From my last entry here, I thought for sure that my next post would be in late December of April 2012... but here I am, back from an incredible experience in Indonesia. I hesitate to say that it is Bali, because I never once experienced what 90% of the world thinks Bali is. Let's just say that Hawaii is a heavenly paradise compared to Bali.
I barely saw the ocean twice for a scant 5 minutes driving to and from the airport in Denpasar. What i did see was the sad effect that 'eat, pray, love' has had on Ubud. I was lucky enough to spend 7 magical days in the highlands of central Bali with the local villagers and one world-famous retired American author.
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I learned so much about what WinSol3 means and why I spent the last 10 years rebuilding and living here. Being away give me new perspective.
Today, my 3rd day back, I am breathing hard and feel my lungs really marginalized from breathing continual diesel and motorbike fumes - even in the remote village of Pentahan.
Thankfully i had a 'green' drink and tropical fruit galore each morning, but the lack of exercise and actually doing anything physical has taken its toll.
I found myself breathing harder than ever walking up from WinSol3's zen deck, with a load of HUGE mushrooms I spotted... so now the house is filled with eight+ big trays of wonderful sliced mushrooms. The altitude and my lungs will take a while to transition.
WinSol3 stood up well to the first winter storms and first snowfall. It was my first experience putting WinSol3 'on ice' so to speak. The feral cats were all doing wonderfully, and the vegetable garden actually had beautiful things still growing - bigger pumpkins, potatoes, spinach, lettuce, etc. All the vines and grapes have since died away and oak leaves and pine needles cover the expanded courtyard.
So my new project, and to regain some physical stamina and muscle tone, will be working on the greenhouse. I keep thinking how some people go to a gym to work their muscles - and what a sad waste that is, when there is so much more enriching work that could be done on soil and useful things, instead of putting it into a steel machine.
One of my other big learnings about WinSol3 is that I live an enchanted life compared to expatriates and the other 80% in 3rd world countries. But i decided in Nepal 7 years ago, that i would work from within the 1st world to undo part of the damage our western technologies have done... and WinSol3 is just the start. The Indonesia project has really Kick-started my next chapter with CMGs and shown me how powerful this concept and learning center will become.
In attending a bamboo workshop in Ubud with a friend (Chakra), and the excitement I felt in realizing that WinSol3 was light years ahead of the sustainable compound (and green school)... well I am inspired!
Stay tuned to a new program involving WinSol3 in the coming years as a true international learning center.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
changing seasons + hiatus
The false siren of winter storms came early this year. Snow fell in the hi-Sierra on October 8th and Wolf Creek ski resort set an all-time record for earliest ever opening by a USA ski resort. But - for the past two+ weeks it’s been ~70F at Tahoe. Perhaps it will change this week as overnite temperatures are dropping into the teens. There's some snow today above 7,000ft.
The fall aspen colors are amazing as yesterday I ventured up to Sorensens and Hope Valley to take in the awesome view. Lotsa leafer-peepers, and a mere shadow of a New England autumn… but close enough.
Here at WinSol3, these fall + spring seasonal turns and ‘middle periods’ for solar gains and passive heating/cooling of the house are always a challenge. I’ve gotten good at it over the years, fine tuning and intuitively learning what WinSol3 needs to maintain a comfortable temperature ~60-70F each day and nite. It requires some minor manual adjustments: like keeping the loft curtains closed all the time, and maybe opening/closing windows in the day or night cycles. This is a fine intuitively honed balance. I’ve only had to turn the firestove on for a few days in early October.
Old timers say that this winter will be like last winter. Meteorologists are saying it can’t possible be like last winter – that was an all-time aberration. I believe the latter. And what convinces me of that, is that I just haven’t seen the proliferation of pine cones on trees that I saw last year. uI still see robins and squirrels all over the place – last year at this time they were already bunked up for the long cold haul. Mother nature has a few predictors around (I’m sure if I could communicate with any animal creature, they’d tell me exactly what kind of winter it will be).
So as the seasons change so do beckoning calls for projects in faraway places on community microgrids... and time to follow Bucky Fuller's adages:
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
and
“You may assume that you are fulfilling your significance if you apply yourself to converting all your experience to the highest advantage of others.”
and
“You may assume that you are fulfilling your significance if you apply yourself to converting all your experience to the highest advantage of others.”
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I will be signing off this blog for quite a while. Please email me directly if you need.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Energy learnings
What a surprise when I did my bi-annual maintenance on my battery bank. Every cell (all 12) was empty or water. Thankfully the plates looked wet, so they couldn't have been dry too long. It took close to a gallon of rainwater to fill them all. WOW! I've never experienced that before - and likewise, I've never shorted the PV panels directly to the battery bank either.
After realizing that the Xantrex C35 wasn't doing its thing on equalizing batteries, or charging them properly - i just shorted the whole system for the summer. I've found out since then that many others do the same thing - but not all summer.... just for a few weeks. This really juices up the batteries, equalizes them in a hurry and you're all set to reconnect the controller. Well, i waited 4 months for this... and boiled off a lot of the lead acid in there. So lesson learned - only a few weeks of shorting... not months.
These huge babies can take a lickin' and keep on tickin' - but they ain't cheap!My battery bank is fine and are they are all recharging properly. I'll be all set for a long winter - especially with the 400watt wind generator: I'll have power to spare.
Smart Energy
On another front: An energy monitor (with a shunt) is SO important when managing your energy usage. This is the one I have:
Simple and effective. Four numbers: % charge state, voltage, current amp hours, cumulative amp hours (resettable). Now, if I could just hook that up to my computer and have it log the data over time.
I constantly monitor the amp hours and all kinds of other numb3rs and trends for my energy system. It's gotten to a point where I play a game of guessing what the meter will say and then seeing how close i get to the actual number. Imagine my surprise when i discovered recently that my laptop computer external hard drive sucked up as much energy as the entire laptop on a dead battery (4.5 amp hours or ~45 watts)! That was a new one on me! So, now i copy all my files off the hard drive while I got plenty of juice (as in sunshine) - that way i use 1/2 the energy at night when watching the Daily Show or a movie.
Figure it this way (hey, I'm an engineer - in another life!) : 45 watts X 3 hours a nite X 250 days/year = 33,750 watts per year... that's a small chunk off a solar system, but every little bit helps.
After realizing that the Xantrex C35 wasn't doing its thing on equalizing batteries, or charging them properly - i just shorted the whole system for the summer. I've found out since then that many others do the same thing - but not all summer.... just for a few weeks. This really juices up the batteries, equalizes them in a hurry and you're all set to reconnect the controller. Well, i waited 4 months for this... and boiled off a lot of the lead acid in there. So lesson learned - only a few weeks of shorting... not months.
Smart Energy
On another front: An energy monitor (with a shunt) is SO important when managing your energy usage. This is the one I have:
I constantly monitor the amp hours and all kinds of other numb3rs and trends for my energy system. It's gotten to a point where I play a game of guessing what the meter will say and then seeing how close i get to the actual number. Imagine my surprise when i discovered recently that my laptop computer external hard drive sucked up as much energy as the entire laptop on a dead battery (4.5 amp hours or ~45 watts)! That was a new one on me! So, now i copy all my files off the hard drive while I got plenty of juice (as in sunshine) - that way i use 1/2 the energy at night when watching the Daily Show or a movie.
Figure it this way (hey, I'm an engineer - in another life!) : 45 watts X 3 hours a nite X 250 days/year = 33,750 watts per year... that's a small chunk off a solar system, but every little bit helps.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Season Transitions
What season?
As WinSol3's energy meter turns to 12.6 vdc at 7am of the first rainy day of the new winter season, the outside temperature reads 38F. My reflections turn to a summer filled with learnings and the upcoming winter season. This time I may not be spending the winter here - lifestyle changes beckon great adventures.
Some weather reports are predicting snow levels dropping to 6,000ft (on October 5th!). Kirkwood received 10 inches of snow! wheeeeee....The upcoming winter season is picking up where the last one left off – from snow on Memorial Day weekend to a trace of snow today. That’s 4 months without snow: No spring, no fall – just snow, heat, snow. And it was a VERY cool summer. I think Sacramento had 6 days over 100F (normal is 30 days). This is all new to my 30 years here, an all-time short season and cool summer record. I couldn't even get into the high country with all the snows lingering around. Who says there’s no climate change?
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So what has transpired and what have I learned over the past short summer seasons? There is a shorter growing season sometimes, and I need to get the greenhouse warmer in order to grow more food. AND the big one: the 2nd biggest fire ever could easily have rendered me homeless and all my efforts negated.
Of all the things occurring over the past summer months though, I took the first big step toward shaking off the isolation and remoteness and started finding community. The WOOF and HelpNetx and other web networks have generated some interest, but nothing concrete yet. There have been over a dozen visitors (plus the September celebration) to WinSol3 from various areas. I am grateful to all of you who came up to visit, and I treasure your friendship.
The distance of this place to main urban areas is probably the single largest lesson I’ve had to come to grips with: don’t build too far out. Since this was initially picked to be my Kirkwood ski hamlet, I could have never guessed that the location of WinSol3 would be THE big issue. But people who frequent mountain resorts are not the same people who would readily live off-the-grid in a closed loop, self-reliant style. I believe they are more inclined to pay for the convenience of endless energy and conveniences next to hi-end infrastructure. So I am turning toward the Coloma/Nevada City area for possible future eco-village community networking since they are seem more enlightened and closer to ‘civilization’.
Here’s a list of WinSol3 accomplishments over the past 4 summer months:
- Living roof connecting deck with hi-psf structural supports
- triple sized courtyard patio with new firepit and sitting areas
- five raised beds and bountiful veggie + grape + rhubarb + harvests
- Greenhouse water feature and tile work
- Demos of Rocket Mass heaters
- Perimeter clean-ups, screened under deck storage
- Outside LED lighting system
- 12vdc Sound system everywhere
- Gravel driveway straw cover, weed prevention
- Main area, loft, mudroom drywalled, painted
- Main deck final bracing
Whew… I get tired of thinking of the hundreds of cement bags mixed, hauling of dirt buckets, the # of granite slabs,
Lessons learned:
It is possible to live self-reliantly with many hi-tech + modern comforts
It requires only knowledge and construction materials
More + more people are discovering reused, salvage, hospice,
My overall fire prevention strategy of not exposing wooden sill plates, masonry barriers, etc. to the surrounding forest area really paid off since it helped stop the spreading uphill fire (flame retardant helped too! :-)
So the shift from summer to winter is on.... and this is where WinSol3 shines. Solar PV panels and large windows + overhangs designed to let maximum daylight and sunlight in during winter months. It's nice and bright and soon to get warmer as i fire up the stove for the first time in months....
Monday, August 22, 2011
Memorable Sierra experience
At the weekend's wonderful Sierra Nevada Alliance annual meeting, I was taken by one of the questions posed to a panel: 'what was your first memorable Sierra experience?'
There are so many Sierra experiences + memories and they continue daily. My first one was in the summer of 1977. I had just started my first 'big pay' job with PG+E and took a summer break before the job started, and backpacked deep into Sequoia National Park, you know - home of the giant trees. My goal was to cross over 100 miles of wilderness to the John Muir Trail and get some Golden Trouts.
A bit of background may help here: I had spent the previous 5 years in Laramie Wyoming (U of Wyo Cowboys) and every weekend I went backpacking, climbing and fishing into the Snowy Range close to town and did extensive mountaineering in the Tetons, Wind River Range, Yellowstone, etc. So long backpacking trips was my forte. Looking at the national park map and seeing the vast unspoiled wilderness made me more comfortable after experiencing the congestion (relative to Wyoming) of the Bay Area.
I remember how amazing it was seeing my first giant Sequioa. Nowadays, they almost look 'normal'.
What made this trip so memorable is my getting cited on the second day by a Forest Ranger for not having a permit. I was dumbstruck and naive. I said to the ranger ' i need the state's permission to walk on god's earth?' He laughed and we started talking and I got a quick introduction and learnings about 'wilderness' in California. What a difference compared to Wyoming 'wilderness'!
Since then I've pulled a few permits - mostly for peak bagging - and stay away from overused trails that require day permits.
I never did make it across to the Golden Trout Area and the John Muir Trail (i finally did get there in 1998), but I fell in love with the Sierras. They were WAY more friendly (weatherwise) than the Wyoming Rockies, and in California I eventually needed more time away from people congestion and the Sierras were the perfect antidote.
Eventually I settled on the Carson Range and that's right next to where WinSol3 is - outside my backdoor... pinch me!
There are so many Sierra experiences + memories and they continue daily. My first one was in the summer of 1977. I had just started my first 'big pay' job with PG+E and took a summer break before the job started, and backpacked deep into Sequoia National Park, you know - home of the giant trees. My goal was to cross over 100 miles of wilderness to the John Muir Trail and get some Golden Trouts.
A bit of background may help here: I had spent the previous 5 years in Laramie Wyoming (U of Wyo Cowboys) and every weekend I went backpacking, climbing and fishing into the Snowy Range close to town and did extensive mountaineering in the Tetons, Wind River Range, Yellowstone, etc. So long backpacking trips was my forte. Looking at the national park map and seeing the vast unspoiled wilderness made me more comfortable after experiencing the congestion (relative to Wyoming) of the Bay Area.
