Totality From Tupper Lake (Photo by Mark Rogers)

05:16 Tuesday, 9 April 2024

Current Wx: Temp: 61.23°F Pressure: 1017hPa Humidity: 90% Wind: 6.91mph
Words: 101

My brother sent me this shot last night after I'd already gone to bed. He went up to Tupper Lake in the Adirondacks to view it and had an excellent view.

We observed it in the shadows cast by the tree in our front yard, and in the output of our solar panels.

My friend and former neighbor went to Arkansas to observe it and sent me some nice shots. My sister in Buffalo had some clouds, but caught glimpses and enjoyed it with neighbors.

Moving on...

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AA Batteries

05:21 Tuesday, 9 April 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 61.11°F Pressure: 1017hPa Humidity: 90% Wind: 6.91mph
Words: 674

The history of batteries is fascinating, and I'm reading Charged: A History of Batteries and Lessons for a Clean Energy Future by James Morton Turner (University of Washington Press. Kindle Edition). One of the things I was surprised to learn, though I suppose I shouldn't have been, was that AA batteries take roughly 160(!) times more energy to manufacture than they produce in their lifetime. And that recycling them often uses more energy than it saves (transportation). Since the removal of mercury from the battery cathode, they're environmentally harmless in a landfill. The whole recycling push was because of mercury, which is no longer part of the battery chemistry.

What I'm trying to learn now is the relative cost of NiMH rechargeable batteries. They're not addressed in this book, as he focuses on the history of lead-acid, AA disposables and lithium-ion, with the materials extraction environmental costs.

I'm also reading DIY Lithium Batteries: How to Build Your Own Battery Packs by Micah Toll, not to "build my own," but to learn about them from a practical sense. The more I learn, the happier I am that we installed the mini-split ac in the garage.

We run our Powerwalls in the Tesla recommended mode of maintaining a 20% reserve capacity. This means we often go to the grid for power sooner than we'd otherwise have to. But it also acts as a whole-house UPS, with about 5kWh of battery reserve in the event of a power outage. It also helps preserve the useful lifetime of the batteries, where by "useful," I'm referring to maintaining as much capacity as possible for as long as possible, while still making practical use of them. The hybrid hot water heater and induction range also help in that regard by being lower current demand appliances, and now the dryer is lower demand as well.

At this point, I think the highest demand service in our house now is recharging the RAV4 Prime. I've tried to schedule trips such that the car is back in the garage early in the day when it can be recharged from solar and/or battery, though now I think it's perhaps at least as smart to allow it to charge from the grid. (We would still net-out positive as solar production that wouldn't go to recharging the battery after charging the car would most likely go to the grid, and that high current flow is not an issue for the batteries.)

They're warrantied for 80% capacity at 10 years, but that doesn't mean they're useless when the capacity dips below 80%. Rather than replace them, I'd probably look to add another battery.

It's forecast to be an active hurricane season, and I'm skeptical that northeast Florida enjoys some permanent geographical advantage in terms of hurricane risk. In the event of a near-miss that left our place habitable but without power, air-conditioning becomes the "vital load," not only for comfort but for keeping the humidity down in the house to prevent the growth of mold.

The "Storm Watch" feature of the Powerwall software will actually charge the batteries from the grid prior to a major storm event, and switch to grid power for the duration. If there's a large or long outage, we'd enter the problem with a fully charged battery, and hopefully the clouds pass with the storm and the array keeps the batteries charged, though it may take some additional care and attention on our part.

So I'm pretty confident in terms of our preparedness. We'd have to monitor cloud cover and our power consumption in the event of an extended outage, but I'm pretty sure I can keep the important things running, chiefly AC and refrigerator, though, really, if we lost the food in the fridge, it wouldn't be catastrophic. I think the AC is only truly "vital" load, especially as we get older.

Anyway, started out with AA battery facts, ended up with aging in place in a hurricane-prone state. What's up with that?

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The Apocalypse Has Not Been Postponed

08:01 Tuesday, 9 April 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 60.67°F Pressure: 1017hPa Humidity: 93% Wind: 0mph
Words: 224

I know it's fashionable to dismiss the threat of catastrophic climate change, or overshoot in the matter of the dynamic system that is our civilization. "Ok, doomer," has replaced "Ok, boomer" as the dismissive put-down of choice. "People have always been predicting 'the end of the world.' It's still here!"

"Technology!"

"Innovation!"

But...

The problem with science and risk management is that science is very conservative, and "the market" likes to minimize risk. Usually that means being "skeptical" of science. The question risk managers should have been asking themselves wasn't, "Could it really get that bad?"

It should have been, "How much worse is it really likely to be?"

I'm less certain today that we could have prevented this, even if we began acting in 1992. Maybe put it off by a few decades, but we'd still be confronting planetary limits, if not climate ones, eventually. Before the end of this century.

