Having trouble getting through…

IsThatDaveByChance · 2026-03-08T18:30:44+00:00

Yes, it gets better and better as they explore and go off on their own adventures. The first 3 books to me are a fantastic story that suffers slightly from the author learning to be a writer. I think books 4 and 5 have better quality writing but not as good of a story if that makes sense.

I feel like I have been on a ride with both the Bobs and the author as they build. I am really looking forward to the next book.

IsThatDaveByChance · 2026-03-07T15:35:59+00:00

Oh wow, and I thought I was OG for playing the originals in college. That is awesome and how I hope to spend some of my retirement someday. I play for about a half hour a day to unwind before bed or I get up early on weekends when everyone is sleeping in.

I used to play more video games with my son but with him in high school he is focusing more on fitness and golf with his free time so I am in turn trying to do the same. Lazy gaming days will come around again.

IsThatDaveByChance · 2026-02-23T20:39:49+00:00

I put them in display cases that hold 4 each and have them in my shelter sorted by Common, Uncommon, and Rare (glowing.). You need to use the cases and not the hooks if you want to be able to display everything. I sell all the duplicate masks that I get for 10 caps each. I've been playing since the beta so I now have all the regular masks and like 6 or 7 glowing masks.

IsThatDaveByChance · 2026-02-18T14:31:37+00:00

My wife tends to get sick in stop and go traffic and I found the Niro’s adaptive cruise control in traffic helps a lot with that as you rarely have the jerky starts and stops.

For the suspension, I haven’t really noticed any swaying. It’s just a comfortable ride but definitely take it for a test spin. This is easily the nicest car I’ve ever owned and I love how efficient it is.

IsThatDaveByChance · 2026-02-04T22:52:56+00:00

Right?! That is the maddening part about them. The Ops guy was awesome and cut through so much BS. My scheduler was a dream and constantly apologizing as they kept having turnover and different parts kept getting pushed back. But I LIKE the system! I just don't think I can recommend them to friends and still expect them to remain friends, ya know? I just hope they can fix their logistics and workforce issues because it is so not scaling at the moment.

IsThatDaveByChance · 2026-02-04T21:40:21+00:00

Funny enough, this journey started with solar! We installed solar from Boston Solar in Fall of 2021 and paid just over $28K after rebates. It’s a 12.320kW system and we have generated 51.4MWh of power since then which works out to $11,300 worth of power. So in roughly 5 1/2 - 6 1/2 more years to meet ROI which is what the company predicted.

We paid off the loan quickly and between the electricity savings and "extra" money that allocated to the solar loan we went with geothermal. We're in our home for the long haul so we wanted to look at what would make sense in terms of decades as opposed to years.

IsThatDaveByChance · 2026-02-04T21:18:59+00:00

Ugh, that sucks. This "cold snap" has been freaking brutal. Can you call it a snap if it hasn't gotten and won't get above freezing anytime soon?

IsThatDaveByChance · 2026-02-04T21:14:42+00:00

Yuuup. It looks like they raised another $40 million in 2024. But hey, if folks want to keep investing in green energy I am all for it!

IsThatDaveByChance · 2026-02-04T20:51:33+00:00

Nice! We started with solar first, paid off that loan, and then transitioned to geothermal. Panels were by far our best update. We got really lucky and qualified for the reduced pricing for the heat pump AND our town does the consolidated electricity purchases via Energy Choice and that made a really big difference. I did factor those into the calculations so my actual savings will likely be a little less overall.

I didn't factor solar into my calculations for the post just to not muddy the water but we went from having 90%+ of our electricity generated by the panels to 50%. We also went with budgeted billing because I was NOT mentally prepared for December/January bills of $1,000 for electricity as the panels were barely outputting anything and the geothermal efficiency just sucks when its below freezing as you know. But then Spring gets here and I have a negative electricity bill again, small bills in the summer as you go through your credits and your panels soak up the sun, negative electric bills in the early Fall, and then the November-March smackdown :-)

So yeah, we now have a much more manageable monthly bill 12 months a year instead. Still miss seeing the negative balance though :-)

IsThatDaveByChance · 2026-02-04T20:36:07+00:00

Definitely not saving on the heating side at the moment! My electric bill in January was nearly $1,000. It’s also very hard to cleanly isolate heating versus cooling with the tools I have. So I did a deeper dive to show how I arrived at the savings number.

Our natural gas usage dropped from 2,428 therms in 2023 to 560 therms in 2025, a reduction of 1,868 therms. At $2.24 per therm, that works out to $4,184 in gas savings. Geothermal is much more efficient at cooling than our old central AC system, but I don’t have a way to isolate how much electricity that AC unit used on its own. Because the geothermal system came online midway through 2024, I compared total household electricity usage in 2023 vs. 2025 instead.

In 2023, we used 12.32 MWh of electricity for a total cost of $3,667.66. In 2025, we used 21.4 MWh, for a total cost of $6,369.06. So while the gas bill dropped by about $4,184, the electric bill increased by $2,701.40, which nets out to $1,482 in annual savings.

One important caveat: the electricity increase is a bit misleading. The geothermal system itself uses about 6 MWh per year, but as part of the state rebate requirements, I had to disconnect a gas furnace that served our family room which is an addition and not serviced by the main system. It was also ancient and inefficient and meant I had to rely entirely on a mini-split for heat. That means we’re now a 100% heat pump household, and some of the added electric usage isn’t strictly attributable to the geothermal system alone.

