This is one of Tesla’s new Supercharger stations in California, and with 98 chargers, it’s the largest so far.
But what you may not notice are these unmarked metal enclosures off to the rear of the setup hidden in plain sight behind a Shell station
These are the multiple DIESEL generator to run the Supercharger station, since they cannot pull enough power from the local area supply.
Most people are not aware that almost 60% of our power in the US comes from coal and natural gas. Less than 15% comes from Wind and Solar. And in fact, HydroPower supplies almost twice as much as Solar.
And HydroPower works at night.
So when it comes right down to it, your EV runs mostly on Coal and Natural Gas.
And Diesel.
Lately I’ve been getting error messages from my Amazon Firestick saying it’s running out of memory, and can’t install/update apps.
Now you can go through and clear caches or even delete apps, but you’ll still run out eventually.
But you can add memory to your Firestick for only about $17
You just need a OTG cable like this and an 128G USB 3.0 Flash Drive. And since the Firestick only has 8GB to start with, an additional 128 GB should last me a while.
Just plug the Flash Drive into the USB port on the cable and the cable into your Firestick.
Easy Peazy, I hope.
I’ll let you know.
Lunch today was on our usual Sunday schedule, with Denny’s/HEB/gas.
Simple.
Tomorrow we’re meeting a long-time friend Barbara, over at Schafer’s Coastal Bar & Grille in Seabrook. We were last here back around the end of July, and were happy to try it again. Then we’re following her over to her new apartment to help her set up her Internet/TV/Roku system.
Thought For The Day:
And Now On To Today’s Retro-Blogs.™
September 3, 2009
Fresh Haddock and Fortress Louisbourg…
Today we packed up and headed toward Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, which is about 40 miles from where we will catch the ferry tomorrow…or rather, tomorrow night at 11:00 pm for the 15 hour ferry ride to Argentia, Newfoundland.
Our park here in Antigonish is actually right downtown, and is pretty nice.
And it came complete with a bridge and a babbling brook.
The 135 mile drive to Louisbourg, to put it plainly, just sucked!
We had long stretches of bad road, intermixed with shorter lengths of really, really bad roads. And we had a 25 minute wait for construction.
And I’m really dreading the trip back to the States after we return from Newfoundland, because we’ll have to go back on the same road. There’s only one.
Anyway, we pulled into the RV park about 3 pm and got set up. The park is right on the water next to the docks. Talk about scenic!
That’s our rig in the very front.
This time I didn’t even try the satellite since there was a building in the way. And since we’ll only be here one day before we head to Newfoundland, I won’t worry about it.
Later we drove over to the Fortress View restaurant for a great meal of Fish and Chips. This was fresh haddock, right off the boat. Really good!
After dinner we took a drive around the town. One of the sites to see is Fortress Louisbourg, built by Louis XV when the French held this area.
And of course, more great views.
Coming back to the park, I walked down to the docks in front of the park. It’s easy to see why the fish at dinner was so fresh.
September 3, 2010
Vampires and Werewolves . . .
About 12:30 Jan and I drove over to Mishawaka to eat lunch and see the Twilight vampire movie. I know Jan enjoyed it more than I did, since she’s read all the books, but I thought it was pretty good, too.
Then around 6 pm we headed over to Lunkers to have dinner with some friends, and while we were there, Michele Henry of Phoenix Commercial Paint called and said my remaining four cargo bay doors were ready.
YAY!!!!
I thought about picking them up tonight but it was almost 8:30 by the time we left the restaurant, and I would have to make two trips, since I can only carry two doors at at time in the backseat.
I’ll get them tomorrow as soon as Michele calls.
And of course, what’s a blog entry without the obligatory Landon pic. He’s a real cutie.
September 3, 2011
Fall is Almost Here . . .
After coffee this morning I got back on some things on my chore list. I wanted to go through some bins and bags, throw some of the clutter that’s stacked up, find some things I’m looking for, and just generally tidy up. One thing I’ve started doing is consolidating things into different sizes of ziplock bags. Make them easier to keep track of.
