It has been a really hot summer. More days than usual in the triple digits. Fall has come officially and the weather in Merced has finally caught up a little with the label.
We have highs in the 80's and most of the day it is keeping us comfortable in the 70's. The new whole house fan has seen some nice use this summer and fall. When the air temperature outside is cooler than what we set the air conditioner, we use it to even out the difference. If we leave it on all night only the rooms that have a window open equalize. Overall the house temperature drops to about 71 degrees. My friend from England found it interesting that they work hard all summer to trap the heat in the house and we work hard to get it out of the house.
The other signs of the fall are pretty evident. Baseball is winding up and the local teams are both in single game playoffs called the wildcard. Both the Giants and the A's are sort of limping into the games in their respective conferences with wounded wings. The A's are suffering since the trade deadline just after the all star game. They traded away one of their highest paid Cuban players, Cespedes, and immediately their offense and win making power seemed to drop. The Giants have had a tough time generating runs and have taken to importing the strength of their farm teams fire power to ignite the old coals of a winning streak to take them to the end. Such firepower is not without liability in the defense. They really had not much of a chance to do anything else as their prospects for post season play dimmed when the overpowering pitching strength of the Dodgers took center stage. So we shall see. A single game will determine if either or both continue into the playoffs and have a chance to play and hopefully win in the world series. As they look now, I wouldn't give odds that either of them are balanced powerhouses that seem to be needed to win the October World Series.
Football is once again center stage. So many flags are being thrown that this sport has the chance to become another soccer where the analytic power of the referees and their marching orders to "change" the sport will take the sport out of the endeavor. This year there a a number of defensive backs that have resorted to using their hands into the face mask to slow down the progress of a pass receiver or running back. Pass interference is a very often called. The referees are checking that 5 yard limit of contact carefully. What seems to have disappeared this year is the call on roughing the quarterback. This call was made routinely last year. Overall I am pretty pleased to see that the NFL is getting serious with its play on the field. There were way too many concussive events that were allowed to go on without penalty in the past. I am less excited about the NFL's stance on domestic violence with its stars. There is still a chance to catch up so far this has ignited the conversation for the public. Good may eventually come out of this debacle.
In the meantime there are some really good chances to work outside and whip up the yards before the serious wet weather comes.... we all are hoping for some of that this year in this drought stricken valley. Hopefully next year there will be enough water to have a front courtyard annual flower garden. : ) Pat
Monday, September 29, 2014
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Crested Butte and Bud Light
The advance team came and checked out one of our favorite ski towns, Crested Butte, for a wild Bud Light Party. Crested Butte is tucked away about 30 miles North of the Gunnison, Colorado. Crested Butte has a town population of a bout 1000 people in the summer and fall. It is a big ski town and its winter population may swell to about 2500 people. It is not on the main road to Aspen or Breckenridge. It is out of the way yet can be reached by a jet airport in Gunnison.
At first many residents were massively skeptical that the town council would sell the town for 250,000 dollar for one weekend in September. What were they going to do there? What crazy activity would go on? Why such secrecy? Eventually the town got 500,000 for its trouble.
I week before it was actually going to happen the council approved and the party began last weekend, September 7. The people who were invited to come were all adults and most of them were over 25 years old. They applied to be in the party, on line of course. 1,000 actually came. Bud Light chartered jets that landed in Gunnison and the party goers arrived in Crested Butte. 800 support staff also were there as Bud light figured to add about 2 million dollars to the local economy. 300 local laborers were also hired. The didn't count the 500,000 dollars that Bud light donated to the city as a legacy payment. Was that enough for hush money? Most of the people in the area ended up thinking that it was well worth it. The Gunnison Times had a full color spread of the activities of the weekend. Bud light is now running slick advertisements of their fake mayor and their the party town that they constructed in Crested Butte. The Gunnison Times reported that the local hot tub company "rented 6 hot tubs" and returned them in good shape. The payment for their rental allowed the local people to get a very good deal on the hot tubs that were used in "Whatever" town, Crested Butte. Gunnison, 30 miles away saw increases in their motel occupancy for two weeks before the event and a week after the event. There was even some people who attended the party that thought they may come back and enjoy the area after all of the hoopla as over.
As reported in the Gunnison Times, when the town was reconstructed as the party town, gigantic cloth barriers were raised to disguise advertising down mainstreet that would take away from the tone or the focus of the revelers. Local people were invited to some events but not others. The disco and the music venues were strictly reserved for those who had won the contest and were supported at the party.
