I could really feel the stress test in my legs yesterday and again today. The last time I ran on a treadmill at that degree of incline was in the basement of my townhouse in Wernersville. I also happened to damage my right knee during that session. I am hoping to not repeat history in that way.
Last night Cindy and I watched the epic Game of Thrones episode three which was the ultimate battle against the Night King. I had heard multiple complaints of much of the episode being too dark so I adjusted my TV picture ahead of time which made it better but not perfect. There were still a a lot of times that it was a struggle to see exactly WTF was going on.
Of course it is too early to post spoilers but let me just say I seriously question the strategic decisions made by the Winterfell army. Choke points are a thing, just saying… The bottom line was I loved the episode, it was edge of your seat suspenseful the entire time with amazing visuals (when it wasn’t so dark) throughout. I can’t believe in the span of three days I was treated to two of the most amazing cinematic experiences of my life with End Game followed up by this. With three episodes left I have to wonder how in the world GOT can step up the suspense any further.
Last night on my way home I used Auto Pilot in the Tesla for the majority of the ride. It safely navigated me from Davis Blvd all the way to our street, a distance of close to 20 miles. The only time I intervened was the right turn onto Immokalee Road where there are two turning lanes, one of which is turn on red. The car does not know how to do that, yet.
So evidently Tesla YouTube content is very popular. The video I posted from my initial drive on Saturday has already zoomed to over 3000 views in a few days, the fastest any video in recent memory has grown on my channel. I already planned to be doing a lot of Tesla content, the view count reinforces that resolve.
Today I will be heading home mid-afternoon to finish packing before heading north to Tampa for a two day conference. I am packing two PEV’s to help entertain me during downtime. Although I could take the Tesla it would require me to find some charging options while up there which I don’t feel like dealing with so I am just taking Cindy’s Ioniq for the journey. I’ll be back in town Thursday evening so you won’t even miss me.
There was a LOT of big moments this weekend but non bigger than picking up the new Tesla which happened Friday afternoon. I left work early and met Cindy at home. The plan was to drive over in the Tacoma which Cindy could drive back in while I manned the Tesla. The drive over went smoothly although I recall thinking multiple times, man it will suck if I need to come over there for service of any type.
The Tesla building is in a not so great area with a road that looks better suited for horse than expensive electric cars. When we pulled up I saw more Teslas in one place than I ever have in my lifetime, it was crazy. Once we went inside we were directed to our “Delivery Experience Specialist” named Shaina. She was young, nice and energetic. She said they were just finishing up the car and it would be just a few minutes.
After maybe a 10 minute wait she came and got us. She took us to a back garage area and there it was, my Midnight Silver Model 3. It looked as sharp in person as it did in pictures. Cindy and I both were glad we went with the color. The orientation with the car was a little scattered and incomplete. It was also a bit rushed because it was now approaching rush hour which we hoped to get out ahead of. I actually was the one to remind Shaina that she needed my check from the credit union to complete the deal, she was ready for me to drive off without it. The entire vibe I got from the place was hectic, very hectic. There is a lot going on.
So finally it was time to head out. I was very nervous sliding behind the wheel for the first time. It seems very fitting that the first place we stopped was a nearby DD to fuel up for the drive across Alligator Alley. Having the maiden voyage of the car be a 100 mile trek that included typical horrific east coast rush hour traffic was a good test.
The car was incredible, the only thing I had to adjust to was one pedal driving. You rarely need to touch the brake pedal. As soon as you back off the accelerator the car starts regenerating power as it slows you down. The sensation is a bit jolting at first until you get a feel for it which does not take very long at all. Once we got out onto the highway I gave auto pilot a test. It’s a bizarre feeling at first having the car keep you centered in the lane as it monitors all activity around you. As I got more comfortable with it I tried some more advanced AP features like lane changing and I even had it take the exit off I-75 for me without my input.
The power and acceleration of the car is staggering. I have owned a lot of V-8’s over the years and none of them compare to this sort of sensation. The car pulls like a beast from the first millisecond. You can feel the foam in the seat back compress as you are pushed deeper into it as the speed increases. This isn’t something I will be dipping into all the time but man it sure makes merging into traffic a piece of cake. When Cindy drove it later she too was amazed and just how powerful the car was.
