Flowers, Part 1

 Well, the blooming season has finally started!

The Stella D' Oros lilies started first...

I was amazed to see some Tithoniums blooming that I planted 2 years ago.  They are annuals, but described as "self-sowing".  Well, apparently they do!  I'm thrilled.  Self-sowing is as good as perennial.

This is something from the meadow garden I planted a few years ago.  Apparently they need a couple of years to bloom.  I don't know the name.  But they sure are a nice pure yellow!  And there are dozens of them.  I'll have to look through catalog to identify them.

This is actually some sort of weed.  Kind of pretty.  It doesn't seem to be a disease because they all look identical.  I'll allow them if they don't spread too much.

I brought variegated 'Snow-On-The-Mountain' from my parents home a couple of decades ago where it grew naturally.  They survive here in the hotter Mid-Atlantic area, but seem to convert to solid green leaves given the climate.  I am digging up the remaining variegated ones to transplant to shadier and cooler spots, but these do have nice May flowers.  

Quest For Wine

 I have been trying to find a decent inexpensive replacement for a Old Vine Zinfandel I have bought for a decade.  The winery shut down.  Some research suggested other Old Vine Zin (or course) but also Malbec and Merlot.  Visiting my regular local meat/deli/liquor store (weird combination, I know), I bought 3 Zinfandels, a Malbec, and a Merlot.

The first thing I noticed was that the price had nothing to do with how much or little I enjoyed the wines.  The 2 most familiar and drinkable were 1.5 L bottles and the cheapest.  And neither was a Zin!  Of the 2 most expensive Zins, 1 tasted "acidic" and the other "dusty".  I don't actually know the "wine terms" for that, but that was my impression.

One Zin was "OK", but at $17 for a 750 bottle, I wasn't very impressed.  Why is it that I liked the cheap Zin but not "better ones?  LOL!  The Frontera Malbec (Argentina) at $10 for 1.5L  was closest to the Twisted Zin I can't get anymore.  The Mondavi (Private Selection) Merlot 1.5L at $17 was better.

I'm obviously not a wine-snob.  I like what I like.  And the foods I cook probably have a lot to do with the wines I like.  So what wine I drink with dinner has a lot to do with my choice.  I mean, I cook a lot of different foods, but I do tend to use the same spices and such.  Regardless of whether I cook chicken, pork, shrimp, or beef, there is garlic, oregano, and sometime ginger involved.

So, after tasting a variety of other Zins, some Merlot, and some Malbec, I'm probably going with the Malbec for regular dinner and Merlot on occasion.  The local meat store will special order as many cases of either as I want.  It is easier just to order 6 or so at a time (so that I don't have to bother them to do it often).

I am sure you were all just waiting anxiously to see what I decided...  LOL!

  -------------

BTW, is there a difficulty commenting on this blog?  I get lots of visitors but no comments lately.  Has something gone wrong with my blog settings?  Or am I just boring everyone to death?

cavebear2118@verizon.net

US Memorial Day

Memorial Day should be more of somber remembrance than cookouts.  But I understand.  It is the right time to start Summer activities.  And it does celebrate the freedoms that our Fallen fought to maintain.  

And I don't mean just the freedom to burn a few hamburgers, eat some potato salad, and drink beer.  It is the gathering of friends and neighbors enjoying our own particular version of democracy.  It is a recognition of community.  It is not religious.  It is not really political.  It is not a time to speak in anger.   It is a time to ignore your crazy old Uncle who is wearing a tinfoil hat.  It is a time to ignore your Flower-Girl Niece who say "we just need more love in world".  And it is a time to ignore Communist Granny.

Yeah, politicians use the Day, but they take advantage of Groundhog Day too. (well, you can't stop them).

