Morning Cup Of Coffee And Weather

I was able to get a hefty discount on the passenger van. Seems people are still buying cars and trucks but not the big people movers. It’s a converted van so the aftermarket builders mark them up a lot.

 

Please post some pics once you take delivery.

 

My Brother in law just had too in Louisville area. I think its probably a regional thing. The fraud dealer wanted 5k above sticker on a hybrid truck. I don't know the specific model...when he told me the reviews said it had as much acceleration as your old mini-van I decided I'll pass.

I still really want a full size van that would be roughly equivalent to an old econoline in size. The mini-vans (connects) are too small. With ford, they are pushing (wether we want it or not) into electric. I just am not on board with that.

The more I think about it the less sense E makes for me. I drive too far, too long, too freqnetly and they are too expensive.

 

I have to worry about electrical power outages and they want me to drive an electric vehicle that is dependent on getting batteries from a foreign country.

What could possibly go wrong?

 

We went electric for my wife's car about a year ago - Tesla model 3. It's actually the most American Made vehicle on the market today. We've been much happier than with any previous gas cars. It's nice to charge overnight at home whenever we want for around $3-4 per charge. It'll go around 250 miles on a charge. It's way zippier than any other car we've had. It's also nice to not have to do routine maintenance - only tire rotation and change the AC air filter every couple of years.

I'm hoping to go electric for my next tow vehicle and put down a deposit on a Tesla Cybertruck. I'm not sure when it will hit the market and with me being around #1,000,000 on the waitlist, I'm not expecting anytime soon. My biggest concern is range loss while towing seems to be around 30-50% for model Y on various youtube videos of towing. I expect though that high speed chargers will become commonplace in a few years and range anxiety will disappear. One of the real benefits of an electric tow vehicle will be tapping into huge battery for the teardrop. It'll be great to have some AC or electric heat while dispersed camping. Right now, the offerings are pretty limited but I expect a lot more options over the next 3-5 years.

 

Low last night of -1F but it’s up to 4F now and heading to the teens. Black Riffle Coffee in my cup as I slowly greet the day.

 

That will also kill range on an EV. When we were in single digits recently I did get a bit of range anxiety on a run across town.

 

The land is probably to valuable, or hard to work, but wouldn't it be nice if they could build a series of holding ponds starting in the higher elevations to catch the majority of that runoff when they have those torrential rains, an save that for the drought months later in the year instead of all the erosion and destruction it causes now, which probably also ends up in the ocean and unusable. Anyway I hope those successive "atmospheric rivers" get a good start at restoring the levels of Lake Mead, and other reservoirs along the Colorado & Rio Grande, in what seems to be a moisture intensive winter so far.

 

Don't worry, California has a lot of reservoirs that are filling up from these storms.

 

Well that's good to hear. Maybe the news footage makes it look worse than it really is.

 

I'm with you, Sweeney. E wont work for me long distance. PHEV maybe...

 

Hmmm thinking about how to mod the CampInn like this...MOAR POWAH!
(For the AC...)

 

And how many acres need to be strip mined to produce the chemicals for 1 car? Don't I remember in the 70's being preached at, that strip mining for coal was a bad thing? Seems I heard that somewhere.

Fine idea --- I'm all for exploring it. But not forcing it before its ready and before I don't have to give up everything I love about my car today.....like 5 minute fill-ups, and the ability to pull my little teardrop camper.

 

I've been around this a dozen times. I just can not find an upside, as much as I would like too.

 

8F and mostly clear skies as I sip my morning coffee and waiting to go to church.
My new van should be here by the end of January and I’m counting the days.

 

Seeing reports from you @Tour 931 is certainly making me reconsider moving north

I pulled my camper into the driveway yesterday and de-winterized it. When we dropped to 17 degrees, I winterized it out of an abundance of caution --- my garage is usually warm, but I was having furnace problems and didn't want to risk anything.

Thats past. My daytime highs are in the 40-degree range, with a few days popping into the 50's in the extended forecast. I know this is an anomaly, but we've only got a handful of nights in the forecast where we'll be dipping below 20...

I might be able to get the camper out this weekend --- I have a three day weekend due to MLK day. I may have to use it

I'm thinking of heating north to visit a sick friend, or just anyplace but home. Working from home is great -- and I like it more thanthe office But winters are rough simply because you're inside all the time and the walls start to close in. Probably the biggest reason I can say I don't think I'll ever fully "retire" in the sitting at home kind of way most do.

This thing really is my lifeboat to sanity.

 

“Heating north” I hope that was a typo.

 

I knew someone that had a handheld generator. It weighed about ten pounds and was the size of a small gas wee wicker. It actually might be a workable solution.

 

LOL it's actually unseasonably warm in Chicago, like 40 today.

 

With me -- never can tell. Sometimes my most profound thoughts come from typographical errors

Wee wicker? hmm...assume you mean something different than that

Talking about hand generators as something like this? You'd be cranking a while to do any real work -- I'm not sure I 'd want to charge an 18650 with one though - you'd be there a while.