The Long Shadow – Winter Solar Shading

December 17, 2018

We’re coming up fast on the winter solstice! It’s been sunny the last few days, a nice change to all the cloudy weather we have had for so long! However, the sunny weather also reveals the LONG shadows cast this time of year! My garage does NOT have IDEAL solar access, but it’s pretty good. […]

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November Electric Bill

December 15, 2018

I recently got my November electric bill, but set it off to the side until I had the chance to open it on camera. Since installing solar, my electric bill has often been NEGATIVE, but with the bad weather and short days, what would it be this month!? After opening the bill, I saw that […]

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Ford Ranger EV

December 10, 2018

In December, 2018, I had an opportunity to get a FACTORY-BUILT electric pickup truck! This was a 1998 Ford Ranger EV. Back at that time, GM had built the EV-1 and there were other factory-built electric vehicles on the road. Those included electric versions of the Chevy S10 and the Ford Ranger. An owner in […]

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Tire Rack

December 1, 2018

Recently, some friends were posting on social media about best practices for storing tires, and mentioning various racks to hold them. While I would normally try something like this as a DIY project, the price was right, so I simply ordered a the rack. (Besides, one more project may have meant I wouldn’t have a […]

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Heat Hacks! Electric Blanket!

November 30, 2018

You might not believe it, but possibly one of the best things I’ve ever done to improve the heat in my car is to add an ELECTRIC BLANKET! I’ve had my Mitsubishi iMiEV electric car for a few years now. Overall, I love it. But one thing I do find lacking is the heat in […]

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NEST Smart Thermostat

November 22, 2018

A few months ago, I got a NEST smart thermostat. Since then, I’ve had enough time to try out all the features and decide that YES, I DO LIKE IT! For starters, I got it for free. A friend tipped me off that a utility rebate program we have was making them available, so I […]

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Cost to Power an Electric Car?

November 18, 2018

How much DOES it cost to charge an Electric Vehicle? The short answer is that EVs are very cheap to operate, only a few cents per mile. For the longer answer, we’ll have to make a few assumptions, and do some math. The common unit of energy for electricity is the “kilo-Watt-hour” or kWh. It’s […]

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How Stan Lee Made Me Who I Am

November 12, 2018

When I heard that Stan Lee passed away, I immediately decided to shoot a video about what it meant to me. Surprisingly, it was one of the hardest things I’ve done in a long time. Why was that? It’s probably because Stan Lee helped make me the man I am. I’m normally talking about clean […]

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Wisconsin Electric Vehicle Tax

October 7, 2018

While I knew it was coming, I still wasn’t happy to see it arrive… A $100 additional tax I’d have to pay for driving an electric car. But where did this new tax come from, and does it really help the State of Wisconsin Budget? This last year, the State of Wisconsin was in trouble.The […]

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Fixing Prius Mouse Damage

October 1, 2018

Well, it was a lot of work, but it’s done. I’ve repaired all the mouse damage in our 2004 Prius, and it’s working perfectly again! After our last post, I looked around for a replacement wire harness, and found one on eBay, but with a number of other components in a Prius pack and at […]

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