Peanut-butter cookies this time.
I thought this was pretty funny. Ali bought this LeapFrog alphabet pad thing at Target. Just a cheapo little item for Ouest to practice her letters on. She had finished it in the car, and when she got home she brought it over to show me. I flipped through and immediately saw this. Can you spot the error? I posted this picture to Facebook as a laugh, and LeapFrog promptly responded—not with an, “Oh my, this is so embarrassing,” but with, “That’s not us, that’s RoseArt. We just sell our name and images to anybody who will pay us.”
Well, they didn’t say that exactly, but they did pass the buck without taking any blame. I just told them that in the future they should make a point of asking for the Kindergarten graduation certificate of anybody they license their name to. I also told Ouest that I was very disappointed in her for not catching this error herself, and then grounded her for a week—no, a month! Tough love—just like a Tiger Mom would dish it out.
A lot of time at Grammy’s house is spent in the backyard where the kids spend much of every morning emptying the bird bath by splashing around in it as if it is a fresh, clean, water-fountain. It’s been fun this visit to see how Lowe has really taken a shine to Grammy, giving her hugs and kisses randomly throughout the day. And of course, helping her out with her gardening as well. Honestly, if anything in this backyard survives this visit it will be a miracle—these kids are not gentle.
He’s becoming a terror (i.e. a boy).
Finally put the finishing touch on the solar panels this morning—hooking up the charge controller and running the wires to the batteries. It was such a pleasure to see that juice start flowing and the voltage climb as the batteries charged throughout the day. I haven’t had us plugged in here at my mom’s so the batteries were getting a little low. I couldn’t help myself from throwing the volt meter on them every time I went outside.
I said it after installing the panels on the boat, but installing solar really is about the easiest major upgrade anybody can make to an RV or boat. It’s just so incredibly simple these days, especially with all the pre-wired plugs that come on these things now. And it’s cheap too. Or relatively so. I installed three one-hundred watt panels, with charge controller, an additional 40 feet of cable (pos and neg), and miscellaneous installation hardware, for $500.
For our power needs this will be more than enough—we will never run out of juice.
Lots of other little projects have been wrapped up. That roof fan/vent replaces an old leaky one. The broken air-conditioner has been replaced with a unit that was smaller by a few inches, thus requiring quite a bit of modification to the ducting and the hole in the side of the bus that it fits in. I’ve fixed some electrical issues, though not all. Done a bit of engine work, but nothing major. Installed a seat belt on the driver’s seat. Sealed up a few leaks. And much more I’m sure. More than anything I’m just happy to have those cardboard boxes full of solar panels off of the roof. I hated seeing them in pictures. Now with the panels in the middle of the roof you can’t even see them.
20 Comments on “ABCDEFGHJI…”
I’m curious to know if there will be any noticeable aerodynamic effect from the solar panels. I know they don’t sit up much, but since they aren’t flush with the roof, it seems like they would cause at least a little drag. Given that you avoid speeding around the interstates, though, maybe you won’t feel it.
You all seem to be having a wonderful time, what a great place to be during the summer. Really enjoying the bus travels, hope you’ve got all the major problems licked. Good luck with everything!
I wouldn’t think there’s going to be much of an issue with aerodynamics given that there has aways been stuff on top of the roof. Even before the Bums placed the unpackaaged panels on top there was the spotlight, the old heater, the old vent, etc. Back when the bus was built aerodynamics was barely a blurp on the design considerations. My concern (although miimal because we all know how awesome Pat is) is that the space under the panels will allow for a lifting action. If secured correctly this shouldn’t create too much stress on the brackets but if not at 55mph they could possibly fly off if their brackets fail but like I said this is a minimal worry for someone (me) who has not laid hands on the fastening system.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the panels flying off, Kim. The panels I installed on my ’83 Toyota Dolphin are about 3 inches above the roof, side-by-side, and fastened to a piece of 2×2 wood with four 1/4″ bolts each. The transition from panel to wood is via 1/8″ thick aluminum angle iron. I now have a couple thousand miles on the installation and have seen absolutely no indication of any sort of problem. I’m sure Pat’s will be fine as well.
I second the solar upgrade. I added a Renogy 100W panel to our 36′ boat this summer and what a difference! Fully charged batteries all the time!
Does the van need anything to direct airflow over the solar panels, since it moves a lot, er, somewhat faster than a sailboat? John
Did you replace the exhaust manifold and the fix leaking rear main seal?
I had to lol when I saw the alphabet mistake. Someone was asleep at the switch.
I assure you I would have mentioned that had it gotten done already. 🙂
Here’s to Sunny Days and Shadeless spots. Keep charging on Bums!
I hope you really didn’t ground quest, she is too
Little and too precious for that! Portland looks awesome,
Way out there on the east coast, different to the America
We usually see here in australia that’s for sure, as for the
American summer, I’m glad you guys are enjoying the 30
Degree temps(Celsius) here in aus it’s bloody freezing I’m
Writing this by the heater. Cheers.
Trent.
Trent, check you map again, it’s Portland OREGON, not Portland Maine.
Hi Jim,
Thanks for pointing that out, yes i got confused, i knew
it was Oregon, i just forgot to say that was on the west-
coast, ( it’s west isn’t it? ) either way it’s a beautiful
part of America, i’d like to visit there one day, looks alot
more relaxed and carefree than the big cities of the east coast.
i didn’t catch that alphabet error very quickly – i was stuck on the lowercase f wondering if i’m doing it wrong?! you’re supposed to start from the top, really? 🙂 (love seeing your posts!)
I love grandmas like these. They are hard to come by now-a-days. Your kids are very lucky. 🙂
That’s the lowest price for 300 watts I have seen. What manufacturer and retail outlet did you use? I was looking at the new flexible panels but way more costly than yours.
I dropped 500 on a 120w portable panel from Go Power, it’s actually quite nice as an auxilary because you can easily point it directly at sun through the day. And of course you can take it with any of your vehicles.
http://www.amazon.com/Go-Power-GP-PSK-120-Portable-Controller/dp/B009MIPH4K
Renogy panels from Amazon.
why are my comments disappearing? Tried to send some joy and happiness your way but comments are deleted?
feel free to pm me
Nely hit it on the head – Dream Grandma that will remain with these kids for the rest of their life.
300 watts of solar, and how many amphours of batteries? How many days unhooked does this get you guys before having to be plugged in?
About 250 amp hours. We could stay unhooked almost indefinitely. We use very little power. The fridge is the one big power draw, but on a sunny day the panels cover that. The only other thing we use power for is charging computers and computer batteries. Those we just plug in when the inverter is on for the fridge (It’s a crappy AC powered fridge).