About 3:30 I decided to take a nap break, and then a little after 5 pm, and right before the thunderstorms hit, we headed over to Mancino’s Pizza for a great meal. They have the best garlic breadsticks I have ever eaten, and their pizza is second to none. Jan and I had the Meat Grande with pepperoni, sausage, ham, ground beef, and bacon. Fantastic!
It really poured down while we were eating, but by the time we left it had slacked off. Then a little while after we home it started really coming down again.
The nice thing about the thunderstorms is that they’re bringing the cold front, or rather the cold front is bringing the thunderstorms, but anyway, while the high temp was 94 today, for the next 10 days or so we’re going to have highs in the low 70’s and lows in the mid 50’s.
Very, very nice!
Tomorrow I want to concentrate on cleaning out some of the the bins. After that we’ll probably head over to Mishawaka for some shopping, and maybe a meal. We’ll see.
September 3, 2012
The Fountain . . .
Jan and I started out the day by having breakfast again at The Fountain, our favorite local breakfast place. Good food and nice people.
Later I hit the road to Lima, OH. I wanted to pick up a new laptop at the local Sam’s Club as well as some other things.
After getting the laptop, I checked the nearby Wal-Mart for some more stuff with no luck, so it was off across town to the Office Depot where I found what I was looking for and then heading home.
On the way I checked out a nice little RV park along the way.
Then it was back to the rally for the afternoon.
Getting back to the rig, Brandi had sent this pic of Landon kicking back and watching Caillou (his favorite show) on TV.
September 3, 2013
104.7
Well, although ‘officially’ it only made it to 99 here today, our thermometer said it made it to 104.7. But what’s strange is that it did it in a fairly sharp spike. About 3pm I noticed the temperature starting to climb and in about 15 minutes it was up to 104.7. Then it started to fall, a little more slowly than the rise, but by 3:45 it was back down to 99.
The thermometer hadn’t moved, the sun wasn’t on it. Nothing changed but the temperature. I might put this down to a strange coincidence, but I’ve seen this happen on other days too. And it didn’t even happen during the time of the ‘official’ high of 99 which was a few minutes after 5pm.
Strange.
But according to the 10 day forecast, by next Friday our temps should start trending down into the low 90’s. Nice.
They were supposed to start the fracking today, (Actually they were supposed to start it yesterday.), but so far nothing’s happening. We were told that they would crank it up about 3:30 using the sand that they already brought in, and then the replacement sand would start coming in, 4 trucks an hour, 24 hours a day, until they’re done in a month or so.
But nothing so far.
However the good news is that we got our first catered meal. A little after 1pm, a van from Hell Fighter’s Kitchen pulled up and handed me a large Styrofoam container filled with our dinner. He also said he’d be coming through pretty regularly. YUM! We’d heard that the catering is more frequent on the fracking sites, so we’ll see how it goes.
Our meal consisted of sliced brisket, jalapeno/cheese sausage, carrots and peas, Cole slaw, potato salad, fruit salad, and peach cobbler for dessert. And although we only got one serving, it was so large that there was more than enough for both of us.
Once more. YUM!
September 3, 2014
New Adventures in Gate Guarding . . .
or Go Left to Turn Right.
We finally pulled out of the East View RV Ranch in Georgetown, TX at 9:20, about 20 minutes later than we planned because of an emergency repair.
Jan followed me in the truck to the front of the park where I hitched up. I had started the generator running to let it warm up a little before I put the AC loads on it, but when I came back in and turned them on, I had no power to the back of the coach, which meant the back AC and the refrigerator weren’t working.
So lifting up the bed, I dug into the transfer switch and I found I had power on both sides coming from the genset, but it wasn’t getting to the breaker. Wiggling wires around I found a loose connection on the bus panel that feeds the breaker so I went back up front to turn off the genset. Tightening the connection fixed the problem and a few minutes later we were on our way.
