country n news-country n woes

COUNTRY N NEWS-COUNTRY N WOES

last saturday i left the house at 600 am
headed to do this landscape at the habitat for humanity house

i always get there early
as i want to get everything set up for the landscape project
that day

these kids from 5 different schools
yes i talked my wife she to help this time
were about to show up to finish the landscape

usually this is the best day for me
when i volunteer at habitat for humanity
getting to work with the high school kids
visiting with them as we go along

as i was getting things ready
my wife she called
we dont have no water

i said
ok
ill deal with it when i get home

so
7 hours later
after finishing the habitat landscape
i entered the realm of the unknown

now we live 30 miles from town
electricians plumbers dont like to come this far out
its always been a problem for us out here
so
you just learn to do some of the things yourself

i once had a plumber come out to fix several things
he looked it all over
let me see if i have the parts
last i heard from him
so
i just figured out how to fix the plumbing issues myself

now we have a rainwater water system not a well
so everything is at ground level
i put it together myself
doing all the plumbing and electrical stuff myself
following this books directions
rainwater collection for the mechanically challenged

so i looked at the pump that had a pressure of zero
it should be around 40-50 psi
i checked to see if the shutoff had electricity
it did according to my meter
now
i still dont understand how this happened
so
this told me either my fuses were out
or
i had a dead pump
we had been having some issues with it lately also
so
i got in my car drove the 20+ miles to get new fuses
sorry the old gent said
we outta that one
you reckon home depot or lowes has them
dont know he said
i never go to those places
so
off to the next town
another 15 miles further away from the country n
yep
that home depot had the ones i needed
so
off back home i went
with my two fuses in tow
then
i plucked them into places
switched back on the shutoff
nothing

so now its saturday late around 5ish
after
working several hours on the landscape
i was tired and filthy and sweaty
greasy feeling like when you have camped out for
three days in the wilderness

i need a shower i said
oops
we aint got no water
then
i remembered
yes
you do
you got 30000 gallons sitting in all those tanks
but
you just cant pump it into the house
so
living away from our nearest neighbors by a 1/2 a mile
i hung a water hose over the input pipe to my largest tank
its about 6 ft high
plugged the hose into the bottom faucet on the tank
turned it on
took me a cold lengthy shower
a true outdoor refreshing shower it was

then
i took to thinking
it has to be the pump
so
the next morning on a sunday
i waited until the local store where i got my last pump
was opened
i knew if i got the same one i wouldnt have to change any fittings

wait
i could just call bud the well guy on monday
he would come over for a few bucks to check out the pump
last time i did that
he just said
you need a new pump
so
i decided to not wait for him to come over in a day or too
to tell me you need a new one
so
i just went and got me a new one

got it home
pulled out the old one
started putting the new one all together
robbing parts off the old one

i dont have one of the 1 inch metal pipes i need
since i couldnt get it out of the old one
plus
i had no pipe goop

oh my wife she
old buddy
old friend
ill owe you one
could you go get me some pipe goop and a pipe

that means a 30 minute one way trip
multiple phone calls
she called back
this guy helping me doesnt know anything about these pipes
mam a man and his wife walked up
what you need
so i had sent a picture of both
oh he said to my wife she
this is what you need

my wife sent me a picture of what she was about to buy
then called me
is this what you want
yes
please hurry home

so
i got all my stuff
rehooked it all back up to the rainwater system
checked for leaks after i turned the water supply
line on
no leaks
flipped that switch to on
no water

by now its 300 pm
im tired
im dirty sweaty again

i dont understand why this doesnt work

so i noticed my solar control system had a flashing red light
saying
power disconnect
no kidding

then
i remembered that my solar went into its own electrical box on
our light pole
it shared this with a few things
before a line ran into my main box

i opened the lid
carefully
i always get nervous when i do this
like a big ole lightning bolt of electricity
is going to shoot out and get  me

now
i dont want to die from alzheimers disease
but
i sure dont want to die this way

