January 4, 2015 evening

|

Good evening. Currently 6 degrees and clear. The breeze this evening makes it seem even colder. Cold enough that the exhaust vapor from my truck froze on the bumper. Might hit zero by daybreak.

$300 later I got my truck back from the shop. The alternator and wiring were fine, no diode leakage or excessive current pulls when off, just the starting battery was bad. It’s what I expected but was a bit miffed about the bill until I saw the replacement battery was $212. Sure repair shop mark up, but it’s also a name brand battery, not an off label Advance Auto $130 special. I wish Advanced Auto had done a better job testing the battery but it’s water under the bridge. I feel good knowing at least the dual battery setup is not trashing the batteries – it was just a cheap battery per the shop. That and I may have had an accident last summer with reversed jumper cables and some drunk bros. Never jump start a car when everyone involved in the process is totally drunk. Well, we will see. I hope this new, more expensive battery will last longer. Cars are to be used and broken. They are money sops. I could permanently disable the dual battery system but I like my CB Radio, inverter and lights, and based on physics and automotive science, there is no reason it should be damaging starting batteries. The shop confirmed charging voltage was fine.

I was still super annoyed about it all because this problem meant I was without a car for three out of the past four weekends and had to beg a lot of favors out of friends and my family. If I had known it was a bad battery and Advance Auto just plain refused to warranty it, I would have just bought a battery myself and saved some money. Regardless, I just hope it continues to work fine going forward. If not, the truck will be back at the repair shop. The dual battery system with all its problems is still a minor cost compared to the lift kit or the truck itself, despite being a constant cause for frustration. Big Red is still pretty sweet.

Other than that, things are moving forward. It’s cold. I went out and bought some groceries. Tomorrow I have to get some shoes for work. Went down to the library for a bit. Tomorrow is Tuesday. A new day.

January 4, 2016 morning

|

Good morning. Happy Monday. Five day work week coming up this morning. Chilly, around 16 degrees and mostly cloudy to the north with some sun to the south. A few flurries on and off but no accumulation. So be it, January weather is hear. But it won’t last with a warm up expected by the end of the week.

Kind of a chilly morning with the wind but I didn’t notice it much as I left the heat at 60 before bed, wore my wool overcoat, and races down to the bus stop, catching the bus with seconds to spare. I should make an effort to get to the bus stop a little earlier.

So it’s January. Great, we are working are way to spring time. I’ve been through a lot of winters before and while they are a grind, they always come to a conclusion. Winter’s fury can only last for so long before it succumbs to the changing angle of the sun. Every day we will be getting increased solar radiation with the changing seasons.

January 3, 2016 night

|

Good evening. Now we are down to 35 degrees but no snow. Some good gusts of wind. Later on, temperatures will drop rapidly and by sunrise looking at 19 or 20 degrees. Sunny tomorrow constant temperature around 20. Sunrise at 7:26 AM with 9 hours and 8 minutes of sun. Gaining daylight slowly, mostly in the evening.

Pretty nice evening walk. Went earlier then usual, hoping to avoid the cold which hasn’t happened yet. Nice evening but cloudy.

Started to write code for a bulk American Community Survey mapper that will allow me to make many census maps easier, similar to the political mapping tool I wrote earlier in the week. One change I made in both tools is using CSV files as an alternative to dBase files. I think it’s better to use CSV as they are smaller and more future compatible. dBase format will remain around for a while, if only because ERSI Shapefiles use the format natively for storing data – which is why I was using it at first. Plan to code into both scripts and add to the blog a crunched number feature, that will not only show the map with ED or block group statistics but also detailed statistics broken down by town, ward, and/or tract. Cool stuff but it will require a fair amount of coding. But it’s winter and I have the free time.

Well, good night. Sleep well.