We took the SR130 Toll Road south for about 8 miles and then got on US79 east which took us all the way to Hearne. This was mostly 4 lane with only a few small towns along the way. At Hearne we turned south on US190 heading for Bryan.
Getting into Bryan we turned east, still on US 190, heading for North Zulch. (still looking for South Zulch) In North Zulch, we were told to turn right on FM39. But you can’t. Despite what Google Maps and Delorme Street Atlas tells you, you have to go left on FM39 which loops back over US190.
After we got turned around and heading in the right direction, we turned off FM39, and after passing an Emu ranch and a Llama farm, we arrived at our gate.
Pulling in we found Todd, who we knew from last year at Whitsett, waiting for us. The other couple had already left, so we got parked and I started setting up while Todd briefed Jan on the sign-in requirements.
And that looks to be pretty simple, just like last year. We get first and last name, company, tag number, and which of the 6 sites they’re going to. And as far as any passengers, it’s +1, +2, etc. Easy, Peazy.
The only slight complication is that we have to remind them going and coming that the speed limit is 15mph. And they’re really cracking down on it.
We’ve got a nice big oak tree that keeps the rig in the shade for most of the day, so that’s nice. But the nice big oak tree also blocks our view of the DirecTV satellite so I’m going to have to dig out my longer cables tomorrow so I can get the sat dome in the clear.
I’ll have pictures tomorrow.
September 3, 2017
Don’t You Just Hate It When . . .
That Happens!
I found another, longer article about the Magic, or Dialog Oven with more information about the actual cooking process. Interesting.
So now, how about a microwave-sized unit that not only cooks your food, but will also cool it, or even freeze it.
Called the Frigondas, it was developed in Spain, and unlike the Dialog Oven, it should only cost about $1000, rather than $10,000, when it finally comes to the US.
It will flash-freeze fruits and vegetables in just a few minutes, or chill your beer to a perfect 37° in just six minutes. And then make your popcorn, all ready for the big game.
BTW it’s probably very apropos that the very first food cooked in a microwave during development was popcorn. The second thing was an egg . . . which promptly exploded all over the inside of the oven.
Been there, done that.
Several nights this last week Jan has fixed us chicken salads. Well, not chicken salad, but salads with chicken on it.
Now normally we get a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store, and Jan puts shredded pieces on our salads. But with the storm, none were available this week, so she used canned chicken from the pantry.
Turned out to be really, really good, especially with the creamy poppy seed dressing.
Tomorrow morning I’ll drop Jan off at Brandi’s in Katy, and then head down to the Clear Lake area to spend the day at my client. Then I’ll come back to the rig while Jan spends the week Landon-sitting since his school doesn’t start back until next Monday, the 11th.
We had DVR’ed the TV series Fargo this past spring, so tonight we were going to start watching it. That was when I discovered that we had somehow missed two episodes, the third one and the ninth one.
Don’t know why, or what happened. The DVR just didn’t record them. Luckily we should be able to stream them both when the time comes.
Now we’ve also been DVR’ing The Guest Book, on TBS, and it looks like that we missed an episode of that one too – Story Five. But that one we knew about because we missed it when the coach was being repaired.
Haven’t looked yet, but we’ll probably be able to stream that one also. I hope.
Don’t you just hate it when that happens?
September 3, 2018
It Just Wasn’t To Be . . .
As you know I had planned to top off the rig’s engine oil this morning and then check for leaks,
But it just wasn’t to be. It poured down most of the night and continued into the morning. Not exactly conducive to working outside. So I’ll try again tomorrow morning. But I don’t have high hopes since The Weather Channel says there’s an 80% chance of rain tomorrow. And pretty much the rest of the week too.
Oh well.
About 2pm we headed out through the drizzle up to Webster to have lunch at Saltgrass Steakhouse, our toss-up winner for local steakhouses.
As far as steaks go for us, it’s pretty even between Longhorn and Saltgrass. Strangely enough for picking steakhouses, the clincher is the salads. Saltgrass’ Wedge Salad has become our new favorite, and since Longhorn doesn’t normally have a Wedge Salad, they lose out.
