so, what am i doing this weekend?
well, i've got
four days of cheap electricity, so i can work at a normal pace. i don't
know what my electrical costs are going to be in this unit. i know that
i'll get a credit applied eventually, but the process appears to be
cumbersome and inefficient, so i don't know when. i tried to get them
the information for mid-november, but they're telling me i need to wait
two cycles, and not providing a coherent answer as to why. i got the thing
escalated, at least. i don't know when to expect a response.
but,
i'm conserving electricity in the mean time. my first bill should not
be high, at least. the major cost is the fridge. i don't know after
that. i need to get data before i can react to it.
i'm
probably going to get some solar lamps and put them in the windows, then
never turn the lights on. i have five giant windows in this apartment,
six including the one in the bathroom. i really don't need lights at
all. i'm going to need to check costs and crunch numbers to see if it
makes sense, but it no doubt does. if they're around $20 each, it will
make sense immediately. if they get to more than that i'll need to
see...
i'm also considering getting a ups and using it
as a battery, but that's going to again be determined by how much it
costs and what my actual electrical costs end up being. what i could do
with this is suck down electricity over night for use in the day,
ensuring that i'm only paying off peak costs (except for the fridge and
the cable modem), and i'm able to operate at will with the electrical.
the
other thing i'm considering is just getting some solar panels and
hooking them up to a battery. this would be intended for extraneous
usage, like extra guitar effects or synthesizers. i'm just going to need
to get an understanding of base usage, first.
the way
this works is that they calculate the bill - and i have to pay something
like $25/month just to use it - and then subtract $68 from the end of
it. so, i'll get something like $40/month for free once it's set up. i
actually don't expect my base usage to exceed this: fridge, other
kitchen appliances, computers, tv, etc. but, if i decide that i want to
spend all night every night for a month recording guitar parts through
five processors, that's when it starts to add up - and where a solar
source could be useful. like i say, i have these huge windows. but, i
don't know where the technology is, and i don't know if i'll really need
it.
see, the credit is cumulative. so, if it comes in
at less than $68, i can transfer what's left to the next month. i don't
actually expect this to be uncommon, especially if i get the solar
lights up. that will mean i could see myself building credits - and
that i can use those for my recording spurts.
right now, i really have no idea at all how this is going to play out.
but,
i'm going to pick up where i left off, which is at compiling the
blu-ray disc. i'm going to use it as an opportunity to double check all
of the liner notes. that should be a day or two, at least...
jagmeet singh must cut his beard.