Navigating senior years.

[KARNUT]

42 minutes ago, Donstar said:

Sounds like you have a good setup, Karnut.  It is hard, or very expensive, to come up with a perfect emergency solution.  We seldom have power outages and we have managed fine with our current emergency kit.  We know this may not always be the case.  We had an overnight outage in the fall and we decided that we had to do something about my recently acquired CPAP machine.   For the cost of the battery backups built specifically for these machines we were able to buy an 800W battery backup that would power my CPAP and also power my coffee maker in the morning!  I do know that it will be a challenge to keep up with demand for multiple days of a power outage with my portable 100w panel but it's a step up in my level of emergency preparedness! 

We rarely have power outages. I run the generator more as an exercise than actual use. We have a friend that raises cattle we get free meat enough to fill two freezers. That and warnings that our power grid is near capacity with the addition of wind mills and solar. They’re just not picking up the slack. A recent hail storm did some damage to solar. You can imagine what a hurricane does to wind mills. I just didn’t want to go with a fixed whole house setup. If my generator fails I can go to harbor freight and replace the generator for cheap rather than waiting for service from a whole home dealer. It cost me about a third to set it up. I can run everything or just the heat. So if I lose electricity during a freeze I can run the heat and plug my refrigerator into the little electric generator I have and switch around enough to keep everything going. It requires a little jiggling. But after having gas lines freeze during our last big freeze to our fireplace. I wanted to be totally independent of any permanent setup. I’ve seen how people get under just a little stress. 

[diyer2]

I had a company that installs Generac back ups give me an estimate, $15 K it was. Never asked me any questions, just worked on his tablet in his truck.

I know how this works, I could power the things that are needed and not the whole house. Our longest power outage in 8 years was 37 hours, and that was due to a tree tacking down a power line on the side of a mountain. Repair access was hindered due to location and the amount of snow.

Still may do my own backup with a portable generator.

[KARNUT]

1 minute ago, diyer2 said:

I had a company that installs Generac back ups give me an estimate, $15 K it was. Never asked me any questions, just worked on his tablet in his truck.

I know how this works, I could power the things that are needed and not the whole house. Our longest power outage in 8 years was 37 hours, and that was due to a tree tacking down a power line on the side of a mountain. Repair access was hindered due to location and the amount of snow.

Still may do my own backup with a portable generator.

This is my backup. My brother in law has one. I had a manual switch put on my fuse panel so I hit the switch to prevent back feed. 

[customboss]

58 minutes ago, diyer2 said:

I had a company that installs Generac back ups give me an estimate, $15 K it was. Never asked me any questions, just worked on his tablet in his truck.

I know how this works, I could power the things that are needed and not the whole house. Our longest power outage in 8 years was 37 hours, and that was due to a tree tacking down a power line on the side of a mountain. Repair access was hindered due to location and the amount of snow.

Still may do my own backup with a portable generator.

I’ve had a Honda 7000 for 4.5 years. Never run it more than 12 hrs and I’m all electric. Heat up here is life in winter or you lose your pipes. It’s not a whole house capable but does the min. I use more fuel running it once a month to exercise it. 
 

[customboss]

57 minutes ago, KARNUT said:

This is my backup. My brother in law has one. I had a manual switch put on my fuse panel so I hit the switch to prevent back feed. 

That’s all you need there. 

[Black02Silverado]

I built this shed for our generator. Got it out of the big shed and gave me more room to work in there.  Now if the power goes out. I just start it, hook to the house, flip the breaker and enjoy.

 

[customboss]

3 hours ago, Black02Silverado said:

I built this shed for our generator. Got it out of the big shed and gave me more room to work in there.  Now if the power goes out. I just start it, hook to the house, flip the breaker and enjoy.

 

Damn AF master sergeants make it look easy.

[Donstar]

My laptop spent the past week in for repair.  Unfortunately, it was determined that it will have to be put to rest.  Fortunately for me, my birthday is in a couple of days and this made for a great gift idea for my wife. I missed having my computer even though my phone can do the same tasks.  I have purchased many computers since they first became available for home use and the dramatic advancements of yesteryear are less apparent.  The spec sheet of my new computer reads like my old one.  I shared this observation with the very young tech trying to save my dying laptop and his perspective is quite different.  Just like our trucks, refinements over the years add up!   My '15 Sierra was referred to as an "older truck" by a young mechanic recently.  A 10 year old truck is old in the eyes of 25 yr old and so is a 10 year old computer.  The conversations/debates I had with my Dad 50 years ago are all coming back to haunt me!

[KARNUT]

8 minutes ago, Donstar said:

My laptop spent the past week in for repair.  Unfortunately, it was determined that it will have to be put to rest.  Fortunately for me, my birthday is in a couple of days and this made for a great gift idea for my wife. I missed having my computer even though my phone can do the same tasks.  I have purchased many computers since they first became available for home use and the dramatic advancements of yesteryear are less apparent.  The spec sheet of my new computer reads like my old one.  I shared this observation with the very young tech trying to save my dying laptop and his perspective is quite different.  Just like our trucks, refinements over the years add up!   My '15 Sierra was referred to as an "older truck" by a young mechanic recently.  A 10 year old truck is old in the eyes of 25 yr old and so is a 10 year old computer.  The conversations/debates I had with my Dad 50 years ago are all coming back to haunt me!

My last new Truck was fairly loaded. I bought it at the right time got a killer deal. I search the market everyday looking for deals. I was shocked to see the same year model low mileage truck at the same price used. 

