ENtroPY

The Universe slows down, things equalize pressure, materials fail,,,

It just is,,,  

Had to order new batteries today for the Homestead.   NOT CHEAP!!!    The ones I have are failing. BAD failing.   Lights went out on me around 10oclock last night when the volt level dropped below nominal.     And I decided since I must spend the dineros, get an upgrade.   I went with LiFePO4 batteries this time.   My charge controller is built for several compositions of battery, so no new gear needed to handle the new bank.   They will be here in a week and until then, I don’t push the system  in place.    Its charging today and the lights came back on already (ehich I immediately turned off.)  The only thing I leave running is the ceiling fan.  Small load and batteries do charge better if they have some load on them.   Don’t ask me; I don’t understand it, just know it works.

I’ll get some of my money back when I recycle the current bank.   Not much mind you, but some.

My biggest gripe is that some of that headway I have been making on debts was just brought back.   Dangit!!!   C’est la vie, eh?   Good thing, LiFE batteries have a 10 year expected lifespan, not the 4-6 years of Lead Acid.   So maybe it will balance out.   The last set of LA’s (current set actually) are only three years old and I am not at all happy they are failing: thats a large part of why I decided to make the switch.   Note: I have a LiFe battery that I purchased to run my radio when I was still big into RC stuff.  That battery is STILL fully charged after 6 years sitting on the shelf.   The things are safer than LiPO, and longer lived.

they ain’t cheap though.

FWIW, This is how I pay my utilities.   Large chunks with nothing in between, where most people are paying monthly.   (Technically, I am paying monthly too, since I put the bloody things on a credcard. BUT, that bill will be paid off long before they fail and need replaced.)   The upside being, usually, I don’t have to worry about power failures.  

CON: if SHTF, lights can be seen for MILES, and having power is a big indicator that someone is better off than you are.   Light discipline must be practiced when things get sporky.

PRO: if SHTF, being able to barter ‘battery charging’ for other things is possible.   Many people will have batteries that need charged up, whether thats tool batteries or old car batteries to ