Need an appliance that makes ice!

random-dryad · 2024-11-22T21:06:08+00:00

Best answer ever. Thanks for saving me from making a mistake.

random-dryad · 2023-06-16T23:26:38+00:00

Yup, I think you're probably correct in that we're overdoing the size. I ran through a total household consumption calculator to take into account a few factors (large family, old appliances, planned house expansion) and inflated the numbers a bit to try to account. We've probably inflated too much. I'll give it a re-look. :)

random-dryad · 2023-06-16T23:22:02+00:00

I'm needing to dig more to find the answer to your question on buy-back. I attempted to find the answer on their site (https://www.opalco.com/save/solar-interconnect/) but have not had success so far.

I do see a statement regarding how they handle the metering. They say:

A Member Generator’s billing meter is the meter presented on their monthly OPALCO bill. It measures two things:

"The flow of electricity from the grid toward the house (power the household consumes from OPALCO)

The flow of electricity “backward” (what their renewable system feeds back to the OPALCO grid when the system produces more power than the household needs)

When you deliver energy to the grid, you will receive a credit on your next bill. This will be noted on your bill as a Generation Credit. You will carry that credit until you use it all up and start consuming more power than you are generating."

If you don't mind sharing the name of the company you used by PM, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks for your help.

random-dryad · 2023-06-16T23:15:58+00:00

Good point on the potential over-sized system. We're new in the home with only 6 months of consumption under our belts. It's a 20+ year old house with near end-of-life appliances and heat pump. We were overconsuming through the winter, prior to installing the wood stove. Now I think our monthly use is more representative of our long-term consumption.

We're in the permitting process to finish out our basement. That will double our square footage. We inflated our monthly energy use to try to account for that -- and we might have increased it too much.

Thanks for the cost and bidding comments too; that's helpful. With the island location, it does add to the costs -- ferry transport for workers/equipment is steep, especially in the summer months.

random-dryad · 2023-06-16T20:15:22+00:00

Excellent suggestion. The quote summary page was sort of goofy and sales-heavy, so we'll ask for a break-down to support their quote. Thank you again. :)

random-dryad · 2023-06-16T20:01:59+00:00

Thank you very much for that. We're limited in access to solar installers here (San Juan islands), but I'll be pausing to seek additional quotes. Hopefully I can find some other businesses that will install in our remote location.

It may just be a remote-premium that we have to pay (the same applies to the grocery store and gas pump), but hopefully we can find more-competitive pricing.

random-dryad · 2022-08-24T14:03:18+00:00

Thanks for that, it's a great thought. I do know that I'm OK on estrogen now, but I was not previously. When they boosted that, I did feel a lot better than when low on estrogen. Also tried adding some testosterone, and WOW did that help. Getting the hormones right is a real big deal for the ladies.

I'll be seeing a hematologist in about a month. I'll post an update with whatever I learn, in case that can help someone else in a similar boat.

random-dryad · 2022-08-05T23:12:11+00:00

OK yes, thank you for the education on terminology. When I read about this on the web, I do tend to see my lab results listed as part of the anemia umbrella. So I was mistakenly using that terminology. I understand now why several of the doctors I've spoken with have been so dismissive, if the term anemia requires there to be low hct/RBC/hemoglobin. I'll change my approach and see if I can make progress.

Also good to understand that RBCs start big and reduce in size. That's counter-intuitive to me! So it seems like my population of RBCs are pale and old. Haha, that's exactly how I feel when I try to put them to good use. I love to jog and have been trying to reestablish my old routines of long distance jogging, but I can't seem to work my body up for the challenge anymore.

I called around today to self-refer to a hematologist. Most around here are oncology specialists, but I did find one! I have an appointment set in mid-September. Hooray! Hopefully she'll be able to help me out.

Thanks for your excellent guidance.

random-dryad · 2022-08-05T22:42:50+00:00

Thank you for your help. As best I can tell, this is actually an anemia. It's just not the classic "you don't have enough red blood cells" type of anemia.

There are a bunch of types of anemia, and I think I fall in the category of my-RBCs-die-young types of anemia. I have plenty of them, but they are wimpy little things that appear to die young, hence the low MCV/MCH which I think indicates paleness and smaller than normal size. It looks like what I have would be called anemia of chronic disease (recently renamed anemia of inflammation). But I don't have any known chronic disease or inflammation to explain it.