But I am happy to point out that Republicans and their corporate masters are the most proximately responsible parties for the astoundingly shocking lack of action of any kind. Not that blaming them does anyone any good. I just hope they understand their responsibility, though I doubt they will and I'm certain they won't accept it.

These are the happy thoughts that come to mind as I read stuff like this.

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A Good Read

08:15 Tuesday, 9 April 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 61.11°F Pressure: 1017hPa Humidity: 93% Wind: 4.61mph
Words: 33

On that happy note, allow me to direct your attention to James Reeves' A Staggering Kind of Stillness, at Atlas Minor.

All we have are moments to live.

What's wrong with this one?

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In Other Reading

08:20 Tuesday, 9 April 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 61.11°F Pressure: 1017hPa Humidity: 93% Wind: 4.61mph
Words: 174

I saw this piece in The New Yorker, and bought the book. Started reading it last night, and it's almost too on the nose. Trump is never mentioned, but you might as well be reading today's news.

I know it's also unfashionable to compare Trump to Hitler, but wow. It's not that they're the same, it's that they use the same techniques, the same sort of appeals and possess the same indifference to failure. They just don't quit. I guess that's a virtue sometimes.

And the same sorts of people, those with power and privilege and limited scruples, delude themselves in the same ways with regard to how to deal with people like Trump or Hitler.

This is from Anne Applebaum back in 2020. The page loads in my browser with most of the pictures missing, but the text is all there.

History is a luxury of civilization. A kind of human existence that has the cognitive surplus to record and analyze the past. History will judge, but I'm not sure for how long.

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Early Morning Walk

10:28 Tuesday, 9 April 2024

Current Wx: Temp: 72.59°F Pressure: 1019hPa Humidity: 73% Wind: 8.05mph
Words: 169

Got up early this morning because at some point it's more uncomfortable to lay in bed than to get up and start moving. Got some early blogging done and then went for my walk early because I was scheduled to got another COVID shot this morning. Went with Pfizer this time, because I'd had the Moderna last time and it always kicks my ass. Better to alternate the two.

I don't know if there's some new CDC guidance, but I'd gotten a text from my Publix pharmacy that another shot was recommended for those over 65, and we're getting ready to do some travel anyway.

I enjoy the early morning walks because of the sky and I encounter fewer people. Pretty soon they'll be essential because it'll start getting hot and humid in the morning, and the sunshine gets brutal.

Anyway, got my jab and now to get on with the rest of the day!

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Further to the Foreshadowing

12:15 Tuesday, 9 April 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 75.61°F Pressure: 1021hPa Humidity: 65% Wind: 10.36mph
Words: 19

As mentioned earlier this morning, news like this brings to mind songs like this.

The wind began to howl...

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Electrifying

16:28 Tuesday, 9 April 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 75.97°F Pressure: 1016hPa Humidity: 67% Wind: 10.36mph
Words: 701

Nintendo shut down the Wii U online service, so no more Call of Duty Ghosts online play for moi. There were still a few of us, and most of us were pretty old! I played regularly with a guy in Scotland, two others in England, a few in France, including a woman, a few in Germany, an 80-year-old from Arkansas, a guy from Pennsylvania and another in Canada.

It was fun, but it was pretty addictive. I made it up to 127th in Team Deathmatch. Before I knew they were shutting the service down on April 8th, I had as my goal to make it to 125. That would have required another month or so online. But I did manage to complete my other goal, which was to earn the "gold" camo on all the weapons. Finished that last week with just days to spare. Of course, none of that is available now. I thought at least there'd be a local profile on the box, but I can't find it.

If you search for COD Ghosts Wii U online play on YouTube, there are a few videos where I appear. (ActionDave79, Hey, I created that handle over a decade ago!) I was surprised, but I guess it's a thing on YouTube.

So now my afternoons are free. I got some cable connector adapters today, so I figured I'd go play prepper. I bought a Nebo 100W solar panel from Woot on special for $149 (regularly $299). I couldn't really test it with the Bluetti EB3A because they use different connectors. I've ordered some "real" solar panel connectors (MC4?) but today I have an adapter that converts the 5525 DC plug that came with the Nebo to the DC 7909 the EB3A uses.

I needed to discharge the EB3A to get it to charge, so I plugged in one of my three or four Makita 18v battery chargers and charged a couple of batteries. There's cloud cover overhead, but once the EB3A began discharging AC, it indicated it was receiving power from the solar panel. Highest I ever saw it get was 48 watts, but it is pretty cloudy.

Anyway, charged all the batteries that I thought needed charging. None was particularly low. But it drained the EB3A to 85% capacity. It's back up to 96% right now, but the panel is only putting out 14 watts now. I don't expect that to improve with the decreasing sun angle and the clouds.