I seldom go to Memorial Day cookouts.  But when I do, I am polite to the Crazy Uncle, the Flower Girl Niece and the Communist Gramma.  I will listen to them all (briefly).  And to the children as well.  Cookouts are exciting to them.  They haven't eaten 1,000 hamburgers yet (LOL) and tried every version of one.  ;)

I enjoy the food well enough.  I mean, I've spent time camping (and primitive camping) where I ate stuff I would toss in the trash at home.  And some people's version of potato salad is depressingly bad.  I help clean up afterwards and thank the hosts later.  I've thrown a couple myself and other people did the same to clean up later.  

But I always keep in mind the true purpose of the holiday.  Sometimes Memorial Day and Veterans Day are confused as meaning nearly the same.  I trust you all know the difference.

Today, we honor those who died in our wars.  Good or Bad war doesn't matter today.  It is for those who lost their lives in service to the US.  My previous generation's family was fortunate.  On one side, my 3 Uncles went to WWII and they came back physically uninjured.  On the other side, my Dad and my Uncle built submarines and ships after being refused for active service.  

So these days, I tend to spend the day quietly at home, thinking about war and sacrifice and how many others did not return home to family and friends...

Movie

I saw the weirdest movie last night.  The title was 'Mud'.  I think that was the name of a central character.  I say "think" because it was spoken with a Southern US AND "mumbly-teen" accent (which this old Yankee has trouble with).  And I came across it 1/3 in.

I don't really have the slightest idea what the intent of the movie was really about.  Something about 2 teenage boys struggling to get by with minor thievery and a couple of problematic adult relationships in the background.  It made little sense to me, but I just couldn't stop watching.

The 2 teens are clever in some street-sense ways (but its country-side) but not really smart and unguided.  The adults are all a bit "unsane".  No relationships seem to work.  

I could look it up on Wiki, but I don't really want to.  I want to just "let it sink into my brain" for a day or two...

It sort of reminds me of 'The Last Picture Show'.   Or maybe 'Friends'.  I think some Dickens might be involved.  

I had a friend once who was really into movies.  He could tell you about side notes, meanings, minor actors of nearly any movie.  He even knew what a "gaffer" was.  But I bet he couldn't explain this one.

Have any of you seen it?

Internet Ads

 I laugh at internet ads.  I know, I know, that's how the service providers stay in business.  TV works the same way.  

But I clicked on enough ads of things that I would never buy (women's clothes, shoes, weird gadgets), so I never get tempted.  And those are the only ads I get now.  LOL!

It is my way of deceiving the advertisers...  They play their games, I play mine.  

If I want to actually want to buy something, I research it in Consumer Reports or some neutral expert site first.  😛

New Heat Pump

Trane came and replaced the heat pump friday!  Since they were schedulaed to arrive between 7-8 AM, I had to get up at 6 AM to be dressed, fed and ready for strangers.  Which also meant feeding the cats, herding them into the bedroom the day, and cleaning the litterboxes.  Naturally, they were late (but only by 30 minutes).  Which was OK because I barely finished breakfast.

First, they disassembled the indoor part.

And removed it...

Then removed the outside unit.

I tried not to bother them too much.  I know contractors hate that.  But these guys were pretty friendly and I did have a few questions along the way.  So I showed up quietly every 30 minutes or so mostly just to observe the progress.

And because of a friend's bad experience once, I glanced around to make sure none of my more "interesting" tools or equipment was missing.  Me friend had some serious theft while his house was being renovated (he got it all back because the thief was really stupid).  They did borrow one of my tools, but it was back on the rack before they left.

But I love to watch things being done.  I usually learn something useful...  Knowing what the inside of enclosed equipment looks like has allowed me to fix a few things myself for free.  For example, once the old unit started leaking water on the basement floor, and I had seen a water collection tray that looked kind of flimsy.  But I knew where it was inside.  So I remove that sheet metal panel, found a loose bracket and re-leveled the tray tightly.  👍

So they finally got to the part about installing the new outside unit.  Which seemed to take forever (but without them seeming to be doing anything with it), so I went out to take a look while they were busy inside.  