I remember how amazing it was seeing my first giant Sequioa. Nowadays, they almost look 'normal'.
What made this trip so memorable is my getting cited on the second day by a Forest Ranger for not having a permit. I was dumbstruck and naive. I said to the ranger ' i need the state's permission to walk on god's earth?' He laughed and we started talking and I got a quick introduction and learnings about 'wilderness' in California. What a difference compared to Wyoming 'wilderness'!
Since then I've pulled a few permits - mostly for peak bagging - and stay away from overused trails that require day permits.
I never did make it across to the Golden Trout Area and the John Muir Trail (i finally did get there in 1998), but I fell in love with the Sierras. They were WAY more friendly (weatherwise) than the Wyoming Rockies, and in California I eventually needed more time away from people congestion and the Sierras were the perfect antidote.
Eventually I settled on the Carson Range and that's right next to where WinSol3 is - outside my backdoor... pinch me!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Fire in the hole
Once again fire has gripped 7L. This is the third major fire in the last 10 years. All man made, all on the property. The first was from forestry slash piles after logging, the second was the 2001 WinSol2 burning, and now the storage shed and other minor structures. Perhaps there's an ancient curse somewhere close-by in the National Forest that used to be home to Maidu tribes. Then again, between all these fires on the east and south, and my thinning and burn piles on the West... there's nothing left to burn!
Storyline
I came home last nite after being gone for a few days, to my doors being wide open, and my thinking I'd been robbed. A sleepless nite - but for all the wrong reasons.
This morning i awoke to weird red stuff all over the deck - it looked liked it had rained red dust. After a few minutes, I turned south and saw the entire forest below burnt black, including the 1,000sf storage shed.
My neighbor noticed some smoke coming from down below, and thought that there's no way Fred would be doing a burn pile at this time of year (good to have such a reputation :-)... 10 minutes later he noticed flames. Two kids (who I know) on quads were on the other ridge and also noticed it. Two calls to 911... 20 minutes later ... 7 fire engines... multiple helicopter water drops ...several airplane retardant drops... later - it saved my house: WinSol3 I wonder what i would have done had I been here - totally freaked out or humbled?
The uphill raging fire (burned tree branches at 200+ feet up) stopped within inches of the main house... the plastic gutters on the greenhouse melted away (see pic below).
Timely neighbors (thank you Jack + Travis, ++), incredible reaction + coordination of the Amador + El Dorado Natural Resources (used to be called fire department) along with 7 engines, countless ground crew, multiple helicopter water and plane fire retardant drops kept the house from burning and limited the damage to around 1 acre.
All remnants of any construction before 2002 has turned to ash. The storage shed, old deck, various stuff... all burned to the ground.
Personal note: It's interesting what an emotional and spiritual toll these events take on me. I had all these plans and projects to work on, and now all i can think of is gratitude and reaching out. My whole body + spirit feels like it's been drained + body kicked a few times - I've been there before. All things in life are transitional + temporary.
Gratitude
How can I ever repay all the hard work of the fire crew? What gratitude can i possbily give in thanks for all the state, county, equipment, personnel, etc. coordination that went into saving my house? In talking with the fire marshall, he said 'that's what we do, that's why we're here'. I know one thing for sure: I'll never bitch about 'controlled' and 'managed' burns, or about other fire fighting related issues. WinSol3 was one sudden windbreeze away from being a pile of ashes.
Until one has come face-to-face with such a disaster and benefited from these firefighters', pilots, truck drivers, etc capabilities can one really appreciate all their effort.
And a special thanks to Andrew for taking time out from his Supra rebuild biz, and getting ready for college days...to sooth my aching nerves: thanks buddy! And also to all my friends out there for your heart-felt emails + calls.
Burnt Gutter right under the Greenhouse
Burn Stopped here!
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Storyline
I came home last nite after being gone for a few days, to my doors being wide open, and my thinking I'd been robbed. A sleepless nite - but for all the wrong reasons.
This morning i awoke to weird red stuff all over the deck - it looked liked it had rained red dust. After a few minutes, I turned south and saw the entire forest below burnt black, including the 1,000sf storage shed.
My neighbor noticed some smoke coming from down below, and thought that there's no way Fred would be doing a burn pile at this time of year (good to have such a reputation :-)... 10 minutes later he noticed flames. Two kids (who I know) on quads were on the other ridge and also noticed it. Two calls to 911... 20 minutes later ... 7 fire engines... multiple helicopter water drops ...several airplane retardant drops... later - it saved my house: WinSol3 I wonder what i would have done had I been here - totally freaked out or humbled?