So what did they do in the heart of the city at 9,000 feet above sea level. If they drank just a little like my father, they were falling off the bar stools from just one beer. No these were people that represent main street beer party drinkers. This is the crowd that Bud light is hoping to widen their appeal. This age is quickly discovering "craft" beer and they have to find a way to make their beverage one that represents this"carefree" lifestyle. So.. rent a town in the middle of rockies, develop a carnival atmosphere, have parades, silly contests, and loud crazy music. Invite the people you want to be seen drinking your beer. Film it, chop it, have people report about it on the internet, and make a thousand cool commercials that get people to ask about what it is all about and you have accomplished your mission. Its the new music video advertisement. It is one way to gather those lost souls and say... you really belong to us. Have a bud light.
This advertisement for Bud Light stands in the wake of the Miller lite ads that claim precedent in the light beer march, claiming that they represent the very reason through a lightly plausible string that young middle age people even exist.... baffling.
With Bud light's investment in Crested Butte, the big question will be... for how long will we see pieces of Crested Butte show up in their ads. Was it worth it for Bud Light? Time will tell.
At first many residents were massively skeptical that the town council would sell the town for 250,000 dollar for one weekend in September. What were they going to do there? What crazy activity would go on? Why such secrecy? Eventually the town got 500,000 for its trouble.
I week before it was actually going to happen the council approved and the party began last weekend, September 7. The people who were invited to come were all adults and most of them were over 25 years old. They applied to be in the party, on line of course. 1,000 actually came. Bud Light chartered jets that landed in Gunnison and the party goers arrived in Crested Butte. 800 support staff also were there as Bud light figured to add about 2 million dollars to the local economy. 300 local laborers were also hired. The didn't count the 500,000 dollars that Bud light donated to the city as a legacy payment. Was that enough for hush money? Most of the people in the area ended up thinking that it was well worth it. The Gunnison Times had a full color spread of the activities of the weekend. Bud light is now running slick advertisements of their fake mayor and their the party town that they constructed in Crested Butte. The Gunnison Times reported that the local hot tub company "rented 6 hot tubs" and returned them in good shape. The payment for their rental allowed the local people to get a very good deal on the hot tubs that were used in "Whatever" town, Crested Butte. Gunnison, 30 miles away saw increases in their motel occupancy for two weeks before the event and a week after the event. There was even some people who attended the party that thought they may come back and enjoy the area after all of the hoopla as over.
As reported in the Gunnison Times, when the town was reconstructed as the party town, gigantic cloth barriers were raised to disguise advertising down mainstreet that would take away from the tone or the focus of the revelers. Local people were invited to some events but not others. The disco and the music venues were strictly reserved for those who had won the contest and were supported at the party.
So what did they do in the heart of the city at 9,000 feet above sea level. If they drank just a little like my father, they were falling off the bar stools from just one beer. No these were people that represent main street beer party drinkers. This is the crowd that Bud light is hoping to widen their appeal. This age is quickly discovering "craft" beer and they have to find a way to make their beverage one that represents this"carefree" lifestyle. So.. rent a town in the middle of rockies, develop a carnival atmosphere, have parades, silly contests, and loud crazy music. Invite the people you want to be seen drinking your beer. Film it, chop it, have people report about it on the internet, and make a thousand cool commercials that get people to ask about what it is all about and you have accomplished your mission. Its the new music video advertisement. It is one way to gather those lost souls and say... you really belong to us. Have a bud light.
This advertisement for Bud Light stands in the wake of the Miller lite ads that claim precedent in the light beer march, claiming that they represent the very reason through a lightly plausible string that young middle age people even exist.... baffling.
With Bud light's investment in Crested Butte, the big question will be... for how long will we see pieces of Crested Butte show up in their ads. Was it worth it for Bud Light? Time will tell.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Back to School 2014- But Retired
It is back to school season once again in Merced. Today is the second day that students are back in school. Even though it is August, many students will not report until after the first week of September. Classes are filled to the brim. Some students will start the year sitting on the floor. There ware some nostalgia pieces. Merced finally has a new school that will open up to all of its 9-12th grades. There are no more portables in the two other in town schools. Faculty has been reasigned and students are no longer Cougars or Bears they could also be Gauchos.
I will have to admit that there are some feelings of disconnect. After a career of 35 years in the public schools as a speech and language Specialist I know that this is the time of the year that caseloads are examined. Schedules are made. Contacts with the students are established and established from over the Summer break. There is a myriad of things that need to be done to get the school year on the road.
