Stuff and Tornadoes

We've been thinking about tornadoes lately.  Moore, Oklahoma was big in the news and last night there was a PBS special about predicting a tornado.  Of course the Greensburg, Kansas tornado of May 4th 2007 was partly responsible for the wonderful life we live on the road now.  Tornadoes.  Two days ago, we were (and still are) parked at Camping World, Interstate Island, Syracuse, New York.  We turned on the TV and found that we were in a severe thunderstorm and tornado watch.  They're chasing us to New York State.  We were actually just ahead of many of the storms over the last few weeks or so.

So, we've been thinking about tornadoes lately.  Then I noticed according to the PBS program that the EF rating of a tornado is based on what it does to stuff, not what it does to humans.  Since we don't have much stuff, and the stuff we have is mostly always in two or three different places, we're in pretty good shape ;-) .  For now I'm pretty glad that we don't have very much stuff, just what we can carry. When severe weather gets close to us we just thank each other for the time together and hope to see each other in the morning.

I was wondering what the Indigenous people of the land we wander did when there was a tornado.  I suppose, for one, they were pretty mobile and didn't have a bunch of stuff to worry about.   I suppose the nomadic people paid attention to the weather patterns all around them and knew what to do... We're hoping to do the same as we travel.

It's pretty amazing how the potential for a tornado is there in a super-cell thunderstorm, and it can manifest or not; if it does, it sort of just appears then takes on a life of its own, destructing all in its path.  I wonder when the majority of the population is going to get it, that what we do to Earth matters and if we take care of the land, air, and water we'll all be better off; as it is, we'd better become more aware of the weather changes around us and prepare to reap the consequences of how we've treated our environment.

IMG_20130529_165605.

Playing music at Assisted Living and Nursing and Rehab Centers

During our time here in Bownwood, Texas, it seems a new chapter has opened up in our music world.  We have often played music at the Care Center that my dad lives at in Canton, New York in exchange for a place to park our motorhome when we visit (they'd probably let us park there whether we play or not)  but this season has been quite an eyeopener for us.

It started with my boredom and desire to learn some new songs, etc.  Janie was working at a care center called Songbird Lodge and early on I wandered in with my guitar and played some for the residents there.  As I walked around the area I noticed a plethora of care centers around so I contacted the closest ones,  Redstone Park, Brownwood Nursing and Rehab, Oak Ridge Manor, and Senior Care of Brownwood.  They all welcomed me to drop by on a regular basis.  Some asked me to fill out a background check and some didn't.  I worked with the respective Activity Directors to schedule a time to drop in each week.  These would become, for the most part, voluntary, non-paid (national currency) performances.  A few of the places, after I had visited for a while, worked out a way for me or Janie and me to play for some pay as well.   Very nice.

Before going into what the residents have taught me, I might also mention how I started playing weekly at Doc's Drugstore in Brownwood.  I was walking back from Redstone after playing there and I dropped into Doc's with my guitar on my back.  Tim there approached me and said, "This is the very first time someone walked in here with a guitar on their back."  I wound up playing a song or two there on the spot and they asked me to come back on Fridays to play for their lunch customers.  This then also turned into Mondays and Fridays.  Doc's has been fun, and the staff seem to enjoy the music as much as the customers.  At Doc's, I sold a few cds and played for tips and lunch, bringing in some money to help with our expenses.  Thanks be to Doc's.

Now to the subject.  I'm going to try to express what I've learned from these lovely residents. I think all of the lessons fall under the heading -Expectations-

The first lesson was Expectations in communication:   It's interesting to see how I react to the various levels of ability of the various residents.  Some seem to require a wheelchair, some not, some have use of one arm or hand, some both; some are missing legs.  Most have a different way to relating to people, many are much more direct than we're maybe used to in polite society.  Some don't seem to have expected verbal communication skills.  (I might mention that at one facility there's a man who reminds me a lot of the facial expressions my mom had during the later stages of her Alzheimer's Disease.  He was quiet all the time so I guess I expected that he didn't verbally communicate, however one day I spoke to him and he shocked me by speaking back, pretty much like a regular person.)