I say ‘normally’ because sometimes they do . . . kind of. Occasionally they have what they call a Wedge Salad, but it’s not really.
Unless you call a stalk of Romaine a ‘wedge’. Now I like Romaine lettuce (Jan doesn’t), but a wedge it’s not.
This is a Wedge.
And yes, I like a lot of pepper on my salads. Actually I like a lot of pepper on pretty much everything.
I got the 16 oz. Pat’s Ribeye with Steak Fries, first time for potatoes in a while.
And since I really can’t eat 16 oz. of steak anymore, the first thing I did is to cut it in half for leftovers.
Jan got the 6 oz. Charlotte’s Center-Cut Filet with the Grilled Green Beans, Unfortunately for photo purposes, she got started on it before I could get a picture.
Note how ‘red’ Jan’s steak is. And it only took me 50+ years to get her here.
When I first met Jan she liked her steaks WELL-DONE. Note the CAPITALS. And by WELL-DONE, I mean Burnt. Shoe-Leather Burnt. But it was baby steps to get her to this point.
After many years I finally got her to Medium-Well. Then a few years back she segued all the way over to halfway between Medium and Medium-Well, which is sometimes hard to meet.
But today was a watershed moment. She actually ordered her filet Medium. And then proceeded tell me repeatedly how ‘tender and juicy’ it was.
Well, duh. I’ve only been telling her this for more than 50 years. She said that she always ate her steak like that because her father ate his that, so that’s all she ever knew.
Now she knows better.
September 3, 2019
I Blame Crows . . .
After coffee this morning I was outside about noon to pull my rig oil filter and oil filter adapter so I can replace the gasket.
As before the filter came off with no real problems, using this filter wrench especially sized for the large filter size.
When I do this I have a bucket ready to hold the filter since it’s full of oil. But then after taking a closer look at the adapter, I went inside to call Cummins. I was told there were two bolts to remove, but I thought I saw four. So I wanted some clarification.
And I was told that yes, there were four and not two. I also asked what size the bolt heads were, and I was told 8mm. Which was a problem.
The other day while I was doing my rear brakes, I was using an 15mm, a 13mm, a 10mm, and an 8mm. And after doing one wheel I moved everything over to the other side, then came inside to cool off and hydrate.
And when I came back out my 15mm, 13mm, and my 8mm were missing, but the 10 was still there. As was the rest of my Crescent 1/4” and 3/8” drive metric and SAE which was right there too. But the only ones missing were 3 of the 4 loose ones.
We’re are the only RV’ers here, with most of the other residents working at the Texas City plants so I doubt anyone just walked by and picked up 3 sockets. And they’re no kids around either.
So I blame crows, who are known to like and steal shiny things. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking with it.
So I came in and got cleaned up a little and Jan and I headed out to have lunch at Yummy Yummy, pick up our Amazon packages from work, and buy some new sockets.
But first couple of stops, Harbor Freight, and Lowes, didn’t sell individual sockets, so I ended up at the O’Reilly’s on the way home and found just what I needed.
Then back under the rig when we got home, I found that the Cummins guy was wrong, that it was a 10mm socket. Oh well.
I had to plug together 2 feet of 3/8” extensions to get up to the adapter, but I quickly had the 4 bolts, expecting the adapter to fall off and hit me on the head. But it was stuck.
After thinking for a few minutes trying to figure out to reach it, I got my plastic mallet and tapped on it a bit, with no luck.
So next I screwed the old filter back on hoping to use it to give me more leverage to break the adapter loose. But again no luck.
So it’s back on the phone to Cummins tomorrow to see why it’s stuck. I did take this photo before I came in, and once inside I took a closer look at it,
I could see some type of screw up in here. So I’ll to ask about that too.
As it stands now, it’ll be at least Sunday before I can get back to it.
September 3, 2020
Once Again . . .
After spending some time on the phone with Spartan this morning, I was back outside tracing wiring harnesses. And I was able to confirm what I had come to believe, that all that mess of wiring is just several different owner’s attempts to wire in their toad light hookups.