There was one negative from the first drive which I didn’t really notice until we got up on the highways. The steering wheel is misaligned. When the car is traveling straight the wheel is pointed maybe 5-10 degrees to the right. It’s annoying and something others have told me they had with their Model 3’s as well. The thing that makes it REALLY annoying is to correct it I likely will have to travel back to Dania Beach as there are no closer service centers to me, ugh.
We pulled into the driveway at home safely. When I started the battery was around 88%, when I got home it had dropped to 35% so that wasn’t bad considering the distance. I plugged the car in and it started refueling as it should. I was actually surprised how fast it recharges. Even after drive across the state it took less than five hours to recoup that energy. Of course I shot a video of the initial journey.
On Saturday I tended to my normal tasks before heading out for some errands like getting a new tractor battery and a few items at Home Depot. As you can imagine I spent a lot of time fiddling with the Tesla figuring out how some stuff works. I realized that certain features I thought all Model 3’s had was incorrect. Floor mats, enhanced Google maps, rear heated seats, and a few other items are reserved for people that paid the extra 10k for the longer range models. I also was scratching my head as to why certain features like enhanced summon were not a menu item for me. Evidently my car is a few software revisions behind. Once it updates itself the features should be available.
I couldn’t mess around too long because we were going to see Avengers Endgame at 2:30 on Saturday. I could not believe how full all of the showings were, despite them having one every 15-30 minutes. We were lucky to find three seats together as Katie went along with us as well. I have been waiting for this movie for what feels like forever. I was so excited to find out how it all ends. Of course it is too early for me to say anything that would spoil the movie for others but let me just say it was incredible and is my favorite Marvel movie of all time. Yes, to me, it’s that good. Despite being three hours long, length never was an issue for me. Every moment of the movie had something interesting, entertaining, funny, or tragic. I definitely need to see it again at some point. They did an incredible job of wrapping up 10 years of Marvel movies in such a satisfying manner. A++
On Sunday morning instead of riding we went to get chicken supplies at Tractor Supply. Speaking of chickens, I think Daelin has officially worn out his welcome. He is terrorizing the hens on a daily basis and Cindy and I are both beyond sick of it. Kathy, who used to always be by my feet now just hides in corners so she doesnt get pinned down and bitten by the rooster. Even Kristen, who was one of the only hens that would stand up to him has now given up and just runs around in fear as Daelin chases her.
The chickens have always been a source of enjoyment for us. Daelin has turned it into a source of anger, extreme anger at times for me. There have been moments that even I, the ultimate animal lover, can feel the urge to simply end him. So anyway, Cindy is looking into ways to get him out of here. In a way, even with as furious as he makes me, I feel bad getting rid of him because obviously he will not find himself in a better situation elsewhere although he is too dumb to know it. I can chase him around the yard and the second I turn my back he is back to doing the same behavior I chased him for, dumb bird.
I spent a good chunk of time during the day messing with the solar panels. Someone pointed out to me that my panels looked too flat. When I installed them my simplistic approach was, we live in Florida so just point them up. What I didn’t realize is that even though we live in the south, the optimal angle for the panels varies by almost 45 degrees during the year which amazed me. For example, in May the optimal angle is a 10 degree pitch, when I check the angle of my panels they were 4 degrees. The angle can make a big difference in the power that comes in during peak sun time.
I had bought an angle mount I wanted to try on one panel before installing it on the other. Well it turned out the bracket was for the smaller 50W panels, not the 160 watters I am running. I found a suitable bracket but in the meantime I rigged some more elevation with some 2×4’s. It got me to 8 degrees of tilt so it was better than it was. I did set a new max input to the Yeti over the weekend. At one point I saw it climb all the way to 306 watts of input power.
Cindy and I took the Tesla over to the school, thinking we were going to test the Enhanced Summon feature where the car can come to you from a parking spot. Little did I know I didn’t have the feature yet so the test was a big fail but it still made for a pretty funny video.
This morning my very hectic week started with two tests. I had an ultrasound on my thyroid and then followed with a treadmill stress test. The stress test was tough as they kept raising the angle and speed to try to get my heart rate to 169. By the time it got there I felt like Dolf Lungren in Rocky 4 when he was running on the uphill treadmill. The lady administering the test was surprised it took so long for me to get to that target heart rate. The funny thing is I was running shirtless, in my work pants, it had to be quite a strange visual.
