Behind the Black Blog
comment:
An endorsement of sorts for Cruz. He points out that Cruz wins in matchups v. Hillary. Hillary isn't the nominee, and she may not ever be the nominee. On the other hand, I've seen no polls that gives Cruz a lead, but I don't tend to follow polls anyway. That's what a lot of people did in 2012, only to have Romney lose his ass.
Cruz may actually be the better candidate and win the nomination. But I have my doubts that he can win the general, and that is because of the red-blue pattern of the last 20 years of so. Unless some candidate can break that pattern, the Democrats will win again. Trump has the better chance at crossover voters. Cruz, as a pure conservative, won't have that kind of luck. I could be wrong, but I've not seen anything to contradict that yet.
Al Fin: "Cowboy Commentary", aka "Eat your veggies" The Flag banner is posted in order to defy those who would make patriotic symbols illegal or disreputable.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Water experiment
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This post will go into the water subseries of the off-the-grid type posts.
Curiosity set in, so I set up an experiment to see how long it would take for the stove to evaporate 1 pint of water. It took 25 minutes. If the cooking element used 1500 watts, then that used about x kilowatt hours of electricity to boil off the water. To solve for x, we assume 1/2 hr for time, and 1.5 for kilowatts, then it used 3/4 of a kilowatt hour to boil off 1 pint of water. To extrapolate that out, it would use 8 times that for a gallon, or 6 kilowatt hours per gallon.
This is not the most efficient means of obtaining distilled water, but it gives an idea of what it would take.
A gallon of gasoline has about 36 kilowatt hours of energy in it, but to convert that to electricity would reduce that to maybe 9 or 10 kilowatt hours electric. You would use up roughly a gallon of gas to obtain a gallon of distilled water. But a pretty dumb way of doing it.
A better way would be to use the system I wrote about earlier. It would use wood. A pound of wood per pint, or 8 pounds of wood for a gallon. Wood is cheap to collect off the property and can be used to obtain the distilled water if you wish. Better yet, it may be best to truck in drinking water, and collect rainwater for washing and other things.
Yet, another way would be to use a reverse osmosis system.
This post will go into the water subseries of the off-the-grid type posts.
Curiosity set in, so I set up an experiment to see how long it would take for the stove to evaporate 1 pint of water. It took 25 minutes. If the cooking element used 1500 watts, then that used about x kilowatt hours of electricity to boil off the water. To solve for x, we assume 1/2 hr for time, and 1.5 for kilowatts, then it used 3/4 of a kilowatt hour to boil off 1 pint of water. To extrapolate that out, it would use 8 times that for a gallon, or 6 kilowatt hours per gallon.
This is not the most efficient means of obtaining distilled water, but it gives an idea of what it would take.
A gallon of gasoline has about 36 kilowatt hours of energy in it, but to convert that to electricity would reduce that to maybe 9 or 10 kilowatt hours electric. You would use up roughly a gallon of gas to obtain a gallon of distilled water. But a pretty dumb way of doing it.
A better way would be to use the system I wrote about earlier. It would use wood. A pound of wood per pint, or 8 pounds of wood for a gallon. Wood is cheap to collect off the property and can be used to obtain the distilled water if you wish. Better yet, it may be best to truck in drinking water, and collect rainwater for washing and other things.
Yet, another way would be to use a reverse osmosis system.
What do you want on your tombstone?
Everybody tells me that I'm making a mistake going out west. Yeah, and they may well be right. Heck, I might even die out there. So, what would I put on my tombstone?
I was thinking about that this morning. What a thing to be thinking about the first thing in the morning, huh? I came up with something that tickled my fancy. I was thinking, shit has always been happening in my life, and then the notion struck me. On my tombstone, put "shit happened". I think that would do just fine.
I was thinking about that this morning. What a thing to be thinking about the first thing in the morning, huh? I came up with something that tickled my fancy. I was thinking, shit has always been happening in my life, and then the notion struck me. On my tombstone, put "shit happened". I think that would do just fine.
Valentine's Day
Whaddaya know? Another day has gone and snuck up on me. But no need for me to worry about this one, lol.
Thinking long and thinking hard cuz time is running out. I gotta get outta here by the end of March, and that is only about six more weeks.
This may not seem like one of my off-the-grid posts, but it is now. Most of today has been spent getting my stuff together. The plan now is to build the cabin, install a septic tank ( doggone it ), build a carport next to it, and run back and forth between El Paso and the hacienda. The car will come with me, which will save on storage space. That's what having the septic tank will do for me. I can't get around that one.
So, I've been looking up all the RV joints in the El Paso area. I plan on parking in one of those and "boondocking" while in the city. You can do that for a few days at a time, then you have to go. I'll do that for maybe a week at a time, then head back to the hacienda.
It's a plan. I think it could work, but plans have a way of not working.
BTW, Happy Valentines Day, ya'll.
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Thinking long and thinking hard cuz time is running out. I gotta get outta here by the end of March, and that is only about six more weeks.
This may not seem like one of my off-the-grid posts, but it is now. Most of today has been spent getting my stuff together. The plan now is to build the cabin, install a septic tank ( doggone it ), build a carport next to it, and run back and forth between El Paso and the hacienda. The car will come with me, which will save on storage space. That's what having the septic tank will do for me. I can't get around that one.
So, I've been looking up all the RV joints in the El Paso area. I plan on parking in one of those and "boondocking" while in the city. You can do that for a few days at a time, then you have to go. I'll do that for maybe a week at a time, then head back to the hacienda.
