The Countdown Ticks On, the Work Less So

So the week has had its difficulties. The inspector from Austin Energy did not come out today to inspect our solar, even though he was scheduled. He seems to be in a pissing contest with the solar company and right now he wants a load assessment for our electrical system before he will approve the solar. So let me get this straight, I says, you want to know what appliances I have and what they draw in order to approve our solar? You don't have the right to tell me what devices I can or cannot have. You can tell me what kind of wire I have to have for what devices, you can tell me the total amperage I can draw at a time, but you absolutely, positively, cannot tell me what toys I may or may not have. This is NOT something you should even be considering during an inspection! He tries to tell me he's asking the solar company for all of this information for my own good... That didn't go very far with me. Then he says they wouldn't be so strict if I wasn't in the rebate program, i.e., asking for a rebate on our solar install... REALLY?!?!? I let that one go. He was pedantic enough in his defense of his requests to the solar company that I didn't have the heart to eviscerate him for the rebate statement.

Tomorrow, if I don't hear good things from the solar company regarding my inspection schedule, I am calling the chief inspector for Austin Energy and asking him to explain to me why they think they need to know all about my kilns, sous vide units, vibrator rechargers, etc. My loins are girded.

The pump on our RO system went out yesterday morning so we are not making any fresh water. What we have is what we have. Unfortunately the water from our well is so bad we can't drink it without RO processing (salt, sulphur, fluoride, among other nasties--not bacterial contaminants). Last night through this morning we weren't even able to pump the treated water that we had in the tank to the house. We had a trickle because the booster pump was not working. I looked at everything this morning, and it turned out the electrician yesterday knocked loose the breaker for the pump. Of course I didn't find the breaker--that was done by our sweet neighbor Dan who reseated the breaker and baths were saved for everyone. At that point we had 900 gallons of water to get us through till tomorrow night when the new pump is (hopefully) installed. Little did I know that Jessie had left her sink faucet wide open this morning so when the water came back on it gushed out. Two hours later I went in the house and heard what sounded like water running somewhere. By that time we were down to 450 gallons. Drink wine, save water. Ah.

I continue the countdown till the annual migration and I have serious concerns about the contractors finishing the landscaping projects--forget about the bathroom remodel, it's going to have to wait till fall. But I supposedly have truckloads of three different materials ordered for tomorrow morning, I have extra workers scheduled, and the plan will go forth. I have ceramics till 12:30, we'll see what it looks like when I get home.

So like I said: Drink wine. It saves water and, coincidentally, blood pressure and sanity!