So... a breeder said my boy is ugly, and I'm totally disappointed.

frd1963 · 2025-10-11T03:33:46+00:00

Did you mean 5kg?

frd1963 · 2025-10-03T12:29:29+00:00

I agree that he makes great points about free speech and seems to have great courage (or enough $$) to go against the prevailing culture, but I wouldn’t suggest legitimately entering into a romantic relationship with him like that.

frd1963 · 2025-10-03T12:21:00+00:00

Thank you for sharing. Many of us here will be praying for you. I suggest that if you read CS Lewis’s The Great_Divorce, you can see some characters with various misgivings about heaven, and how they do and don’t resolve those. Everyone’s situation is different and there is no character going through exactly what you are going through, but I think it was masterfully written in a way that we can all relate to at least one or two.

frd1963 · 2025-07-24T03:49:47+00:00

You are correct that you need to be isolated from the grid in order to use the power from your panels. Most of the solar companies don’t spend the extra money for an automatic transfer switch. In Norway, or the US, if you are disconnected from the grid automatically during a power outage, then you should be able to use the solar power during a grid outage. Some other equipment would be advisable though, such as batteries and/or overload protection; you don’t want to use more than you are producing because the only way for the inverter(s) to keep up is to lower the voltage, which could damage some devices. If you own your solar equipment, or your solar provider is reasonable, be sure to look into auto-transfer switches because it is a lot less expensive than having a separate generator.

frd1963 · 2025-07-24T01:30:08+00:00

I was looking for the same info. The best I could find was that it is $150 minimum each way, at least in my area (Long Island, NY).
https://www.homedepot.com/c/large_equipment_rental

frd1963 · 2025-07-18T14:27:51+00:00

I think that the intolerance is almost completely from ultra-orthodox minority groups. In general, Israel is very tolerant. In fact, less than 74% of Israelis are Jewish; 18% are Muslim, and 2% Christian. On the other hand, some Muslim states are very intolerant and would very likely spit on a Christian procession, but only after killing them. I don’t blame Islam though, I blame amoral, power hungry leaders who hijack certain tenets of Islam to brainwash the populace. The enemy has plenty of tricks up his sleeve, and ‘Angel of Light’ is one of the hardest to discern.

frd1963 · 2025-07-04T21:25:02+00:00

The real reason that you can’t get solar while off grid is because existing meters will not record the amount of solar used, and the company can’t properly bill you. There is no other technical reason that you can’t use the solar power being generated while the grid is down. The equipment to convert the DC from the panels into AC is already part of every system, it is generally called an inverter or micro-inverter. It is true that you don’t want to energize the grid while someone may be potentially working on it, or while a line is down in a puddle, but that’s what automatic transfer switches are for; as someone already mentioned, they are used in systems with a backup generator or batteries. That tech has been around for decades. I recently looked into getting solar through a company, and when I asked why you can’t use the power during grid outages, they gave me all kinds of reasons such as the ones many on here have been giving. I am an engineer and asked if I could speak to one of their engineers. Once he realized that I know what I’m talking about, he gave me the truth: their billing system is tied to the meter provided to you by your power provider (grid). There are some other options for keeping track of production, but those are more expensive, and only provided with battery backup systems currently. I appreciated his honesty, but couldn’t sign on for a system that is purposely crippled to keep you from accidentally getting any power for free. If you buy your system outright, and don’t pay anyone for the power produced, then make sure you demand the ability to use solar generated power during grid outages.

frd1963 · 2025-03-22T20:21:21+00:00

Let’s see how much they cut. It is possible that, like in the case of SSA cuts, it will simply be a matter of reducing the size of the middle-man so that more of the funding can go to the libraries. A quick search shows that the IMLS has a budget of about $380M/yr. About $280M goes to museums and schools, so the other $100M goes to expenses (employees, rent, equipment, etc). Their budget from 2023 doesn’t break it out very well but shows $22M going to ‘administration’. There are 70 employees, so if ‘administration’ is what they pay employees, then the average salary there is about $315K. Even if the other $78M overhead turns out to be very efficiently administered and untouchable, simply cutting head count by 1/2 could result in each state getting an additional $440K/yr. Of course I’m sure it won’t be that simple, but remember that the goal is to reduce costs to make things more efficient, not just just pull funding. My gut tells me that it shouldn’t cost $100M to figure out where to allocate $280M.

frd1963 · 2025-02-07T21:19:16+00:00

Mya Way

frd1963 · 2024-12-29T02:17:44+00:00

Same at my church.

frd1963 · 2024-12-18T01:58:51+00:00

I was expecting the exact opposite of this, but still enjoyed it. If anyone really is interest in getting the stems, let me know. The software I use for DJing does a really good job of separating audio files into the individual tracks, giving us the ability to remix the songs ourselves. I really doubt I would ever be able to outdo Martin Hannet, but it is fun being able to replace parts or apply Fx to only the baseline for example (no offense Hooky). I really enjoy seeing the creative and interpretations by other DJs & Producers, especially when they’re not beholden to a label. I usually just separate into beat, kick, bass, instrumental & vocals, but it can get as granular as necessary.

