October 16, 2011

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    TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

    It's cute to watch Chewlee with her mother, the Princess.  She loves to snuggle up in her arms and becomes so sweet and soft.  Then, if she's told something she doesn't like, you see this imp suddenly appear.  If the deed or chore is unliked enough, the little devil appears.  You know, typical four year old. 

    Today the Beast finally wired up the heating and took a reading of the electrical draw at our box in the garage and then at the electrical box on the cottage/shed with the lights and heat on.  He was trying for no more than a 3% drop in the amperage but ended up with even less than that.  We did a ^5 for his figuring it, not just correctly, but better than he had hoped.  He said the wiring cost him a small fortune but it was worth the investment.  He was dealing with a run of 125 feet in total and, although you might not appreciate it, the longer the run, the greater the drop.  You correct this by the proper use of wiring sizes.  But, that was his area of expertise along with understanding just how all the bits and pieces of an air conditioning system worked.  It was why he could use a single color wiring to rewire a unit.  He was so known for doing that (he had a fondness for red wiring) that other A/C techs could open a unit and know the Beast had worked on it. 

    So, now they can move the bed in there for the Brother to sleep on since he will have both heat and light.  The best part of it all is that the heating, although it is baseboard heating, works through a regular thermostat he's mounted. 

    We discovered an interesting thing today that just floored the Beast.  He's always kept his chargers plugged in for his drill and his special flashlight.  This has been his habit for years.  Because he had his ohm meter out, he decided to take a reading of the circuit that they were plugged into and he almost had a heart attack.  They were drawing one amp of electricity WITH NOTHING IN THEM TO CHARGE!!!    That's the equivalent of 2-100 watt light bulbs being on for 24/7.

    No wonder we've seen and heard about unplugging your computers, television sets and other seemingly non-working appliances when not in use.  Those items still draw electricity even when you aren't using them.  So, look around.  You might be increasing your electric bill even when you aren't using many items in your house.  Even your phone charger draws electricity when it's not in use but left plugged in.    It may not be a lot, but the fact it uses any is surprising.

    I didn't ask if he's gotten any or even a little of the insulation up.  I went to try putting on a pair of my thongs on my feet but discovered they were worse than my being barefoot.  Without being able to *feel* the toe section, they kept slipping off and made me unstable on my feet.  So, in Chewlee's casual observation, I *took them off*.  Actually, what she said was, *If they hurt you, Grandma, take them off!*  It was the casual way she said it that made me laugh.  Like *gee,it's obvious what you should do*. 

    This is going up early because we haven't eaten yet while the Beast cleans up his mess outside.  I had to send Chewlee out to the porch on the cottage/shed to clean up HER mess from playing out there.  She gave me a bit of a hard time and tried the *I'll do it tomorrow* ploy but I have lived WAAAAAY too long to put up with THAT.  She did go out and bring in her toys but she did it grudgingly.  I don't care.  It got done.  Now it's time to get dinner ready so I will say Hasta manana, mi amigos!  Same place tomorrow. 

    PS:  Love you all.  Have a great week.