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Old 07-11-2020, 06:47 AM   #1241
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Nice. I need to do that.
Best one I've ever seen was Hale-Bopp in 97.
Saw Halley's in 86 in South America, but it was very disappointing.
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Old 07-11-2020, 07:58 AM   #1242
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Ordered two 32 GB Scandisk chips. Loaded all our trip pics (19 GB) in each of them. We have 2 photo frames and put one in each photo frame.
It is fun to watch a few minutes at a time and discuss where we were
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Old 07-11-2020, 10:11 AM   #1243
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This morning I got up before 4:00 AM to catch Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) as it rose above the trees a bit before 5:00. It's a bright, naked-eye comet with a tail pointing up about 5 degrees. If you've never seen a good comet, this one's worth it. Look to the northeast before dawn these next few days.

Edit to add link, and to say that it will move to the evening sky in the next week: https://www.space.com/comet-neowise-...july-2020.html
DH and I happened to be up then and he remembered about the comet. The sky was actually clear to the NW, and NEOWISE was easy to spot. Very cool! I remember when Hale-Bopp was visible for quite a while in 1997. Hale-Bopp got its name from its discoverers, Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp. NEOWISE for some reason was named after the telescope used to discover it, the Near-Earth Object Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer.

We still have a Hale-Bopp commemorative shot glass that came with a bottle of Yukon Jack. I don't see one for NEOWISE, but will be on the look out. Might have to toast the ice ball with a mixed drink though, instead of straight up as in 1997.
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Old 07-11-2020, 11:41 AM   #1244
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Hale-Bopp got its name from its discoverers, Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp. NEOWISE for some reason was named after the telescope used to discover it, the Near-Earth Object Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer.
Actually, most comets these days are basically discovered by machines, not humans, so this one was named for its discoverer, NEOWISE.

This one isn't as good as Hale-Bopp was, but it's the best one since then.
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Old 07-11-2020, 03:21 PM   #1245
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Drove from our vacation house in Maine back home to Connecticut. Traffic was lighter than most years.
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Old 07-11-2020, 03:58 PM   #1246
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I am still alive and well, and still hiding from the COVID virus, plus the hot weather here. It is 116F (47C) here today.

Been babysitting my solar system and its battery. Bought an additional 2.6 kW worth of panels to add to the installed 5.5-kW array. Did not want to climb on the roof to install the new panels in the heat (I ran out of room to do another ground mount), so just laid out 7 new panels on the pool deck perimeter, and ran some jury-rigged wires from them to a new additional charge controller.

I thought I would have plenty of juice for that 2nd mini-split, and I do, but there is not much excess power to store in the 22-kWh battery to carry through the night. One day, when the high of the day was a mere 105F and the low in the morning was 80F, the battery had enough charge to run the house through the night until sunrise again. Son of a gun! But that is not true anymore, when the high is more than 115F (46C) and the low is 90F (32C). Man, that is hot. Now, I run out of solar juice at around 9PM, and everything switches back to the grid.

Still, I have quite a bit of shading due to my own 2-story home and the neighbor's tree, so will have a bit more juice when I install the additional panels on the roof, instead of laying them around the pool as I do now.

And in order to store more juice, I just acquired another 7 kWh worth of lithium battery. It will not be until next summer that I know if the panels produce enough juice to fill up the total storage of 29 kWh. In any case, a bigger battery will not be worked as hard in terms of charging/discharging cycle depth, and will last longer. More is always good. Same with battery as with money.

PS. I saw the sad news that Khan passed away. RIP.
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Old 07-11-2020, 04:43 PM   #1247
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Voted! Today we had the Presidential Primary elections for both parties, here in Louisiana.

The people working at the polls were dressed in very professional looking scrubs, masks, and gloves, and gave each voter a big disinfecting wipe to use, plus they already individually disinfected each pen given out for voters to sign in. I was very impressed with their thorough anti-COVID19 measures.

There were only about 4-5 other voters there, and by the time we were signed in and ready to vote there were voting machines immediately available. So, we were in and out of there pretty quickly.

We didn't vote by mail, because we are concerned about mail-in ballots considering Louisiana's legendary reputation for political corruption. The politics of Louisiana are known for its entrenched corruption and populism. Probably a silly worry but we wanted to go in person.
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Old 07-11-2020, 04:47 PM   #1248
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Drove from our vacation house in Maine back home to Connecticut. Traffic was lighter than most years.
Did you have to do a 14 day quarantine when you got to Maine?
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Old 07-11-2020, 05:19 PM   #1249
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Helped shingle my brother's house today...payback from when he helped me do my house last month. His was a lot more work as it was a 6/12 pitch with a lot of 1"x6"x8' sheathing that needed replacing. Plus there was a poorly constructed addition (previous owner) that needed a lot of repair, new flashing, etc.

I quit after 6 hours as we have plans tonight but we got all the repair work done, membrane laid, vents and flashing replaced, and about a third of the shingles done. The rest will be easy and they can manage on their own.
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Old 07-11-2020, 05:33 PM   #1250
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It's 104 degrees in the shade today. So sitting by the pool with my laptop listening to Bryan Adams, Billy Idol, Level 42, and other music from the 80's. The water temperature is 86 degrees so we will be cooling off in the water.
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Old 07-11-2020, 05:39 PM   #1251
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Woke up to this guy at the window.

Today is hot, 92°F, it's air-conditioning day!!!! We have central air, not many houses do here, and generally turn on the AC once a year. Tomorrow looks like we won't need it so that's the plan.

