Going Solar?

The concept of being less reliant on Southern California Edison is an appealing one. Being less reliant in general is appealing. We've been toying with the idea of installing solar cells on the roof of the house. It is perfectly aligned to get maximum sun exposure most of the day and according to the solar power guy our average monthly electric bill will be $20. Since the roof on the house is about 15 years old we should probably do that before the solar cells are installed so with all of the expense together we're looking at about an 8 year break even on the project. That is pretty daunting but on the other hand this being California and with the Prez promising to tax everything that keeps our modern society functioning, power bills will undoubtedly be going up so the break even point will shorten. I would really like to add in a battery bank and power the house at night independent of the grid altogether but that is most likely beyond our means. We will have to count our pennies and see what we can puzzle out.

We are at home alone this weekend all children are off doing their monthly defense of the republic and in Craig's case, touring the central California coast with his High School band. So, we get to be fancy free and wild....which in our case, at least for last night, was watching a movie ("Taken" which was pretty good), walking the dogs, and reading. I think we will have a hard time keeping up this frantic pace until the children are back in town.

I just finished "World Without End" by Ken Follett, the sequel to "Pillars of the Earth". It was excellent and even though it was a bit over 1,000 pages I wish it had gone on for another 500. What a great book. Equal in all ways to "Pillars of the Earth". It was one of the few fiction books that I have read recently that was almost impossible to put down. Just a note: We owned both books long before Oprah recommended them on her TV show. Normally if Oprah recommends something I go the other way but not this time.

For those who might like to sample a science fiction book series that is light on science mumbo-jumbo and always incorporates a mystery to be solved while hunting for antiquities (which since the stories take place thousands of years in the future the antiquities are sometimes items from our present) may I recommend the Alex Benedict series by Jack McDevitt? The central figure in the books who actually tells the story is Chase, the 'girl Friday' to Benedict and the person who usually ends up saving the day. Most of McDevitt's stories feature a female protagonist which is an interesting change from the usual male-driven science fiction stories.

What a beautiful weekend. Sunny, a mild breeze, temperatures in the low 80s. A perfect day for going to.....the shooting range! So I did. I can't think of a better way to spend the morning on such a great spring day.

A word of caution: for any one thinking the stock market has healed itself and that the economy is moving forward again, Google the term bear-trap in relation to the stock market and act accordingly.