Bogieblog

You Load 16 Tons and What do You Get?

A nod to the Tennessee Ernie Ford song (you tube link).

No, I didn't load 16 tons, but did move just shy of 2.5 tons of pellets from the garage to the basement yesterday. Why? Because HD is having a great sale on pellets, so I just ordered 6 tons and need someplace to store most of them. I can fit at least 4 tons in the garage. The rest will have to stay outside.

I'm debating upping my order. But, in order to have any chance of getting a garage built this summer (which is looking less and less to actually happen because prices are rising drastically again), then I need to have clear space in my yard. I have some time to think about it though since the delivery isn't scheduled until next Friday and I still have to get the road agent's okay since my road is posted for 6 ton limit during the spring thaw.

Seriously, two of the pictures I tried uploading a non-turned and a turned image and all of them show sideways. At least the picture modifier option actually showed up for me, so I could fix them.

The orange bags were already there, but everything on top is from the garage. Also, before loading more on this pallet, I carried 2 bags upstairs to be loaded into the P43 when the hopper runs low. This pallet holds 5 bags per layer

These bags were on the large pallet (which is shown after this pic) and are now close to the basement stove for use this spring.

All of these bags came from the garage. This pallet holds 8 bags per layer

When the delivery comes in from HD, I'll have them drop 4 pallets in front of the garage so I can move them in bag by bag (the garage is not tall enough for their machine). Then the rest will be placed in the yard and covered with a tarp.

A Bit of Flooding and a Bit of Snow

We had some warm temps with wind at the beginning of last week that really got the snow/ice pack to melting. That presents other issues such as a very flooded shrub garden. I don't remember it ever being quite this bad. The drainage area behind it has a small pipe that freezes up during the winter, so there is always some sort of back up each spring. Following pics taken 2/23/22, just before the freezing temps returned.

I'm pretty sure I've never seen water reach the area almost right to the corner where the tent garage used to be.

At least most of the yard was cleared of snow and the mound that develops from both roof dumpage and snow blowing the driveway has greatly reduced in size

Yesterday we received more snow, but only 6-7". I expected more as they were predicting 8-18" so went out during lunch yesterday and did an initial round of snow blowing when I had 4-5". Will have to clean up again today to take care of the berm the road plow left last night, clean off the truck (which I did not do previously), and remove the additional couple of inches from the driveway some time this morning.

Next week we are supposed to have lows in the single digits again (11* this morning), so March will start off cold with chances of snow.

New Seating at the Office

I've had the same office chair since 2002. I got it used from the sapphire fiber company I was working for that was closing. Lately it has been acting up when it is raised, and I used that as an excuse to get myself a new chair. After all, I spend 9-13 hours in that thing on work days, at it wasn't very comfortable after the first hour. I did a bunch of research, as I do when buying almost anything. It is amazing that so many chairs, office and gaming, that have no padding on the arms so the list of prospects got narrowed down quite quickly.

So, I narrowed my selection down to a Rimiking model 2857, a gaming chair. Then, it was finding the best price. Some places sold it for as high as $150, most were around $110-120, and then Newegg came in at $90 - sold.

It arrived yesterday. It didn't take me too long to put it together and everything was clearly marked along with clear directions. Would have been a bit easier with two people (which they point out in the instructions), but I figured out how to make it work once I realized I could use a slightly different approach toward the end.

The seat is huge, which should help keep me from having to sit on the edge of the seat when the cat(s) "share" it with me. Lots more padding too. Ignore that the seat back looks crooked, it is an optical illusion.

I really like that the arms can be raised as it has always bugged me that I couldn't get the old chair under the desk. At the same time, the arms are lower when I'm sitting, although that may be because they are further away from my sides. Seems kind of strange because I would expect gamers to use the armrests quite a bit and I can't even reach them comfortably unless I slouch. I can angle them up, and I'm sure I'll get used to the difference soon.

Then there is this handy-dandy pocket in the back. The description of the chair even says it is a pocket. Some of the reviewers say it is just a pocket.

Then other reviewers say there is a built in massager. Too bad it is only on the back and not in the seat - that would be nice after a long day of sitting.

Seems to be comfortable this morning but will have to wait until I get full into a workday, and maybe have to break it in a bit, before I can make a full determination on that front.

Like a Mini Sun

I was perusing the FHC forum last weekend, when I ran across a post asking about if anyone had tried Tri Burst lighting for use in their shop. So, I had seen them before and thought about trying them in the basement stove room, but had gotten no further than thinking about it.

The stoveroom has one light bulb which is set way over by the wall. It is "good enough" for most things, but doesn't give any light where needed when I'm cleaning the P61a out, or when I am having the boiler or DHW heater serviced. In the back of my mind I had a plan to "one day" get an electrician in to add another light to that area, as well as additional lighting where the washer and dryer are.

Well, I did a bit of research and wasn't impressed by what I read about the Tri Burst, but found a GE Ultra Bright LED light that had good reviews. Since I was going to Concord that day anyway, I decided to drop by and grab one.

Here is what it looks like with a regular bulb. Tried to take a picture of the water heater area, but it is dark enough back there that the camera adjusted for it - so a picture would not have shown the difference (unless I wanted to photoshop, and I don't). You can see I placed a motion activated battery light over to the left to help lighting, but it activates when Spot goes in there for the stove warmth and I go thru a lot of D-cell batteries.

This is with the GE construct - much brighter

The phone didn't need to manipulate the lighting - nice and bright by the water heater

The controls at the bottom of the construct. the H/L/M is to change the brightness between 3kn 5k and 85 lumens. I later changed it to having the sensor on so I don't have to pull the cord.

