More than running, White, Tesla, Not even that close
After work on Friday I again got on the Echelon bike, which has replaced running as my Friday night cardio before eating pizza. It’s a tough workout and on a calorie burned basis it feels like I am getting higher numbers than I would running. I almost hit 400 calories on the 30 minute ride which left me drenched in sweat despite being in air conditioning.
On Saturday the main task I wanted to get done was putting another coat of white Flex Seal on the coop roof which was a holdover list item from the prior week. I had washed off the layer of grime last weekend so I could get right to it. The Flex Seal does not go on as easily as paint since it has a consistency more like liquid rubber. I applied it liberally and with little concern for neatness. The goal is to simply reflect heat so the coop doesn’t become an oven.
I decided to even paint over the skylights which were already badly discolored from sun exposure. I had them covered up from the inside anyway so it made sense to coat them permanently. I was sweating like I was in a sauna. The bright sun and high humidity make it a broiler by themselves but as I was up on the ladder I also was getting the heat reflected back at me off the white roof. It was rather intense. After a couple hours of work I had a thick coat applied which on top of what was already there should hopefully reflect heat without much help from me for the next year or two.
Late Saturday afternoon I wound up going to one of our branch offices for almost four hours. There was a hardware refresh going on that was being managed by one of my desktop support guys. He was having an issue getting the credit card readers functional with these new systems. I drove down confident I would be able to find the root cause and establish a reliable fix. I failed on both accounts.
The problem was inconsistent with no pattern I could identify. Out of the more than 20 workstations only five or six had functioning credit card readers. I dug on the internet looking for info, downloading updated drivers, and searching for similar situations. Despite my best efforts I couldn’t come up with the magic solution. I reached out to some other resources hoping they may have some proven remediation answers but for now it’s just one big frustrating situation.
On Sunday my to do list had two Tesla items on it. I am right around 20,000 miles on the car now so I wanted to rotate the tires again which I did once before at 10k. It’s one of the very few Tesla maintenance items there is. The tread on the tires still looks great, something I was worried about as I had read stories of owners blowing through tires in 25,000 miles or less.
I then replaced my cabin air filters and cleaned the evap coil on the car. I have had the parts to do this for months but I never got around to it. Model 3’s had an issue with the HVAC having a mildew smell when they first came out. Tesla actually fixed this issue via a software update where they had the fan on the car run longer once the AC stopped to better dry out the coils. The filter kit I got was an upgrade from what Tesla uses from the factory, including stuff like carbon inside for better odor absorption.
Getting access to where the filters are located was a pain in the ass, requiring me to wedge myself awkwardly into the footwell to reach the access door. I think the video does a good job at depicting the various struggles I encountered along the way.
During halftime of the awful Eagles/Rams game I shot a quick video update on our whole house solar system. In it I talk about the realities of summer in Florida where daily thunderstorms cut back on power output while the brutal temps and humidity drive up electricity consumption by the AC system. The end result has been my using more than I have been producing for at least the last four months. I can’t give a full opinion until a complete year has passed to see the numbers. Regardless I am still glad we took the leap, even if it isn’t quite the savings I imagined.
So the Eagles/Rams game was bad. Believe it or not I don’t think it was as close as 37-19 final score. The Eagles defense is porous and seems to lack the ability to make any big plays. The offense was better but still had three turnovers, including Carson throwing a bad one in the end zone. It’s funny I recall last year feeling very down on Carson for a good portion of the season. I said how he seemed to lack the ability to come up big when the pressure was on. Surprisingly down the home stretch last year he did exactly that, delivering a streak of wins that required him to perform under pressure.
I don’t know why consistency is so elusive for Wentz but unless he manages to find a way to get there, we are going to be dealing with a lot of frustration. The team on paper has too much talent to struggle as it has.
The rest of Sunday I spent a lot of time in the hobby room, trying to clean up what was a mess from various repairs and projects going on simultaneously. I still have multiple printers in there that need attention and the entire room needs a thorough round of me going through everything to organize and throw out as needed.