This is a weird week where I leave tomorrow evening for Tampa where I am having a two day IT conference Wednesday and Thursday. I then haul back here Thursday night and report back to the office Friday. I haven’t had an out of town work thing in quite awhile but it should be good information. I plan to bring a PEV along to keep me company.
So yesterday the bill came for my stay at the ER for my Bell’s Palsy onset at the beginning of the month. I knew it’s arrival would carry some sticker shock but I wasn’t quite expecting it to be this degree. The total amount that was submitted to my insurance for my roughly two hour stay was $7121. Holy shit.
The bill I got from NCH had no line item breakdown, it just showed the total number, what insurance paid, what the “contractual allowance adjustment” was, and what I was on the hook for which is close to $1000 dollars. In order to find the detail regarding these charges I had to log into my insurance portal, what I found is the breakdown in the picture to the left.
The first feeling I get is like you are being worked over by a car salesman. ( a non-Tesla one of course). It’s like they show you the “list price” for procedures but then act like they are doing you a favor by discounting the grossly inflated number. When you drill into the line by line charges the biggest expense was the cat scan at a whopping $3918. The $2000 for two hours in the ER seems insane as well. $1000 an hour is the industry standard?? This one really gets me, $750 for pharmacy. They gave me three prednisone pills and one anti-viral pill. 10 prednisone pills from a pharmacy are normally less than $5. The anti-viral is cheap as well. Once I was out of the ER I got a prescription for the rest, which I paid for already.
So anyway, I already know I will be on the hook for a good chunk of change but I do plan to call NCH to ask them to back up these numbers. As I was reviewing my health insurance claims I saw one that made no sense, an “office/outpatient visit est” for my thyroid. I havent had anything done with my thyroid yet, I have an ultrasound scheduled for it on Monday. This charge was submitted on 4/1 and already paid by my insurance. What in the hell is going on? Well I plan to get a clearer picture today.
I got a voicemail from the Dania Beach Tesla store that my vehicle was on premise. In the message she asked when I wanted to take delivery which I thought was odd because I had been told the delivery was set for 2PM Saturday for nearly a week. The woman also followed up with an email to me. In the email I asked if an earlier delivery was possible, maybe earlier in the day on Saturday or even Friday night if at all possible. We will see what sort of response I get.
It seems each day I am finding yet another cool thing the Tesla can do. Yesterday that thing was Sentry Mode. If you have a USB drive attached to the car this mode can be enabled after you park the car. If close motion is detected or if the car is bumped a warning flashes up on the screen that sentry mode is active and that the individual is being recorded. I saw multiple examples of the mode in action, capturing idiot door dingers in all of their moronic glory. In at least once such case, the door slammers license plate was captured which eventually lead to that person being forced to pay for the damage. When combined with the built in dashcam that captures not only from the front camera but also the two side units, the car is a surveillance collecting beast.
This weekend of course will be all about the Tesla acquisition but there is another huge event on the docket, Avengers Endgame. I have been anxiously awaiting this date ever since Infinity War and it’s infamous “snap” occurred. The movie has an incredible amount of hype behind it but the good news is, at least from early screeners, is somehow it manages to surpass the hype. It is supposed to be a great movie. There are so many story lines and character arcs that are in many ways culminating that the film is an unheard of three hours long. I can not wait to buckle up and enjoy the ride.
The installation of my NEMA 15-40 outlet to charge the Tesla went well yesterday. All I should need to do is plug in the included charger and the socket will become my new EV gas pump. Yesterday I also received a cable organizer to hang the charging cable on which I will mount on the wall in close proximity. I am excited to get the car, I just wish Saturday would hurry up and get here.
During the afternoon I tried to be productive since I didn’t drive all the way back into work. I hopped on the tractor and knocked down the few areas of the yard that were looking ratty. Before doing so I had to jump start the tractor, the battery has evidently suddenly gone bad, something else for me to address this weekend.