The uphill raging fire (burned tree branches at 200+ feet up) stopped within inches of the main house... the plastic gutters on the greenhouse melted away (see pic below).
Timely neighbors (thank you Jack + Travis, ++), incredible reaction + coordination of the Amador + El Dorado Natural Resources (used to be called fire department) along with 7 engines, countless ground crew, multiple helicopter water and plane fire retardant drops kept the house from burning and limited the damage to around 1 acre.
'simulated' water drop
All remnants of any construction before 2002 has turned to ash. The storage shed, old deck, various stuff... all burned to the ground.
Personal note: It's interesting what an emotional and spiritual toll these events take on me. I had all these plans and projects to work on, and now all i can think of is gratitude and reaching out. My whole body + spirit feels like it's been drained + body kicked a few times - I've been there before. All things in life are transitional + temporary.
Gratitude
How can I ever repay all the hard work of the fire crew? What gratitude can i possbily give in thanks for all the state, county, equipment, personnel, etc. coordination that went into saving my house? In talking with the fire marshall, he said 'that's what we do, that's why we're here'. I know one thing for sure: I'll never bitch about 'controlled' and 'managed' burns, or about other fire fighting related issues. WinSol3 was one sudden windbreeze away from being a pile of ashes.
Until one has come face-to-face with such a disaster and benefited from these firefighters', pilots, truck drivers, etc capabilities can one really appreciate all their effort.
And a special thanks to Andrew for taking time out from his Supra rebuild biz, and getting ready for college days...to sooth my aching nerves: thanks buddy! And also to all my friends out there for your heart-felt emails + calls.
Top part of Burn... just down from the Courtyard
What's left of the 1,000 sf storage shed
This is how close it got...
Burn Stopped here!
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Ok - so I gotta go back on firewatch and put out some smoking embers down below. The wind is kicking up, thankfully there are clouds and humidity.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Risks +
Lately, life at WinSol3 took at turn downward. On Friday nite I got stung by some ground nesting wasps and then today on my walk in the forest, I took a major stumble and dislocated my shoulder. At least I haven't cut my arm or leg off (yet?) with my chain saw.
Murphy has a weird way of showing up around here. Usually he just makes things more complicated and longer, but lately he's been getting downright nasty.
As I was ripping and clearing out the old firepit to make room for the patio tile expansion (20+ cement bags, and new circular firepit with integrated rocket stove and future pizza oven), I didn't even notice that I'd disturbed a whole bunch of in-ground wasp nests. Those little bastards can really dig long tunnels with multiple entrances. So drinking my wine and talking with friends on Friday nite, I didn't even notice the little guys circling around my bare feet - they were sizin' me up! I got stung once... no biggie... i brushed it off and thankfully didn't feel any pain. And then 10 minutes later 3 more bites under my swim trunks and sandals. OUCH! And then the swelling started.
Last time I got stung by a whole nest of wasps at the white water tank, the entire left side of my body swelled up for a week... i was told that I could go into epilectic shock if it happened again. Somewhere I had an old bendryl hypo somewhere, but didn't care to use it... unless the swelling didn't go down.
So my entire right leg swelled up... the more I used it and walked around the less swelling, the more i rested the bigger the swelling... so I started working and walking... and two days later... my body is TOTALLY NORMAL and I have 5 red souvenier marks.
Cure for Wasps
After reading up and chatting with people... I went out around midnite with heavy boots and clothing to the max. Armed with shovel, rake and gasoline... I cleared the entire area, poured gasoline on the ground and inverted some large pans (cement mixing pans). Next morning they were all gone. Only to pop up again about 5 feet away... so tonite I gotta do the same thing.
Humpty Dumpty
On my walk today in the forest - which I've taken hundreds of times... I stumbled on a tree stub in the middle of the road that just sent me reeling... I mean launched me and put me down straight up. Luckily I rolled and came down on my shoulder... pop! I've done that before skiing... but never on dirt! Easy to pop back in. It'll be hurtin' some tomorrow.
So now to getting more of my garden fresh salad in me (biodynamic vegies) to boost my immune system and give it a little boost.
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That's about as risky as it gets here. There's no cars, hi-speed roads, stoplights, people running around... so not much happens in comparison to the city. Wasps and stupid walks are about it.. except for the occassional drifter... :-)
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