It just doesn't happen when you are retired. Many retirees use this time to travel. One of my retired friends is off doing a Great Britain-Scandinavian cruise. Looks like they are having a great time.
Some of my working friends look at me in envious manner as their next school day is tomorrow. They are onstage with a couple of dozen (at least) eyes on their every move. They have some concerns regarding Common Core, the latest of an era after era of marching reforms that education will have to endure. No profession is so vulnerable to public scrutiny as public education. It is so easy to think that education would be better if it did xxxx model. We have lived through many of these. The principal administrators that foist these great visions soon move on and the district is left in the dust by good intentions and usually not enough money to see the plan through. Thirty plus years of being messaged into one plan or another is enough. It still gets right down to what retires miss about teaching... the student and the teacher. The teacher brings some content and a methodology for thinking and learning and the student brings a willingness to take this and think and act and learn in a new way. When it works, which it almost always does, there is nothing more rewarding to the teacher than to see this happen.
Teachers have to revitalize themselves and challenge the way they teach at least every five years. They need to be adding something new, recreating their teaching methods or develop something that will challenge them in the classroom. There has been no way that the school as a institution has been successful in developing this in teacher. The last contract that I negotiated had provisions for professional development included. This is a start... but really the answer is deep inside the teacher It has to come from within and it there has to be some realization and check points to discover that it is personally necessary.
I think that what I miss most is the interaction with my colleagues. Even though they may be working in different content areas, and this job is decidedly solitary, there is nothing like adult interaction that makes the day complete. Sometimes reform objectives isolate rather than consolidate peer thinking. Many of my colleagues have retired too. Just going back to teach would not bring back the peers and fun that we had being on the staff of a high school campus. We have been replaced by a new crop of teachers that have different expectations of their students and their job. You cannot go home... although some teachers try to do this through substitute teacher. Some need to do it to survive.
I do not miss having to find a place to work each year. Except for the last two years of my career I had to find a place to work to see pull out kids. This was often on the benches outside of their classrooms. Testing materials were always problematic. There was little support for professional conferences. If you happened to go to a conference, you were channeled all the students that could be diagnosed with the conference's them for the next couple of years.
So yes, I feel the prangs of not going to work... my life's work. But no, I do not miss the challenges of educational reform and the logistics of the job especially this time of the year.
I will have to admit that there are some feelings of disconnect. After a career of 35 years in the public schools as a speech and language Specialist I know that this is the time of the year that caseloads are examined. Schedules are made. Contacts with the students are established and established from over the Summer break. There is a myriad of things that need to be done to get the school year on the road.
It just doesn't happen when you are retired. Many retirees use this time to travel. One of my retired friends is off doing a Great Britain-Scandinavian cruise. Looks like they are having a great time.
Some of my working friends look at me in envious manner as their next school day is tomorrow. They are onstage with a couple of dozen (at least) eyes on their every move. They have some concerns regarding Common Core, the latest of an era after era of marching reforms that education will have to endure. No profession is so vulnerable to public scrutiny as public education. It is so easy to think that education would be better if it did xxxx model. We have lived through many of these. The principal administrators that foist these great visions soon move on and the district is left in the dust by good intentions and usually not enough money to see the plan through. Thirty plus years of being messaged into one plan or another is enough. It still gets right down to what retires miss about teaching... the student and the teacher. The teacher brings some content and a methodology for thinking and learning and the student brings a willingness to take this and think and act and learn in a new way. When it works, which it almost always does, there is nothing more rewarding to the teacher than to see this happen.
Teachers have to revitalize themselves and challenge the way they teach at least every five years. They need to be adding something new, recreating their teaching methods or develop something that will challenge them in the classroom. There has been no way that the school as a institution has been successful in developing this in teacher. The last contract that I negotiated had provisions for professional development included. This is a start... but really the answer is deep inside the teacher It has to come from within and it there has to be some realization and check points to discover that it is personally necessary.
I think that what I miss most is the interaction with my colleagues. Even though they may be working in different content areas, and this job is decidedly solitary, there is nothing like adult interaction that makes the day complete. Sometimes reform objectives isolate rather than consolidate peer thinking. Many of my colleagues have retired too. Just going back to teach would not bring back the peers and fun that we had being on the staff of a high school campus. We have been replaced by a new crop of teachers that have different expectations of their students and their job. You cannot go home... although some teachers try to do this through substitute teacher. Some need to do it to survive.
I do not miss having to find a place to work each year. Except for the last two years of my career I had to find a place to work to see pull out kids. This was often on the benches outside of their classrooms. Testing materials were always problematic. There was little support for professional conferences. If you happened to go to a conference, you were channeled all the students that could be diagnosed with the conference's them for the next couple of years.
