he giveth they taketh away

HE GIVETH THEY TAKETH AWAY
based on what your religion is that power
in some religions its the sun itself
created and maintains the sun which radiates its
solar waves down to the earth and warms up the earth

for those of us who happen to have solar panels we are
able to capture those rays and through technology convert
those rays to electricity which then goes to my house for
use in all those electrical gizmos we have on inside
if
there is more electricity produced than what we use in the
home
it goes back up the light pole to the power lines and as ive
found out it is used by the nearest neighbor who needs electricity

for me
the meter well the old did would just spin backwards as
that happened

an almost orgasmic event if you are a real solar advocate
not so much
if you are the electric company

that is called net metering
now with digital meters they can measure how much you produce
totally
how much you use of your electricity
how much you use of their electricity
and
how much got sent up back into the grid
and
thats the number that gradually overtime pays for your solar system

of course our electric utility company charges us about $30 a month
just to be hooked up to the system

some electric companies the progressive ones want as many people as
possible with solar panels on their roofs as thats less electricity they
have to ship in from somewhere else
and possibly eliminate the need to build some electricity generating plants
a win win for everyone
right

well not according to some utilities
they want to charge us solar collectors more money
some estimate the cost would be $50-100 a month to just be
hooked up to the grid

heck my electric bill is never that much except in extreme times
like mid summer or mid winter

we get retail price that is the price they charge us for their electricity
seems fair to me
they want to give us wholesale price for our electricity we produce
plus charge that extra fee which for us they already do

so i guess it will come down to who has the most political influence
the electric companies or the solar companies
history tells us it the former not the latter

could something like this slow down or stop net metering and the
benefits we all gain from its availability

its free you know that solar rays that come down from the sun
like the rain thats falling here now
wonder if the states will get involved also and add a solar tax

maybe if they do they could do a cloud rebate tax program for
those days like the last 3 days when we get no sun
and
maybe the electric company could also give us a cloudy day
rebate program to offset the new solar power fees

see how complicated this all gets

just let the sun shine down
the supreme beings give it to us free
let me make my electricity
if i dont use it you can use it
just give me credit for it
dont charge me for doing this

seems simple right

the organicgreen doctor

solar, sugar drinks ban, credit dr

SOLAR

there i am planking on the roof of my barn
in front of my solar panels
this is the time of the year when i think a lot
about solar power since the sun is high in the
sky and shines without interference from clouds for
several weeks

today if you live in a progressive green city in texas like
san antonio or austin you can get your system placed
for half price or even less as my rainwater brother did
last year
when hes gone on vacations he is making money
as he overproduces electricity and sells it back to the
electric company

i usually dont overproduce electricity as my system is
smaller than his but i do come close several months
out of the year
i now have a meter that tells me how much of my own
electricity i am using each day and how much im buying
back from the electric cooperative

the rates in some areas are getting high enough so that
with rebates the cost of the systems are making it easier
for more people to get them

we are finally making that turn that needs to be made
to convert more people to solar power

if you ever get the opportunity to sit and watch an
electric meter spin backwards yes backwards
youll get inspired to get a system for yourself

SUGAR DRINKS BAN
looks like in new york they are going to ban those big sugary
drinks
like the big gulp

seems over 50% of the kids are overweight in new york as
are 50% of the adults

no big gulp for the big apple

CREDIT DR
now medical balance billing is affecting your credit
several people have discovered this the hard way when
they applied for a loan for a new home and either
were denied or received a higher interest rate

if you carry a balance after a dr visit that goes on you credit
report
they seem to use anything they can to screw us dont they

now going to the doctor can affect your health and your credit health

the organicgreen doctor

thanks blanket, indy winner,solar question, duct tape, bb

THANKS BLANKET

here is a picture of a quilt that was made by a volunteer
apparently volunteers from across the us make and donate
quilts to give to those of us who are involved in the research
study the adni-2 study

the quilter for mine is from laguna beach california
thanks for the good quilting and for the support

INDY WINNER
indy winner doug wheldon wore a loco for the
alzhiemers assoication on his jacket to show his support
for alzheimers education and research

his mom was diagnosed with early onset alzheimers at
55 years old
he has made alzheimers one of his focuses for educating
people about this terrible disease