i switched all the switches off and on
didnt help

so by then
i was tired
ticked off

should i call an electrician out tomorrow
which may take a few days
call bud the pump guy

as i switched this one breaker off and on
it made this noise
i knew it shouldnt do that

maybe i thought those dang fire ants got in there
or some snake or something to short things out
but
we had full power inside the house

remember now all this has left us with no water in the house
its like camping out with a large lake nearby
since we had 30000 gallons of rainwater just sitting there

so i contemplated all night
even dreamed about it two nights
i dont understand it
hopefully an electrician will figure it out
if i can get one

now it had been real warm
we hadnt used any of our minisplit heat pumps
one for each room
for several days

a friend staying with us a few days
you know i turned mine on last night and it worked ok
so
i went to try to turn on the other three
none of them worked but hers did

now im really confused
my rainwater pump dont work
my solar system is off with a red flashing light
ive got electricity to my house
3 of 4 minisplits dont work

i dont understand this
then
a light came on
as i awoke on monday
thats two days later
its that damn breaker switch i think
having remembered that
the three minisplit were tied to the back panel
along with the rainwater pump and the solar system
their electricity came from a line
that came right to that big ole breaker that
was making this strange noise when i turned it off and on

im going to the store to get another new one
before i call that electrician that may not even come out

i remembered years ago that lowes had the right breakers
that fit into the electric panel
nothing wrong with my long term memory

so
yep
off i go 30 miles and back
huh in case you arent counting
thats
180 miles of driving so far

i got this breaker
plugged it all in
flipped it on

into the house i went
turned on all the minisplits
all of them worked
yes i pumped my fist

now i was getting excited

i went out to the barn
my solar control system was no longer blinking red
it was solarizing sending electricity into my panel

then
i walked over
carefully a little sweaty a little tachycardic
lifted up the cover on my shutoff box
slowly pushed in the control lever

guess what
it worked it worked

we got water finally after 3 days

now we have to wait to drink it
until we get our new filters in
then after changing those
we have to resterilize the lines
then
hopefully today sometime
we will have some
good ole country n water

my
how we have missed that sweet taste of our water

i realized
i am a electrician
i am a  plumber
i am a well man
i am a problem solver

this
sort of despite the three days of no water
made me feel good
to
realize that my memory hasnt been so affected
that i cant problem solve

theres always good to every story

the organicgreen doctor

solar helps

SOLAR HELPS

here at the country n we have solar panels

16 of them 

that can generate up to 15 kw of electricity each

if the stars align themselves just right

which

you know in real life they never do 

so if  we have a perfectly sunny day in the summer

maybe around the longest day 

we can reach that 15 kwh a day

throw in a little dust on the panels

or 

a few clouds passing over

or

a small summer shower

then that number will drop 

even on a cloudy day we can produce several kwh of electricity

this year we havent had a lot of rain and clouds 

so we have had a lot of sun

so we have produced more electricity than usual

so here is how it all works here at the country n

first the sun hits the panels which are situated on our barn

that obstruction there that planking ogd could block some 

of the solar production

from there it goes to an inverter inside the barn

which converts the dc current to ac current

from there it goes to my electric box and meter

from there it either goes into the house 

or

up the power line out into the lines along the road

and somewhere along the way it get sucked up 

by neighbors and businesses down the line

now someone off the grid

like our friend in utah

uses the electricity as its produced and any 

excess is stored in big old batteries for future use

since we live in texas 

at the country n and those of us in texas

do net metering where any excess goes into the grid

here is a copy of my last electric bill

they charged me $22.50 to be just hooked up to the system 

the amount of electricity that went through my meter was 702 kwh

the amount of electricity that went through the meter that was

produced by the country n was 152 kwh

leaving us a net amount of 550 kwh to pay for

of course what you dont see on the bill is the amount we used

that came directly from our solar panels during the day

since it was a sunny month that could be 0-300 kwh

it was probably closer to the 300 number

i am not as ocd as i use to be about doing this calculation

so when the suns shining during the day our meter is either not 

moving

or 

its spinning backwards

its hard to describe what it feels like to watch your

electric meter spin backwards

there are only a few things in this world that tops this

you can figure out what those are

if i want to know in our system how much we used of our electricity

that did not go through the meter

i have to do a  monthly reading 

on my inverter to calculate that number

ive had the system too long now so i never do that calculation

i am not as ocd about it as i use to be

 