There was some noise that worried me, but it turned out to be some equipment that was temporarily attached.  I think it was either a power pack to run the equipment diagnostics before they hooked it up to the house current, or while they were hooking it up to the house circuit box OR it was pumping coolant into the system.  I didn't bother them about it; they were still working.

Whatever it was, it got turned off and detached eventually.  Because they only attached the outside electric cables after they detached it, I'm guessing it was a temporary power supply for testing purposes.

So here is the new outside unit.  It's big.  The old one reached my waist; this thing reaches my shoulder.  And it has a cover to prevent rain/snow/sleet.  The previous unit had a separate electric thaw system.  Because of the size, the ventilation slots around the casing reduce heat build-up in Summer.  

Everything about this unit suggests better operation and long life.  I think I am going to be happy for a long time.  

The last thing they did was install a new thermostat.  My previous one was digital, but only like a clock is digital.  That display showed all the choices and had about 4 manual buttons.  Easy to change from heating to cooling, change the temperature target, and control the fan.

The new one looked more like a smartphone app.  I can even control it with a smartphone if I want to (I don't).  And it is programmable (which doesn't work well for my rather unsheduled life).  But when I had the guy show me how it worked, it was actually simple to control manually.  In non-programmable mode, it is just a touch screen instead of manual buttons (whew). 

Touch the screen and it wakes up.  I can touch "heating/cooling" to change that, up/down arrows for changing the target temperature, and "fan" allows 3 choices (on when "unit is on", on all the time, or a 10 minute on/off cycle).  There are other touch choices, but those are for programmable scheduling mode and I have no need for that.

I should explain that.  I've mentioned I keep an irregular schedule.  I just sleep when I'm tired (or bored).  Sometimes I go to bed at 10 PM, sometimes I go to bed at 2 AM, and sometimes I just stay up all night.  No way can I program the thermostat for that.

Back when I had a regular office job, I had a fancy programmable thermostat.  And I should mention that (year-round) I kept the house at 76F daytime and 68F nightime weekdays.  Kept it 72F daytime on weekends.  And that worked (the thermostat allowed you to choose days).

Now that I'm retired, it's 72 and 68 everyday (I sleep better a bit cool).  But as I said, the hours are regular anymore.  So non-scheduled works for me. 

So here are the results after 2 days...

The Trane unit works better than any York or Ruud unit I have ever had!  It cools and heats quickly.  The previous unit took 4 hours to cool the house 4 degrees F.  This one takes 30 minutes either heating or cooling.

It is unbelievably quiet!  The previous unit made some noise even when new that I could hear in the bedroom at night (the outside unit is right under my bedroom window).  It was mostly just fan noise at first, but by the end it sounded like motorcycles driving up and down the street.  

This Trane unit (an XL) is so quiet I didn't even think it was on.  But standing close to it, I could barely hear it when it was operating.  A kitchen temperate probe thermometer set into a floor vent says it sends out 54F air.  That's actually higher than the previous one (which did 44F when new), but it is more powerful (3.0 tons airflow to 1.5).

And it is extremely energy-efficient.  Before I chose to buy an XL Trane, I visited several websites that seemed to be either expert testers (like Consumer Reports) or non-brand-oriented sites created by experienced but independent heat pump repairmen.  

The general consensus was that the XL Trane should pay back the cost in electrical use and lack of repair costs in 10-12 years.  And since they also said the Trane unit should last 15-20 years, that almost suggests I get it and use it for free!  

The concept bothers me slightly.  There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.  But I have to admit that, if a piece of equipment uses only 75% of the electricity and lasts 2x as long, you have to be gaining something somewhere!  So, I am very pleased (even if it is just the ultra-quiet operation).  

But I have a gripe!  The Trane unit uses a different size air filter than the previous unit.  I like to order good-quality filters in bulk.  So I went to pull the new filter out.  I wanted to know the brand and MERV rating (thats the size of various pollutants it can filter).  I can't (without damaging it, I think).  It catches inside somewhere.

