Category: Blog

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans: Turn off the noise and stay calm.

• 08:00 UP and breakfast.
• 09:00 Went for a walk.
• 09:30 Call Ameriprise
• 10:00 Called mom, sent a message to Renea.
• 11:00 Drove out and signed papers
• 12:00 Lunch and a nap
• 15:00 Reading Esther
• 16:00 Sharing scripture with Kathy and having a good discussion.
• 17:00 Dinner
• 18:00 Getting ready for church
• 19:00 Church
• 21:00 Bed

Narrative: I have paralleled three of the four 35AH battery banks to run the secondary UPS circuit of about 350 watts. 105AH @ 48V should keep 350W running for at least 12 hours. The refrigerator has 70AH @ 24V which should be about the same running time.

White Fragility: Suspended my FB account this morning, we are very tired of the violence and hatred on FB. We have also suspended Kathy’s FB account and will move to Instagram to see our grandkids photos. We noticed for the first time in over 10 years that the majority of our parishioners are black and they appear to be looking at us as white privileged possibly racist.

Feelings: We are scrambling to learn how to communicate with our parishioners of color.

Tomorrow: Instacart in the morning and Chili’s in the afternoon.

Injuries: Arguments: Exercise: Feeling words: Travel: Noteworthy: Accmplishments: Purchases: Project: Theme: Engineering: Repairs: Pi News:

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies. Covid numbers are really high, we’ve considered shopping in my Son’s county where they have all of FOUR cases!

Plans: Stay home and isolated from the drama.

• 08:00 Up eating breakfast with the Wife.
• 09:00 Paralleled the two 48VDC battery banks in the garage.
• 10:00 Mowed the weeds in the back yard.
• 11:00 Testing batteries secondary UPS
• 12:00 Delivering Banana bread.
• 13:00 Nap
• 15:00 chk weather, Mow lawn
• 16:00 Working on our finances.
• 17:00 Din Din
• 18:00 Testing secondary UPS, talking to Vegas
• 21:00 Getting ready for bed.

Narrative: I’ve tested and exercised the four new batteries for the primary UPS but I didn’t have a battery management device for them. There are three battery management devices on the secondary banks of batteries. This morning I paralleled two of the banks onto one battery management to move it to the new battery bank. Each of these three 48V battery banks have 11 fuses in the string between the batteries and devices to protect them.

White Fragility: I am finding it quite difficult to navigate the current state of things being a retired white male. (What I say comes from a position of “White Privilege” and is not received well by the people of color.) Worse, the Anger and Hate in the news puts a conversation into a shouting match rather than a negotiation since I have no influence on the current situation. (I am just supposed to agree with the mainstream agenda.) Those I talk to are quite unwilling to discuss anything that would diminish their continuing to keep up the momentum of BLM.

Feelings: I am exhausted and emotionally drained.

Tomorrow: Church, we are not enthused about meeting everyone.

Injuries: Arguments: Exercise: Feeling words: Travel: Noteworthy: Accmplishments: Purchases: Project: Theme: Engineering: Repairs: Pi News:

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies. People are tired of wearing masks and social distancing.

Plans: Keep working on the homestead and start our taxes.

• 07:00 Up and eating breakfast.
• 08:00 Installing 12VDC fuse block.
• 09:00 Instacart delivery.
• 10:00 Wrote a letter describing our intentions with the solar panels for Mom.
• 11:00 Lunch and a nap.
• 13:00 Working on making my whiteness a little darker.
• 16:00 Dinner
• 17:00 Working on gifts for a friend that’s having a baby.
• 18:00 Putting ends on battery wires.
• 19:00 Buying presents for a baby shower.
• 20:00 Scrabble.

Narrative: Our homestead is like a motorhome with low voltage DC wired to every room. We have Solar power that is added to Grid provided AC that is converted into 12 and 24VDC to power important devices throughout the homestead. The DC has a battery backup to carry it through power outages. The wiring to the rooms is connected to the voltage needed within a distribution panel (Below) located in the garage.

White Fragility: What is “Racism” and what is it to be a “Racist”…

I believe the attacks being presented to us today are part of a well-orchestrated and well-funded effort that uses racism as its sword to aggravate our battlefield dispositions. This weapon is used to leverage and legitimize violence and crime, not to seek or serve the truth.

The dark forces’ weapons formed against us serve one purpose: to promote radical social change through power and control. Socialism and the creation of a socialist society are their ultimate goals. https://www.westernjournal.com/

I had a long talk with a fellow parishioner tonight. It was a long conversation partly about how the police were mistreating our people of color. I was unable to console this learned and successful individual about an incident where he was pulled over for the sticker on his license plate being in the wrong place. He was deeply offended just being pulled over and how the officer’s lack of respect for him made him angry. It amazed me that the threatening feelings he had about even the thought of being under an officer’s authority. I feel it is beyond any discussion from a white man of privilege to console him, even though he is a fellow man of God that has taken Jesus on as his savior.