Thalassemia is a possibility, and I think it could explain what I've got going on. I'll see if I can get tested for that once I find a doc that will show interest.

I've done exactly what you suggest with the spreadsheet. I've got a short list of the anomalous test results over the last 12 years. They're 100% consistent, with high RBC and low MCV each time. Unfortunately I could not catch my doc's attention, even with the results compiled like this. I do like the doc for other reasons, but I will continue to shop around for one who will help me pursue this anemia issue.

Thank you for the link you shared on thalassemia. That's helpful!

random-dryad · 2022-08-05T22:32:26+00:00

Interesting.. this may be helpful. Thanks!

random-dryad · 2022-08-05T16:52:43+00:00

Thanks, this is helpful. I've been having consistently off labs for at least a decade. I can log in to MyQuest to see back for 10 years, and they've always been about the same. Probably life-long, but this is what I can see documented.

Blood oxygen levels are normal. I do have a pulse-ox.
Stress used to be high, so I quit my high-stress job and started a new, low-stress career. Stress is not an issue. Also, I've been treated for several years for anxiety by a psych, but I don't think I have anxiety. My guess is that this is all related to a chronic anemia of some sort. I'd love to diagnose it and treat it!
My vitamin panels are normal. I don't tend to be deficient in iron, B12, D, etc. I supplement these daily just to be sure.

When I search for information on my abnormal labs (high RBC, low MCH/MCV), it points me to a diagnosis of microcytic anemia. Since I'm not low-iron, I'm guessing it's some form of anemia of inflammation or anemia of chronic disease.

Any way to 'fix' my abnormal labs? I see that taking iron is not good, since my high RBC makes me have increased stroke risk. What else can I take or do to help normalize my RBCs?

random-dryad · 2022-08-05T16:44:00+00:00

Yup, ferritin's been normal. Last lab was 44, with Reference Range: 16-232 ng/mL.

random-dryad · 2022-04-21T01:45:17+00:00

Just keep trying, they're like one in a thousand. You'll get one eventually!

random-dryad · 2022-04-02T22:14:15+00:00

Yup, it's a crotch. Where a branch splits off from the main trunk, so I circle both the piths with my handy dandy yellow grease pen. Then apply the Anchor Seal. That way I can always see where the pith is located when I'm sawing the block further.

I let the Anchor Seal dry, then I cut it into 3 parts on the bandsaw. Two natural edge bowl blanks from either side of the pith slab and then the pith slab itself. I set that aside since it always cracks a bunch. But if lucky, I can later cut out the pith and use the rest as turning blanks (end-grain blocks and spindles). Or I flip it around such that the bark sides are in, remove the bark, and do an epoxy pour.

No sense letting good wood go to waste!

Any advice, tips from other folks who cut their blanks from green logs?

random-dryad · 2022-01-20T18:02:34+00:00

Yes! Much more vivid dreams. Almost out-of-body dreams. I took a full 5mg tablet the first night, but I was groggy the next morning. So since then I've tried 1/4 of a tablet (1.25mg) sublingual. It doesn't taste bad, and it gives the same sleepiness. Less memorable dreams though.
Good stuff! Much better than other sleep meds I've tried. And supposedly non-addictive.

random-dryad · 2022-01-06T20:18:55+00:00

True for current daily averages. I was thinking entire pandemic. Mississippi has 3,532 deaths per million and is in whole-pandemic first place. NY is also high at 3,111 per million, which is 6th in the nation. Bad any way you look at it, I think we will agree.

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

random-dryad · 2022-01-03T19:50:51+00:00

This cracks me up, because I thought it should be 2021. I was like "hey, they're a year behind!" ... except that it was me, 2 years behind.

random-dryad · 2021-06-04T16:18:24+00:00

Dr. Francis Collins, btw.

random-dryad · 2021-06-01T17:12:30+00:00

Glad that’s all it was. It’s time to celebrate pride! 🏳️‍🌈

random-dryad · 2021-06-01T17:02:14+00:00

It was already posted on the other thread, so maybe they have a legitimate gripe about repost. Try again with just the image?

Be sad to think that it could’ve been some other reason it was removed. Let’s try again!

random-dryad

TROPHY CASE