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Solar Power for $35/Month?
Thanks to my awesome mother-in-law who sent the article, I just learned of a fantastic program that could allow you to lease a 4KW solar power system for your home for only $35/month. If you know anything about solar power, you already know what a great deal that is.
I’ve looked into adding solar panels to our house, but the up-front cost would be tens of thousands of dollars with a payback period of 15-20 years, which is unacceptable. But TXU is partnering with SolarCity to let Texas residents lease the equipment for a 15-year period instead, even if you’re not a TXU customer. They estimate the savings at $50/month, but if your system can generate more power than you’re using at the time and you’re a TXU customer, you can pump power into the grid and actually run your power meter backward. Needless to say, I just signed up to be considered.
Intrigued? Visit the TXU Solar Leasing website. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram posted a good article on the program that explains it it more detail.
1 CommentRage, Rage Against the Dying of the Light?
BusinessWeek ran a fascinating but heavy article this week about a man’s battle with cancer, focusing on both the human side and the economic side of the seven-year-long fight. It’s long, but it’s worth your time. Someday you or a loved one might face a similar situation. It raises some very tough questions, such as:
- When facing a terminal illness, how long should someone keep fighting, and when is it time to let go?
- Is it worthwhile to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting a war that might be impossible to win?
Here is the article:
Although it’s easy to say when I’m not in the situation and never have been, I don’t think I want to fight that hard if I ever develop a terminal illness. As a Christian, I do not fear death. I fear pain and suffering, certainly, but not death. (Well, maybe a little, simply because I don’t know exactly what to expect, but not too much) Finally getting to be set free from this broken world and rest in my Father’s arms will be a wonderful end to my life on this earth. I have no desire to spend massive amounts of energy and money, or to drag everyone I love through years of anguish, trying to postpone that beautiful day.
On the other hand, it’s hard to imagine the emotional side of that struggle, especially when surrounded by so many loved ones who might want you to fight as hard as possible and spend every cent available just to get another few months or years with you. Had I been the author rather than the patient in the BusinessWeek article, I might have handled it the same way. I can’t fault either of them for making the choices they made. However, intellectually, I want to make a different choice for myself if it ever becomes necessary.
I try to take care of myself, eating fairly well, exercising some, seeing my doctors when necessary, trying not to do stupid things that have a significant chance of killing me. I want to live a long and full life. If I get sick, I will try hard to recover. But when God decides my time here is done, I don’t want to be dragged kicking and screaming into heaven. I want to tell my people I love them, say goodbye, and go in peace.
1 CommentSolar Water Heater is Here
UPDATE: When I woke up around 1:00pm on Thursday, the system was working. Even though the outside temp was about 60-65, the roof temp was about 120, hot enough to activate the pump when needed. I’m guessing it ran for 2-3 hours total on Thursday when the sun was highest overhead. We’ll definitely see more benefit from March-October, but it could still help a bit during the winter.
The system makes a cool gurgling sound, like a waterfall, but you can’t hear it well from the bedroom or living room.
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Success! The guys from Innerline Plumbing came over on Wednesday and installed our solar water heater. It took all day for a crew of 3, but they worked hard and got it done. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for sunny weather, so I’m hoping it will get hot enough on the roof for the system to run a bit. The controller compares the roof temperature to the water tank temperature. If the roof is at least 10 degrees hotter, the pumps kick in and send water up to the roof to get heated. Naturally, it will run more in the summer , but it should run some in the winter since the roof soaks up so much heat. Here are some pictures:
Panels on the roof – water flows through tiny tubes in these black plastic panels and absorb the sun’s energy
Storage tank – This tank stores the water that flows through the solar side of the system. When the system is running, this water is very hot, so the tank and pipes are covered in insulation. The tank is in our master closet because there wasn’t room in the utility room.
Controller – This little computer compares the temperature in the existing water heater to the room temperature and turns the pumps on and off as needed.
Heat Exchanger – This black box contains heat exchangers. The solar side of the system is closed-loop, meaning it has a self-container water supply. Hot water from the solar side of the system flows down into this box, transfers the heat to metal plates, which then transfer the heat to the water that we actually use to shower and wash dishes. It flows into the bottom of our electric water heater so it doesn’t have to run as much.
Free Internet Fax Service
On occasion, I need to fax something to someone, which is a challenge since I have neither a fax machine nor a phone line. I went to FedEx Kinkos, but they wanted nearly $5 to fax a three-page document to Dallas. Um, no thanks! Finally, I found a free Internet service called FaxZero. It allows you two free faxes per day, up to three pages each. You upload a PDF or Word doc, enter the address, and click Send. It’s that easy. They email you once your fax goes through. Obviously, this service won’t work for all documents, but for simple things, it’s great.
3 CommentsHope
Most of you have read about my love of running and my struggles to do it without pain. The last few years have been tough in that part of my life, full of pain, both literal and emotional, and much frustration. I repeatedly gave up on running, decided I couldn’t stand not running, figured out some new thing to try, tried again until it hurt too much, and gave up again. Seeing people running in the park or neighborhood always tweaked my heart and made me sad. I asked God over and over to fix it, asked Him why I couldn’t do the one type of exercise I most wanted to do, but never got an answer.
This week I decided to try something else and scheduled a visit with a podiatrist (foot and ankle doctor) who also runs marathons and is an expert in biomechanics. My appointment is scheduled for March 22. But as I did research and thought about my problem, I suddenly realized something, as if a veil had been lifted from my eyes.
A few years back, a guy at the running shoe store said I have a neutral gait, which means my foot rolls correctly as it hits the ground and absorbs the impact as designed. He based this assessment on the wear patterns on the bottom of my old running shoes and recommended a particular model for my foot type. I never questioned his assessment. Although my flat feet and the gradual increase in my knee pain with the new shoes should have raised red flags, I figured I just had a bad knee and had to live with it. My “sports medicine” doctor from about a year ago never bothered to look at my feet. He diagnosed me with ITBS based on my symptoms and assumed he knew the cause.
I think the running store guy was wrong.
If you actually look at my feet (which is hard to do to yourself), you can see that they badly overpronate, or roll inward too far, largely because my feet are so flat. Jenny confirmed this for me. I don’t know why I never asked her to check it before. This image shows the difference well. With the shoes I’ve been wearing, my leg doesn’t line up properly and my feet don’t absorb shock properly, which can lead to pain and injury.
I think I’ve been wearing the completely wrong type of shoe for years now.
While I could be very bitter, instead I am filled with hope. The cure to my misery and answer to my prayers might be as simple as a different kind of shoe.
I’m trying not to get too excited in case I’m wrong. We’ll see what Dr. Crane says in a few weeks. I might also need special shoe inserts called orthotics or something else. In the meantime, I’m going to start strengthening my legs.
Hope is a good thing.
3 CommentsChess
Lately I’ve been on a chess kick. Ever play chess? I found it intimidating before I tried it because I didn’t understand the rules. Some pieces could move certain ways but not others, so surely it was a very complicated game that was difficult to learn. Then I learned the basics and realized that chess is like checkers on steroids. It’s fairly easy to learn but very difficult to master.
However, I’m slowly getting better. The iPhone has an app called Chess with Friends that lets you play…chess with your friends. I make a move, the iPhone sends it to my friends, and they move whenever they feel like it. The games generally take quite a while as a result, but it’s lots of fun. Then last night I discovered another app that lets me play against a computer instead, which is much faster but lacks the human element. It offers variable difficulty and hints to help you learn and improve.
Any of you play (besides Mad Bomber)?
4 CommentsTranslator