So before I have to replace it, I ordered a dozen the same size but MERV 11 rating and duration (3 months) I usually do from Amazon.  When they arrive, I will force the new one out to examine it.  If the new ones are also hard to put in and out, I will call the Trane company and suggest they didn't construct the filter slot well (it was manually shaped on site).  That could get awkward, so I sure hope the new ones fit easily.

But overall, this Trane is by far the best heat pump I've ever had.  But I'll know better about that in 10 years.  With luck, this will be my last heat pump.

Ooh, I have to mention this too.  My electric co-op sends users a $100 -150 check anytime they use less electricity than the same Quarter of the previous year.  And the new Quarter starts June 1st.  If the new Trane is as efficient as they (and neutral websites) claim, I'll get a nice bonus!

Ant Lions

You may never have heard of ant lions, but I love them.  They are so weird!  They look like this,

but you have probably never seen one even if you have them around the yard.  That's because they live most of their lives just below a 1 to1.5" conical pit in fine dry soil that looks like this:

They make the pits by grabbing a grain of sand in their jaws and snapping their heads to toss it away.  The pit grows deeper until any new tossed sand causes a another to fall to the bottom.  I have them in 2 places in the yard.  Under the front and back roof eaves, there is dusty old sand that suits them perfectly.

I first noticed the pits a couple decades ago and wondered what they were.  A bit of searching educated me about them.  I only had a few then.  But I noticed more each year.  This year, there are almost 3 dozen pits in the front spot in a bed near the garage door (their best location).

Well, I find ants annoying.  OK, they are actually very valuable in nature, but sometimes they get into the house.  And in a way, I really don't mind them near the house foundation (they scare off termites).  But inside, I don't like them so much...  

They eat ants (mostly) that fall into the pit and are grabbed and pulled under.  The loose dry soil prevents the ant from crawling out (a tiny avalanche) and the activity alerts the ant lion to reach up and grab the ant for dinner.

They really love the dry soil protected from rain by over-hanging roof eaves.  In nature, everytime it rains, they have to rebuild their pit.  So rain-protected spots are precious to them.  And they mature to an adult like a small dragonfly.

I have seen some flying around, but didn't realize until recently they they were the adults.  I recognize them now.  I thought it was just another dragonfly or damselfly.

The adults feed on nectar and pollen, so they are not harmful and are quite pretty.  So I and the ant-lions have a kind of a deal.  I leave the fine sandy soil alone in their 4' long dry spot and they eat few ants and create adults who fly around harmlessly to me.

I "upped" the game yesterday.  I noticed a scout ant wandering around in the house and was annoyed.  But it occurred to me that an ant lion might appreciate it.  I grabbed the ant with a tweezer and dropped it into a pit.  WHAM!  The antlion grabbed it.  Fascinating!  

I decided to help them.  I scatterred some fruit and meat scraps that would attract ants (some love sugar, some love fats) around the ant lion pits.  Maybe those will attract some.  Don't worry about the ants.  There are about 20 quadrillion ants on the Earth at any given time.

Well, ant lions are a lot more interesting than ants...  And I tend to favor predators that aren't a threat to me...  😎

Waiting On Trane

I sure will be glad when the Trane heat pump installer arrives Friday morning.  This week hasn't been too bad.  It got up to 79 inside last Friday or Saturday and today.  Two exhaust fans and 2 open windows made it tolerable.  It seems weird when it is warmer inside than outside in May.  

Well, the physical house structure retains heat and takes a long time to cool.  I also have enough appliances that produce heat on their own, and I do cook dinner every day.  Plus, I had the whole house insulation improved some years ago so if heat/cool doesn't go out open windows or doors, it doesn't go out at all.  Normally a good thing, but not right now.

I've been lucky with the weather this week.  May can get pretty warm here, but it has stayed in the 70s daytime and gets down into the 50s at night.   So at least it isn't Mid-Summer, which is when my heat pumps usually fail.  Today and Thursday are forecast to stay cool, so that gets me to Installation Day.  Yay!

