Look at the big brain on micro!

My phone died the other night. Started showing messages about power sharing, as though it thought I was connecting my phone to someone else's. Which I closed out and ignored, but then later when I plugged in my phone it would not recognize the charger.

The phone dies, but Genius Me has a spare.

However, turns out the sim card doesn't fit. I'd never tried before.

It was a little strange. Off the grid but to have no internet connection was disorienting. ...

Funny story, so I was in jail for the holidays and I really didn't miss my cell phone or social media or the news. Except, I would reflexively reach for it to Instagram photos of the horrible food.

Anyways, just reminded me of how when I moved here I didn't use much data at all. I worked in town a lot, at the library or coffee shop. But then cell service improved and now I just finished watching Born Into This (documentary on Bukowski;good, I thought it was good). ...

Anyway, so I got up in the morning, worked from town for a bit and then drove to the AT&T store and they were no help. AND, the sim card would have fit, but I did something wrong, so it was the equivalent of "is it turned on?" and I'm the guy who says "oh....no."

I was trying to get them to give me a free phone. Which is pretty unlike me, honestly, but I've been trying to save some money and the $60 spare phone works pretty well.... good lord I'm just rambling here, aren't I? ...



... I wound up calling customer service and basically saying "I spend a lot of money with you, please give me a phone."

Just feels weird. But they are sending me the Samsung J7, their cheapest Samsung they have, so I'm happy.


All of these phones have become functionally the same for me, but the only things I care about are tethering the laptop and text-based stuff like twitter, the news ...

Hard to believe how much progress we've made on technology in the last two decades. Twenty years ago I was in college and in a bar and a guy told me it was possible that one day every home could have broadband.

And, to finish ... there is a housing project proposed in the village (I'd capitalize it but that would be creepy), which probably 70% of the community is opposed to. The project definitely flew under the radar, got the variance it needed from the town, and then once it became public people were like, "WTF?"

The complex would not be large, I think 40 units that are a mix of affordable, low income and market rate. The Village is small, less than 3,000 people. The opposition makes density, parking and services arguments. They don't want their place to change. But proponents have returned with "You're just opposed because it's low income."

So I've been thinking about writing something, short-story-ish, I don't want to go crazy on people, I do live here, ... but some kind of story that makes the case for the project. I think I want to print a broadsheet and distribute it around town, seems like this could be a good place to start.

No. There are some higher phase applications, but it's really rare. Apparently there are some working 6-phase systems where they wanted to add power to existing transmission lines and it was easier to do that than add extra towers or make provisions for higher voltages. There are diminishing returns to adding more phases though and there's a lot more equipment.

Hmm, does that mean you're about to bust a cap in my ass?

Wait what? What happened?

I had a DWI last summer and was sentenced to 2 weeks in jail. Thread here.

Using the GZ for almost three years allowed me to skip learning about some of this stuff, but now I'm kind of digging it. Been looking at rigging better lighting in the cabin, switches, etc.

I bought a small meter for the 12v, which connects directly to the battery. It read 100% and then I plugged in my laptop and cell, and it dropped immediately by more than 10%.

What role does the quality of the connection between the meter and battery -- or between any components -- play in how they receive energy?

So, I understand the charger can be used at the same time I'm using the battery, but what is really happening there?

If I am charging my laptop through the GZ while running a generator to charge the battery, is the battery getting less of a charge than it otherwise would? Am I really consuming power from the generator, not battery?

From what I've read, the battery cannot discharge and charge at the same time--is that right? And if so, then what is happening when the GZ display reads, say, 60 watts coming in and 32 going out?

Once I start to really think about it, I can come up with lots of stuff to build.

ETA: I'd like to have some kind of system so if someone starts coming up the driveway it warns me. I almost had a heart attack last time someone (running for city council, lol) came up here and surprised me...

I've seen driveway alarms with a 500 foot range online for a hundred bucks.

I hooked up a second battery today .... makes me wanna expand even more. I was thinking about putting three of these on the roof.

It would be nice to reduce my generator needs even further.

The charge controller is 20A 240W. I've already got 60 on the roof, but in trying to max out the system I am wondering if I can get away with adding 300, as I doubt I'd ever get 100% power.

