OP
terry.dinerman
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2009
- Messages
- 405
- Tractor
- 1990 - JD 870
Back at the Ranch
January 2011
Happy New Year to one and all!
Well, Gentle readers, I am back at my post aboard ship. Celebrating the Holidays at home for the first time in five years was a delight...much feasting and such was done, over both Christmas and New Year.
I will need the month at work to rest up...
The highlight of the partying was celebrating my son Ben's 21st birthday...and seeing how his Physicians have been consistently predicting his imminent demise since age 5 or so, this was no small thing...
And it turns out that he likes the 12 year-old Jameson's a LOT more than the cheap stuff I drink, tho he turned down the cheap cigars...
I have spawned a man of cultured tastes it seems...
Of course, my time at Home was not all partying...the main power network for The Old Goat Ranch is now online as I completed the last leg of the mains out to the Barn this trip with 350 feet of underground feeder from the meter pole, terminating in a sub-panel at the Barn.
Naturally, there are a few stories to be told about this latest achievement...
Can You See The Light?
The trip home from Africa was not too bad considering all the disruptions from the snowstorms sweeping Europe....my normally roomy flight was packed with folks who's plans had been disrupted by the foul weather...not an empty seat was to be found, but it was good to see them getting taken care of and outside of a few delays for de-icing and snow plowing at the airport in Paris, all went well.
Is anyone else as amused as I am at how the annual Global Warming Conference was held in Mexico City instead of Copenhagen this year?
It seems the "Warming-istas" are less afraid of narco-terrorist gunfights than the bad press that comes with having your Global Warming Conference delegates snowed into their hotels...
Just one more item to add to the list of "Things that make you go Hmmmmmm..."
We landed in Houston just a little later than planned and as ever, Precious Bride was faithfully waiting to meet me at the "Starbubbas" in Terminal D.
She had tossed a bag of my work cloths in the pickup so we would not have to go to the coast to gear up, and after an evening relaxing in our favourite hotel and bistro, we awoke refreshed the next morning and headed north to the Ranch for a long weekend.
With all of the pre-job planning done (a tip of the fedora to everyone on my advisory board here at TBNet!) the idea was to take a swing up thru the Big Town, order the cable and sundries at the Big Electrical House, secure a trenching machine rental and then relax for a couple of days with MIL and FIL.
The folks at the Big Electrical House were great, as usual...I sat down with the Boss (a Licensed Master Electrician) and went over my notes and sketches, finally settling on 1/0, 1/0, #2 aluminum direct burial cable as the best solution to my needs.
This will also allow me to increase the capacity of the system to 80 amps, over my original 60 amp design and tho the Big Town store did not currently stock the cable, their computer confirmed plenty on the shelf at their Houston warehouse and they could have it delivered with a days notice...
Tho my experiences with aluminium wire and wiring devices in the corrosive seaside atmosphere down on the Gulf Coast gave me some concerns, going with aluminium provided a significant savings...I had originally estimated the job for #2 copper conductors and came up with over $1500 just for the wire...the aluminium conductors priced out at just over $500, and provided an increase in capacity...according to the calculators Boss used, there should be no problem with covering an 80 amp service with plenty of extra start-up surge capacity...and according to the Boss, with proper torque-ing of the connectors and application of a quality anti-oxidation grease, aluminum is no more problematic than copper, especially in the dry conditions of Central Texas.
I was sold. I would confirm the length of run for the cable and call in my order.
We continued our trip thru the Big Town, and stopped at the local Big Box Home Improvement Store to pick up the breaker panel...they had a sale on a full-sized 125 amp box with a dozen assorted breakers for $80 and we picked up one of those outdoor double GFCI outlets as well...tho I am only planning on hooking up the panel at this time, I will hang a double outlet right below it for construction power, then wire the rest of the barn at my leisure.
With a stop at the local Big Grocery Store for some things for MIL and FIL, we headed west to Bedias...we stopped at the "Jubilee Feed Store, Hair Care and Tire Emporium (We Rent Stuff too..)" and paid in advance for a days rental for their trenching machine for the following Tuesday.
MIL and FIL are right around the corner from Jubilee so we stopped off to visit a bit, dropped off the groceries (the traditional offerings of burnt flesh turned into a honey-baked ham this trip) and we headed up the road to TOGR
Winter in this part of Texas is not the sub-arctic torment of the Panhandle...things get a little cold for a few months, we get the occasional hard freeze for a few days, the greenery goes all brown and gray, most of the trees except for the pin oaks go bare, and in our area, under normal conditions, it is rainy season.
It was sunny, cool and dry when we went thru the front gate as the "El Nina" has brought more drought to Central Texas...with my recent memories of those 105 degree afternoons of High Summer still fresh in my head, the cool weather was even more delicious.