I'm prepared.  All the weeds around the current outdoor unit have been pulled up or cut down.  Everything with 5' of the indoor part has been moved away.  I've cleared off the workbench nearest the indoor part so the installer has some space to place tools.  I'll move the car out of the garage the night before so he has an easy direct route from his truck to the basement.  Everything but drinks and snacks and if he wants them, I have them!  😀

The Non-Joy Of Repairs - Resolution!

The current heat pump company was jerking me around a bit.  The Boss did call, but he was giving me conflicting information too.  So decided to consider a brand new company.  I tired of replacing these units every 8 or so years! 

I trust Consumer Reports, so I visited their website.  I was shocked.  The brand I have used for 30 years was near the bottom of the ratings chart.  It was listed as below average in virtually every category!  At the top were Trane and American Standard.  

Everything Consumer Report said about both was outstanding.  Most modern technology, quiet, efficient, long-lasting, etc.  Other good news from CR was that the energy and durability saving would pay for the unit in 12 years (less than the life-expectancy of the unit.  The bad news is that it is (of course) more expensive.  I've never heard of American Standard, so I called the local Trane dealer.  

A dealer Rep came out the next afternoon and examined my existing system, estimated the cubic feet in the house, measured the available space where the indoors portion would go, examined the ductwork capacity, etc.  He said the duct capacity was fine, that the indoor unit needed to be replaced  (the mechanical parts of course, but also the fan and condensation-removal mechanism.  And BTW "Your current 1.5 ton unit is underpowered for your house".  Which meant that the previous heat pumps had been laboring both too long and too hard (thus wearing out faster and costing me a lot in electricity).

He sent a proposal later that day.  He offerred a unit that Consumer Reports said was their better one.  He upped the capacity to 3.0 tons, applied a State and my energy co-op credits to the proposal (they simply reduce my costs immediately in the proposal and Trane gets it back on their own).  They will also haul away all the old equipment and install a better thermostat.  The unit can be expected to last 15 years.

Then there was the cost.  It was higher than I expected.  Let's just say "ouch"!  But it seems worth it and I can afford it.  I sent a 50% deposit immediately and received acknowledgement immediately.

Unfortunately, they can't install a new unit until Friday.  And the poor A/C from the existing unit failed that evening.  My house was not designed for good cross-ventilation.  And while it is not mid-Summer with 90F temperatures and high humidity, it got to 80F inside quickly.  I opened 2 screened windows and turned on the kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans, but it stayed warm inside.  In fact, despite it being cooler outside than in, I couldn't get it below 78F.  

I can't sleep well above 70F.  You probably think I'm a wimp (and I suppose I am).  So some history.  As I kid, I grew up in New England.  Staying warm was the whole point there.  When I was 13, we moved to Virginia.  Staying cool there was the effort.  At first it was pre-air-conditioning.  I lay in bed sweating every Summer night.  

After a couple years, Dad bought a used stand-alone A/C.  But he was (koff, koff) "thrifty".  It was only turned on in the evening.  It was often hotter in the house than outside.  We used to sit on the front or back steps after dinner and watch the "heat lightening" until it cooled down enough to stay inside.  I was still miserable at night.

When I was 13, we moved to Maryland (which is not exactly New England either).  Dad tried to get away with installing a 3' fan in the bedroom floor ceiling, but that never helped much.  Finally, he bought a 2nd hand window A/C (again, only to be run at night).  

Couple years later, I left for college.  The dorms had rooftop A/C units.   Later I was in A/C apartments and then a house and A/C offices.  I have not been without A/C for 55 years!  You get used to what you live with I suppose.  If there was no such thing as A/C, I suppose I would have gotten used to the absence of it decades ago.  And houses would have remained designed for the lack of it.

So this week without A/C is a bit hard.  I sure will be glad when the new unit is installed.  

The Non-Joy Of Repairs

The heat pump has been making a lot of noise and the A/C is working poorly.  I contacted the company that installed it originally and repaired it once.  They sent out a technician.  It was very difficult to understand what he was saying (language issues).  Everytime I thought I understood what he was saying the problem was,  he then said something that made me realize I had not understood him.  