Is this what you meant?

Good idea, this is probably way easier than something I'd try and make. Looks like both units run on batteries. Perfect. Thanks.

You probably don't have to put them on the roof. Being 8 feet closer to the sun probably doesn't improve the efficiency much.

The unit I saw was almost a hundred bucks. Obviously there must be differences from the one you linked, but I can't find the one I saw. Yours is so cheap it's probably worth trying it out. Use rechargeable batteries so you can leave it on 24x7.

Good point. And being a tiny cabin, it's really more like 6 feet anyway.

I have been trying to figure out the most efficient way to run my laptop/s off the batteries. Posted this question to twitter...

Replies received:

So, I think I got all possible responses ...

Guy is delivering a cord of wood in a few hours. He says it's seasoned at least two years, delivering for $180. Will return with photos. Hopefully the wood is ready to burn...

A cord of wood is a lot of wood, it turns out.

Quite a character, the guy who came out. Told me his family story. They have about 400 acres total, apparently selling firewood gets him thru the winter when carpentry work dries up.

$180, wood seems pretty good. Way more than I needed, but it'll keep.

A cord split for 180 seems like a good price.

That's a good deal, especially being split. I think the going price around here is more than that, and there's a National Forest 10 miles away where anyone can go cut their own wood for free.

OMG this wood is sexy. ... First time buying wood so my first time getting anything a respectable homeowner would use. WOW. I'm splitting some of it smaller, but you could do it with a hatchet, the grain is so straight and dry.

Feels like cheating. This is too easy.

This is pretty cool--someone brought one of those tiny home pod-looking things to market. But jesus check the price tag.

$100,000 !!?

This **** makes me mad. The tiny home movement really could be a good thing for a lot of people, but these pricetags are bat****.

Also, here's an interesting piece on composting toilets.

Anyone know about the Sweden reference?

Which led me to the incinerating toilet. Only $6870!
http://www.abetterwaytogo.com.au/separett-cindi-family

That windmill looked pretty good considering how much power it generates. You got one?

The Army has their own very low cost version - a barrel and a gallon of diesel and a match.

LOL I went through a phase where I was burning my ****. I read some vet's description of how in Vietnam two guys would basically be tasked with burning ****. ... INCREDIBLY inefficient. But I did give it a shot.

Vietnam and Poop.

great for you sapo. you are living the life as you should. when i first started out i bought a 23 foot airstream and lived off the grid in it for 8 years traveling around the northwest.
what i got to see and do few will ever experience.

your generator will charge a battery better if you hookup a battery charger to it rather than from its own charger. if its even remotely sunny a 15 watt solar panel angled to the sun at your latitude angle will keep a battery decently charged.

also can have an auxiliary battery in your car which gets a charge everyday when you drive that can be used, and can buy a second computer battery and charge it while in town at work or wherever.
a 12v battery is at full charge when it registers 12.6 volts. as soon as you put a load on it that reads much lower. but when it is at rest and reads 12v then it should be recharged so as not to ruin its life.

El Sapo,

Just wanted to drop you a note. Finally got a chance to look at and digest your book. I really enjoyed it and look forward to the next installment. The postcards are a nice touch and I got a kick out out of them.

Well done.

Thank you!

The six months I spent living out of a minivan and exploring the U.S. was a fantastic experience. Just the chance to *wander* and do whatever I felt like for a while. So much of our lives are scheduled these days. Well, my days are anyway.

Once I get this place all paid for, I want to go back to the Pacific Northwest. I spent a week in Big Sur, and kept heading north and it was amazing. ... the whole experience really changed how I approached life.









I do use a battery charger, I've gotten some excellent advice and help in this thread. Now I'm using a pair of 100ahm 12v batteries. There's 60 watts of solar on the roof but I'm planning to add 300 more and try and get rid of most of my generator use.

There are a bunch of projects I'm planning this summer: turn the greenhouse into a small workshop, build a rain collection system, build a loft in the cabin, add the solar ...

I've been looking at a solar system like this.

But the GoalZero has a charger included and their customer service people say these panels will work if I connect them in parallel and use the Anderson power pole input on the front.