so most of our electricity we buy occurs after the sun goes down

so our bill then was

$22.50 for just being hooked up

$57.86 for their electricity

$15.99 credit for my electricity that went up to the grid

with ?$ of electricity used directly 

easily calculated if i wanted to do it again

the most electricity we could produce under maximum conditions

would be 450 kwh a month

so this last month we consumed 702 kwh

if it was a perfect month we would have only bought 252 kwh 

now my rainwater brothers system is a newer one 

his meters tell him how much he produced

how much he used of his electricity and of theirs 

how much the electric company bought or credited him

all i know is it feels good to watch my meter go backwards sometimes

and 

to know that a good portion of our electricity we consume

we produced our selves

that 

is what net metering means

the organicgreen doctor

colorados lighting up

COLORADOS LIGHTING UP

this is not about their new weed law

which went into effect on january 1

business is booming there it seems

so is the solar industry

the cost of solar panels have decreased a lot so that

more and more people in colorado are putting up

solar panels on their roofs to generate their own 

electricity 

during the day

the way this works is if you dont store the electricity 

in batteries which are expensive is that as the 

electricity is generated it goes eg at the country n here

it goes to our house first

if its not needed it then goes to the electrical lines 

connected to my meter then goes out to i guess

whoever needs it next

maybe my neighbors

at the end of the month the electric company

takes the total electricity i used

subtracts the total amount of excess electricity i produced

(that doesnt include what i used as it was being produced)

to come up with a total amount that im billed for

eg

i produced 500 kw this month

i only used 200 kw of it

the other 300 kw went up into the grid

i used 1000 kw total

so i get billed for 700 kw

if i produced more than i used then i get a credit

but

have to pay $20+ to just be hooked up to the system

thats called net metering

if they give me credit its at wholesale price

if i have to buy its at retail price

thats one of the rubs between solar producers like me

and the electric companies

plus they want to charge another fee for use of their lines etc

(this house in the above picture is completely off the grid

and stores its electricity in large batteries

he doesnt have to worry about any of this)

in arizona and they are trying to do this in california 

and colorado they want to charge $50 but the electric commission 

said no you can only charge $5

so if i lived in arizona i would pay $25+ before i use any electricity 

california is trying to make it $100

im sure texas is not far behind

its whoever has the most political influence

ie cash

the other problem thats happening is that there are more and 

more homeowners producing electricity such that there is a 

surplus during the day that goes away when the sun goes down

the electric companies havent figured out how to store or use

this excess electricity 

they are looking at massive battery banks that are expensive

so it seems its going to be a battle between the large electric

companies and the solar industry and us homeowners

we know who probably has the most influence 

right

the organicgreen doctor

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

some things in life are free

SOME THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE
today i started to write more on obamacare and my venture into
signing up
and
on the government shutdown
but
ive decided to wait a few days to let things slow down before i
venture back on the www.healthcare.gov website to restart my
application for my obamacare insurance
and
i think weve all heard enough about the government shutdown
and
we all are mad about it no matter our political persuasion

after all they are sent there to govern and take care of us
i agree with some facebook postings that i know 550 people
in washington that should not get paid
dont you

so today i want to write about something that is free to all who
want to use it
you know there is not many things that are free any more
for now
as the government as i blogged about lately is wanting to tax it
and even regulate it

thats rainwater collection
here at the country n we have been collecting rainwater for
our home use and garden irrigation now for almost 10 years
there is no charge for me to have the water
run off my metal roofs
go down the downspout after running through a foam filter in
my gutters
run into a 300 gallon first flush tank that catches any debri
then
go down a 4 inch pipe to my 2500 gallon tank thats connected to
21000 gallons of tanks
where it goes through a sock filter to catch if anything in the water