For the second night in a row I took a PEV over to the school to cruise around on after dinner as the sun was setting. I decided to take my Meepo KT skateboard which I had not ridden in quite awhile. I once again headed over to the high school and was surprised to see another baseball game was going on. I once again watched a few innings but the home team was getting crushed 8-0. The visiting team was loud and boisterous, a scenario I ran into many times as a pitcher. The constant jabber is meant to distract and frustrate you. Sometimes it worked but the times when I shut them up by striking a batter out were some of the most satisfying.
Last night after eating dinner I took my mTen3 out and drove over to the school for another evening ride, something I did last week on the Msuper. The Mten3 is my most fun EUC because of it’s small size, powerful motor and incredible agility. It is the easiest wheel I have to ride backwards, by far. I just rolled around, first at the middle school where I saw two baseball games were winding up. I then jumped into the Waterways development to explore before finally heading up the road a bit to the high school.
As I pulled into the lot I noticed the lights were on for their baseball field as well. I headed back there to find another game, this time still in progress. I decided to sit down and watch a few innings. I can’t tell you the last time I watched a high school baseball game. The visiting team had a big lead but their pitcher, who threw quite hard also evidently was pretty wild. Through a combination of walks and wild pitches Palmetto Ridge scored 5 runs in the bottom of the sixth to get the score close, which is when I headed out.
As I sat there I of course thought back to my time playing baseball. I remember the satisfying feeling I got when I struck batters out by simply throwing harder than they could swing their bat. I remember hitting that home run that went into the creek and throwing a guy out at home from center field. Baseball provided me with so many memories, both good and bad that I will carry with me always. It’s too bad my career path to the major leagues I dreamed about when I was 14-17 years old never came to fruition. So as I rode back to the truck without a video camera in sight I realized how fun the random exploration part of riding PEVs can be. I really enjoyed myself last night and I hope to repeat the experience on a more regular basis.
Yesterday Katie became the proud new owner of the 2007 Prius. Despite having over 226,000 miles on the odometer she was almost new car happy. Not only does the Prius get more the 4x the mileage of her Ram truck, it will be a much more sensible vehicle to drive once the baby arrives next month. Katie came to my office to do the title work which only took a few minutes. After putting her new plate on the car I asked her if she wanted to drive the Prius home and I could take her truck after work. She excitedly accepted my offer.
The drive home in her Ram was certainly different than the Prius. It is a huge truck that sits even higher than my Tacoma. It rattles, squeaks, and vibrates as you would expect a 14 year old Dodge to. By the time I got home Cindy had already cleaned out the Prius for Katie, I had a bag of various items she collected from the car. Some were still needed but many were not.
Yesterday I saw a video that Tesla posted recently of the full self driving experience. This was not a CGI render of the process, this was an actual demo that was sped up for brevity. At this point I have watched it three or four times. THIS is what I paid the extra 5K for and I have absolutely no regrets in doing so.
Speaking of the Tesla, I realized yesterday my new “base” Model 3 will actually be the fastest car I ever owned in my life. I have owned cars I thought were fast dating back to my 71 Chevelle and 69 Firebird. However when you compare that old muscle to present day it was actually quite slow. Both of those cars would do 0-60 in maybe 6.5-7.5 seconds. The Buick Skylark convertible I had was even slower with a 0-60 in the 8’s. I also had my 1990 Probe GT which was turbocharged however even that “fast” car did 0-60 in 7.5 seconds and the salvage 88 Corvette I owned for six months was probably in the mid 6’s as well.
So I figured ok well I am sure my 2005 SSR with the Corvette LS2 motor is faster than the Model 3. When I saw the SSR 0-60 was 5.6 seconds I was amazed, the Model 3 is still faster. It’s 5.3 0-60 time will crush most of it’s gas powered siblings and a 140mph top speed is nothing to sneeze at, not that I would ever dare approach that. When I decided to buy a Tesla it was all about tech and abandoning fossil fuel to power my commute. The fact that it has neck snapping acceleration when needed is just an added bonus.
Today I will be meeting an electrician to have the NEMA 15-40 plug installed to charge the Tesla. The company was referred to me by my buddy Matt who is friends with the owner and whom also just bought a Model 3 for himself. I know Matt from my years with the running club and from working with him closely in the past on his big Thanksgiving run he organizes every year. Well not only did he refer me to his friend for the install, he also made arrangements to pay for my install. When he told me this I immediately rejected the extremely kind but unnecessary gesture but he told me it was already done. I will need to come up with a way to repay his kindness in an equally stealth manner.