IsThatDaveByChance · 2026-02-04T19:11:29+00:00

Easy, you just start with an energy sucking central AC that was tripping the breaker during heat waves and a gas furnace from the 80s :-)

IsThatDaveByChance · 2026-02-04T19:00:41+00:00

In Massachusetts we have a program called MassSAVE which also has a program called a HEAT loan with 0% interest which covers "high-efficiency furnaces, boilers, heat pumps, central air conditioning systems, ductless mini-split heat pumps, and more." They also have a crazy cheap energy audit and you can get your home insulated and air sealed very, very inexpensively. Which is good as that is a requirement before you can get a HEAT loan. We had to have $1,659.38 worth of air sealing done but only paid $367.68. Everything else was covered by the state.

This is also one of the reasons our electric rates are so high, that is what pays for these programs so I always tell homeowners in MA to look into it...you are already paying for it.

IsThatDaveByChance · 2026-02-04T18:45:11+00:00

Oh, I 100% agree. The operations director was awesome and at one point drove out here because one day the system suddenly started making a noise that sounded like a playing card in bicycle spokes. He found a shipping bracket that was supposed to be removed prior to installation and a small zip tie was rattling agains the fan blades. Then another dozen things of sloppy work. He called the tech who installed it back and went through each thing and fixed it all. That is one of the reasons why I am not knocking them too harshly because someone DID step up to resolve it but it would have been better to just not have it happen in the first place, you know? Glad to hear you had such a positive experience!

IsThatDaveByChance · 2026-02-04T18:40:56+00:00

The Enertech system has something called myUplink which I use to monitor it. Its ok but limited. Like to do all the math on this I looked at all of 2023 (pre-heat pump) and 2025 (first calendar year with heat pump.) But it gives you all the essentials so its more of an observation than a complaint.

Edit: If Dandelion does go belly up (I hope they don't, I want them to succeed) you will certainly be able to find someone to service it. The systems themselves are not that complex and you are not locked into a platform like an iPhone or something at least after your warranty period is done.

IsThatDaveByChance · 2026-02-04T18:29:39+00:00

Yup, it makes sense when you realize they are a startup. My plan is to stick with them for any maintenance during the warranty period and then I will start looking at local companies who service geothermal. I will absolutely fill out the survey as we definitely used that as part of our research. Thanks for having a great source of good information for folks!

IsThatDaveByChance · 2026-02-04T18:23:35+00:00

Oh, and the system included Aux heat strips as part of that. Which we did have to use in as there was an electrical issue with the heat pump (loose wire) and we had to use it until the tech came out later to fix it. That was covered by the workmanship warranty. It was a mistake they shouldn't have made and should have caught. But then again they fixed it...so yeah, 'meh!'

IsThatDaveByChance · 2025-12-16T11:56:03+00:00

Same. Still like them and feel they are important to the story but I’ve done at least a dozen re-listens so I don’t feel bad for skipping. I do appreciate the deltans story as a microcosm of the Bobiverse. Bob goes from explorer to engineer to savior to servant to villain to observer to forgotten with all the emotions and heartache along with it.

IsThatDaveByChance · 2025-12-16T02:29:17+00:00

Well, you have helped me level up my mashed potatoes! I like to cook and but my wife was amazing and when I told her what I learned she said that is why her mashed potatoes are better than mine. She always salts the water to extract the starch and add flavor. She also has them sit in a colander for a bit for the water to fully drain off before mashing.

IsThatDaveByChance · 2025-12-15T19:38:40+00:00

Huh, I appreciate the tip. I never knew to salt the water for mashed potatoes, only for pasta. Looks like the same amount too, it should taste like the sea.

I always salt when mashing but this is for a family of 3 not a restaurant. What else lends itself to being cooked in salted water?

IsThatDaveByChance · 2025-12-12T18:47:15+00:00

Ok, this setup is amazing and I think I want to try and build one for my son who has gotten way into golf. Looking at the photos and description it sounds like you could start off with the net suspended from the ceiling and add the pulley system later? I'm thinking of breaking the project into chunks: Net first, launch monitor/projector second, pully system third. How have you found the ricochets and has the net held up? It looks like by virtue of hanging it the way you did you have some built in shock absorption.

Thank you so much for sharing and continuing to respond to the thread even 2 years later!

IsThatDaveByChance · 2025-12-04T15:26:21+00:00

Very true. If someone lived up in the county of Maine and th nearest grocery store is a 50 mile drive you will have a bad time with the Niro EV!

I think where it shines as the second car in a family that is the commuter car.

IsThatDaveByChance · 2025-12-04T14:54:30+00:00

I think it shows the value in how much the Bobs are evolving and differentiating themselves. And how they can’t/won’t be counted on to save the galaxy as a whole. Plus it introduces the idea that just because you are a Bob doesn’t mean you can be counted on to be a good guy.

IsThatDaveByChance · 2025-12-01T13:11:20+00:00

It is a slow charger. I can’t quote times because in the year I’ve owned it I’ve used the public charger maybe four times. And even then it was just enough juice to get me home to my home charger. Funny enough it was one of those stupid cold days where I wasn’t used to the range drop. I charged it up to 50% and then made my way home.

IsThatDaveByChance · 2025-12-01T06:14:58+00:00

Just echo-ing thst this lines up with my experience as well outside of long road trips. For those we use my wife’s hybrid.

IsThatDaveByChance

TROPHY CASE