Good morning!!!!

[jbrumberg]

Good Morning Everyone!!!

A sunny 23ºF for today’s low temperature; a sunny 38ºF presently; and I anticipate a mostly sunny afternoon with temperatures in the mid40ºF’s. The wood stove and coffee got started a little early this AM. I spent a good part of yesterday working on the herb garden; everything else dead. I still need to dig up my 2 rosemary shrubs and bring them indoors. When I do sleep I run on cosmic time = I get up with the sun. I really have no established plans for today other than moving some wood around and ultimately ending up napping in my easychair with TV football blather in the background.

BEF- Nice job on the bracing. Nice video. Thanks for sharing

David- Good luck with the battery installation project. The way my Tundra is acting I think I will be taking a picture of it on the AAA flatbed taking it to my mechanic.

Rick- I am envious of your burn piles I really have no safe place here to burn brush around here. I do make a lot of “rabbitat piles.“ For all my efforts I rarely see any rabbits nor hares around here.

Kyle- I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge about all things electrical and David for all the off the grid operations. I see breaking out my electric wood splitter in the very near future.

Don- I like your suggestion of using a chainsaw to start the wedges.

Phil- Good luck dealing with those Beantown M@$$h*le$’s and those dysfunctional traffic patterns.

RonJH- I am happy to read about all your ongoing natural supports.

Randy- I wish Ellen and stepdaughter safe travels.

Steve- I rarely went to concerts, but I have seen Chicago play 2X at PSU. They are amazing seen live. I even remember it.

“… Have tried to use passive solar by opening all shades on sunny side of house; the kitchen bay window lets so much light in it will warm the kitchen by five degrees.”- Drew. I need to wear sunglasses in our kitchen some mornings with all the glare in the house, but I appreciate the “free” heat. It can get awful warm in the LR with the wood stove going and the solar gain offering supplemental heat.

Ted- Have a good day supervising.

“… you can use your smart phone cellular connection via hotspot software”- RNG I was pretty amazed when Wifey started doing that during our road trips. It really made traveling easier. That and Waze.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

We have a lot of battery PhD's at work. But they're up to their ears in lithium small battery improvement production research right now. They all say to avoid battery backup if you are connected to the grid. Many projects we have are trying to adapt fuel cells to systems to try and get away from batteries. Listening RNG? I have been told to spend your money on generators, if you are connected to the grid, to deal with blackouts.

The problem with generators is that they take time to start up, and I don't want any power interruption when the grid goes down. It's hard on electronics, and I don't like the idea of well pumps going off line at the precise moment I might need them to put out a wildfire. Belt and suspenders, please: Battery and generator backup. Those design goals are contrary to why most people get solar power systems, they want to save money on their electricity bill. I want to survive a wildfire, and have a house to live in when it's over.

 

[toppop52]

Good morning to all! Low only to 29, going up to 65 today. Next 2 days up to 67... WOOHOO! Then maybe a few sprinkles on Wednesday.

My son will be pouring a concrete slab tomorrow and again on Tuesday. Weather will cooperate for him. I will be again supervising, probably from the seat of the tractor! Forms all set/level, rebar in place....should be ready...

Randy, I too thought that I wouldn't be able to make a transition into a 'tiny home'. I kept telling the wifey "I can't live in a closet". Well, we are now 1 month in the tiny cottage. We went from 3600 sq ft home down to a 600 sq ft cottage. The first week was a learning experience, just trying to find where we put things... The new house is actually a tad smaller than my shop/garage. At this point, I am now asking myself "why didn't we do this years ago?". My electric and gas bills are less than 25% of what they were for the big house. Property taxes are 80% lower....there are a lot of 'pros' to it. All in all, I still don't think we could live in one of those road-able tiny houses. That's what the travel trailer is for!

Lots of stuff going on here...solar project, marshmallow toasts, road trips....hard too keep up!

Now having internet problems... The site keeps "reloading" on me, causing loss of 1/2 of what I'm typing....frustrating at best.

Everyone have a quiet, peaceful Sunday. Prayers for all sent out.

600 sq ft is livable, but 250 isn’t in my book, and that’s what a lot of them are.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Yesterday afternoon, on 2nd burn pile, the wind came up when the pile was at full blaze. The grass, near the fire, started burning a bit and while putting it out with a shovel, I felt like my marshmallows were getting roasted. So ... yes?

