We got our new wall oven this week, much to my wife’s delight. After the solar power installers reimburse us for the one that was damaged during the installation and testing process, we’ll be out about $600. Since the old oven was 12 years old and they no longer make parts for it, I consider that a win.
I didn’t realize you have run the oven for an hour or two to “burn out the new in it” as the installer said. Whew! Stinky and smoky. I knew you had to do that to a new wood stove, but didn’t realize it was necessary for ovens.
In the four years we have lived here, we have replaced two appliances: the wall oven and the separate cook top. We’ve had to repair the refrigerator once, and I had to replace the ice maker myself. This makes me think it will be the next thing to go.
I like that the appliances are being replaced on a staggered basis. I’d rather pay for a new one every two years than have to buy several at one time.
Solar System Inspection
Our county building inspector came out and inspected the system and it passed! He didn’t get on the roof or go into the attic, but relied on photos provided by the installer. While he checked the disconnector and the service panel, one big concern was all the enclosure, conduits, and other elements had the correct warning stickers. He wanted to make sure that if the volunteer fireman show up for a house fire and pull the meter that they recognize there is another source of power.
He was complimentary about the installer’s work, saying, “You can tell when somebody knows what they are doing, and these guys obviously do.” Apparently there have been some solar installs locally that, well, let’s just say they didn’t pass and leave it at that.
Rain, No Sun
After an unseasonably hot and dry June and early July, we’ve transitioned into what I consider “normal” summer weather: middling hot with thunderstorms in the evening. We’ve had an inch or more rain at least twice this month, with a number of days where it rained an eighth to a quarter of an inch in the late afternoon, sometimes in just 20 minutes as a storm raced over us. No worries about drought here. The rain also cuts down on the risk of forest fires like they are having out West and in Canada.
I like rainy mornings because I tend to sleep in. But it’s bad for the solar power.
Funny thing is, we’ve only had the one power outage. Not that I have a backup in place, the electricity hasn’t gone out but once.
For the first time, we had two days where we did not make as much power as we used. It wasn’t because of the earlier sunsets, but because we had two very cloudy and rainy days in a row. Since we are hooked up to the grid, this is no problem; we just use grid power like we did before we had solar panels. In a long-term grid-down scenario, we would have had to conserve electricity to make sure we had enough to power the refrigerator and freezer, which I consider to be mission critical.
Silver Price Crashes
Back in early July, the price of silver stayed above $30 an ounce for two weeks and closed above $31 three times. Not any longer. It’s been dropping, and as I write this, silver is a hair under $28. That’s down $3.50, about 11 percent.
Gold also ran up, closing at close to $2,470 on the 16th. It has dropped $90 since then. That’s less than 4 percent, showing gold remains less volatile than silver.
I’m not a financial advisor, and I have no opinion on whether gold or silver will continue to slide or bounce back up, but if you were thinking about buying precious metals, this could be an opportunity to buy on the dip.
Anti-Gunners Take a Beating in Court
After the Supreme Court did away with the ATF’s attempt to reclassify bumpstocks as machine guns, a Texas court just threw out the ATF’s attempt to ban forced reset triggers for similar reasons. That’s got to be embarrassing, especially considering the ATF tried to go door-to-door demanding people turn over their triggers. The court ordered them to return within 30 days any triggers they confiscated. It will be interesting to see if they do.
2024 has been a good year in the courts for freedom. While a few deep blue states, most with large liberal cities, still are trying to ban what they consider to be assault weapons, I expect these will all fail in the courts. Of course, that may take another three to five years.
All early indications are Kamala Harris is more antigun that Joe Biden. People who value their 2nd Amendment freedoms need to keep liberal democrats like her out of office.
