Phoenix Fence Project

While at Wally's and Carol's I helped them install 50ft of fence. We installed 6 fence panels and a gate using 8 poles. We set the poles in concrete and used 4 anchors per post. It took about 15 hours spread over 3 mornings and some early afternoon work. Highs were 102-105 in Phoenix, so about noon or so we stopped.

The fence panels themselves were only about 1/3 of the total project cost. The posts, anchors, attachment hardware and various other items (masonry bits, concrete) accounted for 2/3s the project cost so beware. But all said and done the results looked good.

We got it straight and nice and plum. Carol was very pleased.  Click the picture above to view the pictures of the project.

Anything that has to do with dirt is hard work

Handy Brush Grubber

Off and on this spring I've been pulling privet (brush) from my yard.  I've pulled most of the little stuff using muscle along with a hand held 'Brush Grubber.'  Anything too big for me I used a 1 ton electric wench on my riding mower. Anything too big for that I used the GMC to pull.  Maryann is up and doing well now from her 2nd surgery, so she took pictures and created a blog A Natural Yard Where Ferns Flourish.  You'll see the GMC in action pulling up one of the larger stumps of privet.  The clumps get big when you cut them off at the ground each year for a few years.  I've learned that it's better to pull them up than to cut them off.  I still have one more spot that requires the use of the GMC on and I'll be done with the pulling for this spring.

Entertainment Boxes and Power Drain

I've read a couple articles about energy usage around the home. One article Atop TV Sets, Cable Boxes and DVRs Drain Power - NYTimes.com states that a DVR might use "... 446 kilowatt hours a year, about 10 percent more than a 21-cubic-foot energy-efficient refrigerator, a recent study found." Since I have Kill-a-Watt energy monitor I decided to see what my home entertainment setup used.

I have a UPS plugged into the wall outlet and I have the following devices plugged into the UPS:

• DVR
• Google TV
• Wireless Router
• DVD player
• Wii
• Digtial delay device
• 46 inch LCD TV
• Surround Sound

The Wii, DVR player, Digital Delay, and Surround Sound was not used during this sample. I only use the Wii when it's too hot to run, and the other items when I'm watching a DVD movie. So I would say the DVR, TV, and Google TV devices are my typical viewing set up.

Over 72 hours (3 days) my setup used 8.24Kwh or 2.75Kwh per day and just over 1000 Kwh per year. That's about $110 a year at 11 cents a Kwh. When 'off' 85 watts per hour (2Kwh per day) is used , and the 'on' usage is 142 watts per hour (3.4Kwh per day). Like the article says you don't save much when turning the devices off. 2.75Kwh - 2Kwh = 750 watts per day for me which is less than 9 cents a day to have them 'on' for just over 13 hour per day. 750 / (142 - 85) = 13.16

The NY Times article never actually stated what a typical household used. The study the NY Times linked to never said either, but there was a table that showed 617 Kwh per year. Based on what I am using I would say that 617 Kwh is conservative when you add in the TV and the internet access needed to stream video.

I think a Kill-a-Watt device is well worth the $30 since it gives your real time and accumulated watts (watt hours) and the amount of time it has been measuring which is all you need to understand the energy usage. Kill-a-Watt are available online and home improvement stores.

Bummed about some Google Decisions

It's no secret that I'm a fan of Google. I'm sitting here watching a Google TV as I type this post into Google Blogger as I wait for my Google ChromeBook to arrive. I use Google Docs for my spreadsheets and other office documents, and Google Picasa to share my pictures. I can see by looking at my Google Chrome browser that I have no new notices on Google+. Google PowerMeter tells me I've used 13.4kw of electricity today which is a little under the usage for this same time last week. And Google Health tells me my A1C is trending downward (which is a good thing).

Google Retires Two Major Projects (news video)

PowerMeter? Health? Never heard of them? Exactly, which is a shame since most people care about their health and the energy they use. Google in a blog release said they “didn’t catch on”, so both projects are being sunset. Both failed for more or less the same reason - no easy access to data. Power companies weren't interested in making the data from the electronic meters available to their customers. The electronic power meter was not installed for you to know your energy usage - it was installed for your power company to know, and for you just to get the bill. I had to buy a $200 device and install it in my breaker box, and the device and not the meter sends the data to Google. The device does allow me to also display the data on my PC. +1 for Big Business and secrecy, -1 for empowering each of us by making the information we need easily accessible.

