The Raven's Roost

This could have been really bad. This is part of out power service box - I don't know the actual name but it is what the meter can plugs into. As you can see, something got hot enough to melt the plastic, and the meter was, of course, partially melted. We're currently on generator power and ... let me back up a few steps here.

Last night after dinner, I was playing Baldur's Gate (I picked dialogue that Gale took as flirting. I wasn't flirting before, but I AM NOW. Gale is 90% g-spot anyway.) I keep thinking I hear something, then the cats flip out and run. Clay Electric is at the door, and the guy says, "We got a notice that your meter is overheating, I'm here to take a look at it. Y'all had any power problems?" Well, Fox did just mention to me over dinner that the UPS on his computer has been tripping today and he wasn't sure why. I'd noticed some lights dimming and then coming back up, but that's nothing unusual way out here. So Fox and I both come outside and when the guy pulls the meter, that's what he finds.

We're lucky we didn't have a pole fire. I guess we're also lucky it's on a pole and not mounted to the side of the house. Anyway, he took the ruined meter and pulled fuses or something so now the power pole is "dead." You can touch it with impunity. He said just to call the service line and tell them we made the repairs, and they'll get us a new meter. Hopefully another smart meter, but we'll see what they have.

It could also have happened at a worse time - like a few weeks ago when it was still deathly hot. Right now the house is running on a small Predator generator, which is keeping the fridge and freezer going, some lights on, and it can run a small appliance when needed. I just made a pot of coffee, and we can nuke food if we need to, but can't run the oven or stovetop. We're also on low water use, since it can't run the well pump, and definitely not the hot water heater.

So if it happens that they can't reconnect the meter today, we'll need to get the big generator out so it can run the well for water. Fox is heading into town this morning to go to an electrical wholesaler as an employee of FastNet (which he technically is) and see if he can buy the needed parts. We shouldn't need to pull permits or anything since we're not upgrading. Time is of the essence if we don't want to go all weekend like this. Absolute worst case, we can pull the camper out and set up, and use its propane tanks for hot showers. But Fox seems hopeful that he can get this knocked out today.

None of this answers the question - what overheated that line? Why? Is this going to happen again?

So we built a photovoltaic array.

Shortly after getting home from Disney last time, we decided that, before the tax incentives run out, we might as well get the solar system we've been talking about built. Fox found a company that designed and planned systems for DIYers, and once they got the plans hashed out, we got them approved by the county and got crackin'. We already had that space cleared of trees, but we needed to grade it and do some other site prep.

It's pretty heavy duty. The concrete pilings around six feet deep, supporting a framework of schedule 40 steel pipe. We picked up the actual solar panels themselves (along with all the cables, inverters, and all that good stuff) in Tampa and finally got it all up. It's not switched on yet because our homeowner's insurance is dragging their ass getting the liability increase approved. But Fox fired it up late one afternoon when the sun was almost down - we didn't want it making enough power to alert the meter on the house and potentially cause a shutdown. As it was, it made a little bit of power, but not enough to piss off the rest of the grid. (Ahh! Power is coming in instead of going out! Shut down, shut down!) And everything initialized and worked as expected. There's an app where we can see how much each panel is making through the day and a bunch of other info.

We might even get to turn the thing on before we leave for Disney. :P Not going to hold my breath, since at this point no one seems to be in a hurry to approve anything.

But yeah - the inaugural Springtime Surprise race weekend is coming up in two weeks, and Fox and I are running the challenge. Old-timers say this is what Disney races were like at the very beginning. There's a 5k and scavenger hunt on Thursday night in Animal Kingdom - I've never done anything like this and it sounds like a lot of fun. The finisher's medal is even a working compass that opens and closes. Saturday morning is a 10k, and Sunday is a 10-miler, for a total of 19.3 miles. I assume they're doing a 10 mile race rather than a half marathon so they can continue selling their somewhat generic 19.3 RunDisney merch leftover from the Star Wars and Princess weekends.

In November I'm doing something a bit different, for me anyway. I'm doing a stand-alone marathon. I've never done one that wasn't part of a stage race. In this case I'm running the Florida Legends "Skunk Ape Marathon" down in Debary. At Disney I'm always starting the marathon with a tired body and tired mind, having already done something like 22.4 miles that weekend. Here I get to be fresh - we're staying nearby. I'm spending the summer and fall training for just this race. I want to see what I can really do over this distance when I'm not already worn out. Fox is doing it, too, because he can't let me have all the fun. ;D As we get closer to it, I'll post details about how to track the results, if any of you are curious about that.

Fox is also feeling the itch to try an ultra, and we even found one that's held right here close to home. So we might try a 50k soon, as well. We haven't actually signed up for anything yet, though.

This solar project, along with a lot of little cleanup and maintenance projects that came with it, have eaten SO much of my free time and energy the past two months. It'll be worth it whenever we get to run the system, though.