Yesterday I got a guy scheduled to install the NEMA 15-40 outlet that I will use to charge the Tesla. He is supposed to show up tomorrow. Yesterday I also did a bank transfer to cover the non-loan portion of the purchase so other than calling my insurance before Saturday to add the car to the policy, I should be good to go.
Another portion of the equation is the Prius which should be transferring ownership today from me to Cindy’s daughter. I am gifting the vehicle to her so she at least avoids sales tax although she still will wind up paying a few hundred dollars to title and register the car in her name. Tonight when I get home I’ll pull out any personal stuff of mine and then it’s all Katie’s. The driveway is going to be a little crowded for a little while with five vehicles in the household.
I also have been coming up with how I want to handle the garage situation once the Tesla arrives. Right now the Tacoma lives in the garage and is kept in nice condition by being protected from Florida’s brutal sun all day long. However the charging hardware for the Tesla will be in the garage as well. So my plan is overnights the Tesla will be in the garage charging and during the day the Tacoma will be in there hanging out. Sure it is a bit inconvenient to have to play musical chairs with the vehicles every day but nothing I can’t deal with.
So when I installed my coop solar panels I angled them slightly up, figuring that since I am in south Florida only a minor angle was needed. Somebody commented on my solar video that my panels looked a little too flat and that I would get better efficiency with more angle. I sort of dismissed the comment at first but I then looked up my location in an online solar angle calculator. The results I saw were surprising.
If we are talking about June, my initial feelings were correct as it said the optimal angle for the panels is 88 degrees, or nearly flat. However in December the optimal angle is something like 46 degrees, woah. I had no idea that there would be such a huge difference in optimal angle in Florida.
Well my panel install is stationary however the good news is there are brackets you can use that allow you to adjust the angle easily. I ordered one set to do a test run on a panel, if it works as I hope I will order two more. In theory all I would need to do is adjust the panels once a month to the new optimal angle, a minor task to maximize full energy potential.
So as I mentioned late last week, all of a sudden the idea of buying a new Tesla now rather than later was becoming more and more tangible. I had checked with insurance and already got a pre-approval on a loan just in case the idea actually came to fruition. After doing stuff around the house Saturday morning, Cindy and I headed to the local Tesla store at Waterside shops. I had never seen the store although it has been there since 2016. It gives you an idea of how infrequently I go to Waterside, the epitome of luxury 1% shopping.
I had already made email contact with two sales guys at the store but we were greeted by another sales guy. Within seconds he pointed to my World of Warcraft t-shirt and recognized the Alliance logo. He was a former WoW player which instantly gave us common ground. When Tim, the guy I was referred to by my buddy Matt came out I found out that he too was a fellow WoW geek, awesome. Tim and I hit it off immediately although technically he wasn’t our official salesman, he passed to a guy named Chris. Saturday ironically was Tim’s last day at Tesla. He had been there since the store opened. It sounds like he has liked the job but it also sort of consumed his life for the last few years. He was moving into property management, a job with a big demand in SW Florida.
So in the showroom they had a Model X, Y and 3. Of the five color choices I preferred the Midnight Silver and the Pearl White. But since Cindy is a big Pearl White fan I was going to get that color. Well the Model X was the white and the S was the Midnight Silver, the Model 3 was red. Surprisingly Cindy said she liked the Midnight Silver more which I didn’t expect. We both sat in the Model 3 and were impressed with the stark difference to any other car we ever sat in. The lack of buttons, dials, gauges, and vents is so different. It’s all concentrated on the massive 15 inch screen in the center of the console. The car feels big compared the 2007 Prius I have been daily driving for a couple years.
So anyway, without much suspense I said I wanted to go ahead with the purchase. All Chris did was go through the website like anyone else could, picking the options I selected. Ironically, if I went with the white instead of the grey I could have had the car in a couple days as there were some with my spec readily available in Florida. However Cindy encouraged me again to get the grey since it was my first choice. The website said around two weeks for delivery which was fine for me. I had no pressing need for the car and I needed to make arrangements to have a NEMA 15-40 outlet installed to charge the car.
