Good morning!!!! 55F @ 7:45 in Orcutt, CA. Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High near 75F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.
<soapbox>Good your son is showing a healthy interest in driving, Ken. I read about so many in that generation not bothering to get a learner's permit, leaving them dependent on everyone else around them for transport. And the kids don't seem to care. At 16, all my friends and I couldn't wait to get behind the wheel, and get a summer job to save up for our first car. Now adays, seems like the parents just hand over the keys instead of making the kids work and pay for at least some of it.</soapbox>
I ended up at Home Depot for that part of the project. Looking for a drill bit that would get through concrete, steel mesh, 100 year old oak boards.
FWIW, I've been pretty impressed with the Bosch line of SDS drills. They use granite gravel in the concrete around here, and they zip right through. Part of that is due to a newer Bosch hammer-drill, though.
SO, if the power goes out for more than six hours (the general capacity of the FiOS internal backup battery), you no longer have an independently-powered telecommunications device.
Even the old copper networks are no longer all copper, at least in NorCal. In many places, radio links have been substituted for the old poles and wires. We learned during the past years fires that those links are often powered by propane or Diesel fired generators, and when the access to those areas was lost due to evacuations, the phone lines failed once the fuel ran out. The only thing that still worked was the satellite internet link and TV, and even then, only while my generator was running. The smoke was so thick I was getting very little generation off the solar panels, and once the big battery bank ran down, the generator automatically powered up and started sucking down the propane.
In PA we have energy choice. If you can figure out how that works let me know. Most people buy the cheapest plan they can find which of course they raise as soon as you turn around. you can buy green if you like or black if that's your preference. From my way of thinking that's the way it should work. Neighbors across the street have grid tied solar which seems nutso to me. When the power is out they are still out of power. It seems like we should be able to figure this stuff out. I guess we are too stupid.
I had a choice at the new house for electrical power, and went with a coop for about a 30% savings over PG&E. Sure makes for an "interesting" power bill, though.
It's not difficult to set up reliable power for an individual home. All you need is a solar panel array, a big battery, and a generator for when nothing else works. Then just leave it grid tied for a belt and suspenders level of reliability. Not so easy for the grid as a whole, though. The solar panels, batteries, and generators are horribly expensive, especially on that scale. Now I see that you can let the utility tap into the battery bank you installed so they can suck it dry when grid resources are stretched. Makes sense for the utility, but then what happens when that's still not enough and they still need to cut your grid power? Now you've got a dead battery, nightfall is approaching, and you're about to hear your generator start running. And you thought grid power was expensive...
geez, brings back memories of you slaving over my utility trailer trying to drill holes with the crappy drills I gave you.
Yeah, what's with the crappy drill bits these days? I picked up a few 1/2" + sizes in the 1/64" and 1/32" increments from McMaster last year, and when I tried to use them on the van last week, all of them got dull very quickly. And the Drill Doctor didn't grind them properly, which had me scrambling to remember what Mr. Crumb taught me about sharpening drills by hand back in HS metal shop. Usta to be able to count on McMaster for quality merchandise, but they sure missed the boat with those drills.
For the last two brake jobs I've done on the F250, KJC, it was cheaper to just buy new pads and rotors than to mess around getting the rotors turned. Rock Auto for the parts.
Woke up at 3:00AM yesterday morning, tossed'n'turned for half an hour, and just got up and got goin'. On the road by 4:45AM, got down here by 12:30 or so. Drove in the dark for an hour or so, and the LED headlamps on the new van work very well. Probably the best headlights on any vehicle I've had. Nothing beats watching the sun rise through a windshield, too. Uneventful trip, as rush hour was just starting when I hit Sacramento. Once I crossed south of downtown, traffic in my direction almost disappeared. Ran into two very disappointing stops at Love's gas stations, though. Neither pump would give me a receipt, and the bathrooms at both were unspeakably filthy. And neither had the long handled squeegies I'd found at another Love station last time. One squeege was even split, and left ugly dirty water stains on the windshield. So much for fallin' for Loves...
Stayed on the freeway for an extra exit on the way down, a route I accidentally discovered on the way back last time due to a construction closure. It's about 30 minutes longer, but there are only two relatively low elevation passes, vs. four pretty steep ones the other way. I'll use this route when I'm moving the heavier equipment in the shop, and I wanted to see it in the loaded direction. The road itself is much better as well, having more passing lanes and much smoother surface. Important, since the new trailer doesn't seem to have any suspension other than the tires.
Got the van unloaded just in time for my friend to drop by and help unload the motorcycles. And the heavy plasma screen TV. BBQed some sausage and fresh corn on the cob, made a big salad.
While we were eating dinner we heard the pump come on in the hot tub. Pulled the cover off and the chlorine level was almost zero, so put a new tablet in the floater thingy and let it sit the rest of the meal. Checked it with the new bottle of test strips I'd brought along, and all the levels were showing good. Couldn't get in that hot bubbling water fast enough. All those kinks and pains from bouncing around in the van just disappeared. Then I wondered what kind of power the tub was using, so looked up energy use for the past couple weeks. The the solar power system was still pushing energy back to the grid.
Slept like a log last night. Life is good.