there it sits until we turn on the water faucet
the water flows through a check valve that keeps it from having
backflow back into my collection tanks
goes through my water pump
which forces the water under pressure through a 15 micron filter
a 5 micron filter a 5 micron carbon filter to a ultraviolet light
which sterilizes the water
we then catch the water in our glass and drink it

the cost of the water is zero
of course there are start up costs
and
filter changes every 4 months with the initial filter change every month
the electrical cost of having the pump run when the water is turned on

but its nice to know
that im drinking water that is pure
not contaminated
no chlorine etc added
and its free to collect
for now

this week i will put compost on my wife shes fall garden at her school
and
will help my cowgirl sisterinlaws school plant their initial fall garden

when i am at the schools and when i look at the schools roof on google
all i can think about is man that is a lot of square footage that
could be collecting rainwater

for each 1000 square foot of roof you can collect 600 gallons of rainwater
multiply that by your kids schools roof area and
folks thats an awful lot of water
that runs out onto the ground
down the sidewalk
into the street
down the street gutters into the sewer system

what if they when they built these new schools
these mansions that costs millions
added rainwater collection and used that water to irrigate the landscape
especially those football sports fields
flush the toilets etc
the maybe sell the excess to the city etc

there are so many schools in this area
heck we might be able to fill up these lakes that are getting empty

once the initial cost of setting up the catchment system there would
be little cost after that

so there are things in this world that are free
the other is sunlight
wonder if they could put panels on those roofs
and use that electricity

naw all that makes too much sense doesnt it

the organicgreen doctor

almost off the grid stadiuim

ALMOST OFF THE GRID STADIUM

i have always been interested in solar power and how 

we need to harvest it more often for electricity 

if new houses had solar panels added over the life

of the house and in certain cities and states with the 

incentives and rebates the solar panels would easily 

pay for themselves 

at the country n where we live we have solar panels

sixteen total

that produce anywhere from 25%-75% of our electricity use

(no thats not a brazilian planking on that roof)

now the electric coop we use has installed digital meters

so that we can see how much of our electricity is being

rebated back to us on our electric bill

what it doesnt show though is how much of our electricity 

that we produce is used directly by us before it goes to the

meter for measurement

eg if we produce 15 kw of electricity and use only 10 kw that

day then the meter will show we sent 5 kw up into the grid

and that will show up on our monthly bill but not the

10 kw we used directly from the solar panels

so recently i was intrigued about an article about 

a new stadium for the 2014 world cup and later the 2016 olympics

in brazil 

that is completely a net zero energy stadium

the stadium which is a refurbished old stadium will have a ring of

solar panels around the roof 

because of net metering the stadium

will be able to trade power with the grid when needed

(we in texas and many other states have net metering laws that allow

you to send excess power to the grid when you are not using it 

then later when its needed you can pull from the grid

thats how my system works also)

the solar panels on the stadium will pay for themselves in 10-12 years

and will still be working well beyond 25 years

they also have a photocatalytic membrane over the roof that will

breakdown pollution from the air

50% of co2 production related to sporting events come from the 

transportation to and from the stadium

(for those who dont believe in the co2 pollution climate changing 

theories you might want to go ahead and invest in respirators for

yourself your kids your grandkids as they will need them if we 

dont change things)

they have 3500 bicycle parking spots

that would work well in austin

the part im excited about is they collect rainwater off the roof

wow im impressed

they use it in the landscape and with their low flow water fixtures

they use the plentiful natural light and also shade the hot brazil sun

why are other countries ahead of us in all this green energy stuff

and why are we about to lose our lead in wind production as 

congress considers withdrawing wind exemptions

they did this to the solar a few years ago and we lost out to 

the europeans especially the germans

why couldnt jerry have done all this in his billion dollar mansion

of  a football stadium

the montly electric bill for this place is $200,000

thats 2,000,000 kws a month

it uses the same amount of energy as santa monica california

does in a year

thats the american way i guess

the organicgreen doctor  

the ceremony, utah ranch

THE CEREMONY
thats what i want
the ceremony like my friend greg had for his
final ceremony
it was more a celebration of his life
there were family and friends there from everywhere

