my 1 project per day goal - Page 2

Daox · 01-06-11, 12:48 PM

Almost up to a week. Gonna be able to keep it up?

strider3700 · 01-06-11, 12:52 PM

well lets just say the list isn't getting any shorter. Every time I go to cross something off I remember a few more things I need to add to it. I've got some more difficult projects coming up, Painting bedrooms/ replacing carpet, spray foaming around the windows... That's going to be a lot harder then sitting on my *** reading and then making a phone call like today...

strider3700 · 01-06-11, 06:15 PM

Jan 6 part #2 - I did some research and found out that my electric company just got approval for a 6.1% rate hike this year. They've officially applied for 7% for each of the next 3 years and there are reports that they will be changing that to 10% per year for each of the next 5 years.

I did the math and that means at the current rate my hotwater heater which is using about 10kwh/day will cost me $314/year and at 70% solar assistance I'll save $220. Stretch that out with continuing 6.1% increases I'll have saved $1240 with the solar setup which is a little more then I think it will cost me.

So I completed my paper work and applied for a permit. The guy that looked at it does construction not plumbing so he said it was good enough to put on the plumbing guys desk for monday. So hopefully early next week I'll know what they want changed and can get a permit.

I also discovered my electric company has a challenge where I'll get $75 if I sign up and can reduce my hydro bill by 10% from the year before I signed up (adjusted for temperatures somehow). I'm looking closer to 30% pretty easy so I'll sign up just as soon as I'm close to turning the system on.

strider3700 · 01-07-11, 04:52 PM

Jan 7 - I got a request from one of my clients that will involve a bunch more hours put towards their stuff. Paying customers are always good right?

Todays task was to load up the family and we went for a nice walk and got flu shots for all but the youngest one of us. I'd been meaning to get it done since November and today was one of the clinics.

strider3700 · 01-08-11, 03:35 PM

Jan 8 - Lots and lots to do most of it work or general household chores related. Todays project therefore is the ultra difficult and news worthy event of finding and installing some component cables to connect the wii to the new(5 month old) TV which only has coax, component and HDMI jacks. Yes it's trivial but it's been needing done for months now.

RobertSmalls · 01-08-11, 09:17 PM

Will you give yourself any days off, or are you saving up projects like hooking up the Wii for lazy days?

strider3700 · 01-08-11, 10:53 PM

I have added to my todo list teach son to pee on a tree(it may not happen this year since he's not crawling yet) show daughter how to sit in canoe, and pitch tent beside a lake. I figure those tasks are something I can knock out on some lazy days when the weather is a little warmer.

I have a bunch of things that are 20-30 minutes work that need done around here and they just never seem to get done hence my 1 per day goal. None of them are overly hard I just need to get off my butt and get them done.

and on that note

Jan 8 pt2 - I tracked down the right webpage and had google send an authorization code to my cell phone to get my access to google apps set up. A surprisingly annoying method to get authentication but I suppose it does do a good job of preventing people from opening tons of accounts. I Had to pay 15 cents for each of the two incoming messages and then reply to 1 to read the message which then showed up so possibly 60 cents... I sort of got lucky though. I'm cancelling my cell phones in less then 15 days time when the contract expires.

Anyways This will be used to get my data from the home data logging project online and a little more automated. Manually calculating minutes the hotwater heater ran and generating temperature graphs from a new csv file each morning only takes 2 minutes but is getting annoying after 10 days.

strider3700 · 01-09-11, 05:51 PM

Jan - 9 An unexpected but not unheard of 4" of snow showed up last night so all of todays plans went out the door. Instead of buying material and putting the window trim/returns on I built a snowman with my daughter and shoveled mine and my 80 year old neighbours driveways.

During everyones naps I sat down and drew a rough sketch that will be the blueprint for my aluminum fin making machine for the solar hotwater. I also dug out the metal rod I was going to use and discovered that it's not 5/8" it's 3/8" so that's on the shopping list. The basic idea is to use scrap plywood to form a channel and some guides. Place the aluminum on top of it then using some old hinges, more plywood and some 2x2 make a top half of the mold that will hold the 5/8" rod and press down with some longish 2x2 handles. Make the pieces all roughly 3' long maybe 2'.

I've seen something like it in use to make these before so it should be too difficult and should work.

strider3700 · 01-11-11, 02:24 PM

jan 10 - Busy busy around here. Last night I dusted off my icom 745 and scanned around to listen to some shortwave broadcasts. I ended up listening to radio newzealand for a few hours. Quite interesting actually. While doing that I took half hour and started untangling the rats nest of wires in that corner. I have network, tv coax, grounding, all of the PC power, the ham setup, and now the data logging setup all in that corner sort of piled on each other. It's far from fixed but I can at least tune the receiver without pulling the temp sensors out of the breadboard.

strider3700 · 01-11-11, 02:27 PM

jan 11- I got some time to myself so I picked up a flasher unit to fix the flasher in the truck. It should be a 5 second unplug and replace job when I find out where it goes and get everything that may be in the way out of the way.

While at the store I bought 9 more 6' copper pipes for the solar hotwater setup. that leaves me needing 18' more and I should have enough to handle the risers in the collectors. I bought the store out though so it will have to wait. Other places have them but charge 50-100% more. I also picked up another 100' of drop irrigation main line tubing.