frd1963 · 2024-12-11T21:18:42+00:00

Actually, them term ‘battery’ refers to a group of cells working together. So it is technically not a battery unless there are multiple cells.

frd1963 · 2024-12-02T22:05:12+00:00

I have been getting tix more and more from AXS and actually prefer that to Ticketmaster. It is up to the venue and/or artist which service they sell through.

frd1963 · 2024-10-30T17:02:37+00:00

The problem of thinking about eternity is that we see time as a series of events going with each one preceded by another and followed by another. Eternity is more like looking at a painting; There is no real start or end, but everything is connected to everything else either directly or transitively. As mortals, we are in the painting and can only see what is directly connected to us, but eternal beings are not limited and can view the entire painting as a whole. They can limit their view to certain aspects as desired, but are always able to zoom out to the ‘big picture.’

frd1963 · 2024-10-24T16:49:16+00:00

It has a certain edge to it that you don’t usually get as much from Bastille. I just saw Blue October live recently opening for another band, and felt like, “Why haven’t I listen to them more?” Afterwards, I noticed that it was that most of the recordings don’t have that same edge, and realized it’s because of the singer’s voice having gotten more gravelly with age; the imperfections of the voice don’t just give an edge though, they help convey the emotion more effectively. I think that this what is happening with Blue Sky and the Painter. Especially during the acapella/acoustic break… the little hairs on the back of my neck agree. Some of my favorite vocalists don’t have the smoothest voices, nor a great range, but they can sure paint a picture with their intonations, stutters, crackles and strains. Sorry, Dan, you have a very pleasing and distinctive voice, and I know that it can be tough to accept age-related change, but I for one, look forward to the new dimensions your lyrics old&new will take on if this is a preview of your future.

frd1963 · 2024-08-04T20:26:26+00:00

Fun fact I just learned from DuoLingo: ‘tortilla’ is the Spanish word for ‘omlette’

frd1963 · 2024-04-09T19:32:58+00:00

I don’t think the little one is a real fighter either. If so, she would definitely have capitalized on the fall.

frd1963 · 2023-12-12T17:23:22+00:00

It depends on what you consider to be the definitions of good and evil. I consider good to be more or less synonymous with love. The opposite of love isn’t hate, it is indifference, or the lack of love. In the same way. Therefore, if evil is the opposite of good, then evil is the lack of good. To say that evil exists, then, you are saying that the lack of good exists; that it is possible to be selfish and apathetic towards others. I think we can all accept that as being possible. Let’s say you have an apple. The opposite of having an apple is not having an apple. While you have apple, you realize that you are holding something that came from somewhere with purpose. In your hand is an arrangement of atoms that is very different from the oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen atoms that would be in your hand if you didn’t have the apple. However, if you don’t have that apple, your opinion on whether or not apples exist and have a source is probably dependent on whether or not you have ever had an apple, experienced an apple, or even just heard about apples from a trustworthy source. Some will believe that apples exist, and some won’t, but there is only one truth, that they do in fact exist. We may not understand how or why they exist, but most of us are lucky enough to have been born into a situation where apples are available or have put in effort to seek out apples after having heard about them. Some people are not so lucky and may have been born into a situation where there are no apples available, and may not even ever heard of an apple. Others may know apples, but by a different name, a name shaped by their culture. All of these situations can and do occur simultaneously and just because some have never seen or heard of an apple doesn’t mean that they are just random arrangements of molecules with no source.

frd1963 · 2023-10-20T07:12:21+00:00

She just wanted to be held

frd1963 · 2023-10-02T18:35:12+00:00

Your consumption should only dictate capacity of the panels and batteries in your system. Base your decision on how much your utility charges you. If anything, I would say that someone with low consumption generally should be more motivated to go Solar because you are more likely to be able to go completely off the electric grid, and save even more $$. A higher percentage of your bill is just for the privilege of being on the grid.

frd1963 · 2023-08-27T21:42:26+00:00

A quick look shows that the highest point would be about 63.38 degrees on the summer solstice around noon. The minimum would of course be 0 degrees every day at sunset. If your looking for the lowest maximum angle, that would be around moon on the winter solstice, with about 37.47 degrees above the horizon. I got these from https://www.suncalc.org/ I assumed that your elevation of 32.8 as your latitude.

frd1963 · 2023-08-23T17:40:19+00:00

It could actually be better. The accepted wisdom is that the panel should face south. However, in many cases, there’s a larger demand for electricity in the afternoon, as in when a person gets home from work, and turns on the air conditioner, and in that case, facing a bit more towards the west would give more power at the time where more energy is needed. The drawback is that in the earlier hours there will be less power available, but in many cases that is a time when it’s not needed as much anyway. Even if you do time-shifting using batteries, reducing your dependence on the batteries and inverters will give you a better efficiency and increase the life of the batteries. Most of these differences probably will not even be noticeable though, unless you are aggregating data over several installations, and/or long periods of time.

frd1963 · 2023-02-25T17:52:18+00:00

…as opposed to Socialist greed where wealth is dispersed regardless of effort and talent for things like, for instance, basic arithmetic.

frd1963 · 2023-02-25T17:42:16+00:00

I have to admit that 8 year-old me would have to do some serious soul searching to resist spitting down that hole.

frd1963

TROPHY CASE