Went to Durango this morning. I let the vehicle do most of the driving. I was able to see more of the beautiful scenery that I'd seen the last 50 times I drove this route. 20200711_060132.jpeg
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Old 07-11-2020, 05:55 PM   #1252
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I am still alive and well, and still hiding from the COVID virus, plus the hot weather here. It is 116F (47C) here today.

Been babysitting my solar system and its battery. Bought an additional 2.6 kW worth of panels to add to the installed 5.5-kW array. Did not want to climb on the roof to install the new panels in the heat (I ran out of room to do another ground mount), so just laid out 7 new panels on the pool deck perimeter, and ran some jury-rigged wires from them to a new additional charge controller.

I thought I would have plenty of juice for that 2nd mini-split, and I do, but there is not much excess power to store in the 22-kWh battery to carry through the night. One day, when the high of the day was a mere 105F and the low in the morning was 80F, the battery had enough charge to run the house through the night until sunrise again. Son of a gun! But that is not true anymore, when the high is more than 115F (46C) and the low is 90F (32C). Man, that is hot. Now, I run out of solar juice at around 9PM, and everything switches back to the grid.

Still, I have quite a bit of shading due to my own 2-story home and the neighbor's tree, so will have a bit more juice when I install the additional panels on the roof, instead of laying them around the pool as I do now.

And in order to store more juice, I just acquired another 7 kWh worth of lithium battery. It will not be until next summer that I know if the panels produce enough juice to fill up the total storage of 29 kWh. In any case, a bigger battery will not be worked as hard in terms of charging/discharging cycle depth, and will last longer. More is always good. Same with battery as with money.

PS. I saw the sad news that Khan passed away. RIP.


I’m glad to see you are alive and well, I missed hearing about your adventures.
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Old 07-11-2020, 06:21 PM   #1253
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Did you have to do a 14 day quarantine when you got to Maine?
No. When we went up early on June 27, the rule in Maine was either 14 day quarantine or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of arriving in Maine. The young wife and I got COVID tests here in CT on June 24 in the evening (both negative) and got to Maine within 72 hrs. On July 3, the Maine governor changed the rule, so that people coming from CT do not need to quarantine or get a COVID test. So I got a very long swab jammed unbelievably far up my nose pretty much for nothing. But it could have been worse; I could have come up positive.
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Old 07-11-2020, 06:22 PM   #1254
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I am still alive and well, and still hiding from the COVID virus, plus the hot weather here.
So glad you are doing OK!

Quote:
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It is 116F (47C) here today.
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It's 104 degrees in the shade today.
Here in my New Orleans suburb, it was 103F today.
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Today is hot, 92°F, it's air-conditioning day!!!!
Hot? hot? Just you wait! Summer's not over yet.
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Old 07-11-2020, 09:01 PM   #1255
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So glad you are doing OK!


Here in my New Orleans suburb, it was 103F today.

Hot? hot? Just you wait! Summer's not over yet.
We generally run the AC one day a year. Tomorrow its supposed to be upper 80s and then it goes middle 80s to low 50s at night for the next couple weeks. Kinda normal.[emoji16]
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Old 07-13-2020, 11:57 AM   #1256
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Lumber. It's the new toilet paper.....

My local Lowes this morning. The HD wasn't much better.
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Old 07-13-2020, 12:06 PM   #1257
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Lumber. It's the new toilet paper.
Just watch out for the splinters ..
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Old 07-13-2020, 12:38 PM   #1258
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What the heck is everybody doing with the lumber? There's no hurricane coming this way? Maybe building an Ark?
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Old 07-13-2020, 12:53 PM   #1259
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Yesterday we had placed an order for a takeout dinner from one of the best restaurants in Austin and I thought it would be a good idea to take DH's van to pick it up as it hadn't been out in awhile. Well, it had been longer than I thought and the battery was low enough that it would't start, and DH has a medical appointment tomorrow. So today started with a call to AAA (my 4th battery jump this year ). Tech said I should drive it for 45 minutes to fully charge but the only errands I had to run were within 5 miles. So I just headed down towards the airport to check out the new toll road construction. Lots of progress since the last time I was down that way mid-May. On the way home, picked up a letter to answer for our prison ministry and a prescription for DH plus a graduation card and gift card for a great-nephew.

Had some leftovers from the (very yummy) dinner for lunch and finalized the agenda for a ZOOM committee meeting later today. Now just surfing for a bit. One downside to COVID is that I'm spending so much more time on my computer that I now need my reading glasses again. Bummer.
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Old 07-13-2020, 01:00 PM   #1260
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Yesterday we had placed an order for a takeout dinner from one of the best restaurants in Austin and I thought it would be a good idea to take DH's van to pick it up as it hadn't been out in awhile. Well, it had been longer than I thought and the battery was low enough that it would't start, and DH has a medical appointment tomorrow. So today started with a call to AAA (my 4th battery jump this year ). Tech said I should drive it for 45 minutes to fully charge but the only errands I had to run were within 5 miles. So I just headed down towards the airport to check out the new toll road construction. Lots of progress since the last time I was down that way mid-May. On the way home, picked up a letter to answer for our prison ministry and a prescription for DH plus a graduation card and gift card for a great-nephew.

Had some leftovers from the (very yummy) dinner for lunch and finalized the agenda for a ZOOM committee meeting later today. Now just surfing for a bit. One downside to COVID is that I'm spending so much more time on my computer that I now need my reading glasses again. Bummer.
Why not get a $40 Battery Tender and connect it to your van if you only drive it infrequently? The trickle charge will keep the battery fresh and eliminate calls to AAA.
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