Good Morning!!!! 77F @ 4:00AM. Sunny. High 97F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Still very smoky here, with unhealthy air quality and above normal temperatures. Dante would feel right at home!:fiery:
What a relief that monster is on the ground, Ken. Sorry about the peaches. Darn tree rats!
With the flooring, A/C work, and painting, Phil, you're giving RS a run for his Eveready Bunny title!:laughing:
Glad the flashing wasn't due to something more serious, Eric. But did the doctor say what caused it?
Glad the demolition went well, Thomas, and your tongs saved you some work!
Yesterday's chili was a banner batch, with a nice smoky flavor and just the right amount of zing. Had some for lunch, and it was so good, had more for dinner.:licking: The rest goes into the freezer this morning, quick before it's gone!:laughing:
The conversation with the tractor mechanic yesterday got me wondering just how fast the hydraulic valves on the top'n'tilt were leaking down, so I decided to take some video and see. Let the camera run fifteen minutes on each of the three valves, then one more time with the hoses disconnected to show that the cylinder wasn't leaking. Put it all together in one video, probably the most boring one to date. But it does show that all three valves are leaking, one quite badly. I could probably make do with just the other two for top'n'tilt, and reserve the bad one for the mower side shift or down force on the auger, and I'm having some doubts about going to the trouble of taking it all apart and sending it in for replacement. We'll see what the mechanic says after he sees the video.
After an hour on the phone, half of which was wasted when the phone battery died while on hold, I finally have the new electric rate charges. The utility forced me to a "time of use" structure when I started selling surplus energy to them, whereas before it was a simple two tier deal, with a higher cost being levied after a certain "baseline" number of kWs were consumed. The new rate is still two tired, and also fluctuates during the day. I also learned there is yet another plan available that does away with the baseline, and includes weekends and holidays at the Off Peak rate. I can't imagine a more convoluted and difficult to analyze system, all made possible by those infernal computers. Not sure if a spreadsheet or Ouji board would be a better tool for determining the least expensive rate structure to use. FWIW, last month's bill for 716 kWh was $192, and will be the last before the solar power system was working. But the biggest laugh came last week when I heard PG&E propaganda crowing about their rates being among the best in the country.:shocked::irked::laughing:
Old Rate:
Tier 1 - $0.24373 kW/h, 426 kWh Baseline
Tier 2 - $0.3672 kW/h, over Baseline
New E-TOU-C Rate:
Oct - May June - Sept
Baseline 14.2 kWh/day 12.0 kWh/day
Peak - 4PM - 9PM Baseline $0.32697 Baseline $0.22991
Above Baseline 0.4133 Above Baseline $0.31624
Off Peak - 9PM - 4PM Baseline $0.26356 Baseline $0.21258
Above Baseline $0.34989 Above Baseline $0.29891
New E-TOU-D Rate: Oct - May June - Sept
No Baseline
Peak - 5PM - 8PM $0.29089 $0.36476
Off Peak - 8PM - 5PM $0.27351 $0.26980
All weekends and most holiday hours are off-peak
Also did some more planning for the water tank system, focusing on the size of the terrace that would need to be cut into the hillside to support the tank or tanks. The deeper the cut, the more likely it is I'll hit rock, so a small diameter tank is better in that respect. But if I remove more than 100 cu. yd. of material, I have to pay for a grading permit. That got me looking at 10,000 gallon plastic tanks which have a much smaller diameter than the steel hoop with plastic liner designs, which apparently aren't strong enough to have much height. Three of the 10,000 gallon plastic tanks would need right around 100 cu. yd. of material removed, and would end up costing, depending on how far they have to be shipped, a few hundred bux less than the other combos. I just have to figure out how to plumb them, and whether or not they'll be part of the drinking water system, or held strictly for emergency purposes. Decisions, decisions...:confused2: No wonder I don't sleep well...
