What did you do today? - 2021 version

[doneat54]

Well technically, it is what I did today as I got home from the event at 12:10 am this morning.

A coupla few years ago I registered my vintage cars with a local big city casting agency for possible use in film. I got pings from them from time to time, but nothing ever materialized. Just last week, I got an e-mail that one of my cars might be needed for a shoot this week. I'll pause here and say that the agency is VERY specific on participants not posting on social media, or other forums about the productions specifics, locations, etc., else you will not get paid or used again. So I can't say what the production or location is. On Tues this week I drove into the "big city" for a COVID test, a hair cut, and a wardrobe fitting. And yesterday was live shoot day. I towed my '57 VW not quite an hours drive away knowing the shoot might end well after dark. It was a fun day, but lots of waiting around as I expected. I was in 2 shoots as a driver in my car. The first was in the evening, and I circled a small block/building with 4 other vintage cars, timed to a scene on an adjacent sidewalk with simulated rain. People scampering on a sidewalk in a downpour. We did 5-6 takes I think. I had a walkie talkie on a channel with a director in the car. Earlier I was told to park on the side of street in the scene, but after that told that the director loved my car and wanted it moving in the scene, and in front of the others in the shot. I had the only non-American car there (a '57 VW Beetle). Anyway, I could go on for pages about the whole experience, but I digress. The production is actually a TV series, so there are filming opps available to me throughout the summer. I could never be able to do this if I wasn't FIRE'ed!!!

The second shoot was in a scene which involved a 60s city bus and we were just passing traffic. It was after dark, but the scene was lit by some huge lighting on vertical lifts. I was flanked by Ford Thunderbirds an a beautiful 1956 Chrysler Windsor. A bit exhausting and chaotic, but really fun. Will be interesting to see what happens throughout the summer. The director liked my car!!!

 

[Freedom56]

We walked to the beach to watch the sunrise.

 

[TrvlBug]

We're dipping our toes into the outside world and had our second excursion yesterday. Went to an exhibit at the Legion of Honor in SF. Fabulous in that capacity was at 25% or less and your didn't have to juggle to see the exhibits. Sad that it's due to Covid.

 

[pacergal]

Well technically, it is what I did today as I got home from the event at 12:10 am this morning.

A coupla few years ago I registered my vintage cars with a local big city casting agency for possible use in film. I got pings from them from time to time, but nothing ever materialized. Just last week, I got an e-mail that one of my cars might be needed for a shoot this week. I'll pause here and say that the agency is VERY specific on participants not posting on social media, or other forums about the productions specifics, locations, etc., else you will not get paid or used again. So I can't say what the production or location is. On Tues this week I drove into the "big city" for a COVID test, a hair cut, and a wardrobe fitting. And yesterday was live shoot day. I towed my '57 VW not quite an hours drive away knowing the shoot might end well after dark. It was a fun day, but lots of waiting around as I expected. I was in 2 shoots as a driver in my car. The first was in the evening, and I circled a small block/building with 4 other vintage cars, timed to a scene on an adjacent sidewalk with simulated rain. People scampering on a sidewalk in a downpour. We did 5-6 takes I think. I had a walkie talkie on a channel with a director in the car. Earlier I was told to park on the side of street in the scene, but after that told that the director loved my car and wanted it moving in the scene, and in front of the others in the shot. I had the only non-American car there (a '57 VW Beetle). Anyway, I could go on for pages about the whole experience, but I digress. The production is actually a TV series, so there are filming opps available to me throughout the summer. I could never be able to do this if I wasn't FIRE'ed!!!

The second shoot was in a scene which involved a 60s city bus and we were just passing traffic. It was after dark, but the scene was lit by some huge lighting on vertical lifts. I was flanked by Ford Thunderbirds an a beautiful 1956 Chrysler Windsor. A bit exhausting and chaotic, but really fun. Will be interesting to see what happens throughout the summer. The director liked my car!!!

Fun!! and Nice car!!

 

[street]

Got up early and for the first time in 4 days I didn't wake up to a yard full of branches and shingles tore of roof. I also woke to quite and no howling wind. Lol

I decided to pack in and check on eaglets and see if the last eaglet survived the last storm (90 MPH) winds. One had been blown out of nest on Tuesdays storm was only one left.

The last eaglet had survived the storm and got some pictures but I'm very saddened by the lost of the one little one.

Got a text my step granddaughter will be coming to spend the day with us so I hurried home to be with her.

 

[Walt34]

Based on your postings pretty much everyday in this thread, you might want to change your sig line.

Harley may have a point there.

Today I had thought my sole accomplishment today would be to install a condensate pump for the 2nd dehumidifier in the basement. We don't really need two, but we bought it after a dishwasher leak and since it's there we might as well use it. Or maybe we do need two since the other one never shuts off in summer months. Now they both do. Anyway, I was just starting on that when DW says "The computer is making a whining noise". Hmmm, that's never good.