So yes, I feel the prangs of not going to work... my life's work. But no, I do not miss the challenges of educational reform and the logistics of the job especially this time of the year.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Meeting with the Thursday Morning Guys
Every Thursday morning I try to meet with a group of men teachers that have been meeting for about 20 years. They are all retired, as I am. Most are between 70 and 80 years old. A friend of mind very close to my age also meets with this group.
It is an interesting group. Everyone pays their own way and usually there is no comment about what anyone orders unless it is significantly different that what he usually orders. A couple of guys order oatmeal with all the additions, (fruit raisins, walnuts, brown sugar (don't tell their wives) and milk. A couple of the guys only order fruit, but once those has taken to ordering a half waffle with his fruit. He gets a take out container to drag home the waffle to his wife (I suspect). A couple of guys order country potatoes and scrambled eggs. My order varies on the whim but it is usually a half waffle, a couple eggs and a small meat portion. It could be ham (my latest choice) or sausage(two) and the eggs can vary from scrambled to poached.
The purpose of the meetings is conversation. Politics are usually avoided as some of the folks tend to listen to or watch the inflammatory channels and after the intial statement from these sources there is really not much to discuss. In other contexts my discussions with a right wind set seems to crumble after the shock headline to a simple statement that goes something like this..... but isn't true that we will lose status in the eyes of other governments for all the things we have done. It all wraps up in their imagination that the US is dependent upon other nations for our status by what we do or do not do. I guess I am over that. Or status can by screwed up so easily.
So with politics off the table what is there to talk about. Today one guy was talking about the concept of how the new houses were being built in his neighborhood. One of them was 2600 sq feet with a three car garage out in front that allowed two cars to be slotted. So actually you have a 4 car garage. He was amazed that there was a significant slope sliding from the back car to the font car which would allow for easy conversion to a new room if wanted later. The lot that this house was on was pretty small. They were asking 394K for it.
Today we heard the horrors of putting your 403K into your trust. One guy said that when a death occured the trust is bound by the state to cash out the 403K directly. This brings up taxation issues that wouldn't occur if the 403K were maintained outside of the trust.
Another guy was excited because his driver won the NASCAR race at Indianapolis this weekend. Jeff Gordon has won more NASCAR races there than any other driver in its 20th year. He was pretty excited that he won because he was given the key to the city earlier and was predicted by his crew chief that he would win prior to the race. He did not have the pole position to start, just a mighty fine car for that race on that day.
One guy had tales of his father running accountancy for the Fresno boxing events in the old days including a brush with Don King. Everything was cash. I entered into the conversation with a tale about my boss who sold his house in Livingston to a drug dealer that paid him off in cash, and then was hauled in to the courts to describe how his was paid for his real estate and whether or not he received a discount for his cash payment. The courts found fault with the realtor for the transaction.
The credit union board member had a tale about getting paid 4300 dollars for a used car on a weekend. He arranged payment in the lobby of the open credit union and when she finished counting out the 20s told him it was a stick up....ha ha... he had to admonish them that it was not a good place for a joke of that kind with the cameras used for security in the lobby.
We heard the foils of a to do list from a landlord that came just after a tenant had caught up with her rent. It was just a laundry list of little things.
There were some reminiscences of times in the classroom but it seems that these guys are living more in the prospect of the future than the glories of the past. It is a very good group to see each Thursday morning.
It is an interesting group. Everyone pays their own way and usually there is no comment about what anyone orders unless it is significantly different that what he usually orders. A couple of guys order oatmeal with all the additions, (fruit raisins, walnuts, brown sugar (don't tell their wives) and milk. A couple of the guys only order fruit, but once those has taken to ordering a half waffle with his fruit. He gets a take out container to drag home the waffle to his wife (I suspect). A couple of guys order country potatoes and scrambled eggs. My order varies on the whim but it is usually a half waffle, a couple eggs and a small meat portion. It could be ham (my latest choice) or sausage(two) and the eggs can vary from scrambled to poached.
The purpose of the meetings is conversation. Politics are usually avoided as some of the folks tend to listen to or watch the inflammatory channels and after the intial statement from these sources there is really not much to discuss. In other contexts my discussions with a right wind set seems to crumble after the shock headline to a simple statement that goes something like this..... but isn't true that we will lose status in the eyes of other governments for all the things we have done. It all wraps up in their imagination that the US is dependent upon other nations for our status by what we do or do not do. I guess I am over that. Or status can by screwed up so easily.