Second Lesson - Expectations in music:   As a musician, I want the audience to enjoy the music I perform. Of course I also want to personally enjoy the music I perform. Janie and I play lots of different kinds of music. There's this idea that going into a care center such as this that everyone will like (and only like) hits from the 40's or something like that, or Classic Country Hits, etc.  The truth is, that various individuals react differently to different songs.  Why would that be a surprise?  I can just play the music I like and I'll see positive reactions from different people each time.  Some like funny songs, some like gospel songs (a lot like gospel songs), some like to sing along, some like the old tunes, some like classic country, etc.  The idea that it's best to have a few songs that people seem to always like, but then just play what I like, they seem happy just having a change in pace and the idea that someone would take time out of their day to come and spend time with them.

Third Lesson - Therapy from music:  While doing this I decided to research a bit about music therapy and specifically the value of music in this setting.  I had noticed that people would roll into the hall sort of in their own bubble, not talking to each other and by the time they left, they might be having side conversations about music or about me or some other thing that I didn't know about, but they were talking to each other a little more at the end of the session.  Also  I like to talk with them and ask what they know about the songs, also I have a couple of quiz songs where they probably don't know the verse but do know the chorus.  I start with the verse and see if anyone can "name that tune".  Fun and a bit of a mind exercise.  I move around and look around a bit, noticing that their eyes follow me and sometimes follow my eyes.  (I'll smile and acknowledge someone who's singing along and many will look at that person too, netting a bit of a stretch.)  I like to intermingle the sing along songs with the ones they probably don't know, also I like to encourage them to listen to choruses of certain songs so they can learn them and sing along by the end. (I don't teach them the verses as I think it's better for them to listen, translate, and then sing the words.)  I confess I'm not a music therapist, but these are the things I notice, using some of my past training as a counselor to translate that learning to this activity.  One can find all kinds of benefits of listening to live music for people in residential settings including, sleep, attitude, overall outlook, relaxation, sociability, diet, and general health.

Finally, I'd like to comment on my observation regarding the wonderful lesson to be learned from watching the residents care for each other, how the staff cares for the residents, and how the residents care for the staff.  It's a very caring group.  Sometimes in the middle of the music I would notice a staff member noticing when a particular resident was enjoying a particular song, it was obvious the staff member was happy to see the resident happy,  I saw more mobile residents picking up discarded ice cream sandwich wrappers for residents in wheel chairs.  I noticed staff members sitting and talking and laughing with residents.  There were lots of examples and it was plainly evident that this environment creates an opportunity for caring like is rarely seen out on the highways and in other communities.

I'm very grateful for the opportunity to learn these lessons and spend some of my time playing music and singing songs with the people I've met over the past few months.  

Coming Together Austin style

Austin, March 16th, 2013.  

Janie and I went to the State Capitol for "The Musician's March for Peace".  It was about a two and a half hour drive from Brownwood and the day was well worth the time spent on the road.  This activity happens to be at the same time as the semi-famous South by Southwest festival (SXSW) which is a music, film and arts festival in downtown Austin.  Because of this, as we pulled up to the parking garage, we learned that the parking rate was $20.00 for a short time or all day.  The normal all day rate is $7.00.  Huh!  In talking to the attendant  standing there with his wad of 20s, we were told that all of the public parking was set at that rate and set by the city or the tourism board or something.  We happened to know that the metered parking was possibly fine, but we'd have to remember to run back and feed the meters, so we opted for the 20 bucks.  At least we knew we were out of the sun and the car was reasonably safe. (and it wouldn't get towed off)  As it turned out we were parked there from about 11:30 am to about 8:45 pm.  

