Hello Everyone!
A wonky morning, Another rainy day, Desulfating batteries, More solar rig musings & A dog yard idea!
Alright, I am starting my writing routine a whole twenty minutes early this evening... instead of zoning out until the actual start time arrives. Given that I have been rambling on in these entries lately... having a bit of 'extra time' to do so is not all that bad of an idea.
Last night I was up super late (until nearly four in the morning) and although it is not surprising since I had napped for much of the day... I do not want to repeat it. At least I slept really well for six hours once I did drift off to sleep... but of course it was raining again when I finally started my day later in the morning.
This mornings activities are a bit of a blur at this point... but when I first woke up my stomach was aching like crazy... and I had to make a beeline for the toilet. Lets just say that a few night's of gorging myself on cheap spicy shredded pork... had done exactly what any reasonable person would think it would do!
Anyways, I once again spent the day alternatively napping and fiddling around on the computer... while the weather continued to not cooperate with my packing plans. Hopefully, today was the last day of rain for a while... because at this point I only have twelve days left to get everything done... and be ready for the big move.
Late in the afternoon the bulk of the bad weather had blown over... so I went and checked on those batteries that I started charging yesterday... to see how they were doing. After disconnecting the battery charger... I finally got my volt meter on the right setting... and was happy to see that with the batteries connected (to form twelve volts) I got a reading of twelve point six seven volts.
Not that it was necessary or anything... but I did wind up hooking the batteries up to my solar rig to make sure they would work with it... which yup proved to be true. I briefly considered leaving them connected to it overnight (so that it will get a nice charge from the early day sun) but decided to put them back on my charger instead.
Something worth noting about that chintzy (twelve volt three amp) battery charger of mine is that it is a 'pulse charger' which is what is used to desulfate batteries. I am sure that the more expensive pulse chargers do a better job at desulfating batteries... but I gotta admit that after six or so years that little cheap unit has never failed me yet.
Honestly, seeing those batteries 'come back to life' is rather heartening... because with just two of them (wired for twelve volts) I now have more storage capacity than all my other batteries combined. One thing that was painfully clear to me during my time off-grid all those years ago... was that I can make 'all the power in the world' but if I can not store it... then doing so is kind of useless!
Admittedly, I am pretty stoked over the battery scenario... and I even hauled the wagon back over to where those other batteries are stored at... and retrieved two more of them. To clean them up (and remove all the rodent waste) I did the same thing that I did with the last two... and just sprayed them with high pressure water and scrubbed them off with that stiff bristled brush.
It is worth noting, that in my last entry I said there was eight of those batteries... but as it turns out I was wrong... and there are only six of them. The two that are still over there both looked very low on fluid... and the cases showed signs of lots of swelling... so I am unsure if I will spend any time trying to rehab them.
The downside to those batteries is that they are super heavy... and are difficult to move around without some kind of carrying tool or strap attached to the connectors they have for doing so with. I keep tinkering with the idea of making some carrying straps for them... with some old luggage straps that I have... but have yet to see how complicated doing so will be.
I know that prioritizing having the solar rig 'ready to go' at the new place... does not make a whole lot of sense given that my RV power pole goes in tomorrow... but like I have stated before... I am really unsure if I can get service enabled there or not. Mainly I want the solar rig ready so that I can charge my 20v cordless tool batteries... and not have to rely on having to constantly procure fuel for my cheap (and very loud) generator.
Another reason that I am so 'hot to trot' over the solar rig... is because the cellular reception is so dodgy there that I think that I am going to need my cellular repeater to be operational almost immediately upon my arrival. I also have a small laptop that can be used with a DC to DC 'USB Type C' ninety watt charger... which is a bit overkill on the wattage (I think mine only needs sixty-five watts) but I would rather have some 'extra' amperage available... instead of too little amperage.
My thinking behind all of that is that between the cellular repeater, the laptop and tethering my phone as an internet connection... I will be able to continue making my daily entries even without grid power. Whether I will have the room (or space) to get everything setup (and usable) is another story... so making that a priority is going to be important if I do not want some huge lapse in the writing and sharing to occur.
As I have said before (aside from having immediate storage and whatnot) my first big goal at the new place... is to get a dog yard built. It might be a bit odd sounding but I am actually considering doing a triangle shaped dog yard... that is fifty feet (15.24 meters) on each side... and in each corner create a wedge shaped 'box' to store stuff in.
That kind of dog yard would definitely not be what I want to use long term... but it should help me accomplish several goals all at once until I can get the entire property fenced in. Mainly, I just want to have one corner be where I store all the solar rig... another corner to be used as actual storage for tools... and the remaining corner be setup as a short term chicken coop.
I would also be able to cover each corner with a small 'shed roof' and be capable of catching rainwater that I can then use for utility purposes. All in all, as long as I do not make the corners too complicated (in their design) I should be able to do it on the shoestring budget that I have available at this point... and cover all the basic stuff that I always need at a new site.
We will see how all of that works out... because much of it is going to depend on the terrain... where the sunny spots are... and just how much privacy I have available. I have a feeling that the 'privacy' part is going to be the real challenging part... and most likely I will either need to create a large terrace somewhere to achieve it... or just plan on building below ground.
Although I am not opposed to creating a terrace by hand... I know that there is just no way that I will be able to do it in the six months that I will have before the cold weather arrives. I still have no clue what the heck I am going to do as far as a shelter goes for the winter... and with the big chunk that the cost for a driveway has taken out of my budget... I am unsure on getting a shed or even affording building one.
I am still going to call around to some more shed companies to try to get a 'rent to own' one... but currently I still do not know when the driveway will be going in so that I can schedule a delivery. Due to the 'lead time' those shed companies need... things might work out to where I get the shed delivered after my arrival there... which although less than ideal... I would at least have some good storage available.
Well, I have rambled on enough for this entry. I hope that everyone is doing well... and all that feel good jazz. Ta ta for now.