all talking about greg and his ties and his science fiction and
his laugh and his hugs and his smile and his good nature and
his being a good doctor

it was a rememberence of greg like greg was

the ceremony had a christian prayer a jewish prayer and a
reading from a buddhist writing
there were protestants there catholics there jewish there budhist there
and agnostics there
the prayers or readings for the ceremony could easily be interchanged
between religions
there does seem to be some common ground in all those

then there were readings from different people about greg
i was asked to read my blog about him
tried to read it but couldnt finish it so
one of gregs and his wifes friend read it
she read it so well with just the inflections i would have used
and she caught the essence of my blog
which was the essence of gregs final ceremony

he was kind a gentle intelligent loving person
and will be missed

hope i can be sent off when my time comes with a ceremony
and gathering of friends like this

well miss you my friend

UTAH RANCH
we are on one of our bucket list trips this summer
one of several we are doing this summer and early fall

we are in albuquerque on our way to a ranch in utah
that is ran and owned by a friend of my daughterinlaw
well hes more like her little brother

the ranch is right down my alley
it is completely off the grid
its a total solar powered ranch
they store the electricity in large batteries
cant wait to see and tour this one

they raise different grapes in their organic vineyards and are working
towards having their own winery

they also raise organic vegetables in their large garden
they have a large number of fruit and nut trees that they
harvest and sell

they use some volunteer workers from europe and the us who
work there for 4+ weeks
like an internship
(wonder if im too old to do an internship there
know that would be fun and could add that to my
habitat for humanity volunteering)

they also have a beautiful area to explore and have areas of
old indian canyon sites to explore
they generally limit access to friends
we feel lucky to have this opportunity
we have toured the mesa verde area in southwest colorado
so we look forward to this part of the trip

we will post pictures and stories of the ranch and the
surrounding areas on my next blog

so have my safari hat sunscreen yes judy i have my walking stick
you gave me my hiking boots my camera and am ready to explore and
enjoy

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

germans shine, light bulbs

GERMANS SHINE
well the germans decided no more nuclear energy for them
especially after the problems after the earthquake in japan
they will over 11 years replace nuclear power with renewable
energy sources

they made a huge commitment to solar energy several years ago
that commitment will be ever stronger now

there farmers use part of their pastures as solar farms
they get subsidies to put in these solar farms and make a
profit off the energy produced
its not much different than the subsidies given farmers already
in the us for raising crops or in some cases not raising crops

here at the country inn i would gladly donate 5 acres to solar panels
sure wish our government would make that same commitment

google has partnered with a company in the us called solar city
which will put in a solar system at your house and sell the
electricity to you at a guaranteed rate that is lower than
your electric companies rate with no outlay of money
the website is www.solarcity.com
or just google it

this is what the us should be doing
this is what the germans have been doing for years
hopefully well get there soon or well probably wait until
its too late

LIGHT BULBS
well the old light bulbs are going away
wonder if an old light bulb black market pops up
bet it does
americans dont like change

there is hi-halogen incandescent-which is like the old bulb
but is souped up with halogen and is only 25% more efficient
and is the cheapest of the new choices

there is cfl-compact fluorescent light-those are the spiral ones
they have traces of mercury and are 75% energy more efficient and
is second cheapest choices

then there is led-light emitting diode-uses a small semicondutctor
chip and is 85% more efficient and lasts 25 times longer
its also the most expensive
it generates much less heat

pay more now and pay less later for energy

knowing the black market though bet well see smuggling of
light bulbs into the us especially through mexico
sure our jails will fill up with people convicted for having more
than the legal limit of old light bulbs
bet the county we live in will do harsher penalties for those crooks
than they will in the county where austin is
lets fill those jails up with those crooks
thatll deter them from selling that illegal contraband

the organicgreen doctor