King Electric goes on line

It's been a tough road reducing our carbon footprint, but at 9:00am on Feb 27 2009 the final piece of the puzzle fell into place and we are finally generating solar electricity. The resident spokes-model at the right is drawing your attention to the center-piece of the system - 8 photovoltaic panels capable of generating about 1400 watts of pollution free power to energize our home. Of course this didn't happen without negotiating a lot of hurtles such as the city building permit system, and a never ending stream of paperwork from the utility company, but when you finally throw the switch and watch the new "net-meter" start spinning backwards it all seems worth while.

While most people are mounting these systems on their roofs, I decide to do a pole mount system on the ground near the back of the lot. My theory here is that it's going to be a lot easier to maintain, I don't have to worry about roof leaks from the mount attachments, and I didn't have to run up and down a ladder to do the installation. We actually have an ideal spot since there aren't any buildings behind us (just city open space) and it faces south. For this to work out I did have to dig a pretty large hole to concrete the pole into, and I had to run wires in a ditch up to the house to carry the power.

At 9 in the morning the sun isn't shining directing on the panels but I was already generating 1000 watts....woo-hoo!!!! I'm feeling greener already.

Ice Fishing

Ok,ok, so I have been a bit of a slacker lately and not keeping up with the blog.

Anyway a couple of weeks ago I when up ice fishing with some friends to Williams Fork Reservoir. It turned out to be a perfect day for it actually. Normally you expect -15 to -10F conditions and a stiff breeze flying across the unbroken expanse of frozen lake. Luckily it hovered around freezing, the sun came out, and there was no wind to speak of....like I said... perfect for ice fishing.

I was actually the first one to get a bite, but at this time of the season you're lucky to hookup since they bite pretty soft. It's cold down there and the Lake Trout aren't moving very fast so they tend to nibble at your hook instead of actually hitting it hard. Needless to say I didn't land that one, but he had more buddies lurking about.

It was slow going all morning but everyone eventually got something out on the ice. Most weren't too big and got sent back like this sub-prime specimen that Steve's holding.

Two of the guys had Vexlar fish finding units. I'd never used one before so it was kind of fun to try it out. You can actually watch your lure sink down through the water column below your hole and watch the fish come by and check it out. All too often they follow it around and don't actually strike, but it is amazing to know that they are there and showing some interest. No telling how many hours I've spent dangling a hook not even knowing if I was wasting my time.

Here's the pile that went home. Of course that monster in the middle is the record for the day (caught by your's truely) and measured in at around 16"-18" inches. It's about time since the last few trips didn't land us a thing.