We had been following the Musician's March for Peace for a while on Facebook  the day's events were to include a rally and concert at the steps of the capitol at 1:00 pm, a march through the streets of Austin starting at 3:00, followed by a second rally and concert at the stage outside of Austin City Hall.  I suspect the march was about a mile or a little more, more on the march later.  Prior to the event, one of the organizers, having heard my song, "The Occupy Song", asked us to play it as part of the show at the capitol.  It was great fun meeting the other musicians, and helping one of the marchers to get set up with sound etc.  We immediately felt like we were among friends.  Whenever we meet "our people" there is always this ever-present question in the air - "who are you, what have you been doing?".  So meeting and talking becomes little spontaneous snippets of who we are, who we know and what we've been doing.  Anyway, the MC poet was wonderful and the acts were lovely.  Some were more polished for stage presentation than others and all were equally welcomed by the attendees and other presenters.  That's a sign of a wonderful community, a beloved and loving community.  

      Speakers at the Capitol were Cindy Sheehan and a couple of representatives from Iraq Veterans Against the War, among others.   

Our song was very well received and within a verse or two most of the audience was singing "we're here to occupy, here to occupy, we're the 99%, we're here to occupy, here to occupy, starting on the corner with our tents."  The song was really designed to be a song that folks can rally around and also a song that chronicles the beginning of the small Occupy sites (in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street) that cropped up around the US, with models from Un-Occupy Albuquerque, and Occupy Amarillo, Lubbock, and Fort Worth. The debut of the song was at the Occupy Lubbock site.  By the way, Occupy is not gone but most of the former occupiers have joined movements trying to fix problems with our economy like Strike Debt, an organization that is buying up property and medical debt and then releasing the person from their particular debt. 

Just as we were winding down the concert at the capitol, I noticed that a lot more people had gathered, with several in various costumes and some carrying drums, brass instruments, and shakers.  The guy we had helped set up began mounting his sound system speakers on a shopping cart and some folks helped him carry a mobile sound system down the steps to the ground level while the jazz band had been playing "Down by the Riverside". Then we started down the sidewalk to Congress Ave, down Congress to head for City Hall.  

The march took a detour which would allow it to travel down several blocks of Sixth Street (Austin's version of New Orleans' Bourbon Street) and all of this with the Jazz music in the front, and the rolling rock studio in the back.  We were in sort of a swing state :-) moving slightly up in the crowd would allow us to hear and participate in the Jazz group, and falling back somewhat would put us with the rockers.  Many of the revelers along the path, joined us for part or most of the march smiling, singing, dancing, and flashing peace signs everywhere. Here are some scenes from the march route. 

As we approached City Hall the Jazz band was playing "Down by the Riverside" again and I think the rockers had joined too.  There was another band on the city stage in front of City Hall, and our folks gathered in with these folks and kept the song going.  Then the stage band did a few more great songs, and turned the stage over to open mic, an opportunity for poets and singers to present. We did a couple of more songs during the open mic, before heading out.

Now, about coming together: someone said they think there should be Musician's Marches for Peace all over the US at this time, as music is so good at bringing folks together;  another thing in Austin that brings folks together is bats.  As we were headed to dinner (a restaurant recommended by my cousin David) we noticed that people were lined up along Congress Street bridge.  Me to Janie, "I didn't think that the bats were flying until later in the year."  She looked it up on her phone and we asked a few folks and found out that indeed the bats are flying.  We parked at Zax Pint and Plate, met my cousin's friend, and then headed to the bridge.  The Austin bat watching experience is a perfect vision of the coming together of which I write.  People from all walks with one goal, to see the bats.  I was told that this is one of the largest urban bat colonies in the world.  It grew here unintentionally, as I guess the bridge architect didn't realize that the design he built would become a perfect habitat for these bats.  Google the Austin bat viewing and you'll find out all about them.  Anyways, the people come together, various economic backgrounds, colors, education levels, politics, religion, etc., you name it.  They gather above and below the bridge just to wait for and watch the bats come out every day at dusk.  They help each other get great viewing spots.   We had a guy walk up and give us a pin that commemorates the bat viewing.  The man was deaf, had a bat on his hat and was friendly as could be.  He also had a tag on the pin inviting us to give him a little something for the pins we got, which we did, and we were all happy.  We got a lovely picture of Janie and me with the batman.  The beloved and loving community.

For those that have read this far, I might as well tell you that we went back to Zax, had a nice conversation with my cousin's friend, had some wonderful pizza, and enjoyed a great trip back home.  We fell into our little Winnebago home at about 11:30 pm tired and happy.  Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this.  I encourage you each to find some activity that you can enjoy with people you might not ordinarily hang out with, and enjoy it, celebrate it, meet some new friends.  