The buying process was so simple, laid back, and quick. Cindy and I both enjoyed it, which is something you rarely hear about with car buying experiences. I went with the black interior, standard wheels, 240 mile range battery, but splurged for the Full Self Drive option that becomes available later this year. It is an expensive 5K option but I figured if I am going to geek out in a Tesla, I am going to go full geek. It felt a little surreal on the drive home. Buying the car now instead of waiting till the Tacoma is paid off means I have about a year where my discretionary income spending needs to be curtailed down from the levels it has been at since I got into the PEV and 3D printing hobbies.
I am not trading in the Prius on this deal as it isn’t worth all that much despite being a very reliable and economical vehicle. We are instead gifting the car to Katie. She daily drives her old huge Dodge Ram truck which gets horrid mileage. The Prius will likely save her a couple hundred bucks a month in gas cost. Katie is excited by the prospect.
Saturday afternoon I dug into my major project of the weekend, installing a smaller 50 watt panel on the roof of the coop. I have multiple power inputs on my Yeti Solar Generator and I had left over cabling from the original install because I underestimated the length I needed. I figured throwing a third panel into the system allows me to pull in more juice in less time which is always a good thing.
The install went pretty smoothly once I came up with a plan of action to get it mounted to the coop run. I ran the wires into the coop vent and had it hooked up after maybe 90 minutes of work. Really the main bottleneck in my system is the internal 1000WH battery which is not big enough to support the full load overnight. I am looking at ways to possibly increase that capacity externally in the future. I think the install looks decent. I get a little injection of pride each time I look out there and see the panels silently doing their job.
I did a video outlining how the solar install has been performing.
Saturday night we watched out latest rental, Black Klansman. When Cindy and I added it to our queue we both thought the movie was a comedy. While the movie, which is actually based on a true story, had funny moments in it, it definitely was not a comedy. It gets down and dirty with the deep seated racism during the 70’s. It just disgusts me. Repeatedly during the movie I said that if this was present day, all of these people would absolutely be Trump voters. Ironically at the end of the movie they showed clips of some of the racial violence in Virginia in 2017. Yep our president definitely has reignited racism, hate, and discrimination while being damn proud of it. Only liberal losers tolerate the non-white race after all. So anyway, yea the movie was kind of depressing but I’ll give it a B.
Easter Sunday morning Cindy I decided to just park at DD and ride from there. The weather was fantastic and we had an enjoyable time. During the video I talked more about the recent Tesla purchase.
Our Easter, which is never a big celebratory holiday for me, was even less so this time. Yes I gave Cindy an Easter card and oversized coffee mug with candy but other than that not much else happened. We didn’t even do an extended family dinner this year. Instead Cindy, Katie and I went to Pelican Larry’s and enjoyed fish tacos and wings. The lack of traditional family celebration is ok with me but it did feel a little awkward none the less.
This week I need to get my ducks lined up in a row for the Tesla purchase. The main priority is getting a NEMA 15-40 plug installed in the garage so I can charge the car at a realistic pace. After that is done I just need to call my insurance company and remember to bring my “check” from the credit union. There is one more oddity about the Tesla purchase, they don’t deliver the car to your local store, you need to go get it at whatever the closest delivery point is. In my case that is Dania Beach on the east coast. The delivery is scheduled for 2PM on Saturday, an even quicker turnaround than the two week window that was mentioned on the web site.
Last night I had another PEV live stream. There was a LOT of Tesla talk as you can imagine.
So somehow my writing about the Tesla yesterday grew into more action researching the feasibility of doing it NOW, instead of later. Surprisingly or not so surprisingly if you know me, I was able to come up with a plan of action that makes it doable. I am working on a pre-approval from the credit union, my insurance would only go up about $360 a year and the pinch of a second monthly payment would only be felt for about a year until the Tacoma is paid off in full. I then furthered my internal justification through self talk, pointing out that my monthly YouTube revenue would already pay for almost half of the payment. A Tesla would also open up an entirely new river of content for the channel which is always a good thing.