01-06-11, 12:48 PM	#11
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Almost up to a week. Gonna be able to keep it up? __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

01-08-11, 10:53 PM	#17
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	I have added to my todo list teach son to pee on a tree(it may not happen this year since he's not crawling yet) show daughter how to sit in canoe, and pitch tent beside a lake. I figure those tasks are something I can knock out on some lazy days when the weather is a little warmer. I have a bunch of things that are 20-30 minutes work that need done around here and they just never seem to get done hence my 1 per day goal. None of them are overly hard I just need to get off my butt and get them done. and on that note Jan 8 pt2 - I tracked down the right webpage and had google send an authorization code to my cell phone to get my access to google apps set up. A surprisingly annoying method to get authentication but I suppose it does do a good job of preventing people from opening tons of accounts. I Had to pay 15 cents for each of the two incoming messages and then reply to 1 to read the message which then showed up so possibly 60 cents... I sort of got lucky though. I'm cancelling my cell phones in less then 15 days time when the contract expires. Anyways This will be used to get my data from the home data logging project online and a little more automated. Manually calculating minutes the hotwater heater ran and generating temperature graphs from a new csv file each morning only takes 2 minutes but is getting annoying after 10 days. Last edited by strider3700; 01-08-11 at 11:00 PM..

01-06-11, 12:52 PM	#12
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	well lets just say the list isn't getting any shorter. Every time I go to cross something off I remember a few more things I need to add to it. I've got some more difficult projects coming up, Painting bedrooms/ replacing carpet, spray foaming around the windows... That's going to be a lot harder then sitting on my *** reading and then making a phone call like today...

01-06-11, 06:15 PM	#13
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	Jan 6 part #2 - I did some research and found out that my electric company just got approval for a 6.1% rate hike this year. They've officially applied for 7% for each of the next 3 years and there are reports that they will be changing that to 10% per year for each of the next 5 years. I did the math and that means at the current rate my hotwater heater which is using about 10kwh/day will cost me $314/year and at 70% solar assistance I'll save $220. Stretch that out with continuing 6.1% increases I'll have saved $1240 with the solar setup which is a little more then I think it will cost me. So I completed my paper work and applied for a permit. The guy that looked at it does construction not plumbing so he said it was good enough to put on the plumbing guys desk for monday. So hopefully early next week I'll know what they want changed and can get a permit. I also discovered my electric company has a challenge where I'll get $75 if I sign up and can reduce my hydro bill by 10% from the year before I signed up (adjusted for temperatures somehow). I'm looking closer to 30% pretty easy so I'll sign up just as soon as I'm close to turning the system on.

01-07-11, 04:52 PM	#14
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	Jan 7 - I got a request from one of my clients that will involve a bunch more hours put towards their stuff. Paying customers are always good right? Todays task was to load up the family and we went for a nice walk and got flu shots for all but the youngest one of us. I'd been meaning to get it done since November and today was one of the clinics.

01-08-11, 03:35 PM	#15
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	Jan 8 - Lots and lots to do most of it work or general household chores related. Todays project therefore is the ultra difficult and news worthy event of finding and installing some component cables to connect the wii to the new(5 month old) TV which only has coax, component and HDMI jacks. Yes it's trivial but it's been needing done for months now.

01-08-11, 09:17 PM	#16
RobertSmalls Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: May 2009 Location: Buffalo, NY Posts: 344 Thanks: 3 Thanked 17 Times in 15 Posts	Will you give yourself any days off, or are you saving up projects like hooking up the Wii for lazy days?

01-09-11, 05:51 PM	#18
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	Jan - 9 An unexpected but not unheard of 4" of snow showed up last night so all of todays plans went out the door. Instead of buying material and putting the window trim/returns on I built a snowman with my daughter and shoveled mine and my 80 year old neighbours driveways. During everyones naps I sat down and drew a rough sketch that will be the blueprint for my aluminum fin making machine for the solar hotwater. I also dug out the metal rod I was going to use and discovered that it's not 5/8" it's 3/8" so that's on the shopping list. The basic idea is to use scrap plywood to form a channel and some guides. Place the aluminum on top of it then using some old hinges, more plywood and some 2x2 make a top half of the mold that will hold the 5/8" rod and press down with some longish 2x2 handles. Make the pieces all roughly 3' long maybe 2'. I've seen something like it in use to make these before so it should be too difficult and should work.

01-11-11, 02:24 PM	#19
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	jan 10 - Busy busy around here. Last night I dusted off my icom 745 and scanned around to listen to some shortwave broadcasts. I ended up listening to radio newzealand for a few hours. Quite interesting actually. While doing that I took half hour and started untangling the rats nest of wires in that corner. I have network, tv coax, grounding, all of the PC power, the ham setup, and now the data logging setup all in that corner sort of piled on each other. It's far from fixed but I can at least tune the receiver without pulling the temp sensors out of the breadboard.

01-11-11, 02:27 PM	#20
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	jan 11- I got some time to myself so I picked up a flasher unit to fix the flasher in the truck. It should be a 5 second unplug and replace job when I find out where it goes and get everything that may be in the way out of the way. While at the store I bought 9 more 6' copper pipes for the solar hotwater setup. that leaves me needing 18' more and I should have enough to handle the risers in the collectors. I bought the store out though so it will have to wait. Other places have them but charge 50-100% more. I also picked up another 100' of drop irrigation main line tubing.