Solar Installation

As I have mentioned, we're starting 2013 (actually ending 2012) with a new Winnebago which remains unnamed at this time.  Funny, it was December of 2009 when we bought the Jayco.  I guess December is a time of transitions.  We left the solar installation on the Jayco when we traded so I had the distinct pleasure of preparing and planning a new solar installation on the new Winnebago.  I thought I'd go through the process of how we decided on the equipment we would purchase for this new installation, which began with thinking about the energy we used for the past two years and what might be different on this rig.

First, let's mention the cost of installation, what's our price range.  I'd like to mention that often when I speak with folks about installing solar panels, they ask about "payback".  I've taken to asking them about their payback for that morning coffee at the local coffee shop, or payback for the game tickets they buy etc.  To me this is a lifestyle choice.  It's a choice to join in the experiment of using solar energy to fuel our world.  So having said that, I really don't care about payback because it's immediate.  (There is a time I started to calculate payback but gave up.  I mean, we can roughly say that we potentially save at least 30 dollars a month because of the solar and this installation cost under $2,000, so that's about five to six years I guess.)

I might also mention that the Winnebago Vista 30T that we bought, lends itself well to solar installation.  In the purchasing process I looked the roof over, imagined where I would run the wires and checked out the battery box.  I had a good picture of how it would go before we committed to the new rig.

Equipment:

    Let's start with batteries.  The new rig came with 2 Group 24 NAPA dual purpose batteries rated at about 105 amp hours at 20 hours. (right I'm not sure what that means either)  Anyway, our last set up had about 300 amp hours of battery (three X 100 ah group 31 batteries) so I wanted one more battery.  I would have rather had group 27 AGM batteries for this installation, but I already had two brand new group 24s so I opted to run to NAPA (on my bicycle) and pick up one additional matching flooded battery.  I got a few extra cables, reworked the tie down system but just changing the bolts to rubber straps and now we have 315 ah of battery bank.  

Here are the three batteries installed.  These are just inside the step to enter the coach.  Nice location if you ask me.

   Now for the Controller.  I did some checking around before deciding on the charge controller.  Even though I was quite happy the the controller we had before (MorningStar TriStar 45 MPPT) I just wanted to know if there might be something more suitable to our setup.  Also I was hoping for something with a slightly smaller footprint and mounting position.   I had decided to put the controller in a basement cabinet just beside the battery box so there would be a short wired run between the controller and batteries.  I figured the run from the roof to the controller in this case would still be only about 20 feet, so everything seemed to be going together well.  

      So.... after all this processing, I finally decided on the TriStar, just like the one in the last installation.  I ordered the controller, breaker boxes and wiring from Northern Arizona Wind and Sun.  

      I'll talk about ordering the solar panels in a minute, but I had gotten all of the materials from Northern Arizona so I went ahead and installed the controller and breaker box with most of the wiring while waiting for the panels.    Here's a photo of the installed TriStar controller and breaker box.

And remote meter installed just inside the entry door to the coach.

The exterior cabinet that holds the controller and breaker is just to the right of the entry door to the coach.  The batteries are under the second step coming in the entry to the coach and the meter is just on a wall to the left as you walk into the coach.


 Solar Panels.  I saved quite a bit of money by shopping around a bit for panels.  I found the three 175 watt panels we purchased at Sun Electronics at 189 each, so a little over a dollar a watt.  The last panels we bought were more like a little over 2 dollars a watt. Shipping was a little more because the panels were bigger but it all worked out quite well.  I saved about a hundred dollars on shipping by having them shipped to a local lumber yard (instead of the RV park just across the street) and picking them up there.

    Also, based on recommendations from the various discussion forums, I opted for high voltage panels.  We got Suntech 175 watt panels.   I don't entirely understand the electronics involved in this, but I'm told the high voltage panels work much more efficiently with the MPPT controller.  Because they are high voltage (35.2 vmp) I can wire them in parallel on the roof, which means that if one of the panels happens to get shaded, the others will remain at full power for one thing.  Also at the higher voltages, the TriStar MPPT can work better at using the MPPT technology.