I was able to trace the wiring harness that runs from the rear PDC (Power Distribution Center) to the right taillight and found no problems. So, back on the phone with Spartan, I’m again looking at the fuse panel/front PDC in the dashboard, that looks to be my Saturday.
September 3, 2021
It’s Here!
Well, as I had hoped my new Atwood Water Heater showed up this morning, so I know how my long weekend is going to be going. At least if it doesn’t keep pouring down rain all weekend like it did today
I mean, we’re talking gullies being washed and pets falling from the sky, type of rains.
Tomorrow I need to pick up a tube of caulk to seal around the outside door, and that should be all I need. Except time, I guess.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m setting up a new computer for our Shipping department, and one of the programs I’m trying to move over is our copy of USPS’ Click N Ship Business Pro. And it should be really easy.
All I should have to do was to install a new copy of the program, and then export the Address Book from the old computer and then import it into the new computer. But someone at the PO doesn’t know how to program, because every time I tried to export the list, the export crashed with an error message.
Turns out that though the Click N Ship program allows you to have an ‘ in a name or address, like O’Neal, it won’t let you export names or addresses with an ‘ in them. Nor will it let you import them either. And it won’t let you choose another export format like Tab Separated rather than CSV.
Of course I’ve figured out a work-around, but it’s going to be a little time-consuming since there are over 4000 addresses in the file. Oh, well.
Continuing with yesterday’s rocket video’s, here’s a really unusual launch technique, if you can call launching sideways a ‘launch’.
Turns out that one of the two engines shut down right at the launch, and the software did a great job of recovering. However with only one engine, it was never going to make orbit, but they wanted to get as much data as they could before they let it crash back into the ocean. And since the launch was from Kodiak, AK, they weren’t likely to hit anything.
Originally the Space Shuttle was supposed to use a Flyback Booster for the first stage instead of the flawed SRB’s that brought down the Challenger in 1986. The Flyback Booster consisted of the 5 main engines from a Saturn V mounted to a Shuttle-like manned glider that returned to the Cape after separation
This next video is an amazing animation of a Shuttle utilizing the Flyback Booster concept, It’s so well done it’s hard to believe it’s not real. From the flickering of the helicopter blades overhead, to the scratches in the film segments, to the heat waves rising from the landing strip. Really something.
Tomorrow we’re thinking Los Ramirez for lunch and then back home to work on the water heater changeout, assuming the weather holds.
September 3, 2022
Miss You, Sweetie . . .
Jan and I were on our way up to Katy about 11am for Jan’s dog-sitting gig, but our first stop was at the El Pollo Loco up on Mason Rd.
We got 3 Piece White dinners (I already ate my wing) to eat there, and 1 more dinner to go for Jan to have another day.
We’ve been eating at El Pollo Loco since we discovered them out in California in 2008, and we were glad to see them working their way east a while back. We actually had two down here in our area, one in Webster and one in League City, a couple of years ago, but they only lasted about 6 months or so. They were very badly managed, unlike the one up in Katy.
Finally heading down Mason Rd toward Brandi’s, we made a quick HEB stop so Jan could pick up a few last-minute things. Then after getting her set up, I headed back toward home, hoping to stay ahead of the rains coming in.
On our way up there we hit one heavy patch of rain for about 10 minutes, but we could see more was heading our way. And it held off until about Baybrook Mall when it really started coming down. And getting close to our RV park, I could see all the ditches were full.
And checking our rain gauge showed it had rained over 1.5 inches by the time I got home about 3pm. And it looks like more is on the way.
Here’s another couple of shots of the U.S.S. Texas heading down the Houston Ship Channel and passing under the Fred Hartman Bridge.
Coming home from Galveston Thursday afternoon, we got gas at the La Marque Sam’s Club for a new low of $2.97. Well, today, two days later, it’s now $2.82.
Now it just has to drop another $1.40 to be where it was in November 2020 when I bought gas at Costco for $1.42.