Turns out it's not the computer, it's the UPS constantly whining. I guess it gave up on beeping when no one heard that because that's what it did when I cycled it. And it's flashing a code that says "FO2 see manual". Gee, that's informative. Anyway, that turned out to be needing new batteries so I went to the nearby battery store and got those, installed them, all was well, and went back to the condensate pump.

For once, that project held no surprises. I already had the tubing and connector to run the very short line from the dehumidifier to the pump, and I'd ordered a version of the pump that came with 20' of tubing for the outlet, which was plenty.

And I have every intention of doing nothing for the rest of the day.

 

[bbbamI]

I log on from time to time to see how y'all are doing, but I've been a bit distracted and haven't posted much lately.

Got back today from my third trip to MO to see my dad.

The past couple of months dh and I have been dealing with dad's health issue. He's been diagnosed with cancer. It's in an early stage and doctors feel radiation is the best treatment. He will get treatment close to his home and fortunately, his nephew lives close by and will take him to his radiation therapy for the first two weeks or so. After that point, I may have to go back to MO and stay with him during the last few weeks.

My dad is 88 years old and is in good health otherwise, but I'm not sure he will be able to take 35 treatments. We shall see....

 

[W2R]

I log on from time to time to see how y'all are doing, but I've been a bit distracted and haven't posted much lately.

Got back today from my third trip to MO to see my dad.

The past couple of months dh and I have been dealing with dad's health issue. He's been diagnosed with cancer. It's in an early stage and doctors feel radiation is the best treatment. He will get treatment close to his home and fortunately, his nephew lives close by and will take him to his radiation therapy for the first two weeks or so. After that point, I may have to go back to MO and stay with him during the last few weeks.

My dad is 88 years old and is in good health otherwise, but I'm not sure he will be able to take 35 treatments. We shall see....

I am so sorry to hear about your father's health situation!!! I am not religious so I can't send my prayers, but my best wishes and thoughts are definitely on the way. So glad he can get treatment close to home. I know this must be hard on you, so take care of yourself too. (hugs)

I had wondered where you were, but (mistakenly) thought that maybe you were looking for a break from all the COVID threads here, or some such thing.

 

[1242Vintage]

Went out on a bike ride with all three kids today. All live out of state (Nevada, Wisconsin & Ohio) and by coincidence all are in California this weekend. A very fun morning.

They all went out this afternoon to a friends house. While they were out I finished up the install on a new emergency whole house electrical generator. Only a matter of time until hot and dry summer winds kick up again and PG&E shuts down the power grid.

Gotta say it’s nice being one of the few homes in the area with emergency backup power. When the grid is shut down friends and neighbors come on by for a bit of wifi, cool beverage, a recharge on cell phones and air conditioning.

 

[NW-Bound]

... The past couple of months dh and I have been dealing with dad's health issue. He's been diagnosed with cancer. It's in an early stage and doctors feel radiation is the best treatment...

My dad is 88 years old and is in good health otherwise, but I'm not sure he will be able to take 35 treatments. We shall see....

I wish you all well. I am no expert, but have had the impression that radiation treatment is usually nowhere as taxing as chemotherapy. Your dad may do just fine.

 

[NW-Bound]

I am not doing a whole lot today. Went out to the backyard in the morning to climb on a ladder with a tree pruner to trim off some branches of a neighbor tree that invaded my lot and shaded my solar panels.

Then, I spent the rest of the day hiding in the house, away from the heat. A nearby micro weatherstation clocked 111.6F high today. Still have another 10F to go till the summer peak.

Dang, it's hot. But the ACs are doing great now, after the refrigerant recharge. My lithium battery holds enough juice to run them, the larger fridge, and some small appliances until 5AM last night.

I am still keeping eyes open for deals on more solar panels, and lithium batteries too. More is better.

 

[aja8888]

I am not doing a whole lot today. Went out to the backyard in the morning to climb on a ladder with a tree pruner to trim off some branches of a neighbor tree that invaded my lot and shaded my solar panels.

Then, I spent the rest of the day hiding in the house, away from the heat. A nearby micro weatherstation clocked 111.6F high today. Still have another 10F to go till the summer peak.

Dang, it's hot. But the ACs are doing great now, after the refrigerant recharge. My lithium battery holds enough juice to run them, the larger fridge, and some small appliances until 5AM last night.

I am still keeping eyes open for deals on more solar panels, and lithium batteries too. More is better.

It's only in the mid 90's here. I played golf yesterday afternoon. Really tough golf!