SOLAR QUESTION
a facebook friend wanted to know if you could store electricity
somewhere to use if the electricity goes off

you can store your electric production in large storage batteries
which are expensive and have to be replaced occasionally
with the batteries you pull electricity from them when its needed

most people opt to use the power lines as their storage battery as
the electric companies are required by law to allow you to do this
this saves on the cost of the total system however if the electricity
goes off then the system is automatically shut off to prevent
electricity being sent through the lines which can electrocute a
worker working on the damaged lines

basically im like you that dont have solar when the electricity is
off its off even if its sunny

when you read about people who are totally off the grid that
means they are using batteries only to store their power and are
usually not hooked to the grid

DUCT TAPE
use it to repair panty hose
use it to make a clothes line while camping
use it to repair a watch band (did it once but when my
wife she discovered it had to buy a new band)\

use it to repair work gloves, work boots, hiking boots
(my wife she used some to repair her hiking boots once
while in big bend park as the nearest shoe store was
hundreds of miles a way
recently used it to hold my work boots sole in place as
the sole came off while in the middle of a construction
project)

keep that roll of duct tape around

BB
heat let that one slip away didnt they
mavs stole one
dirks finger didnt slow him down on that last play
did it

sunday game is in dallas
heat could be in trouble now

the organicgreen doctor

too cute, memoriable memorial weekend, organic roundtable, bb

TOO CUTE
this is too cute not to post

MEMORIABLE MEMORIAL WEEKEND
had a memoriable memorial weekend
on satuday spent the day with two brothers (both ex military)
one always gives an update on a memorial day email he sends
reminding us all to remember those who made the ultimate
sacrifice for our country and to remember those relatives of
ours who made that sacrifice and to remember those who
have served or or serving in the military

he also has some dictums that he reviews and ill post them
in a later blog

the other brother needed some rainwater harvesting advice for
his home
was glad to offer my advice as long as it doesnt involved a shovel
he is attempting to harvest rainwater off his house to obtain enough
water to irrigate his reduced lawn, his other landscaping, and also
to irrigate his garden which he has landscaped into his backyard
so it is very pleasing to the eye but is quite productive

he is doing this under the confines of an hoa and its rules
he will catch water off his roof and route it to to tanks in
each corner of his yard
the tanks have to be lower than his 6 foot fence and the end
result has to be pleasing to the eye (his wifes eye)
the lines will be buried and will be 2-4 inches in diameter
he may be able to catch 2-3000 gallons in these tanks and
other small tanks he has

remember the less city water he uses the less his water bill and
sewage bill will be

i think we/he have a plan now to follow
just have to beat the hoa and his wifes eye

he also just put in a solar system that should go online today
will blog this later

we also went to a roundtable discussion of organic gardening by
some of the gods of organic gardening in texas
see below

on sunday spent the day with friends that are moving out of state
we enjoyed the visit
we also gave them a tour of our recycled house, our rainwater
system, our solar system, our chickens and their condo, our
organic garden, and our xeroscaped landscape
over the years we have given a lot of these tours and hope we have
influenced some of them to try some of these things
the friends will be missed

on monday i actually for the first day since i quit working 6
months ago did nothing outside or productive
i took a slug day
i took three naps of 1 hour, watched shows on the history channel
on the civil war and the viet nam war, watched a movie with
my wife she, read the paper and at the end of the day bbqed
hamburgers and cooked sweet potato chips for supper/dinnner

a memorable memoriable memorial weekend

ORGANIC ROUNDTABLE
my brother and i went to an organic roundtable discussion on saturday

there on the discussion panel was
malcom beck the god of organic gardening in texas,

john drumgoole the 2nd god of organic gardening in texas
the owner of my nursery the natural gardener and owner of
the lady bug organic products and host of a local austin radio show
on organic gardening

judy barrett a gardening writer-she wrote and
published the homegrown magazine that could be found at many
nurseries in this area,

bruce deuley an author and host of tv and radio shows on organic
gardening,

stuart franke the president of medina agriculture products,

noel garcia of the texas plant and soil lab and

bob webster who owns an organic nursery and hosts a local radio
show on organic gardening


boy 2 hours of discussion wasnt enough
bottom line compost is the answer to good gardening
it provides benefical bacteria and fungi, nitrogen, minerals etc
pesticides and insecticides are really bad to use in the garden
and in the yard
more and more people are becoming involved in organic
gardening every year

one panel person produced 150 lbs of organic squash on
a 15 ft row
it cost him 20 cents a lb to grow but retail organic squash is
$3-5 a lb
you do the math

great panel

BB
finally the finals
heat vs mavs
south beach bs south fork
should be a good series
wish both teams could win

the organicgreen doctor