News and Views From my kids accomplishments, to my heretical perspective of the world

September 25, 2013

Whole House Ventilation

Filed under: Computers, Tech & Science,Family Updates — Daryl @ 5:57 pm

Even though the days are still hot (in the high 90s), nights are getting down into the 60s. I have set up a whole house ventilation system to take advantage of the cool nights.

Once the temperature outside drops below the temperature in the house (usually about 80), I turn on two fans in upstairs windows (Devon and Derek’s rooms) blowing air out. I open windows and doors downstairs and in my bedroom, and the fans pull the air through the house cooling it off. We are needing light blankets before the early morning.

We close and lock downstairs windows and doors while we are sleeping, of course, so the air then comes in through our bedroom only. As soon as we get up we reopen the downstairs. Then once the outside temperature rises above the house temperature again, we shut the system down. The house stays cool much longer in the morning, and the air conditioners don’t come back on again until mid-afternoon.
House Ventilation
I’m sure it saves a little on the cooling bill, and it’s nice to have the fresh air moving through the house. For a total outlay of about $35 for the two fans, I’m sure it has already paid for itself.

Ideally the fans would blow air into the attic instead of out a window, thereby cooling off the attic too, but that’s a much bigger project. Maybe someday.

September 23, 2013

68 Degrees!

Filed under: Uncategorized — Daryl @ 4:45 pm

It was 68 degrees outside this morning when I got up (after 7) this morning. My outside thermometer shows that it got as low as 63, but I’m not sure I believe that.
Either way, since it was barely getting into the low 80s a week ago, this is a wonderful harbinger of fall.

I opened the door while eating breakfast and enjoyed the cool outdoor air.

September 21, 2013

Misleading Poll

Filed under: Family Updates,Opinion — Daryl @ 1:36 pm

I got a phone call the other night that symbolizes how poll results can be misleading. The automated poll asked me two questions:
1) “Are you aware that the Affordable Care Act will raise your insurance costs?”
2) “Do you support the Affordable Care Act?”

The pollsters were obviously trying to prime the result of the second question; first tell you something bad about it, then ask how you feel about it. They could just as easily have begun by saying “Are you aware that the ACA will lower your insurance costs?”, since the impact is still being debated and varies from person to person and state to state.

Pew Research just published some related poll results which I trust are less biased. They usually do a pretty good job with polls.

They found that 43% approve of the ACA, and 52% disapprove. However, less than half of all those who disapprove (or about 23% of the total polled population) said that lawmakers should work to make the law fail. The other (larger) half of the disapprovers said lawmakers should try to make it work as well as possible.

So the House is being pushed hard to take actions that less than a quarter of the population supports, at the risk of defunding the government and defaulting on national credit.

The poll also showed that there is strong ignorance throughout the country on the provisions of the ACA. Support for the act is strongly divided along party lines, as expected, but perhaps unexpectedly Democrats show greater understanding of the Act, including the individual mandate and state exchanges.

Personally, I am eagerly looking forward to October 1, when I can see what plans will be available to me. Starting January 1, I can have a policy that gives me full coverage, without the exemptions I currently worry about.

Instead of constipating the whole government over it right now, let’s implement and then if it doesn’t work there should be a strong consensus to cancel it. If it is as bad as they say, then it will be a disaster and Obama’s legacy will be a striking failure. But as Republican Senator Ted Cruz suggested people are going to like it so much that it will be impossible to remove once it is implemented.

September 20, 2013

XRay

Filed under: Family Updates — Daryl @ 12:32 pm

Here’s an interesting XRay of my foot, post repair. Notice how straight the big toe is, and how the second toe is between the first and third where it belongs.

XRay

Compare that to the pre-surgery alignment.

PreFoot

There are three pieces of metal in that foot now. There is a long rod in the second toe holding it down in the correct position. That will be removed after about 4 weeks. There is a staple in the big toe where he made one cut, and just below the staple you can see a screw going in at an angle where he made another cut. These two pieces of metal (titanium) will stay in my foot permanently, and the bone will just heal around it.

They also gave (sold) me a huge stiff boot that I will have to wear for the next few weeks. Clumsy and heavy, but it protects the foot pretty well and I can walk in it without any real pain. I’m still supposed to take it easy.