The local Cardinals gave PB a stern lecture as she worked the gate...flashes of angry crimson snaking thru the otherwise winter-dull trees....and a rare sighting of a very large gray fox greeted us as we drove down to the Barn...he was chasing something and paid no attention to us at all as he shot across the driveway in hot pursuit...He was in full winter fur and a magnificent, tho fleeting sight...
A bad day to be a bunny it seems...
The Christmas lights we hung on the meter pole last month were still glowing merrily...the LED's barely made the meter move....gotta get more of those LED lights....
What was missing was the deer...
I can only suppose the deer were perturbed by all the deer-hunting gunfire in the area...tho gun season is drawing rapidly to a close, the deer are laying low and we saw not a one as we puttered around the place.
There were still some fresh deer tracks and scats around the tank and under the trees still dropping acorns, and the trails back to the bed-areas in the denser brush still look recently used....so it looks like they are still using TOGR as a safe-house...cool...
The mast crop this year has been enormous, the ground in some spots is practically covered with acorns...so as winter goes on, critter groceries get harder to come by, and all but the most committed bow hunters hang it up for the year, I imagine the deer will get as brazen as they were this summer...
We dropped off the electrical supplies, and took a spin around the perimeter to check the fence and gates...everything was in order....always nice to see...
We drove back to the Barn and broke out the tools...I set t-posts to mark all the fence lines around the utility corridor, strung up some string line, laid out the electric line trench and measured twice just like the philosopher said...
Wouldn't you know it, but by the time I finished up the measuring, it was too late to call the Big Electrical House....
So, Precious Bride and I put our toys away, dug a bag of snickerdoodles out of the feed bin and drove around to the back gate to see how the Pasture Posse was getting along.
The Posse heard the noise of the truck crushing acorns as we slowly drove, loud as a popcorn popper, so they were well aware of our presence...just one whistle from me had Buck, Geraldine and Pita headed our way at a dead run, Pancho the burro was singing to us for all he was worth, with Lefty and her foal "Lilly White" bringing up the rear.
You'd-a thought from all the excitement they were starving for months...what a mob of moochers...
Lilly White is finally getting tame enough to take feed from your hand, just not pushy enough to wedge herself up to the fence thru the big boys, so I lured the big-uns away while Precious Bride got to enjoy getting to know the littlest burro.
Cute, cute, cute....(Both of em....)
I swear, a few minutes spent hand feeding the animals with my best girl is worth more to me than a month on a beach in Bali....
It was getting dark and we didn't want to overfeed too much sweet stuff to the Posse, so we folded up and headed back to MIL and FIL's for a little supper and fellowship....a nice sunset lit our way out the gate too....
It's nice to be home.
January 2011
Happy New Year to one and all!
Well, Gentle readers, I am back at my post aboard ship. Celebrating the Holidays at home for the first time in five years was a delight...much feasting and such was done, over both Christmas and New Year.
I will need the month at work to rest up...
The highlight of the partying was celebrating my son Ben's 21st birthday...and seeing how his Physicians have been consistently predicting his imminent demise since age 5 or so, this was no small thing...
And it turns out that he likes the 12 year-old Jameson's a LOT more than the cheap stuff I drink, tho he turned down the cheap cigars...
I have spawned a man of cultured tastes it seems...
Of course, my time at Home was not all partying...the main power network for The Old Goat Ranch is now online as I completed the last leg of the mains out to the Barn this trip with 350 feet of underground feeder from the meter pole, terminating in a sub-panel at the Barn.
Naturally, there are a few stories to be told about this latest achievement...
Can You See The Light?
The trip home from Africa was not too bad considering all the disruptions from the snowstorms sweeping Europe....my normally roomy flight was packed with folks who's plans had been disrupted by the foul weather...not an empty seat was to be found, but it was good to see them getting taken care of and outside of a few delays for de-icing and snow plowing at the airport in Paris, all went well.
Is anyone else as amused as I am at how the annual Global Warming Conference was held in Mexico City instead of Copenhagen this year?
It seems the "Warming-istas" are less afraid of narco-terrorist gunfights than the bad press that comes with having your Global Warming Conference delegates snowed into their hotels...
Just one more item to add to the list of "Things that make you go Hmmmmmm..."
We landed in Houston just a little later than planned and as ever, Precious Bride was faithfully waiting to meet me at the "Starbubbas" in Terminal D.
She had tossed a bag of my work cloths in the pickup so we would not have to go to the coast to gear up, and after an evening relaxing in our favourite hotel and bistro, we awoke refreshed the next morning and headed north to the Ranch for a long weekend.
With all of the pre-job planning done (a tip of the fedora to everyone on my advisory board here at TBNet!) the idea was to take a swing up thru the Big Town, order the cable and sundries at the Big Electrical House, secure a trenching machine rental and then relax for a couple of days with MIL and FIL.
The folks at the Big Electrical House were great, as usual...I sat down with the Boss (a Licensed Master Electrician) and went over my notes and sketches, finally settling on 1/0, 1/0, #2 aluminum direct burial cable as the best solution to my needs.