Feelings: We are drowning in the hate and violence everywhere…

Tomorrow: Tuesday. Regroup from yesterday.

Injuries: Arguments: Exercise: Feeling words: Travel: Noteworthy: Accmplishments: Purchases: Project: Theme: Engineering: Repairs: Pi News:

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans: Rest today, maybe get Chilis.

• 08:00 Up having eggs and ham for breakfast.
• 09:00 Watching services from the website.
• 10:00 Walking around the block.
• 11:00 Connect batteries moved to my man cave from the garage.
• 11:30 Move refrigerator onto spare UPS that has remote batteries in my man cave.
• 12:00 Nap time.
• 14:00 Instacart
• 15:00 Research on blacks and guns
• 16:00 Dinner
• 17:00 Helped mom connect her TV to battery power.
• 18:00 Research.

Narrative:

White Fragility:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/ We are aware of two previous efforts to develop measures of structural racism at the state level.27, 38 Both of these approaches used the gap between White and Black populations in measures of structural advantage/disadvantage as an indicator of structural racism. Racial inequalities in these measures are a direct result of structural racism, which is “the systematic exclusion of non-White racial groups from resources and mobility in society as a means to secure or maintain power.”

Feelings:Tomorrow:Injuries: Arguments: Exercise: Feeling words: Travel: Noteworthy: Accmplishments: Purchases: Project: Theme: Engineering: Repairs: Pi News:

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans:

• 07:00 Coffee and two hard boiled eggs.
• 08:00 Had a long conversation about our “Whiteness”
• 11:00 Charging new batteries
• 12:00 Cleaning
• 13:00 Blogging, take another nap.
• 15:00 Talking about racism with the wife.
• 16:00 Cleaning living room
• 17:00 Storm, shutting down and redistribute power
• 18:00 Pulling wire to pull batteries out of hot garage.
• 19:00 Restore computer to operations

Narrative: I’ve learned lots of new terms over the last several days. One of those terms is “White Fragility”, which is when white people are confronted with the topic of racism they often respond defensively.

https://robindiangelo.com/publications/

White Fragility: We have set on a course of becoming “Less White” so that we can better understand and converse with the people of color. When I read the book shown above I was apprehensive, then denial set in during the first chapter. After reading the entire book I feel I am rather naïve about racism and that I need to pay much more attention to how I say & what I say to people of color.

We still are trying to find our place in this Black Lives Matter movement. It is starting to feel like “Only Black Lives Matter” as they are devouring all the time and resources in all the Government bodies to appease them, leaving important matters that affect a larger population unfinished.

Feelings:

Tomorrow: Sunday, we may watch service in private.

Injuries: Arguments: Exercise: Feeling words: Travel: Noteworthy: Accmplishments: Purchases: Project: Theme: Engineering: Repairs: Pi News:

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans: Try and get through the day.

• 08:00 Up and making breakfast.
• 09:00 Took a walk around the block.
• 10:00 Talking with our brothers about BLM.
• 11:00 Lunch, Tuna sandwich.
• 12:00 Testing new batteries.
• 13:00 Nap Time.
• 14:00 Getting organized.
• 15:00 Mow the lawn
• 17:00 Dinner and blogging
• 18:00 Short Nap.
• 19:00 Playing Scrabble
• 20:00 Listening to white Fragility

Narrative:

Feelings:

Tomorrow:

Injuries: Arguments: Exercise: Feeling words: Travel: Noteworthy: Accmplishments: Purchases: Project: Theme: Engineering: Repairs: Pi News:

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans:

• 08:00 Up and sipp’n coffee. Watch instacart shopper.
• 09:00 Watching over our shopper getting our groceries.
• 10:00 Looking over my honey do list.
• 11:00 Wiring a solar charge controller
• 12:00 Nap time
• 14:00 Blogging
• 15:00 Testing 20A controller.
• 16:00 Dinner, fish and a salad
• 17:00 Listening to an audiobook “White Fragility”

Narrative: Wired a new 20Amp solar charge controller today. The previous controller was only good to 10Amp and with six 100W solar panels on the roof I can push a little more than that.

These controllers can be 12V or 24V so you have to connect the battery first to set the bus voltage. Then connect the solar panels. It will assume 12V with no voltage on the battery terminals and there’s no way to force it to 24V.