[PhilB]

15 minutes ago, Donstar said:

My laptop spent the past week in for repair.  Unfortunately, it was determined that it will have to be put to rest.  Fortunately for me, my birthday is in a couple of days and this made for a great gift idea for my wife. I missed having my computer even though my phone can do the same tasks.  I have purchased many computers since they first became available for home use and the dramatic advancements of yesteryear are less apparent.  The spec sheet of my new computer reads like my old one.  I shared this observation with the very young tech trying to save my dying laptop and his perspective is quite different.  Just like our trucks, refinements over the years add up!   My '15 Sierra was referred to as an "older truck" by a young mechanic recently.  A 10 year old truck is old in the eyes of 25 yr old and so is a 10 year old computer.  The conversations/debates I had with my Dad 50 years ago are all coming back to haunt me!

It has been said that technology doubles every 2 years.  That means processing speeds are twice as fast today than 2 years ago.  Memory/storage is faster and cheaper.  Internet and wifi speeds are faster.  I spent a career in IT and have watched the technology grow.  I used to be 'on the cutting edge' of tech, but with the advancements and costs, I had to quit that 'hobby'.  It was frustrating to buy the latest, only to have it become outdated in 6 months.  Now I keep my laptop until it can't be updated anymore.  Then I buy the best tech I can get within my price point.  It is amazing the difference in processing speeds.  Enjoy your new laptop.

[Grumpy Bear]

My oldest car is a 2009 and hasn't a backup camera nor a computer screen/infotainment center. Our 2014 has all of that but the camera is of poor quality and it hasn't what the wife calls 'bendy' lines. The 2015 has a better camera and 'bendy' lines. And a touch screen. Our newest, a 2024 has a TV quality camera without bendy lines and Apple Car Play, Nav etc. 

 

My favorite is the 2009. Even at my age I can get my head around and my mirrors work. My CD player plays what I want, when I want it, advertisement free. It is also the most reliable and comfortable vehicle of the bunch and quite economical. The HVAC system is incredible. It's also a CAR. LOL. 

 

New is nice and has advantages and yet a good majority of so called advantages aren't really. 

 

My wife has been in IT for better than 30 years. Loves her work and is frustrated by it at the same time. We have always had the cutting edge at home, as Phil says, for a hot second. Yet my favorite sits behind me in our office. Not particularly fast but air gapped to run programs and runs flawlessly. Haven't run a update in a decade or more. No updates interrupting my simple work applications. No processor overload from installed upgrades filling up the system or upgrades that run at faster design speeds than my system is capable of. I need a stone axe. I bought a stone axe and I've had it for over 20 years. 

 

IF my job were in medical research the a lightning rod would be appropriate but that system is just 'bling' for running a spreadsheet or word processor. And there in lies a view we don't like to look at. We like being looked at, so, we buy what gets us noticed instead of what we need. A guy can save allot of money in a lifetime if can hold his vanity in check. 

[KARNUT]

I had an IPhone 3 until it got unsupported for updates. I bought a IPhone 13 mini. I have a puck on the back. It slides between my fingers and sits on my hand. It’s like having an assistant. I’m watching TV and banging on it right now. It does everything. I can activate anything with it. Grumpy talks about car vanity. He has several, I have several. I drive a minivan on trips. He drives a G-4. I would say we both like cars. Not vanity personal preference. I’m not going to go on a trip with 200K plus miles vehicle. Even a Honda. That’s probably the difference. I’ve had tons of performance vehicles. Got bored after a few years. Amazingly I’ve passed on several good deals lately to replace the Odyssey. It’s at my early tipping point. Why? I like the Odyssey. Totally out of character my wife can’t believe it. I’ll probably replace it with another minivan. So reasonably going to 200K with it makes sense. I never bought the same thing twice. 

[Donstar]

The VW Buzz would be my choice of a "mini" van.  My "fond" memories of the '60's VW vans have no bearing on this preference. (Maybe my '93 Aerostar)  Volkswagen is promoting their new product with nostalgia for their '60's vans but anyone familiar with the original will struggle to see any similarities.   My original DOS laptop (Toshiba T100)  is also fondly remembered but is no comparison to my new HP laptop.  Cars and computers "improve" steadily and overtime the current product differs quite significantly from the early version!  It would be quite a challenge for a young person to drive a '60's VW Bus out of their driveway or produce a document from an original DOS computer!   Ahhh, the good ol' days!

[KARNUT]

1 hour ago, Donstar said:

The VW Buzz would be my choice of a "mini" van.  My "fond" memories of the '60's VW vans have no bearing on this preference. (Maybe my '93 Aerostar)  Volkswagen is promoting their new product with nostalgia for their '60's vans but anyone familiar with the original will struggle to see any similarities.   My original DOS laptop (Toshiba T100)  is also fondly remembered but is no comparison to my new HP laptop.  Cars and computers "improve" steadily and overtime the current product differs quite significantly from the early version!  It would be quite a challenge for a young person to drive a '60's VW Bus out of their driveway or produce a document from an original DOS computer!   Ahhh, the good ol' days!

I had many old cars that were cool back in the day. There’s no way I’d rather drive my 74 Barracuda over a new challenger. The problem with the VW for the 20K over conventional minivans is a lifetime of gas. And no range problems.

[Donstar]

I dunno...  I believe I'd prefer driving 60's and 70's pickups over new trucks.  An old style four speed manual floor shift and basic options of the day makes driving more than the current point and shoot.   EFI, Air conditioning and Sirius XM would be acceptable upgrades!