So with politics off the table what is there to talk about. Today one guy was talking about the concept of how the new houses were being built in his neighborhood. One of them was 2600 sq feet with a three car garage out in front that allowed two cars to be slotted. So actually you have a 4 car garage. He was amazed that there was a significant slope sliding from the back car to the font car which would allow for easy conversion to a new room if wanted later. The lot that this house was on was pretty small. They were asking 394K for it.
Today we heard the horrors of putting your 403K into your trust. One guy said that when a death occured the trust is bound by the state to cash out the 403K directly. This brings up taxation issues that wouldn't occur if the 403K were maintained outside of the trust.
Another guy was excited because his driver won the NASCAR race at Indianapolis this weekend. Jeff Gordon has won more NASCAR races there than any other driver in its 20th year. He was pretty excited that he won because he was given the key to the city earlier and was predicted by his crew chief that he would win prior to the race. He did not have the pole position to start, just a mighty fine car for that race on that day.
One guy had tales of his father running accountancy for the Fresno boxing events in the old days including a brush with Don King. Everything was cash. I entered into the conversation with a tale about my boss who sold his house in Livingston to a drug dealer that paid him off in cash, and then was hauled in to the courts to describe how his was paid for his real estate and whether or not he received a discount for his cash payment. The courts found fault with the realtor for the transaction.
The credit union board member had a tale about getting paid 4300 dollars for a used car on a weekend. He arranged payment in the lobby of the open credit union and when she finished counting out the 20s told him it was a stick up....ha ha... he had to admonish them that it was not a good place for a joke of that kind with the cameras used for security in the lobby.
We heard the foils of a to do list from a landlord that came just after a tenant had caught up with her rent. It was just a laundry list of little things.
There were some reminiscences of times in the classroom but it seems that these guys are living more in the prospect of the future than the glories of the past. It is a very good group to see each Thursday morning.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Whole House Fans and the Central Valley
I have been in pursuit of a whole house fan for almost a year.
My coffee drinking buddy had two installed in his house over a year ago. But his house has got more square feet than ours by quite a bit.
My mother and father-in-law had one in their Ft Collins, Colorado home. It replaced the ubiquitous 20 inch fans they brought out each evening to eat dinner beside and watch the news. They worked reasonably well and my wife was completely sold for them in the Colorado climate. Their temperature, a good dry heat most of the time was completely abrogated by the afternoon cloud cover and the by 3:30 there was no more build up to the heat and most people endured their summer weather without air conditioning. The whole house fan was installed to reduce the evening heat build up in the attic and to draw cool air in from the windows especially when it came time to bed time. The 20 inch fans worked wonders in drawing cool air into the living spaces and making the evenings pleasant indoors but they failed to address the issue of very hot attics that returned the heat to the living space after the fans were turned off. My mother and father-in-law would have the whole house fan work just an hour or two and summer evening and could come indoors away from the pesky mosquitoes that tortured outdoor living.
The central valley summer night heat is another animal. Our heat generally continues to fire through the afternoon and into the evening until the sun goes down. Then in a couple of hours 10 to 15 degrees are dropped out of the 90 plus degree temperatures reaching our coolest temperature about 2 am sometimes in the 60's. From 11am through to the evening we live under the air and the the attic even though vented with 3 turbines and end cap releases still harbor air most of the night. Our "cool" water at the sink doesn't get cool without running quite a bit of it as the attic temperature heats the copper pipes as the water makes it way to the various spots it is used in the house.
So how would a whole house fan work in that environment? Using outside air that is warmer than what you have cool using air conditioning doesn't make sense. Our inside air is set at 78 degrees. The air needs to be below that temperature to be affective. The use of the whole house fan before 9 am is when the most effective use of the fan is noted. On many weeks we have days that the temperature does not reach 90 degrees. Those days can be very effective for evening use of the fan.
The fan takes the outside air from windows that are opened and doors that are opened and shoots the indoor air up into the attic and eventually in less than 30 minutes the outside air into the attic too. The house stays cooler longer with realistic attic temperatures. Windows need to opened to allow the air to come inside. The wider the window is opened the more air flows into the room. At least 3 windows need to opened or the fan could crack your windows.
This year at the fair there was vendor that was selling the fan and installation. They would provide a 300 dollar discount if you signed up at the fair. They had a booth at the Merced county fair but Sue wasn't with me when I went in to find out the particulars. So it got set aside. At the Stanislaus County Fair they were there too. Sue was with me and we signed up. One week later and 1600 dollars later it was installed in our main hall.