This will also allow me to increase the capacity of the system to 80 amps, over my original 60 amp design and tho the Big Town store did not currently stock the cable, their computer confirmed plenty on the shelf at their Houston warehouse and they could have it delivered with a days notice...
Tho my experiences with aluminium wire and wiring devices in the corrosive seaside atmosphere down on the Gulf Coast gave me some concerns, going with aluminium provided a significant savings...I had originally estimated the job for #2 copper conductors and came up with over $1500 just for the wire...the aluminium conductors priced out at just over $500, and provided an increase in capacity...according to the calculators Boss used, there should be no problem with covering an 80 amp service with plenty of extra start-up surge capacity...and according to the Boss, with proper torque-ing of the connectors and application of a quality anti-oxidation grease, aluminum is no more problematic than copper, especially in the dry conditions of Central Texas.
I was sold. I would confirm the length of run for the cable and call in my order.
We continued our trip thru the Big Town, and stopped at the local Big Box Home Improvement Store to pick up the breaker panel...they had a sale on a full-sized 125 amp box with a dozen assorted breakers for $80 and we picked up one of those outdoor double GFCI outlets as well...tho I am only planning on hooking up the panel at this time, I will hang a double outlet right below it for construction power, then wire the rest of the barn at my leisure.
With a stop at the local Big Grocery Store for some things for MIL and FIL, we headed west to Bedias...we stopped at the "Jubilee Feed Store, Hair Care and Tire Emporium (We Rent Stuff too..)" and paid in advance for a days rental for their trenching machine for the following Tuesday.
MIL and FIL are right around the corner from Jubilee so we stopped off to visit a bit, dropped off the groceries (the traditional offerings of burnt flesh turned into a honey-baked ham this trip) and we headed up the road to TOGR
Winter in this part of Texas is not the sub-arctic torment of the Panhandle...things get a little cold for a few months, we get the occasional hard freeze for a few days, the greenery goes all brown and gray, most of the trees except for the pin oaks go bare, and in our area, under normal conditions, it is rainy season.
It was sunny, cool and dry when we went thru the front gate as the "El Nina" has brought more drought to Central Texas...with my recent memories of those 105 degree afternoons of High Summer still fresh in my head, the cool weather was even more delicious.
The local Cardinals gave PB a stern lecture as she worked the gate...flashes of angry crimson snaking thru the otherwise winter-dull trees....and a rare sighting of a very large gray fox greeted us as we drove down to the Barn...he was chasing something and paid no attention to us at all as he shot across the driveway in hot pursuit...He was in full winter fur and a magnificent, tho fleeting sight...
A bad day to be a bunny it seems...
The Christmas lights we hung on the meter pole last month were still glowing merrily...the LED's barely made the meter move....gotta get more of those LED lights....
What was missing was the deer...
I can only suppose the deer were perturbed by all the deer-hunting gunfire in the area...tho gun season is drawing rapidly to a close, the deer are laying low and we saw not a one as we puttered around the place.
There were still some fresh deer tracks and scats around the tank and under the trees still dropping acorns, and the trails back to the bed-areas in the denser brush still look recently used....so it looks like they are still using TOGR as a safe-house...cool...
The mast crop this year has been enormous, the ground in some spots is practically covered with acorns...so as winter goes on, critter groceries get harder to come by, and all but the most committed bow hunters hang it up for the year, I imagine the deer will get as brazen as they were this summer...
We dropped off the electrical supplies, and took a spin around the perimeter to check the fence and gates...everything was in order....always nice to see...
We drove back to the Barn and broke out the tools...I set t-posts to mark all the fence lines around the utility corridor, strung up some string line, laid out the electric line trench and measured twice just like the philosopher said...
Wouldn't you know it, but by the time I finished up the measuring, it was too late to call the Big Electrical House....
So, Precious Bride and I put our toys away, dug a bag of snickerdoodles out of the feed bin and drove around to the back gate to see how the Pasture Posse was getting along.
The Posse heard the noise of the truck crushing acorns as we slowly drove, loud as a popcorn popper, so they were well aware of our presence...just one whistle from me had Buck, Geraldine and Pita headed our way at a dead run, Pancho the burro was singing to us for all he was worth, with Lefty and her foal "Lilly White" bringing up the rear.
You'd-a thought from all the excitement they were starving for months...what a mob of moochers...
Lilly White is finally getting tame enough to take feed from your hand, just not pushy enough to wedge herself up to the fence thru the big boys, so I lured the big-uns away while Precious Bride got to enjoy getting to know the littlest burro.
Cute, cute, cute....(Both of em....)
I swear, a few minutes spent hand feeding the animals with my best girl is worth more to me than a month on a beach in Bali....
It was getting dark and we didn't want to overfeed too much sweet stuff to the Posse, so we folded up and headed back to MIL and FIL's for a little supper and fellowship....a nice sunset lit our way out the gate too....
It's nice to be home.
