I’m not worried about the sky conditions as much as the mind conditions. After all, we know that solar power generation is horribly expensive and maybe technically difficult today and that seems to be the Miami Herald’s reason we should eschew it.

If expense and difficulty were a good reason, we’d still be using buggy whips and posting these notes by carrier pigeon.

For the record, Florida has strong sun but not 100%. That said, Florida is waaaaaaay sunnier than Germany where it already works.

Would you consider Germany to be a particularly sunny land? I wouldn’t, and yet Germany, while not first in the list of countries deriving their energy from solar, is way up there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Germany

Solar may not be the only answer, but it is a damned fine one and anyone whining that it’s not viable is a fuckwit.

According to the Miami Herald, “Natural gas, the cleanest and most expensive fossil fuel, costs 9.4 cents a kilowatt-hour, according to the California Energy Commission. That nasty, dirty coal, the biggest producer of greenhouse gases, is also the cheapest. An existing plant can produce electricity for 2.1 cents a kilowatt-hour, FPL regulatory filings say.”

I love it when a newspaper sneaks its editorial bias into its straight reportage: “That nasty, dirty coal, the biggest producer of greenhouse gases.”

Wow. Tell us what you really think.

I dunno. It makes a fine disguise, particularly if you can dye your beard and wear big, heart-shaped shades. Since DMV might protest the shades (that mucks up facial recognition), I recommend crossing just one eye (the left one).

Then, just a week or so ago, I got a stern reprimand in the mail — DMV’s records indicate that my photo hasn’t been updated in 12 years and the Law requires an update! Get me to a DMV immediately!

Should I shave my ’stache, you think?

In the interests of full disclosure, I am registered to vote in Florida.

After the Democrats pissed and moaned about Bush winning the election here with lawyers, not votes, Democratic Party lawyers now say party rules call for Florida and Michigan to lose at least half their delegates at the convention. Which means Florida and Michigan gain half their delegates at the convention. Which violates the party rules that said “hold the primary after this date or lose your delegates.” I don’t see much ambiguity there.

That said, Billary will probably appeal whatever decision comes down with a credentials fight at the convention.

Huh.

Anybody else smell another Supreme Court battle?

Agents for change my furry white patootie. This is politics as usual with the pols remaking the rules whenever they want.

“The unkept promises are corrosive,” Ms. Clinton said. I could not agree more.

Bye Bye Billary. Bye Bye Dems.

My daughter who loves manatees was quite impressed. I’m just jealous. But she really laughed about your walgreens comment, having just left their esteemed employ, sick of telling customers why they don’t have milk or anything else they advertise!

Glad you all are having a good time!

very nice photo perpective, btw.

Oh, check out myspace. I did a cool slide show kaliedoscope thingie w/ spring flowers.

Have a great summer!
mk

Sometimes I love technology. Sometimes I don’t.

Hey mk! You’re a writer Turn up the 40 watt bulb and put some more words in a row.

I need data but I would settle for manufacturers’ numbers. The teevee may draw 25% of its total power consumption on standby but that draw is not 25% of a refrigerator. The fridge doesn’t count anyway since its power draw is necessary to make cold, not just keep it ready. Likewise the furnace and the well pump.

The problem is this: I can walk around the house and add up a lot of little green lights on or blinking. Some of them even irritate me–the teevee being one of them. This household burns through 666 KW-Hrs per month or so. I do not believe those blinking green lights account for 167 of them.

Even the Far Green can’t believe that, no matter what they say in print.

President Bush signed a 2001 executive order that instructs federal agencies to buy energy-efficient devices. ”Each agency, when it purchases commercially available, off-the-shelf products that use external standby power devices, or that contain an internal standby power function, shall purchase products that use no more than one watt in their standby power consuming mode. ‘If such products are not available, agencies shall purchase products with the lowest standby power wattage while in their standby power consuming mode.”

We peeps can do the same.

In fact, we can do a little bit more.

Here in North Puffin, I do use a 1990-vintage Power Comm 3000 to disconnect the computer(s) and peripherals from the grid when I shut down for the day. We don’t leave charger wall warts plugged in unless they, too, are on a switched outlet. We have a lot of charger wall warts but we have a lot of switched outlets, too.

I will not unplug the VCRs, though. How would we tape Moonlight when we go out on a Friday night?

The shelf life of current gasoline is only about 4 months.

Swell.

That gives us a great feeling for the (topless)(white) car that sits in the barn, for the lawnmowers, and other gear.

I expect that water will make the gas more corrosive, too.

Yeah, we’ve been thinking about that as well. And consider that the South Puffin air that brings the water into the gas tank is salt laden.

At the least, I suggest you run the Keyscar tank empty and then fill it with fresh

Good idea except for the leaks. Maybe I’ll just fill it wth Stabil™.

I need to think about that for my motorcycle, which also goes months without running.

And its hoses.

… including in your gas tank, over time. But now it migrates to the ethanol, and when the ethanol dissolved in the gasoline gets enough water content, it becomes immiscible with the gasoline and separates as very small liquid particles which stay suspended. Since ethanol/water solution has a refractive index different from gasoline, the fuel appears cloudy. I am guessing that the viscosity is also higher because you have separate phases. Has to affect fuel metering, even with a carb.

A friend bought a dump truck with a crate motor that had been sitting quite a while. It would start and idle but wouldn’t run well. He pulled a gasoline sample and found it to be cloudy. Drained the tank, flushed it, then filled with new gas. Truck fired right up and runs like a champ. He says he’s heard that the shelf life of current gasoline is only about 4 months.

I expect that water will make the gas more corrosive, too.

At the least, I suggest that before leaving [South Puffin] you run the Keyscar tank darned near empty and then fill it with fresh gas. You might add Stabil™ as well.

I need to think about that for my motorcycle, which also goes months without running.

Be aware that the mechanisms described fit the evidence, but that alone cannot confirm causality. When I offer explanations like this to some folks, I tell them “I’m free-lancing” i.e. I am offering highly-educated speculation, not reciting established and well-proven fact.

Reading da kewl blog though!

so there!

mk

But the house is worth more than we paid for it, which is especially good here in CA where the property tax is set last time it’s appraised.

It may truly have been seven thoughts: the two numbered thoughts and the five supporting players.

Hey! Seven is a lucky number. Do you think I can win the lottery and pay the (inflated) property tax on the (deflated) property value?

Now more than ever.

The President could indeed enable it as Jack Kennedy did when he said “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth” and then prodded Congress into appropriating the money.

The grand explorations of history have indeed been underwritten by governments.

The grand work of history has been done by men.

The President has the greatest bully pulpit known. A president can and should ignite the passion for mens and wimmens to go back to the Moon.