A member of the two man install team crawled up into my attic at 7:30 am. He pulled away from the attic floor the insulation and sunk four holes into my ceiling wallboard with nails. From those four nails, after carefully measuring from down below, a saws-all type saw cut the hole that they mounted the frame for the louvers. Out in the front 2x6 wooden framing was fabricated and lifted into place and supported by my ceiling truss. The fan was positioned and and secured in place. Electrical was found and attached to the dead doorbell connection. The wall mounted control area was located just under the programmable thermostat. No exposed wires were needed. It also came with a thin remote control. The louvers were installed on the outside of the frame and a stopper peg was installed so that the louvers would not stay open. A quick run through and check was made of the remote and the various positions on the device. The two guys brought in a power vac and cleaned up after themselves and were out the door with my check in hand in just under 2 hours.
Sue was not too happy about where it was installed. She thinks that she will end up staring at from the living room way too often. I reminded her that she could have had a say in where it was going to be but opted out. That didn't win me any friends. She thinks that she will get used to its location eventually.
Right now we are using it almost every night to get the house under its 78 degree cooling temp. Most nights it can drop the temperature in the house to under 72 degrees... as far as comfort ... it is yummy. Yesterday was the first night that we did not use it. The outside temperature did not drop to under 78 until after 2:30. We kind of missed out cool breeze. It still worked pretty nicely when I fired it up this morning at 7:00 and shut it down to let the air conditioning take its place at 10:30.
The company works out of Sacramento and Fresno sending installation teams all over the valley. The installer said that he had put in over 200 of them last year. This year he seems to be doing more. The Sacramento team was doing about the same.
My coffee drinking buddy had two installed in his house over a year ago. But his house has got more square feet than ours by quite a bit.
My mother and father-in-law had one in their Ft Collins, Colorado home. It replaced the ubiquitous 20 inch fans they brought out each evening to eat dinner beside and watch the news. They worked reasonably well and my wife was completely sold for them in the Colorado climate. Their temperature, a good dry heat most of the time was completely abrogated by the afternoon cloud cover and the by 3:30 there was no more build up to the heat and most people endured their summer weather without air conditioning. The whole house fan was installed to reduce the evening heat build up in the attic and to draw cool air in from the windows especially when it came time to bed time. The 20 inch fans worked wonders in drawing cool air into the living spaces and making the evenings pleasant indoors but they failed to address the issue of very hot attics that returned the heat to the living space after the fans were turned off. My mother and father-in-law would have the whole house fan work just an hour or two and summer evening and could come indoors away from the pesky mosquitoes that tortured outdoor living.
The central valley summer night heat is another animal. Our heat generally continues to fire through the afternoon and into the evening until the sun goes down. Then in a couple of hours 10 to 15 degrees are dropped out of the 90 plus degree temperatures reaching our coolest temperature about 2 am sometimes in the 60's. From 11am through to the evening we live under the air and the the attic even though vented with 3 turbines and end cap releases still harbor air most of the night. Our "cool" water at the sink doesn't get cool without running quite a bit of it as the attic temperature heats the copper pipes as the water makes it way to the various spots it is used in the house.
So how would a whole house fan work in that environment? Using outside air that is warmer than what you have cool using air conditioning doesn't make sense. Our inside air is set at 78 degrees. The air needs to be below that temperature to be affective. The use of the whole house fan before 9 am is when the most effective use of the fan is noted. On many weeks we have days that the temperature does not reach 90 degrees. Those days can be very effective for evening use of the fan.
The fan takes the outside air from windows that are opened and doors that are opened and shoots the indoor air up into the attic and eventually in less than 30 minutes the outside air into the attic too. The house stays cooler longer with realistic attic temperatures. Windows need to opened to allow the air to come inside. The wider the window is opened the more air flows into the room. At least 3 windows need to opened or the fan could crack your windows.
This year at the fair there was vendor that was selling the fan and installation. They would provide a 300 dollar discount if you signed up at the fair. They had a booth at the Merced county fair but Sue wasn't with me when I went in to find out the particulars. So it got set aside. At the Stanislaus County Fair they were there too. Sue was with me and we signed up. One week later and 1600 dollars later it was installed in our main hall.
