The 10 Most Recent Posts

First thing I did today was to go to the local post office and see about setting up mail delivery. Once I get some paperwork out of the way, I will have a mailbox on a rail along with a number of other peoples' as you may have seen in rural areas. It will be about 1/10 of mile from the entrance to my "community" and then another half mile to my property. So a nice 1.2 mile walk round trip. Not bad at all.

Right now I'm sitting in the Carl's Jr. in Walmart since I don't have any electricity at home (and I didn't even have to buy anything). I'm using my phone's hotspot for Internet.

I hope to get my solar panels up and running either today or tomorrow. That'll be great.

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Tomorrow my contractor volunteered to drive me to my old apartment so I can get my truck and drive it to the property (I'm paying him for gas), so I thought I would make good use of today and set up my solar power system.

It's the same system I previously had working on my earlier short trips to the property. With everything being so rushed moving out of the apartment, I wasn't sure I would have everything here I needed to make it work. That and I had to drill a pass-through hole in my brand new shed to get the wires from the solar panels inside. I said a quick prayer and got started.

The hole was the scariest part. 1, I used a spade bit (which I had to buy yesterday since I didn't want to take the time to try to find the ones I already have) and was worried that I would wind all the fiberglass batting into a ball, so as soon as I got through the plywood I stopped and used a pair of scissors to cut as much of the fiberglass as I could. Then I proceeded to cut a hole in the exterior wall. Phew! Done. The fiberglass was fine.

Then 2, and here's the God part - the spade bit I bought has a short spindle. It was too short to cut completely through the exterior wall. I don't know why it didn't occur to me when I bought it, bit it didn't. I had pretty much resigned myself to measuring where this hole was and then going outside and hoping I could drill that hole and have it line up with the interior one. Then I started pulling out the tools I would be using and found an extension! Problem solved. Sort of. As I was tightening the extension in the drill, I noticed the spade bit wobbling around in the extension. I was afraid I would lose the spade bit inside the wall. That would be a major headache and complication. So I took a piece of duct tape and taped the bit to the extension. Another problem solved.

I connected all the components and am charging one of my devices right now. The green lights on the solar charge controller indicate the 100Ah AGM (sealed lead acid) battery is charging normally. I have three 100Ah LiFePO4 (Lithium) batteries which I'll be hooking up eventually, but I needed power today and now I have it. The only thing I need to get those running are some additional solar panels dedicated just to them.

With all the wind lately, I'm going to weight the panels so they don't blow away.

I'm going to make sure to get the 55 quart ice chest size refrigerator/freezer I bought a couple of months ago. No more continually buying ice.

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My contractor drove me to Flagstaff (I paid him for gas) so I could pick up my truck and drive it to my new place. Before I left town, I ran a few errands. Fortunately, the trip was uneventful and I made it home with no trouble.

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I went to the local post office and started my change of address. I did what I could do there, but had to finish the process online. There was one small hiccup, but I was able to complete the process. I should be receiving mail at my new address in a week or so.

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Didn't do much today. Didn't go anywhere. Got caught up on some computer stuff.

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Took a walk to the mailbox. It's about 0.6 miles, 12 minutes one way, so not bad. A good way to get a little exercise and to break up the day. Got the manufacturer's name and mailbox's model number. With those I should be able to find the right replacement lock.

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Woke up to find a bit of frost on my car, but it melted as soon as the sun came up. Went into town to do some shopping. Light rain started falling late tonight. I might wake up to snow on the ground tomorrow.

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No frost on the car this morning and no snow, but it has been trying to rain all day. Good day to stay inside and organize everything I sort of just dumped into the shed from the moving truck.

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This is what I woke up to. Not much. Maybe an inch or two, but enough to keep me in my shed for a couple of days. Even with brand new tires, I'm not sure I want to venture out onto the roads unless it's close to an emergency.

Today's Photos

The first of two 30 lb propane tanks I have ran out last night, so I hooked up the second one. Once the roads clear, I'll get that one filled.

That tank lasted at most 1/2 a month. I had used it a couple of times on previous trips, but not much. It will be interesting to see how long this one will last. I'm sure the rest of this month.

A 30 lb tank holds roughly 6 gallons and at $4 to $4.15 a gallon (I'm guessing), that's roughly $50 per month. But I'm hoping it will be only for the coldest months.

By the time the sun was setting, in all but the shadiest spots, the snow was pretty much gone.

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Not much has been happening since my last post. Just normal everyday life kind of stuff: running errands for supplies. I had to refill my 30lb propane tanks twice and of course get food.

Today it's snowing again and it looks like more for tomorrow. Then I'll get a few days relief and could get more next week. It is Winter after all and I'm at about 6,600 feet. Not much is "sticking". Almost as soon as it falls it melts. Tomorrow might be a different story.

Because of the weather, I need to watch my battery charge level. The battery is being charged, but if I'm not careful about my electricity use, I could use it faster than the panels can recharge the battery. Yes, that's right. One battery. And it's an AGM (lead acid) so it's best if I only use half or so of its maximum rated capacity. I have 3 LiFePO4 batteries, but I need cables and panels to get them set up. I already have the solar charge controller. Hopefully, I can get those up and running before too much longer.

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