Author: Daniel

I knew I had acclimated to life in the country but I don’t think I realized quite by how much. I used to live near Boston, variously in inner surrounding suburbs and for a while on the outskirts but within the city limits of Lowell, for about 20 years. I would go into the city … Continue reading Three Days in Boston

In eleven days, I will have been a HomeBox resident for 6 months, nearly all of them winter. So, how’s it going? For the most part, things are decent. There have been some urgent issues to resolve, such as humidity and condensation in the house, internet connectivity, package delivery, all of which are under control … Continue reading Nearly Half A Year

By now you must know that my existing power system in the W.O.G. doesn’t have the oomf to run my table saw and dust collector, which makes me sad. I bought a heavier AC inverter which certainly appears to be up to the task (and I sure hope so, as the investment in it, freight, … Continue reading Heavy Power

While we’re not out of the woods regarding frost just yet . . . I mean, okay, I’m literally in the woods so being out of them isn’t exactly going to happen spontaneously 🙃 . . . so it’s too early to sow my 5# bag of wildflower seeds, but spring is definitely happening. I’m … Continue reading Signs of Spring, Tablesaw Combi-Station, iWood

But first, let me say that I replaced the bus bar in the combiner box and everything seems to be working fine now. Except one fine bright day I happened to take a look at the solar charge controller when I noticed it read 3100W of power flowing in. Wow! That’s great! My array is … Continue reading Wire Woe, W.O.G. Walls, More Parking Lot, Dating, And a Vulture

I’ve been having some mysterious issues with the power lifting column that raises and lowers the table (and therefore also bed bridge) in the Bednette. Sometimes when I send it down, it stops about 1/3 of the way from the end of travel, gives a long beep, and requires me to go through the re-homing … Continue reading Bednette Lifter Swap and a Warm Box

First, some good news. It seems the Very Rational Proof Of All The Things I sent to the elections office was in fact sufficiently satisfying for them and somewhere around a week after I mailed that letter, I got my official voter registration confirmation at and for my official address. I’ve been picking at the … Continue reading Voting, Plywood Prospects, Little Stuff, Door Thermals, Mondoshawan Firewood

So I recently got my local driver’s license. That is a bigger deal than you might think it to be, as there are three things I had to prove to get one: Thing 1 – that I know how to drive. No problem, my prior-state DL proves that. Thing 2 – that I am who … Continue reading Electoral Dysfunction

I was away for two days and returned last evening to an unexpectedly chilly house. I heat with wood when I’m home, but I have a propane heater on a thermostat set for about 50F to keep the house from getting too cold when I’m away, so this was definitely unexpected. I took a look … Continue reading Frozen

Until recently, I’d been using a butane aim-n-flame lighter to start fires in my wood stove. I didn’t like all the waste they embody: plastic, metal, chemical fuel – so I got a package of old fashioned fireplace matches, thinking that was a more responsible choice. What surprised me, though, was the memory they invoked. … Continue reading Phantom Nairot