A member of the two man install team crawled up into my attic at 7:30 am. He pulled away from the attic floor the insulation and sunk four holes into my ceiling wallboard with nails. From those four nails, after carefully measuring from down below, a saws-all type saw cut the hole that they mounted the frame for the louvers. Out in the front 2x6 wooden framing was fabricated and lifted into place and supported by my ceiling truss. The fan was positioned and and secured in place. Electrical was found and attached to the dead doorbell connection. The wall mounted control area was located just under the programmable thermostat. No exposed wires were needed. It also came with a thin remote control. The louvers were installed on the outside of the frame and a stopper peg was installed so that the louvers would not stay open. A quick run through and check was made of the remote and the various positions on the device. The two guys brought in a power vac and cleaned up after themselves and were out the door with my check in hand in just under 2 hours.
Sue was not too happy about where it was installed. She thinks that she will end up staring at from the living room way too often. I reminded her that she could have had a say in where it was going to be but opted out. That didn't win me any friends. She thinks that she will get used to its location eventually.
Right now we are using it almost every night to get the house under its 78 degree cooling temp. Most nights it can drop the temperature in the house to under 72 degrees... as far as comfort ... it is yummy. Yesterday was the first night that we did not use it. The outside temperature did not drop to under 78 until after 2:30. We kind of missed out cool breeze. It still worked pretty nicely when I fired it up this morning at 7:00 and shut it down to let the air conditioning take its place at 10:30.
The company works out of Sacramento and Fresno sending installation teams all over the valley. The installer said that he had put in over 200 of them last year. This year he seems to be doing more. The Sacramento team was doing about the same.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Post Forth of July
It is just after the forth of July in Merced. It can now be hot... although it has been pretty hot in the valley all Summer.
We are going through what the meteorologists call a Monsoon weather pattern. This often occurs this time of the year. It is what gives Western Mexico its yearly rain accumulation numbers. It also brings "weather" to places like Las Vegas. Massive cloud cover has been the order for the day in Merced, but not a drop of rain has fallen. It has been much to hot for rain. You smell rain in the air but it evaporates before it hits the ground.
We are supposed to reach 106 today and would have been that hot if we didn't have that cover of clouds yesterday. It only reached 97. It was one of those rare days when you could say... it is hot really hot but it is a dry heat.... no it wasn't a dry heat and surely wasn't going to be either. Today started somewhat the same way. The clouds, however broke and scurried to the mountains before noon so the earth could heat up.
We are down to watering lawns just two days a week. In past years even in drought years, we have been allowed to water for three days as a part of our not having water meters. This city has some ancient water rights even though our city water comes from wells deep below the surface. water is not supposed to end up in the gutters. As it is now, if water ends up in the gutters it is quickly dissipated by evaporation.
It has been estimated by some scientists that it takes 35 years for the water to peculate from the surface to underground reserves that we use on a daily basis. All around Merced and many other valley communities have huge evaporation areas areas around development so that excess water is allowed to get into the ground water during winter storms.
This year was particularly parched around here. Merced had the lowest rainfall in many years. We had just 4.5 inches of rain for the entire season. The average for this region is about 12-14 inches of rain. Water and water rights in the west have always been an issue of contention. In the future it will be even more important as we balance interests of Ag and their need to support their businesses with water and the needs of a growing population that needs water for domestic needs as well as recreation.
We are going through what the meteorologists call a Monsoon weather pattern. This often occurs this time of the year. It is what gives Western Mexico its yearly rain accumulation numbers. It also brings "weather" to places like Las Vegas. Massive cloud cover has been the order for the day in Merced, but not a drop of rain has fallen. It has been much to hot for rain. You smell rain in the air but it evaporates before it hits the ground.
We are supposed to reach 106 today and would have been that hot if we didn't have that cover of clouds yesterday. It only reached 97. It was one of those rare days when you could say... it is hot really hot but it is a dry heat.... no it wasn't a dry heat and surely wasn't going to be either. Today started somewhat the same way. The clouds, however broke and scurried to the mountains before noon so the earth could heat up.
We are down to watering lawns just two days a week. In past years even in drought years, we have been allowed to water for three days as a part of our not having water meters. This city has some ancient water rights even though our city water comes from wells deep below the surface. water is not supposed to end up in the gutters. As it is now, if water ends up in the gutters it is quickly dissipated by evaporation.
It has been estimated by some scientists that it takes 35 years for the water to peculate from the surface to underground reserves that we use on a daily basis. All around Merced and many other valley communities have huge evaporation areas areas around development so that excess water is allowed to get into the ground water during winter storms.