And in fairness to me, he said some conflicting things.  I can't repair a heat pump (very specialized equipment), but I have enough science and engineering to understand how they work.  And a few of the things he said didn't make much sense.  It was basically like he didn't really know what the problem was, but he offerred some suggestions that were contradictory.  It's like he knows what he is trained to do according to readings he gets from diagnostic equipment but doesn't really know why that fixes anything.  

And he said things like "the compressor is working fine" and then a few minutes later "there is a part in the compressor that isn't working".  Well, it can't be both, can it?  He also said the bad part in the compressor can't be replaced itself.  

And "it's 2-3 pounds low on freon (the coolant) and that's $130 per pound".  When I asked what would happen if the compressor had to be replaced (me knowing the answer), he said it would all be lost and I would need even more pounds.  At least he got that right.

He seemed to be suggesting I should just live with the noise.  Admittedly, the mechanical racket only occurred briefly while he was here.  It is irregular, and (of course) didn't happen very long while he was here).  There is an old joke definition of weird car noises.  "Something that won't happen in the presence of a mechanic".  😢

The heat pump is over 10 years old.  It is about time it began to fail.  After some repeated (and rather circular conversations, I concluded the best choice was to have the compressor replaced and asked him to arrange that.  He said he couldn't and that I needed to call the company.  I now think they sent out a local independent (barely-qualified) guy and I'm kind of ticked off about that.

But I called the repair company later Monday to arrange for a compressor replacement.  The scheduler said they had to get one from the supplier and would call me when they had a delivery date.  No estimate of when that would be.  

Then I thought I found the cause of the mechanical racket.  When I moved my ears around the outside unit, I discovered the side of the unit where there are ventilation slots was vibrating.  I also discovered that if I shook the unit, the fan wobbled loosely.  

I pressed a piece of tree branch against the side panel and anchored it with a cinder block.  That suddenly lowered the noise level.  I also shook the casing around the unit and discovered the fan wobbled loosely.  The screws that held the fan and motor were rusted tight, but some Liquid Wrench (a lubricant-penetrant) allowed me to loosen them.  Some were actually already loose (when I broke the rust loose.  So I tighten them.  The fan stopped wobbling and the heat pump operated quietly.  I thought I had solved the problem.

I called the company to tell them not to order a new compressor just yet.  The scheduler had other people on line and said he would call me right back.  An hour later, I called back (assuming he had forgotten).  Well, of course not.  He simply decided not to call me.

Why?  He said he had described the problem to his Boss and Boss said he was familiar with the sound I was describing and would call me himself.  So of course the scheduler guy didn't see any reason to call me back...  AARRRGGGHH!

The Boss hasn't called yet.  Meanwhile, the heat pump has started making the same noises again.  My temporary fixes didn't last long.  Well, I didn't really expect my little fixes would last long, but I did have some hopes...

But I did get one possibly helpful thing done.  Yesterday afternoon, I was clearing weeds where I plan to plant tomatoes.  Which is near the heat pump.  Which turned on and made the same mechanical racket and it continued.  

So I got a bright idea.  I made a video of it with my camera!  The picture means nothing, but the audio is documentation.   If the Boss knows about "bad sounds", I can play it for him over the phone or in person.  Now all I have to do is get in touch with him later today.

If you read all this to the end, thank you...

Garden And Yard, Part 2

The light stand in the basement is filled with trays of flower seedlings...  The lights were off for the night, so it looks a bit strange.

I think I missed watering those above recently.  They look a bit wilted.  So I watered them after taking the pic.

 The tomatoes are large for the small pots, but I gave them an organic fertilizer last week and yesterday, so that should help the roots grow.  When I plant them tomorrow, it will be deeply (they send out roots from any buried stem).  And I mix a slow-release organic fertilizer in the foot deep and foot wide soil I dig out and then mix back in.  Along with crushed eggshells (the calcium helps prevent blossom-rot).