A bunch of things from this week/weekend...
- I made my own electricity! While we rarely get power outages here, I thought having at least a way to use solar power to charge a small power bank would be a good idea so I bought a 300wh power bank and 60 watt solar panel (around $200 total) and was able to charge up the power bank then use it to charge my cell phone. In an outage this will power cell phones, lights, and maybe a small TV. If we regularly had long power outages, I would have got a whole-home-sized power bank and several solar panels but at this point, the very rare power outages we have don't justify the cost of a full-sized back-up power system.
- Our government is going off the rails. From being utterly incompetent/utterly complicit in allowing a former president/current political rival to be nearly assassinated to putting a former congresswoman on a terror watchlist because they didn't like what she said, I am seriously worried about the fate of our country!
- On a happy note, it looks like our previous 110+ degree weather is tapering off. Future forecasts are showing 100-105 degrees for the next couple weeks and then we should head even lower as we move into fall. Thank goodness, I am tired of super hot weather!
- The Olympics are finished today and we thoroughly enjoyed watching all of the events. The athletes were amazing, the coverage was very good, and Snoop Dogg seemed to be everywhere. It was a nice diversion from 24/7 politics/disinformation/doomscrolling.
- School starts tomorrow in our city. We went shopping today but then had second thoughts when we went into Ross and the checkout line was all the way to the back of the store. I can't believe people wait to get their kids' school stuff less than 24 hours before school starts!
- The cats are now sitting outside all day waiting to be let in. It seems they didn't understand me when I explained to them that coming inside would be temporary, when it is 110+ degrees, so they didn't die of heat stroke. They seem to really like being house cats. I am still hinting to hubby that we need to build them a climate-controlled house outside.
- Some YouTube channels I've recently subscribed to: ILikeMike (he is walking across the US), Barry's Analog Insights (notebook and journal reviews), Buzz's Retirement Garage (about being newly retired), Silver and Solo (ditto, from a female perspective), and Spencer's Adventures (minimalism, etc).
- Hubby likes to watch local YouTubers review restaurants around Las Vegas. We have tried a couple that these reviewers have raved about and found them...just OK. It makes me wonder if they get free food or something to do reviews because having several YouTubers rave about how wonderful these places are when they really aren't is a bit confusing.
- Speaking of YouTube, here are a bunch of cool live nature cams.
- Finally, we may need to plan a trip to New Zealand!
Very smart thinking for the solar power bank! Glad it's working out well for you. Bless those kitties hearts! Haha! They were living the good life for sure! Hope it continues to cool down for you. We've had a few heavenly days here. It was in the 60's in the morning and never over 95. It was wonderful, but I think we are heating back up again this week. I'm so ready for fall.
ReplyDeleteAt this point, the 60s would be wonderful! Like you, I am so ready for fall!
DeleteIn your climate, solar house power could be a lifesaver. If you can afford it, I would get it. That is a cool little set up you have. When a tornado shut down my town and my house electricity for 5 days, I was grateful to have a way to charge my cell phone.
ReplyDeleteACs for a small room are very cheap in my opinion. If he could build a nice insulated house for them, it would beat living with fleas permanently! Put something on the floor to help them cut down their fleas...DE or something. He would be championed as a hero if he would build a cool cat house.
That's a great idea about the DE. I can't even imagine not having power for 5 days!
DeleteIt happened the end of April and there was no rain with it or for a week or two. I got by without the ac because I had a plastic fan to sit on the bed facing me. I could breathe with that air in my face from a 3 inch fan. I took a cooking pot to outdoor table, put about half full of water with a couple of cups of vinegar. I put three or four pair of soft, knit, grey pants in and sloshed it all with my hand and mashed it. Then, I took the sopping pants to the clothes line. So, I at least took the odor from pants.
DeleteI went to feeding stations set up at various places in town.
The second day, I bought a generator and someone gave me gas. A friend set it up so I hooked it up to freezer and refrigerator. I discovered I could hook up and special extension cord and have a lamp. I went to Books A Million to use my laptop.
It was a bit stressful, but I was okay and had cold food. If I needed heat or ac, it would have been rough. I could have gotten a longer extension cord and plugged up the window ac.
It is mid 70s this week, and I'm in absolute heaven. I can do yard work! And, go for extra walks! And, sit outside. It's glorious. I would also figure out as much solar as I could - you get so much sun!
ReplyDeleteNew Zealand is on my bucket list. I want to do a 10 day hiking/kayaking/biking trip to the South Island. It's not cheap, so I need to save up for it! (Hawaii Planner)
Mid 70s would be perfect right about now--I miss walking anytime I feel like it!
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