 

[RetireeRobert]

Went over to oldest daughter's to babysit the Granddaughter while DD got in her walking exercise. Dropped by middle kid, DS, to deliver some mail he had go to my house. Stopped by post office to mail a letter to youngest daughter which had come to my house and which she thought had a gig check for her.

So, all the little punks were taken care of, then after lunch I went to the gym and got in 65 minutes of aerobics and got a good sweat. 26 minutes on the stair climber doing an interval routine, then 35 minutes on the treadmill at a brisk pace. Finished that off with a stretching routine in efforts to stay limber (also helps keep the kink out of my neck!).

Had enough spare time I stopped at Mickey D's for a McChicken/medium fries/medium diet coke, about five hours since breakfast. Then went on over to church at 4:45 for Small Community Group bible study. Group is led by a local Christian college professor who on campus teaches---Bible Studies class! Very knowledgeable man, can quote chapter and verse off the top of his head at the drop of a pin. Then to evening church service at 6, for an update on the annual "Envisioning 21/22" plan.

Home at 8 for some leftover Chinese food from one of the "Top 100 Chinese Restaurants" in the US, a local Chinese diner.

Now perusing the early retiree thread here at the forum!

 

[Ronstar]

Went back to school. Weekend woodworking class in Indiana. All hand tools. Now to blow some dough on some lumber and build something.

 

[street]

RonStar, that sounds like an interesting wood working school using all hand tools. I like that concept and when doing my carvings I use hand tools. Hope to see a project completed from the class.

I built a cabin and shed with hand tools and chainsaw. Much gratitude and very rewarding when doing a project old school.

 

[Sue J]

Well technically, it is what I did today as I got home from the event at 12:10 am this morning.

A coupla few years ago I registered my vintage cars with a local big city casting agency for possible use in film. I got pings from them from time to time, but nothing ever materialized. Just last week, I got an e-mail that one of my cars might be needed for a shoot this week. I'll pause here and say that the agency is VERY specific on participants not posting on social media, or other forums about the productions specifics, locations, etc., else you will not get paid or used again. So I can't say what the production or location is. On Tues this week I drove into the "big city" for a COVID test, a hair cut, and a wardrobe fitting. And yesterday was live shoot day. I towed my '57 VW not quite an hours drive away knowing the shoot might end well after dark. It was a fun day, but lots of waiting around as I expected. I was in 2 shoots as a driver in my car. The first was in the evening, and I circled a small block/building with 4 other vintage cars, timed to a scene on an adjacent sidewalk with simulated rain. People scampering on a sidewalk in a downpour. We did 5-6 takes I think. I had a walkie talkie on a channel with a director in the car. Earlier I was told to park on the side of street in the scene, but after that told that the director loved my car and wanted it moving in the scene, and in front of the others in the shot. I had the only non-American car there (a '57 VW Beetle). Anyway, I could go on for pages about the whole experience, but I digress. The production is actually a TV series, so there are filming opps available to me throughout the summer. I could never be able to do this if I wasn't FIRE'ed!!!

The second shoot was in a scene which involved a 60s city bus and we were just passing traffic. It was after dark, but the scene was lit by some huge lighting on vertical lifts. I was flanked by Ford Thunderbirds an a beautiful 1956 Chrysler Windsor. A bit exhausting and chaotic, but really fun. Will be interesting to see what happens throughout the summer. The director liked my car!!!

What an exciting opportunity. I hope they use you again.

When my Dad first retired he and my Mom signed up to be extras on a movie. They did it twice I think. One was a movie with Jason Robards and Rob Lowe, I think it was never released. They were a couple in the background of a restaurant. The director had to remind them that they are pretending to talk, not really talking.

 

[NW-Bound]

Same as yesterday, this morning I hauled out the tree pruner and climbed on a ladder once more to trim off some more branches of a neighbor tree that protruded over to my lot and caused shading of my solar panels.

Then, like a déjà vu, I retreated inside the home to stay out of the heat. Yesterday was 111.6F, and today is 114.8F. The forecast calls for another 3F rise towards the weekend.

Last night, the solar battery ran out at midnight. Will see when the inverters cut out and switch over to grid power tonight.

I remember last year, on the hottest days my system was barely able to last till 8PM. That was still good, because 8PM is when the electric rate drops from 24c/kWh to 7c/kWh.

If my system runs out early, then I will switch the pool pump off the solar system and run it off the grid in the morning, in order to save the morning solar juice for use on the ACs when electricity becomes 3x more expensive.

 

[street]

Wow! .24¢/KWH. I pay a flat .075¢KWH. Interesting!!

 

[Freedom56]

Went to meet friends for a drink and got caught in a downpour while at our table. We were sitting under shelter but the live band that was playing didn't have that luxury and had to scramble get their equipment out of the rain.

 

[NW-Bound]

Wow! .24¢/KWH. I pay a flat .075¢KWH. Interesting!!