The doctor discovered during surgery that my bones are unusually hard. He thinks it’s from all that basketball.

September 16, 2013

Post Op

Filed under: Family Updates — Daryl @ 7:35 pm

Bunion surgery went well today, at least according to the surgeon. I can’t tell because my foot is hidden within an inch or more of bandages.
feet

Feeling is coming back, but so far there isn’t any pain. The doctor recommended that I take a percocet before bed, because I wouldn’t want full feeling to return with pain in the middle of the night.

They used propofol for general anesthesia. Love that stuff. They also used propofol for my colonoscopy last year. Both times I woke up almost immediately, fully alert with no grogginess, no nausea and there’s no hangover tonight.

I’ve been walking around a little, wearing a special shoe. I’m supposed to limit my walking and keep my foot elevated most of the time for the next few days, but it’s nice that I can get myself to the bathroom and kitchen. I’m not going to try the stairs tonight, and I’ll probably skip basketball tomorrow morning.

September 5, 2013

Bunionectomy

Filed under: Uncategorized — Daryl @ 5:55 pm

I have a bunion on my left foot. It’s a condition where the joint in the big toe is shifted outward, and the rest of the toe points inward. Here’s a picture of my feet:
Bunion

The impact is that the foot is wider at that point, and the bunion presses against the shoe causing pain and inflammation. Another impact in my case is that the second toe is displaced and is riding up over the third toe.

The combined problems bothered me on my recent hike in the Sierra, but with anti-inflammatories the discomfort was under control. But the hike definitely aggravated the condition, and it is now time for surgery.

Bunion surgery is generally very successful. My podiatrist assures me that I will be able to walk the next day, wearing a special shoe. It should take 6-8 weeks to return to normal activities, including sports.

Here’s a video clip that shows roughly what will happen, though the specifics of every case is different. They will cut off some of the protruding bone, make some other cuts to change angles, and shift the last segment over, securing it with a pin. Besides the work on the big toe, he will also do some realignment on the second toe.

Surgery is scheduled for the morning of September 16. I’ll post a follow-up afterwards.

Volt Update

Filed under: Computers, Tech & Science — Daryl @ 10:48 am

I’ve had my Chevy Volt for about 18 months now. Update: I still love it. Still fun to drive, still extremely economical to drive, after you get past the purchase price (which has recently dropped $5000).

I’ve put about 13,400 miles on it, and used 48 gallons of gas. I typically drive about 90% of the time on battery, only using gas about 10% of the time. I always regret having to dip into the gas tank, but it’s great peace of mind knowing that I can. I think I would be too nervous driving a battery only car, at least until there are many high-speed charging stations everywhere I want to drive.

Mileage when I am using gas varies from 35 to 40+ miles/gallon, depending on my speed, air conditioning use and driving style. Battery range varies from 30 to 45 miles, depending on the same factors. I have to admit that I am usually closer to 35 than 45 for both battery range and gas mileage, since my driving style isn’t the most conservative. But I can usually get to Mom’s house and back on a single charge, and it’s 18 miles each way mostly on the freeway.

I mainly use it just to drive around town, though I have been to Tucson and Flagstaff. It’s a fine highway car, but as I mentioned I hate to run it on gas any more than I have to. I usually go about 3 months between gas station stops unless I am taking a longer trip. Driving on electricity costs about 1/4 as much as driving on gas, at current gas and electricity costs.

It’s notable that the Volt sales total is higher than Toyota Prius sales total was at this point after its introduction (33 months, over 45,000 sold). I still rarely see another Volt on the road, but I don’t get many stares or questions any more either. And the Volt is still at the top of the Consumer Reports list for owner satisfaction (“Would you buy this car again?”).

On a related topic, if you haven’t heard of the Tesla electric car you should take a look. It earned Consumer Reports acclaim as the best car they have ever tested. It earned a perfect score on NHTSA safety tests. The top end model can go over 250 miles on a charge, and accelerate from 0 to 60 in about 4 seconds, faster than almost anything else on the street. The company is installing a network of fast charging stations throughout the country, with several already in place in California. Only Tesla cars can use them, but they are free for Tesla owners. This might be the future of electric cars. If they had charging stations around Arizona, and the purchase price was half what it is, I would be very interested. But for me, my Volt works out better.

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