There are some annoying things with the Tesla experience. For example the only paint color that doesn’t cost extra is black. Sure it is normal for there to be a couple premium colors but this is the first time I ever saw a color choice only the Amish would be excited about being the only no extra cost option. Interior color choices are very black and white, literally. Black is included in price, white is extra. My choice would likely be the Pearl White exterior as Cindy is a big fan of that color and white is always a good choice to reflect some of the brutal Florida heat.
Of course it is also annoying that there is no negotiation on pricing although to some that may be seen as a positive as car dealership interactions can be annoying, frustrating, and stressful. Still it would be nice to be able to haggle a better deal if you had the fortitude to do so.
I would only need the “Standard Range Plus” which is 240 miles. If you want an extra 70 miles of range that costs a very steep 10k extra. With a 50 mile round trip each day I think I will be fine. The one ridiculous thing I would splurge for is the “Full Self Drive” feature which is supposed to go live later this year. All Model 3’s now come with “Auto Pilot” which allows for pretty much hands off driving in many situations. FSD takes it to a new level where it reacts to stop signs and traffic lights. It is almost fully autonomous driving.
So no deposits have been made, no documents have been signed but I am thinking about this possibility a lot more seriously. The one other factor is being able to at least take advantage of the remaining federal tax credit on the vehicle which is going to be eliminated sooner rather than later. I am hoping Cindy and I get a chance to stop by the local Tesla store this weekend to take a closer look.
So I downloaded and read some of the Mueller report. I didn’t have the time or patience to digest all 440+ pages but what I did read, compiled with other stories about it made it pretty clear just how f’d up the Trump administration is. It doubled down on how daily lying is a required skill to be in the inner circle of the president. It also left no doubt that despite staunch denials, Trump did try to end/influence the investigation, he wanted Mueller fired. The only thing that prevented that was certain members of his staff outright denying Trump’s marching orders because they actually had a modicum of common sense and intelligence. The biggest thing I took away from the report was Mueller basically said there is smoke, a lot of smoke but only Congress is allowed to put out the fire.
To be honest, to consume two years of time to come to this conclusion, which we all already knew to only say that now Congress needs to step in, is frustrating. With as slowly as the wheels of justice turn in Washington, Trump’s four year term will be basically over before any action would be taken. At this point I can only hope it seals the deal that this era of idiocracy can mercifully come to a close in 2020. For those out there that remain staunch and zealous Trump supporters, I would ask one simple question. How do you feel knowing that the candidate that Russia was pushing, illegally influencing, and hacking for, won the election? I would hope for an honest answer but would be surprised to get one. After all, Trump has taught America that bad behavior is rewarding, if you aren’t cheating you aren’t a winner, and being respectful, thoughtful, and kind are traits of losers.
Oh I forgot to mention the other day I was contacted by a reporter from a Wyoming news station, KBZK, regarding my Yellowstone drone video. Recently a drone company named Skydio shot footage at Yellowstone of some guy skating on a boardwalk in a geyser area. The drone flight and skating on the boardwalk are both banned activities in the park. Well the story they are doing ties into the the NPS drone ban and I guess they stumbled across my video from 2015 in the process as it now has over 60,000 views and over 1000 comments.
The reporter asked for permission to use portions of my video in the story. Before granting permission I asked what the angle of the story was, as I didn’t want it to be “look at the dumb ass that got fined via a YouTube video” He said the focus was awareness of the ban as evidently people are still flying drones in YellowStone pretty regularly. I gave my permission to use my video. The piece is supposed to be finished up and run next week. I only asked that they send me a link to the finished story.
This weekend my small 50 watt panel is supposed to show up. I hope to get it installed, which should be a much less involved project than the two big panels. Outside of that I hope to have a less labor heavy experience than the last couple weekends.
Last night after dinner I did something I had not done in quite awhile, went for an evening EUC ride. I just felt like getting out there under the full moon with the cool evening air. I took my good old Msuper, a wheel that sees very little use since the KingSong 18L joined the family. After close to a 1000 miles on the odometer of the wheel it feels a little loose, soft, and sloppy but it also fits me like a well worn sneaker. I rode from home to the school, just rolling around at a very pedestrian pace, enjoying the experience. I put maybe 7-8 miles in before returning, feeling better than before.
When I got home I rolled right into doing some organizing/purging of the hobby room, which was overdue for attention. There is still some work to be done in there but I at least put a good dent in the mess.