Yes, but it's expensive only when everybody needs their AC cranking full-blast, the same as I do.

But at night, it's cheap just as your rate. Supply & demand, my friend. It applies to not just electricity, but TP, and hand sanitizer, and what have you.

Prior to designing and installing my DIY system, I thought about the battery and panel requirements. The thought occurred to me that perhaps it's the battery that I need, more than the stinkin' solar panels. Here's why.

If I precharge the battery during the night at the 7c rate, then use it during the peak-demand rate of 24c, I save 17c/kWh. Of course that ignores the loss during charging/discharging to make it simple.

Now, if I can get the charging power from the solar panel, then I get another 7c/kWh. Obviously, the 17c is a lot bigger than the 7c. The battery gives me the 17c, while the solar panels only give me 7c.

But then, it also occurs to me that if I use, say 50 kWh during the peak period, I would need less than 50 kWh of storage, if I generate some of that electricity during the day, and use it while it is generated. I would then need only enough storage to last me from the time the solar production starts to decline, which is about 4:30PM, until 8PM when the rate gets cheap again.

As it works out, my battery now lasts past 8PM, which is better than I originally hoped for. And that is after I ran the pool pump and the water heater along with the ACs throughout the day too.

But, but, but, I also observe that in the peak summer usage, my battery is not fully charged when the energy flow starts to reverse because the solar generation is declining. The inverters start to draw from the less-than-full battery to supplement the declining solar power. If I had more panels to get the battery fully charged, then it would last longer perhaps till the early AM morning again as in early summer.

More panels. Then, more batteries to store more juice when the panels are overproducing compared to the usage when it is not so hot. One leads to another, and perhaps I will stop when I generate/store enough to be completely off-grid.

 

[harley]

Same as yesterday, this morning I hauled out the tree pruner and climbed on a ladder once more to trim off some more branches of a neighbor tree that protruded over to my lot and caused shading of my solar panels.

Just out of curiosity, did you get your neighbor's permission before you cut the branches? The reason I ask is that about 10 years ago my neighbor's crape myrtle's branches were growing across our yard, blocking access from my gate to the back yard. They were also starting to press up against my garage windows and siding. So I cut them back to the property line, and never thought twice about it.

Recently we did something really minor that pissed them off, and they wrote us a nasty letter (he's a lawyer, so good at that) that included everything we've done to annoy them over the past 13 years. He specifically mentioned cutting the branches as trespassing and destruction of property. My response was to tell him to piss off, and then to go back to ignoring their existence.

But it makes me wonder. Do people normally ask permission to trim offending tree branches that are growing over their property? I might have mentioned I was going to do it if we'd ever had any kind of neighborly relationship, but they've hated us ever since we built next door to them. As far as I can tell, our offence was building next door to them. But all my life we've just cut branches off trees that have overhung our property. Is that not the norm?

 

[NW-Bound]

Just out of curiosity, did you get your neighbor's permission before you cut the branches? The reason I ask is that about 10 years ago my neighbor's crape myrtle's branches were growing across our yard, blocking access from my gate to the back yard. They were also starting to press up against my garage windows and siding. So I cut them back to the property line, and never thought twice about it.

Recently we did something really minor that pissed them off, and they wrote us a nasty letter (he's a lawyer, so good at that) that included everything we've done to annoy them over the past 13 years. He specifically mentioned cutting the branches as trespassing and destruction of property. My response was to tell him to piss off, and then to go back to ignoring their existence.

But it makes me wonder. Do people normally ask permission to trim offending tree branches that are growing over their property? I might have mentioned I was going to do it if we'd ever had any kind of neighborly relationship, but they've hated us ever since we built next door to them. As far as I can tell, our offence was building next door to them. But all my life we've just cut branches off trees that have overhung our property. Is that not the norm?

I did talk with the neighbor in the past about his tree prior to doing any pruning, just out of courtesy. He admitted that he did not realize that his tree branches stuck out over the fence into my yard. He did even trim back some branches himself.

 

[street]

NW-Bound that is interesting. I understand peak usage and what PC's have to do for KWH charges etc.. I never dreamed .24¢ thou, that is high and being that high as a penalty for using in peak times may make a huge difference.

I just got my utility bill Friday it was 71$ and some ¢ for the month. We don't watch what we use and need to be more conservative with power but are not. I bet if we turned lights out etc. to tried to conserve it would be half that for the month.

 

[Gumby]

We don't have peak and non-peak residential pricing here. It's just one price all the time. Looking at my latest bill, it is about 27 cents per kwh, which includes generation, transmission, distribution and a fixed monthly service charge whether you use any power or not.

 

[street]

Gumby, 27¢ that is high. I'm just out of touch with KWH prices I guess.