This is the DC distribution box for the homestead. Technically it’s wired incorrectly with white being +24V. The NEC says that the black wires should be hot and the white wires near ground. However I’ve gotten them reversed too many times and burnt up equipment forgetting black is actually hot. It’s easy label the white wires and to reverse them after I get further along in this project. I used red/black wire for the DC wiring, according to the NEC they are both hot wires.

Feelings: It is just getting crazy out there….

Black Lives Matter Leader: ‘If This Country Doesn’t Give Us What We Want, Then We Will Burn Down This System’

Tomorrow: Thank Goodness it’s Friday.

Injuries: Arguments: Exercise: Feeling words: Travel: Noteworthy: Accmplishments: Purchases: Project: Theme: Engineering: Repairs: Pi News:

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans:

• 08:00 Eggs for breakfast
• 09:00 Installed additional wires on 24VDC distribution panel.
• 10:00 Planning…
• 11:00 Blogging
• 12:00 Nap
• 14:00 Planning
• 15:00 Moving power connections to reduce the heat load on the Air Conditioner.
• 16:00 Testing a new battery
• 17:00 Dinner
• 18:00 Getting ready for church and getting an update on Pat.
• 19:00 Prayer time with the brothers
• 21:00 Bed
• 23:00 Updating latitude laptop.

Narrative: Received a replacement battery for my primary UPS for my homestead network. I am not happy that it was separate from the three others that need to be matched pretty closely for this UPS that needs FOUR batteries. (48V)

The handle is different than the four units I bought last month so I am a little worried that the battery is old. (Which will shorten the life expectancy.)

The package was unopened and the voltage was a full charge when I got the battery. The discharge capacity was within specs and the charge capacity was good as well.

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Feelings: The violence has not diminished as quickly as the police have started to pick their battles, anyone thinking a Revolution is upon us?

Tomorrow: Hopefully a better day

Injuries: Arguments: Exercise: Feeling words: Travel: Noteworthy: Accmplishments: Purchases: Project: Theme: Engineering: Repairs: Pi News:

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans:

• 07:00 Up and sipp’n coffee.
• 08:00 Getting organized and blogging.
  • Scanned Picnic table instructions.
• 09:00 Went for a walk.
• 10:00 Reading the news.
• 11:00 Getting organized.
• 12:00 Eating lunch, slice of Ham.
• 13:00 Drive to Stone Mtn.
• 14:00 Getting organized
• 15:00 wired fuse block for garage.
• 16:00 helped with dinner
• 17:00 Dinner
• 18:00 Installed fuse block in the homestead for 24VDC
• 19:00 Cleaning up
• 20:00 Getting ready for bed

Narrative: Need to clean up homestead DC wiring. I have four different buss voltages, 12VDC, 24VDC, 48VDC and Solar 32-44V. The house distribution is red/black even though I’ve identified the buss voltages by color, red 12V, Orange 24V, Purple 48V and solar is Yellow.

Yesterday I accidently connected the solar to the 12V buss when I repurposed a wire used for the driveway IR illuminator. I lost a couple 12V items because of that. 🙁 Most everything in the house can run on 24, it’s just less electronic noise to run it on 12V. The 12V is “converted” from the 24V buss and has a 10A capability with redundancy. After installing the fuse block I was still short three connections that had to be temporarily patched onto one fuse with cords I was using before.

Feelings: We’ve still not dealt with the 6 blocks in Seattle?

Tomorrow: Church in the evening, grocery order.

Injuries: Arguments: Exercise: Feeling words: Travel: Noteworthy: Accmplishments: Purchases: Project: Theme: Engineering: Repairs: Pi News:

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To

Status: Sheltering in place, we have plenty of food and supplies.

Plans:

Narrative: We had our morning planning meeting then worked our Instacart shopping. We had to schedule an additional shopper because the last one stole our dozen eggs. (They are 1dz limit, so you can’t just order two on your next order.)

Cleaned off the Livingroom couch of all the stuff we piled on it since I quit work. It took the better part of a day.

The four batteries I pulled from the refrigerator UPS are in great shape, I got worried when the batteries from the primary UPS were well below replacement threshold. Most of the 35AH batteries were purchased between January and March of 2019. I paralleled the two matched batteries to equalize the charge before putting them back in service.

I changed out the primitive solar panel connections that used a standard extension cord to a MC-4 to SB50 connector which connects to the house with a PP45 connector.

Feelings: The rebellious crowd is still destroying property…

Tomorrow:

Injuries: Arguments: Exercise: Feeling words: Travel: Noteworthy: Accmplishments: Purchases: Project: Theme: Engineering: Repairs: Pi News:

From the book “Triggers” by Marshall Goldsmith
Did I DMBT make my wife feel loved? Yes
Did I DMBT help my wife today? Yes
Did I DMBT be happy? Yes
*Did My Best To