Cindy and I have been binge watching The Punisher on Netflix for the last week or two and it is resulting in less sleep than I need. There have been many nights where we haven’t gone to sleep until midnight and that just screws with how I function. We just finished up season one last night so hopefully we can back off a bit from here. It’s a great series, obviously.
So my good buddy Matt just got a Tesla Model 3 a couple weeks ago. Prior to the purchase he and I were communicating about the merits of various EV’s on the market right now. I have decided awhile ago that I want my next daily driver to be an all electric vehicle. My target vehicle has shifted around quite a bit. First it was a Chevy Bolt which got pushed to the side because of pretty unforgettable styling and the loss of the full $7500 tax credit. The target then switched to the Hyundai Kona EV which seems great but is only being released in a handful of states. It won’t be available for sale in Florida for a couple years potentially. It’s too bad because it’s lifetime battery pack warranty is unmatched.
It then seemed like the new, extended range Nissan Leaf Plus would make the most sense. It’s styling was better than the Bolt, it has similar range and still qualifies for the full federal tax spiff. Matt was considering all three of these options as well as the Tesla, which a few of his friends have, and they love them. Heck my buddy Jeremy has a Tesla Model 3 as well and has sung nothing but praise about it.
I love a lot about the Tesla too. The autopilot tech is fascinating and something that pulls at every nerd fiber of my being. Styling of the car is unique and more appealing than any of the other choices out there. It has more power and range than anything else in the class as well. It’s supercharger network is unmatched and growing every day. However there are a long list of negatives as well, at least for me.
The lack of a conventional dealer network has been a turn off for me, especially based on some of the service/repair nightmares I have read about. The stability of the company, although much better than it was, is still worrisome. However the biggest obstacle is the price, which has been made larger by Tesla no longer being eligible for the full federal tax spiff and being the most expensive option of the four vehicles I mentioned by a substantial margin.
I have actually gone on the Tesla site to taste what the purchasing experience is like. It is almost like buying an item on Amazon. Pick your options, lay down a $2500 deposit with your CC and the ball is rolling. There is no longer a huge backlog of orders so depending on what equipment you choose, your car could be ready in a month or less. There also is a local Tesla “store” in Naples that Cindy and I want to visit at some point.
At this moment in time I am thinking more and more about getting a Tesla based on all of the personal success stories around me with the brand. I spend upwards of 10 hours a week commuting to and from work, being able to enjoy those thousands of miles in the apex of EV tech would be a pleasure for sure. Because of the potential expense, the Tacoma needs to be free and clear of debt before I can venture into another car payment. At this point with some concentrated effort I should be able to make that happen in a year or less. Who knows, by that time there may be even greater options or opportunities on the table.
Not only is the solar set up in the chicken yard producing a lot of power during the day, it has become a new fav hang out spot for the birds. This makes me happy.
The solar system out in the coop has really been kicking ass on a typical sunny Florida day. It has the battery totally recharged with room to spare by the afternoon. Last night I decided to grab one more small 50 watt panel that I am going to try to mount on the coop roof itself. I figured it will give me a little extra solar real estate for those days where the sun is not at full power. The other reason I decided to grab the small panel is I already had a spare MC4 extension cable and Anderson adapter from the initial project, I may as well utilize them. I will plug the small panel into the PWM side of the Yeti 1000. I have the two 160W panels going into the higher output MPPT side.
The only part of the project where I wish I made a different choice is the size of the Yeti. I think the 1400WH unit would have made a better choice to run ALL of the coop during off peak hours. With the 1000WH battery I have to split off a couple things like the fans to AC power, otherwise I would be cutting it too tight each night. I can feel that alternative energy projects may be one of my next hobbies. I already have been looking at mini-wind turbines, building solar battery packs and a few other topics that may blossom into other uses of green energy around the property.
If you were wondering how the ceramic wood tile floor looks with black grout, here you go.
If you have not seen the Punisher series on Netflix, you should.
Last night on my way home I used Auto Pilot in the Tesla for the majority of the ride. It safely navigated me from Davis Blvd all the way to our street, a distance of close to 20 miles. The only time I intervened was the right turn onto Immokalee Road where there are two turning lanes, one of which is turn on red. The car does not know how to do that, yet.