This year was particularly parched around here. Merced had the lowest rainfall in many years. We had just 4.5 inches of rain for the entire season. The average for this region is about 12-14 inches of rain. Water and water rights in the west have always been an issue of contention. In the future it will be even more important as we balance interests of Ag and their need to support their businesses with water and the needs of a growing population that needs water for domestic needs as well as recreation.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Merced Fair Time 2014
The temperature outside has finally cooled down a bit from the highs last week. Anything over 100 and we all are major sissies. This week the fair came to town. The Marshall Tucker Band played last night. It was the premier act of the entertainment.
It seems that we are in the predicted drought of live entertainers. When Rap became a major player in the music scene, we old timers that could not understand its appeal spoke often of its lack of nostalgic elements. The quote goes something like this,"What will these kids remember when they are our age about their music?"
We had years as we grew up, a rich heritage of doo wap, folk and funk. Jazz translates and so do good casino entertainment. All fairs had a local "big band" that sorted out and supported the performers as they made it up and down the valley to the various county fairs. Rock bands even continued when their might be just one member left to carry on the franchise. Most of that is gone. Rap and modern country needs a different environment to be successful. Their are no "old Rap singers" hitting the county fair trails.
To be fair (no pun indended) are shorter and are trying to make it without the support of the an endangered activity, the horse race. All the fairs used to have a horse race component. The gambling taxes supported the fairs and their entertainment budgets. Not so much anymore.
In the commercial building, the small out of town hucksters with their miked up demos can now be seen monthly at your local Costco as they ply the same waters and hook the same customers... er fish. Public service booths are still there. They raffle away cool pocket prizes with a spin of the lucky wheel... clack clack clack. We have a winner here. The politics are still here with lots of buttons to push out.
Its kind of funny, the latest bit of news on the vendor front, is that Budweiser refused to pony up its $25k to be one of two beer vendors so with Coors jumping in with their 25K they have an exclusive. The cinnamon roll franchise always does better in the evening as the night air cools... just a little.
There are still lots of 4h and FFA exhibits both animals and mechanical. Fear is still generated by the carnival rides and the crane bungee jumps. Merced has a bring your entry to the fair at a given time and free admission will be offered to generate interest in their cooking contests... almonds, salsa and ribs in consecutive days.
Some art, but nothing compared to Alameda or Stanislaus County's fairs.
Still its local interest and something to do in Merced. And everyone knows that Merced needs someplace to go and something to do in the summertime. A local bullriding company is putting up its local bulls on Saturday night. Some of bulls have been used in the pro bull riding circuit. If its like last year, the bulls are better than the riders.... so it will be fun to see who stays on.
: ) Pat
It seems that we are in the predicted drought of live entertainers. When Rap became a major player in the music scene, we old timers that could not understand its appeal spoke often of its lack of nostalgic elements. The quote goes something like this,"What will these kids remember when they are our age about their music?"
We had years as we grew up, a rich heritage of doo wap, folk and funk. Jazz translates and so do good casino entertainment. All fairs had a local "big band" that sorted out and supported the performers as they made it up and down the valley to the various county fairs. Rock bands even continued when their might be just one member left to carry on the franchise. Most of that is gone. Rap and modern country needs a different environment to be successful. Their are no "old Rap singers" hitting the county fair trails.
To be fair (no pun indended) are shorter and are trying to make it without the support of the an endangered activity, the horse race. All the fairs used to have a horse race component. The gambling taxes supported the fairs and their entertainment budgets. Not so much anymore.
In the commercial building, the small out of town hucksters with their miked up demos can now be seen monthly at your local Costco as they ply the same waters and hook the same customers... er fish. Public service booths are still there. They raffle away cool pocket prizes with a spin of the lucky wheel... clack clack clack. We have a winner here. The politics are still here with lots of buttons to push out.
Its kind of funny, the latest bit of news on the vendor front, is that Budweiser refused to pony up its $25k to be one of two beer vendors so with Coors jumping in with their 25K they have an exclusive. The cinnamon roll franchise always does better in the evening as the night air cools... just a little.
There are still lots of 4h and FFA exhibits both animals and mechanical. Fear is still generated by the carnival rides and the crane bungee jumps. Merced has a bring your entry to the fair at a given time and free admission will be offered to generate interest in their cooking contests... almonds, salsa and ribs in consecutive days.
Some art, but nothing compared to Alameda or Stanislaus County's fairs.
Still its local interest and something to do in Merced. And everyone knows that Merced needs someplace to go and something to do in the summertime. A local bullriding company is putting up its local bulls on Saturday night. Some of bulls have been used in the pro bull riding circuit. If its like last year, the bulls are better than the riders.... so it will be fun to see who stays on.
: ) Pat
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