Glad you're OK and the fire didn't get out of hand. Out here, we're required to maintain a 10' wide perimeter of bare mineral earth around any fire we start, be it burn pile or camp fire.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

So looks like I got me a big erector set. Remember those? Always wanted one, but guess it was not in parent痴 budget, but there was one at my grandparents house that I enjoyed for years

Loved my erector set as a kid; mine had a little AC motor to make stuff like elevators and cranes. Mom gave me heck every time her vacuum cleaner found a nut or screw in the carpet, though.:laughing:

Watching your battery rack progress closely, David. I was shocked by what some companies were asking for store bought racks, and am planning to build my own. Never gave steel a thought though, thinking wood, as an insulator, would be safer. But wood is also flammable, so maybe it's not such a good idea after all?

 

[RedNeckGeek]

I was pretty amazed when Wifey started doing that during our road trips. It really made traveling easier. That and Waze.

Be careful when using Waze. I was once routed around a traffic jam by Waze, straight into the waiting arms of a cop. He had stationed himself at a "T" intersection that was signed "no right turn, no left turn, 3 - 7 PM weekdays". I made a 3-point turn of my own before I got to the intersection. Lots of fun on a residential street with the crew cab/8'bed F250, but better than getting a ticket.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 54F @ 7:15AM. Abundant sunshine. High 77F. Winds light and variable.

We have much in common, Drew. I share your love of wood splitters, at least the gasoline engine powered kind. It only took three swings of a splitting maul to send me to the computer and order the Ariens from Home Depot.:laughing:

And I'm very fortunate to have to pay as much tax as I do. Income tax, sales tax, gasoline/Diesel tax, electricity tax, property tax, the list seems to go on and on. I just wish the way those taxes were spent made more sense. And I'll stop right there.

Long time friend and adult mentor (he taught me most of my vices:laughing Louis arrived for a weekend stay Friday afternoon, and we've spent some time on the van, and even more time eating and drinking too much. He pumped the accelerator pedal while I checked the throttle body linkage, finding it wasn't going full stroke. A simple cable adjustment fixed that. That's when I noticed that the linkage was hanging up on a vacuum line and an electrical cable, and rearranging them was lots of fun in the very cramped space. The vacuum line was hard, and too short, so it got replaced. Then we got the garden hose out, and he watched for leaks on the inside while I slowly moved it along the door and window seams. And leak it did, at the top of both driver and passenger doors, and through the sliding windows. I'm hoping the local glass shop has the felt seals for the windows, but I'm not sure they'll be any help for the rubber ones. Then we took a ride up the canyon for lunch at Belden, where the hotel has a nice patio right on the Feather River. On the way back, the Check Engine Light came on again, the Idle Air Control Valve complaining about a low idle. Got it to go out with a little tweak, and dropped by my bodyshop neighbor to let him bend the top of the door frames in to stop those leaks. Then home to watch the sunset, and all three of us enjoyed Louis' guitar playing and a little wine. So it was a very nice day indeed!

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend...

 

[sodamo]

69° F and no rain.

Pretty much a social day ahead. Birthday brunch for my friend Rich. Hand and Foot later but we are forgoing the dinner portion as all of us will have been at bunch and likely stuffed.
May get a bit of time with my erector set in between but doubtful.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[sodamo]

When we lived in our 640sf cottage didn’t feel confined at all and that was with 2 cats & 2 dogs.

 

[ronjhall]

Forgot what I had on To-Do list for today. Setup Wireless Invisible Dog Fence. Got it out of the box and read the instructions. First problem, put in a area where it will not fall below freezing (like a garage, shed or closet). Huh, my enclosed porch and garage and shed will freeze. I set it up on the porch to see how it will work. Take the test light they provide to start setting up outler imit. Nothing on test light. Take it back in house and reread instructions. I as I am walking to table where manual is. I notice a faint light on the test light. But can not be seen in the daylight on a cloudy day. Shade the light to see it outside. There is suppose to be a beep also. Must be in the range of my tinnitus. Get all setup per instructions. Set sensor level to 2. Fit it on Sassy. Take her for a walk. Nothing. Try level 3 and 4. Still no reaction from Sassy. Move setting to 5. Highest setting is 6. Take Sassy for a walk again. Got out to the white flags. She started screaming like she was being killed. I have a feeling this thing is going back to Amazon for several reasons. Sassy is hiding in a closet until I get rid of it.