Miscellaneous Updates

Sorry I have been delinquent in my blogging lately. Here are some quick updates, conveniently categorized for quick info-glean.

My Boys:

The boys are back from church camp, and now Jono is attending cub scout day camp. The theme this week is pirates - ahoy matie - and he is having lots of fun. His favorite parts are shooting BB guns and bows and arrows. Today he hit the target 3 of 5 times. D is enjoying some down time and reading lots of books.

Wind Turbine:

I met with three students (David, Anna, and Melanie) who are in town for the summer. We strategized the best way to proceed with the unfinished wind turbine. I went out to look at it the other day and saw that our paint job was insufficient. Some parts are showing rust.

Honduras Plans:

The inverter and other electrical equipment has arrived. It's in a huge crate on a palate. It's been sitting in the university's Central Receiving area for nearly two weeks, but no one told me. This week I started calling about it. "Hey man, where's my goods?" Only to find out it had been delivered for some time.

I also have two graduate students attending a workshop in Newark this week. They are writing business plans and such for the electricity delivery businesses we plan to launch in Honduras. Both of them will be joining me in Honduras in July, along with seven other undergraduates.

We have decided to use the Kill-A-Watt EZ as a power meter for each home in Honduras. (See the picture.) Our plan is to deliver about 1 Amp of current (120 Watts) to each home. So a small little off-the-shelf meter like this should be adequate. You can even program it to register the price of energy, as opposed to the quantity of energy (in kilowatt hours). People understand prices better, so this should be a winner.

Cell Phone:

The cell phone I have been using for the last eight months belongs to the company for which I consulted last summer and fall. Since I had not worked for them in a while, they asked for it back. So The M and I went down and added two more phones to our family plan. One is for me and the other is for my mother-in-law. We can call cellular phones on the AT&T and/or Cingular networks for free. Want to call me?

Sleep Study:

I had another sleep study last night. I went to a nice new sleep clinic, decorated like a hotel, and made myself comfortable in a private room. The technician came in and wired me up for an EKG and EEG, putting sticky electrodes on my chest and shins. These ripped the hair out when we took them off this morning - ouch. I also had electrodes all over my freshly shaved head, and even in my beard. They calibrated a Continuous Positive Air Pressure (CPAP) machine to best control my sleep apnea and snoring. Looks like 9 centimeters of water is the correct level for a middle-aged fat guy.

OK, that was my Tuesday...