1st charging notes

Charger started at 118 volts, but within 5 min was down to 117 volts. Before plugging in, was reading 12 volts.

UPDATE

I don't know squat about electricity. I was measuring the outlet, a 120v outlet, and not the draw. Gonna try again tonight.

3 of 3 Dollar canned fish

This is the worst of the 3, and the only sardines in the set. Still edible, so the only $1 sardines to be so (damning with faint praise). If you can't read it, it say Sardines in Louisiana Hot Sause (product of Thailand). Barely crunchy, and it shouldn't be crunchy at all.

Falling into the depths of obsessive compulsiveness

Just purchased a device called a Kill A Watt EZ. It's an electricity usage monitor. I plan on using it to see how much draw items in my house use. I'm wondering how much power my electric scooter draws, and how much power a turned off thing uses (TV, stereo, appliances, etc).

When I shopped for home solar, installers were surprised how little my bill was. At the time, two years ago, solar would have taken 15-20 years to pay for itself, even with rebates. I'll wait for it to fall under 10 years before I commit to it.

Tying the two together, the Kill A Watt EZ telling me how much juice my electric scooter is pulling may help me figure out about using solar to recharge it. Saw a 45 Watt system from Harbour Freight for $200. Also interested in seeing how much I need to do to recharge a netbook.

I expect this to be fun and interesting.

Beer reviews

The GABF web page has a Sell-out-o-meter up, and they're 66% sold, with SAT evening session being the least sold out. 522 Breweries, 2,338 beers served.

In other beer news, I found a 6-pack of Upslope Brewery (new brewery in boulder) Pale Ale when I was in Denver TUE at Tipsy's (a store I remember seeing on Upslope's page as carrying it). They currently make two beers: the aforementioned Pale Ale and an IPA. The PA impressed me: not very bitter, good amber color.
I figured maybe I had this whole pale ale thing wrong, so I went out and bought a Pliny the Elder, an A+ rated IPA. OK, a pale ale isn't an IPA; IPAs are stronger in taste in all categories. Still, I hated it less than any IPA I've ever had! I do like the Upslope Pale Ale.
I also bought a 6-pack of Colorado Native, a new microbrew Lager from A C Golden (aka Coors), all ingredients from Colorado and sold only in Colorado. It's not my favorite, but I wouldn't turn one down. I'd put it close to 90 Shilling, stronger than Fat Tire.
I Still have some Crabtree Golden 8 in the fridge. It's an interesting beer whose taste seems to vary depending on what I'm eating along with it. Sometimes it tastes very sweet. Still enjoying that 'ale' (seems to be a catch all or a wide category). Officially, it's a golden ale.

Upcoming NoCo events

Gnarly Barley Brew Fest is coming up on Aug 7th.
Also, the weekend after that (Aug 14-15) there are two events:
1- Glock shoot at Weld County.
2- Mini Takes the States is at Infinity Park in Glendale on SAT, with events test drives and other stuff. I've signed up for a free test drive/ autocross of the new AWD Countryman (I think) on sat morning.

push vs pull

I just read an interesting essay talking about whether Israel or the EU will prevent another Holocaust. The view boils down to empowering the Jews vs un-empowering the state. Either would have prevented it/ or prevent it in the future. This is a push vs pull idea, where both sides see something moving but make a different conclusion from the available data. This is true with many issues: do you prevent highway deaths by slowing down traffic or making the cars safer? Do you cut down on crime by increasing jail time or having more police? Do you stop accidental shootings by banning guns or increasing gun safety education?

http://via.readerimpact.com/v/1/792bc4b1ec4cad1ee531faa767415e58abbea5209e0fb1f0

more thoughts when I'm up to it.

Tuesday tasks

Going over my checklist, I completed 6 tasks yesterday. One was a modified completion, but it still counts.