But I was browsing around Amazon and spotted a "used" 100W Nebo panel (I guess someone returned one) for $119(!), so I snagged that. I'll have to buy another set of MC4 connectors to rig both panels up.

And just because I'm a dumbass, I went ahead and bought a Bluetti AC70. It was on sale for $450 and gets good reviews. It pairs well with the EB3A, which may be being discontinued? It has about 700 watt-hours of power and a 1kW AC inverter, so it can handle bigger loads or run for longer times than the EB3A. It's bigger, but it's not huge by any means. You can use it as an UPS, but we don't really need that. But it's nice to have "just in case." I figure if nothing else, I can drag it out on the back patio and plug in the oscillating floor fan and set it on high and see if it blows the mosquitos away!

Who knows? It's 110vAC wherever you need it, as long as you're not powering a large load. You can do some trickery with resistive loads (lower the voltage and increase the amperage) to run an electric griddle, but if anything requires stable 60hz, best to stay within the thousand watt limit.

And I got a nice email from a woman at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Standards Information Center, who explained battery connections weren't their jam. But she did send along a bunch of info about a manufacturers' association and the Cordless Alliance System, which I will be looking into.

I sent her a thank you email and told her I appreciated it and the work she and her colleagues were doing.

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Living in Thunderdome

16:05 Wednesday, 9 April 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 73.24°F Pressure: 1019hPa Humidity: 60% Wind: 7mph
Words: 42

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"Minimalist" - The Scare Quotes Approach

16:26 Wednesday, 9 April 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 72.45°F Pressure: 1019hPa Humidity: 61% Wind: 19.57mph
Words: 306

Beautiful day today. Cool, sunny, breezy. Windows open, interior CO2 levels down. Something to enjoy and be thankful.

I finished getting my office cleaned out before the realtor arrived today to take a video for her appraiser. It's not a marketing video, just to let him have eyes on the place.

I confess, I do find the rather spare appearance to be somewhat appealing. Maybe it's just the novelty.

I've been out in the garage, rummaging around my "stuff" and rearranging things that were in boxes that weren't taped shut yet, and totes and tool boxes. What can stay in storage for eighteen months or more? (Remove the batteries!) What do I really need up there?

There are two constraints, but they're not in tension, they align to really limit what we can bring with us. One is the size of the house, and the other is what we can carry in the Mav and the Rav, since we're not renting a U-Haul or anything like that.

As it is, we could bolt for the place today with only the clothes on our backs (and our phones) and we'd be fine. The place is furnished, we have clothes there, wifi, cooking utensils, pots, pans and so on. So I'm looking at high-value items, like my remaining cameras and lenses. Some, more specialized, tools.

Irreplaceable items, like the lockbox with Dad's letters to his mom during the war. Photos. Paperwork and records.

So I've got to kind of figure that out, see what fits in the truck. I suppose I could make two trips in the truck, but I don't think I want to that.

Eighteen months from now, or thereabouts, we can shove everything into moving van and I guess welcome all of our crap back into our lives! Something to look forward to?

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Ben Sasse Interview

09:42 Thursday, 9 April 2026
Current Wx: Temp: 47.35°F Pressure: 1029hPa Humidity: 49% Wind: 16.26mph
Words: 254

I'm a bit conflicted on this, because I have little regard for Ross Douthat and I'm not sure that Sasse's confrontation with his own mortality is as ennobling as this interview might make it appear. To be fair, I don't believe that Sasse feels that his experience, or this interview, is ennobling. I think Douthat feels that way. (Free link. These expire after thirty days. I don't make the rules.)

For example, here's a quote:

I think the grand divide that is coming, sociologically or demographically, is not chiefly a class divide. I think the grand divide that’s coming is about intentionality and what you do with your affections and these supertools.

"The divide that is coming..."

"That is coming..."

This from a dude who spends time flying around to cancer centers, and who has an "executive doc," whatever that is.

The divide is here, but he doesn't see it, apparently.

And it is that class divide, that economic chasm, that bars the very people he's speaking about from spending time and cognitive resources reflecting on "intentionality," or "what you do with your affections."

But there is a lot that is worthwhile in this interview. Food for thought. And I'm genuinely sorry that Ben Sasse and his family are going through this.

It's a very long read. Douthat's comments are often of no added value, in my opinion, but Sasse's responses are worthwhile for many reasons.

A lot of religion in this piece, as a content warning to those for whom faith is anathema.

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Another Piece

10:24 Thursday, 9 April 2026
Current Wx: Temp: 50.76°F Pressure: 1027hPa Humidity: 43% Wind: 16.26mph
Words: 74

It's supposed to get up to 60° today, but the wind is making it colder than the 50° the thermometer is showing, so I spent some more time on the NY Times.

I don't write as much about Trump and Hegseth and their abuse of the military because it's terminally frustrating. And, frankly, I don't read as much about it as I'd like to see either.

So this piece from David French was welcome.

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