   
Mounting to the roof.   After talking with various people on the discussion boards I opted to build my own z brackets by buying, drilling and cutting some aluminum angle.  Also, based on recommendations, I decided to draw an installation plan.  I can't say how happy I am that the forum gurus convinced me to do this.  I had a whole different picture in my mind of how the panels would be.  This turned out to be a great installation, mainly because of this drawn up installation plan.

  I've included some photos below with captions.

Here's the drilling of the holes in the new Z brackets.
The drill press and cutoff saw were loaned to me by a new friend, James, from Early, TX.

Here's a photo of yours truly drilling the aluminum.

And then cutting.

Each Z bracket is made up of two L's bolted together  which will facilitate removal of the panels if necessary at some point.  Each bracket is 3 inches long and made from 1 and 1/2 inch aluminum L giving me 4.5 inches of glue surface for mounting to the roof.

 

Here I'm installing the Z brackets (feet) to the underside of the panel (I hope that's the underside)

The feet were mounted to the underside of the panel with
two stainless steel bolts then the panels were glued to the
fiberglass roof with 3M 5200 fast cure marine adhesive.

There aren't any screws driven into the roof at this
time but I could add one on each bracket
if I want to at some point.

Here the panels are attached, wired and working.  The panels are
wired in parallel and use mc4 type wire and connectors.

The Escapees Discussion Forum was most helpful in the process as was Jack Mayer's website on RV solar installations.  On this forum we spoke about using the 3M glue and with or without screws into the roof.   Of course this is often a concern for someone installing panels on the roof.  I can tell you from our last (first) installation, it was a difficult thing to drill into a perfectly good roof.  The Jayco had a rubber roof and I opted to drill.  I drilled the hole the size for the #12 x 1 inch stainless steel screw for each foot.  Then I put dicor in the whole put the screw right into the dicor sealant.  Then I put more dicor on top of each screw to seal it up.  There was no problem at all in the two years we had the panels in place.   This new roof is fiberglass and I was told that with fiberglass well adhered to the plywood underlayment, the 3M 5200 fast cure would be fine by itself.  I researched a lot and I feel quite sure that this is a permanent bond that will hold the panels just fine.  Having said that, I also plan on going up on the roof on a nice day in a month or so (or before we move next) and evaluating the bonds.  I'll probably inspect each foot carefully, and give a tug or two on the panels in various places as part of the inspection.  At that time I'll probably drill the glue that oozed out of one of the holes in each leading foot, drill for a screw, add dicor and install a #12 x 1 inch stainless steel screw in each leading edge, covering it with dicor.  This is just a bit of added security so I don't have to think about it someday when we're driving in some windy and weather.  I may, however, opt to leave it alone and inspect it again after our first major road trip.  

In Operation:

    Solar Volts and Amps.  I double checked the wiring and then powered up the system and right way I was treated to a lovely reading of 42 volts DC from the solar array.  As soon as I had the system working I switched off the breaker to the 12 v converter charger that came with the coach.  This monitors the battery and keeps it charged while providing all of the 12 v power for the rig.  That's lights, furnace blower fan, and water pump, not to mention some small dc loads from the electronics of the fridge, water heater and furnace.  Now the only ac power we use (when we're able to harvest solar energy... see below) is the 110 outlets in the motorhome.  All of our lighting, water pump and furnace blower energy comes from the sun now.

We've been up and running for a couple of weeks at this point and for the most part they've kept up quite well.  We just entered an expected stretch of overcast and rainy weather so I switched the breaker back on to let the converter/charger keep the batteries just until Friday, when the sun will be back.  The panels almost keep up, but it's also cold and the furnace draws a fair amount of that energy.

The TriStar has a connection that allows me to gather data from it on my computer and therefore track how the panels are working and the daily state of the batteries.   I plan on keeping a spreadsheet of this data for a while at least.

Thanks for reading,  I'm glad to answer questions if you just ask.

Martin Bates