I have the arms rotated out (having them aimed straight down was super bright) and then the lights at 90* in the pic. Afterwards I changed the configuration a bit to make it so I'm not blinded by the one arm if I come around the corner from the dryer side

This works so well that all I really need to do is move that light over to the center of the room instead of adding more lights.

More Cold and a Nor'Easter

Another morning of -12 on the 27th. Glad I'm not up in the White Mountains where I have seen pics of -28

The Nor'Easter that blew thru early yesterday morning thru late last night affected mainly the coast. The town grader made its 2 passes about 4:30 pm so I immediately suited up to go out and snow blow. Wind was whipping up pretty good (not nearly like now where snow is going sideways). I had on my balaclava and cold weather riding pants (from before I had heated gear), cold weather riding gloves, my Carhardt jacket and a baseball cap. Boots, interestingly enough are my almost knee high "fashion" snow boots. They are warm and grip better on ice than any other boots I have - including my mountain climbers.

The 4" of snow was so light that most of the time I had the snow blower in 5th gear. Naturally I slowed down for the berm from the grader, around the mailbox and around the fence gates, but other than that I was pedal to the metal all the way. Even did the drainage areas for when snow starts to melt. The only thing I didn't do was clean off the Explorer.

That was probably the fastest round of snow blowing I've ever accomplished at a little under an hour.

I see the town went thru in the wee hours this morning, so will need to go out and clean that up. The wind cranked up pretty good after dark last night and I watched snow being blown south at a horizontal, some of it being lifted up higher than the street lights. So, I will also need to clean up the additional snow that fell, plus wind driven snow. The ramp is covered with a couple inches of snow, which is impressive as that is the "protected" side as well as mostly being under the 3' eave.

Where do Raindrops Go?

Cop Car sent the family This "pretty cool visual representation of where a drop of rainwater travels and where it ends up". So I tried it from my place, and this is what I got:

Interestingly, a raindrop goes north to Concord before heading back south, then hits Lowell, MA before truly heading east and again north to get to the Merrimack River estuary into the sea (100.7 miles) . When I clicked on my place, it made the starting point the North Branch River in Hillsboro. But, the North Branch dumps into the Contoocook, which is 4 blocks (and downhill) from me, so the trip of the raindrop is really about 3 miles shorter.

 

Package Arrived

The package that bypassed me, finally made it here after going from MA back to the NH/VT border.

The butter dish is way more ornate than I need for everyday use, but at the same time, not as ornate as some of those out there. The challenge was to find a USA made dish, that wasn't plastic and wasn't, in my eyes, not aesthetically pleasing. I would have been happy to find a plain white ceramic dish for which the cover had a handle (as my old one was), but all I could find were with plain covers.

Plastic to me usually still feels a bit greasy/oily after washing. I do keep the wrapper on the butter so don't have to wash very often, which is good since the top isn't dishwasher safe. This piece of art is made by a "local" artisan.

I should have taken the pictures on a different surface to better show off the colors, but you get the idea.

Christmas Presents to Myself 2021

Christmas gift to myself, decorations for the openings in the wall between the living room and stairway. Not overly impressed with the positioning of the eyes for the chains but otherwise I like them.

Well, this is a new issue - regardless how the pictures are saved/uploaded (natural or turned), they showed up sideways in the post. I actually got the application's turn buttons to appear, so was able to correct them, but that doesn't happen very often.

First Plowable Snow of the Season

Left the house 7:15 yesterday morning for some errands. Made a stop at the Bedford L*we's for some N.A. made products, made a stop in Manchester to pick up a beautiful calendar that a friend makes from her photographs in support of charities, stopped at Target where everything I was looking for was made in China, so left empty handed. Then stopped at Hooksette Home Dep*t, where I bought N.A. made products. Went to the Concord BB&B, where again I left empty handed, because China.

Came home and unloaded, then to the dump and grocery store. Made it home just as the snow started. Even though it was still 34*, the snow was falling so heavily that after 25 minutes, it was sticking.

Overnight we got some mixed precipitation, so everything settled into about 3" of the white stuff. Will be out snow blowing later this morning.

Snow, Sleet and Freezing Rain

On 12/9/21, my place received about 2" of snow and it sure made things pretty out there. During my lunch, I went out and cleared off the truck and shoveled the driveway and around the gates to the cat pen.

Friday night and most of Saturday morning, we got sleet/freezing rain. The local station had promised that about 11 am, it would start warming up and hit the mid 40's. Their estimated timing was a bit off as the temp stubbornly stayed 33-34*. The ground was cold enough that no melting occurred. This picture was taken at 1pm.

Then about 6:20 pm, I noticed the temp starting to rise as it was 39 outside. Forty minutes later it was 56* and the ice started melting quickly. Overnight the winds ramped up and this morning everything is gone. Right now, 6am, it has only gotten down to 38*.

December 1st I started using the mini-split to heat the main floor during the day and using the P43 at night (the P61a still heating basement since that is the only heat down there). This has not been set in stone; Cold, windy days I've run the P43, and several nights I've let the mini-split keep doing its thing. This is an experiment to understand the energy usage during milder winter temps (the outside unit is rated at working to 5*F) as well as seeing how well the office's temp is regulated during working hours.

I used 378 kWh for November 2021 (which perversely, the electric company calls December usage - even though the bill is for 10/29 thru 12/01). I used 358 last year but I was also running power tools, which accounts for the difference. If the weather tracks along what it did last year for December,  as it did in November, that will give me a good idea of usage. I would expect my electric bill to be higher than last December (407), but I would also need to subtract the savings in pellets (I track pellet usage monthly). The only difficulty in the comparison is I get so many of my pellets off CL/FBM, that I don't really have a set price per bag, and it is certainly less than market value. 

Just something else for me to be a geek over :)

 

Update at 7AM - I don't know how these two little patches of snow have held their ground to this point