely a lot closer to $30 than $13.

A few do, most do not. Some that do, only protect the metadata and cannot support flushing RAM cache to flash on power fail.

Could you please stop sending it down here? How about we send a lot of 110 F, 100% humidity air up there next summer?

Only in an imaginary unicorn world can you eliminate the POSSIBILITY of ice damming. Lower the probability, sure, but eliminate, just no. When the ambient temperature itself is flirting with the freezing point you've still got problems.

That depends a lot on temperature conditions. If it is right around freezing, even with frightful winds you get horrendous sticky snow, and icing which is even worse. Spend a winter on Cape Cod. Spend THIS winter on Cape Cod.

Bit touchy?

And there is zero chance for a nuclear holocaust when a solar array stops outputting. None of that nasty decay heat whatsoever. No emergency cooling measures necessary.

To be fair, let's also point out that it is a huge headache shutting down a nuclear plant for any reason, and every shutdown adds a little bit of a chance for a disaster. That contributes to bad decisions.

Commiseration with mdsolar. There are a whole lot of really clueless assholes with axes to grind moderating on slashdot.

Er, math check. There are 8760 hours in a year. 8784 in a leap year.

That was perfectly obvious as ONE of two reasons. So? Do you have any point whatsoever?

If you had any understanding of electrical engineering whatever - or even a layman's nodding acquaintance with electricity - you would know you can't just short circuit the output. Sheesh.