Still Here!

Hello everyone. You probably thought I was gone forever.

I've been crazy busy this summer and still behind where I'd hope to be by now. There have been a lot of developments.

Last winter we left some house renovations only partially done. We jumped right back into those and wrapped up a few things. Living in a dome is fun, but sometimes it gets a little tricky to use standard building materials in a non-standard home.

Recently I was able to get the house solar electric system back up and running again. The big problem was that the battery bank needed to be replaced. The smart thing to do is to set aside a little money every year so replacement costs don't hit all at once. That didn't happen so I had to get a chunk of money together. On the bright side, by shopping around $500 was shaved off the replacement costs. It did require a trip downstate, but the price difference made it worthwhile.

The expensive charge controller didn't appear to be working and the inverter wasn't kicking on. I'd hoped that it was something simple like that old battery bank being too weak for the charge controller to function properly. New batteries actually solved the problem. Once connected the controller booted up and started working perfectly.

The inverter is the original one and well over 20 years old. After being shut down for the winter, it did not want to start up again. That had happened once before but eventually it came on. With that in mind, I just kept hitting the start button until it turned on. It's been working perfectly ever since.

The veggie van is still for sale. It needs more work that I cared to put into it. My concern is that I could sink money into repairs and still not be able to trust it 2000 miles from home. There has been some interest, but no one has yet to show up with money. Until that happens, it can sit in the yard. The registration is good until March so it can be driven away until then.

I was making progress on the old motorcycle. However, on a whim, I took a photo and listed it on Craigslist. It sold in a couple hours, for $100 more than what I listed it for. I got to thinking that I'd have to spend some more money on the bike, plus registration, inspection and insurance. When I was done it'd still be an old bike that can go way too fast. Just as well that I decided to let it go. Probably saved my life.

There have been, and still are, family and business issues I'm working through. That's not a bad thing, just time consuming.

Next post I'll get into what our plans for the fall are shaping like. I have another adventure in the works.

-Sixbears