Google Health on the other hand was free, but it required you to manually input your health data. Again all the data Google Health needs is locked up in your doctor or medical provider's office. Each health care provider is 'doing their own thing', and the only attribute they all have in common is they don't give you access to your data - Again you just get the bill.

Both PowerMeter and Health used my data and provide me information. A common 'data model' for my energy usage and medical data that allowed me to track and monitor - over a long timeframe in one place. Quick when was your last Tetanus/Diphteria (Td) shot? Mine was 12/9/2009. You better call your doctor. I used 59kw last Friday which is 10Kw above my average; Why? Oh right it was 102 on Friday.

Google was just ahead of it's time. Smart devices that monitor their energy usage and wireless send that to your energy computer (I have one) are still standalone and not built into the appliance/device. Bill and Hillary Clinton attempted to streamline medical records and failed, so it's no surprise that Google failed too. Doctors and Insurance companies have no interest in standards. They prefer À la carte solutions, after all we are all individuals right?

The loss of these 2 applications will have an impact on me and my desire to rid myself of Windows once and for all, and use Chromebook and the cloud to keep and access my data. I'm different than most people. I'm less interested in the cloud as an entertainment supplier, and more interested in the cloud as a place where I live my electronic life - medical, banking, government, and yes, purchase goods and services - which is what Google's new CEO said is their core business - ads. Bummer that changing the world by innovating ways for us all to easily access information is now less important.

1996 Hawaii Bicycle Adventure

This weekend I helped a friend setup a few year old desktop computer. You remember desktops right? Those big boxes with diskette and CD-DVD drives? I cabled it up and it booted. Sweet. I installed a current Anti Virus and ran Windows Update. Several Service Packs later we were done. Then I noticed it had 6 ~ 40 gig partitions scattered across 2 hard drives. Yuck - got to redo that. I called it a day and went home. I returned today with my partition tool and some 3.5 diskettes with pictures on them. I consolidated one HD into one big C: partition. then using this 'Old School' desktop computer copied the pictures disks to a USB thumb drive. The pictures are of a month long bike trip to Hawaii. Seeing, riding, pedaling, and camping on Maui, the Big Island (Hawaii), and Molokai. This Hawaii trip was the first time I opted for the then 'new' service of pictures on disk.

Since I spent about a week of the month trip at my brother JB's place on Maui, I decided 3 rolls of 24 exposure film would be MORE than enough. Roll a week or 3-4 pictures a day - in Hawaii. Sounds about right.

I dropped the rolls of film in the mail as I exposed them, and the prints and diskettes with the pictures were waiting for me when I got home. Back in 1996 I viewed the pictures once or twice on the diskettes, but since I had prints there was no need to mess with the disks. I put the disks in the dresser, and now years later I have no diskette drive to read them. UNTIL today! Quick... How many 3.5 inch floppy disks will a 4 gig thumb drive hold?

Times up... 2844. That's about a 31 ft high stack of them. Hope you enjoy the pictures and remembrances of that trip. Click the picture and be sure to read the captions and leave comments!

Hawaii Bicycle Trip 1996

Merry Month of May

This last May was really different for me. I've lived by myself for over 20 years. I've visited and have hosted visitors over the years, but since Gale is now retired she came and spent the month of May with me. Somehow she avoided "Work'n my nerve" on her visit. You can check out the pictures.

Work'n My Nerve - NOT!

We took day trips and on those we pigged out on North Carolina BBQ, visited civil war battleground, a car show, and even saw a Bulls game. I hope Gale had a good time on her visit, I know I did.

Space Shuttle or Bust

I'm home for awhile and it's time for me to catch up on my blog posting. In April I went to Florida to see the shuttle launch. They scrubbed the shuttle launch the day we headed to the cape, and we didn't make the scheduled. But here are the pictures from that day and the April trip to JB's.

Exploring Florida on Shuttle Scrub

I told JB I'd be back after Gale's visit to help him with his pole barn. I'll blog about that soon.