It's a plan. I think it could work, but plans have a way of not working.
BTW, Happy Valentines Day, ya'll.
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Saturday, February 13, 2016
Sherlock Holmes? Not exactly.
Something bugged me about that last trip. That quonset hut was a lot more secure than what happened. So, the thought entered my mind: what if the wind didn't do it? What if the quonset hut was destroyed intentionally?
If you have ever read Sherlock Holmes, you may remember the story of the dog that didn't bark. There was something about that scene out there that was like the dog. If the wind had pulled it loose from the plywood, then where's the plywood? There was no sign of it anywhere. There was plywood around, all right. But it should have had holes and screws in it. In other words, no holes, no screws, no plywood.
Well, if I forgot to nail it down, that would explain that anomaly. But that was not the case. I spent several days working on this thing. If it wasn't nailed down tightly, I would have known it before I left. It was nailed down. No doubt about it. Even if there weren't enough nails, and even if the nails had come loose by the fierce wind, there should have been signs of that. But there weren't. Like a dog that didn't bark.
There was something else. There was a little pan that you would use to put paint in it so that you can paint a wall. I used it to put down some weatherizer on the plywood floor. That, by the way, was one of the things I did wrong. Not the weatherizer, but the order in which I did things. But never mind. The thing to note here is that there was a gallon of this stuff and the place to put it. That pan was upside down, and it had been stepped on. Yes, somebody was there, and had stepped on that pan. No question.
That's two things: somebody was there, and there was something missing that shouldn't have been. Enough to make me suspicious.
Unfortunately, I can't be Sherlock here in Houston. All the more reason to move to El Paso.
Update:
There could be alternative explanations for the missing plywood. Somebody could have seen it, and hauled it off because of all the nails being a hazard. There doesn't have to be an explanation that includes foul play. Better to think it that way anyway, because the thought that somebody could wreck anything you build out there may cause a person to give up.
If you have ever read Sherlock Holmes, you may remember the story of the dog that didn't bark. There was something about that scene out there that was like the dog. If the wind had pulled it loose from the plywood, then where's the plywood? There was no sign of it anywhere. There was plywood around, all right. But it should have had holes and screws in it. In other words, no holes, no screws, no plywood.
Well, if I forgot to nail it down, that would explain that anomaly. But that was not the case. I spent several days working on this thing. If it wasn't nailed down tightly, I would have known it before I left. It was nailed down. No doubt about it. Even if there weren't enough nails, and even if the nails had come loose by the fierce wind, there should have been signs of that. But there weren't. Like a dog that didn't bark.
There was something else. There was a little pan that you would use to put paint in it so that you can paint a wall. I used it to put down some weatherizer on the plywood floor. That, by the way, was one of the things I did wrong. Not the weatherizer, but the order in which I did things. But never mind. The thing to note here is that there was a gallon of this stuff and the place to put it. That pan was upside down, and it had been stepped on. Yes, somebody was there, and had stepped on that pan. No question.
That's two things: somebody was there, and there was something missing that shouldn't have been. Enough to make me suspicious.
Unfortunately, I can't be Sherlock here in Houston. All the more reason to move to El Paso.
Update:
There could be alternative explanations for the missing plywood. Somebody could have seen it, and hauled it off because of all the nails being a hazard. There doesn't have to be an explanation that includes foul play. Better to think it that way anyway, because the thought that somebody could wreck anything you build out there may cause a person to give up.
Friday, February 12, 2016
Limbaugh endorsement of Cruz
Limbaugh has been on my fecal roster for some time now. The Cruz endorsement shows that Limbaugh is just a money grubber.
Limbaugh likes to talk about how he loved Reagan, but I think not. Limbaugh claims Reagan was an ideologue, but Reagan did not trust ideology. That is how Reagan was able to get Democrats to vote for him. Without these, he could not have won.
Cruz is not Reagan, he is Goldwater. If Cruz gets the nomination, he will lose.
Trump can win, but he is no Reagan either. The trouble with Trump is that he is erratic. He is no sure winner, but Cruz is definitely not going to win the general unless he gets paired against Sanders.
Limbaugh has to endorse Cruz in order to maintain his credibility. That is so his little radio show can continue. He knows that too. It is not about truth, because if it were, he would have to admit that Cruz cannot win. Cruz is no Reagan and Limbaugh knows it. His money is more important than the truth.
Limbaugh likes to talk about how he loved Reagan, but I think not. Limbaugh claims Reagan was an ideologue, but Reagan did not trust ideology. That is how Reagan was able to get Democrats to vote for him. Without these, he could not have won.
Cruz is not Reagan, he is Goldwater. If Cruz gets the nomination, he will lose.
Trump can win, but he is no Reagan either. The trouble with Trump is that he is erratic. He is no sure winner, but Cruz is definitely not going to win the general unless he gets paired against Sanders.
Limbaugh has to endorse Cruz in order to maintain his credibility. That is so his little radio show can continue. He knows that too. It is not about truth, because if it were, he would have to admit that Cruz cannot win. Cruz is no Reagan and Limbaugh knows it. His money is more important than the truth.
Looks like the netbook is all but dead
It is making a funny noise. It is most likely coming from cooling fan. Therefore, if the cooling fan does not work, the computer overheats and fails that way.
It is a seven year old computer, so it has an excuse.
I am going to miss it. The tablet here is not as easy to use.
It is a seven year old computer, so it has an excuse.
I am going to miss it. The tablet here is not as easy to use.
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