Halloween II

So today, we slept in, Al did homework and we did other little things around the home. About 2 pm I was bored because we were all dressed up to go to our evening engagement. Out of the blue, I looked on line at movies and saw that we had just enough time to shut down the house and make a 2:50 showing of Michael Jackson's This Is It documentary/musical movie. DEFINITELY worth watching. There is nothing in this film that is not about what his final tour would have been like. It was heart, energy, respect, support, God and more. Check it out!

From the movie we went into the Black Forest to have dinner and spend time with our friends Mark and Christine. Since we hurriedly headed off to the movie, we forgot to pack a camera so we have no photos of their home, their minimal costumes or ours. But it was a good time. Christine prepared meatball subs, bloody mary cocktails and onion rings. We added guacamole and chips and a few Coors Light and Diet Pepsis. A good time was had by all!

Happy Halloween!!!

No pictures in this blog, but just want to report in since it has been 10 days since the last blog. We have had quite a week. The front that moved through left a lot of snow north of us but we mostly got the benefit of the wind (for electric generation) and pretty cold temperatures. We have the water tank heaters that we plug in when we know the temperature is going to go below freezing. Since all the does have been bred, it is important for them to have plenty of water to help with the gestation process.

Today we were in the high 60s and there is no trace of a snow storm left at our house. But we have had two storm systems in October that threatened clobbering conditions that did not materialize at the Matrix Compound. Granted, the goats were not loving life eating outside but they did as we have a herd of survivors. Since their natural body temperature is a couple degrees higher than humans, they have the mechanisms to deal with the cold.

This does make us wonder what we are in store for the rest of the dark seasons. I HATE that tomorrow we will wake up in a different time zone and we will have no evening light at all. It just annoys the shit out of me. But I will live.

Happy Halloween!

Colorado Weather - Gotta Love It!

Weather in Colorado, like in many places, changes on a dime. One day I am hot, working in the garden tilling and wearing shorts. Then 3 short days later, I would not dare venture outside in the snowy windy 'right at freezing' temps day without my flannel lined jeans!!!

It is hard to tell from looking at these pictures, but they are in living color. Unfotunately today, it is primarily shades of grey.

Ice accumulated on some parts of the weather station which is 11 feet in the air. The wind generator is earning its keep with seemingly little regard for the temperatures. If the wind chill is 24 on the ground, I wonder what it is 45 feet up!?!?!?!?!?

Under Employment Picture Changed

To those of you I know personally, you know that I was laid off from my consulting job at CIBER due to lack of work. It had been a very long 7 months but I have now been reactivated and receiving assignments and working again. Although due to my part time professor jobs I have not drawn any unemployment, it has been a dicy time for us here at the Matrix Compound. Although my work is not quite at 100% capacity yet, all are hopefull that it will be steadily increasing.

I just returned today from a week away from the Compound working in Little Rock. It rained the entire time. I am very glad to be home but also glad to be back consulting at any available level. Perhaps the economy is slowly recovering and our President's stimulus package is making inroads.

Wind Generator: Fully Operational

As of Tuesday, Oct 13, 2009, our wind generator is fully operational. The digital net meter was installed replacing the old dated analog meter. Even as I type, looking at the SkyView display wit less than 10 mph winds, we are generating electricity. Time will only tell now how much we will be generating. But I believe that whatever we generate is going in the right direction to improve our environment.

Wind Generator - Partially Operational

We are happy to report that our generator is free to turn in the wind and produce electricity. It has passed the many inspections required by the County of El Paso and by MVEA. One final step remains to make it fully functional will occur one day this next week when the operations crew of MVEA will visit to replace the analog meter with the digital net meter which will allow us to receive credit for excess electricity we generate and go onto the MVEA grid. Will post again when that happens. But for now, I have revived an older laptop and installed the SkyView software that I can leave running 24/7 and log the activity. One day when I have too much time on my hands, I will figure out how to create a spreadsheet or database to analyze the results.

Happy Green!

Milking Parlor/Crafting Kitchen Exterior Improvements

The external improvements are nearly complete on the Milking Parlor. It would still be nice to get the three sides of the original structure (less the slant roofed area) with another coat of the sage paint. Lots of other projects like building a garden for next year may take priority. Depends on how many more nice days we have this fall.

Additionally, I have paint to add a touch of color to the white doors. The single door in the first picture (and the main house front door which are both white) are going be a rich bittersweet color. The double doors in the second pictures will be painted the siding color.

Also you can see in the second picture that we had a project within a project with adding 40 12 X 12 pavers at the double doors which will certainly make the winter experience better.