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What are you doing right now?

Just finished washing some portable solar panels. Usually I can just brush the dust off, but this crap from wildfire smoke just got pushed around.

Filled a spray bottle with water and a very small amount of a cheapie general cleaning product as a surfactant, and sprayed it all down lightly and let things drain vertically before bringing inside to dry. These are all IP65 to IP67 but I wouldn't want to use vinegar water or something like that on them.
 
Just did a little online car shopping. I'm in no hurry, my car is only 7 years old. But if I'm going to jump I should move while the trade-in value is still significant. I know the dealer wants it, they sent an offer (with no details) after I had it in for some work on Monday.

What I have my eye on is a US made Japanese product. Right now these are scarce though, other powertrains and some Canadian built stuff is on dealer lots but not what I am after. I've even chosen a color, something I normally care little about. I just wish it was available with the interior I want. My paint color only comes with a black interior and I prefer something lighter.

Even with the black interior though I'm not seeing what I'm after anywhere within the State. Perhaps the next round of dealer allocations will contain a couple of them.

But as I said, I feel no real pressure to jump.
 
Jacob Petersheim said:
Just did a little online car shopping. I'm in no hurry, my car is only 7 years old. But if I'm going to jump I should move while the trade-in value is still significant. I know the dealer wants it, they sent an offer (with no details) after I had it in for some work on Monday.

What I have my eye on is a US made Japanese product. Right now these are scarce though, other powertrains and some Canadian built stuff is on dealer lots but not what I am after. I've even chosen a color, something I normally care little about. I just wish it was available with the interior I want. My paint color only comes with a black interior and I prefer something lighter.

Even with the black interior though I'm not seeing what I'm after anywhere within the State. Perhaps the next round of dealer allocations will contain a couple of them.

But as I said, I feel no real pressure to jump.
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Like I have 3 saddles and only one butt (no horse), I have a car and a truck ( both older) and hubby has his volvo and a 1960 Buick. too many vehicles for two drivers (both older : ) I wanted a 2010ish Lexus with low miles but I think I will just hold this hand.
 
Today I was planning to go out and do yardwork. I get ready and the sky goes dark. I start on something else and it lightens up a bit....
So I am making a beef stew with hamburgers. We have a LOT of ground beef from this side of beef (my mistake) and not a lot of solid meat.:rolleyes: I am frying up the burgers, cutting them up and then proceeding as if it was stew meat. It should taste the same. Right?
Then I get to go out to the barn for the evening.
 
I'm currently working on my forum and changing some things for SEO. I'm implementing links on certain topics to other ones. I also installed OPcache on my forum last night, so things load a lot faster.

Opcache is a caching system that caches php/mysql and boasts performance.
 
Thinking about changing-out a string of outdoor solar lights that underlie a row of hedge along the front of my house. These sit about 6 inches off the ground there, and after a season or three of winter snow and summer rain they tend to "fade out" as corrosion builds up.

I'll salvage the old string for parts, since I bought two sets of replacements on sale those parts will be compatible. Why the heck haven't standards emerged yet for this sort of thing? Don't tell me: they want you to replace and not repair stuff today.

So I'll replace the entire string and solar panel and battery box. I'll fiddle with the old string at my leisure after drying it out. It's too painful for this old man to stay crouched that low enough long enough to try to switch out individual parts one by one until it is repaired.

These look a lot like a conventional "light bulb" but the bulb itself unscrews and the LED module within has two pins that friction-fit into a socket inside. The socket housing is molded onto the cable running from lamp to lamp.

I'm toying with turning the salvaged parts into a solar-powered patio light for the back of the house. But if I can clean the string up and get it operating I might just keep the string and use that back there, suspended beneath the eaves overhanging the patio.

Crazy waste of time? Well, I hate wasting stuff and being retired I have time to fiddle with junk.
 
This weekend and old friend called and asked if I had a couch she could stay on for a few days. She said she would explain later what is going on. Her family has a lot more drama than mine. I asked if it was an emergency and did she need me to come and get her. She said no. But we set up today to have lunch. Things must have soothed over a bit.
I had told hubby and he said no. But this woman took care of me long ago so I said I needed to be there for her.
I have not had drama for a lonnnnng time. Hope we both don't end up sleeping in the barn.
 
I’m currently drinking some coffee and relaxing.

Hope everyone is having a great day!
 
Thinking about how most people have forgotten about "recent" US dollar coins. The ol' "Suzy B" (my boss in the late '70s called them "Carter Coins"), the "Sacajawea," and the "Presidential" dollar coin series of 2007-2011 which even fewer are aware of. The latter were minted for additional years but only offered to collectors.

I can remember USPS stamp vending machines that tended to make change in dollar coins. I'm sure I still have a few Sacajaweas stuck away, along with at least one Susan B. Anthony dollar.

These can be tough to use in a lot of small shops: "Sorry, we only take US money." 😂
 
I made a discovery, though it should have been obvious: you can burn your lawn with solar panels!

Portable consumer solar panels manage maybe 20% to 25% conversion of light to electricity under perfect conditions. The rest of the insolation they receive goes into a little reflection and a lot of heat.

Where I have laid panels down flat around local Noon... my grass is turning yellow and brown, like the worst we normally see during the driest and hottest summer months.

I was blaming a lawn chemical spill, but I now know better. I'll try to stick to propping up one edge using 6-inch rolls of cheap duct tape that I had bought for the purpose, as a quick and dirty portable way to "ramp" at low angles. I don't have any spare 2x4s right now.
 
Cloudy day today, quite overcast with some sprinkles off and on. So no chasing around moving solar panels and such, and I finished the mowing yesterday.

But I did get out and string my R/W/B solar lights on the hedges along the front of the house for Flag Day.

Also fiddled with bank statements and updated my spreadsheets and charts for May's figures. Transferred some money from the checking account my pension is deposited in over to a savings account. I have a CD maturing in a few months so I'm casting about looking for options regarding that money. Who can say what the Fed will do before then?
 
I'm currently listening to music, but I'm about to watch a movie shortly.
 
I'm making my dinner. A wheelchair specialty. Stouffer's Spaghetti and Toasted Garlic Bread, buried under a Mountain of Mozzarella Cheese, Toasted to Delizioso Perfection... Ready to eat in about 15 minutes. An episode of NCIS: New Orleans is queued up on my Laptop TV.

Edit: Typos...
 
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Jacob Petersheim said:
I made a discovery, though it should have been obvious: you can burn your lawn with solar panels!

Portable consumer solar panels manage maybe 20% to 25% conversion of light to electricity under perfect conditions. The rest of the insolation they receive goes into a little reflection and a lot of heat.

Where I have laid panels down flat around local Noon... my grass is turning yellow and brown, like the worst we normally see during the driest and hottest summer months.

I was blaming a lawn chemical spill, but I now know better. I'll try to stick to propping up one edge using 6-inch rolls of cheap duct tape that I had bought for the purpose, as a quick and dirty portable way to "ramp" at low angles. I don't have any spare 2x4s right now.
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When we had solar, it was trial and error. You will learn it all eventually. ;)
 
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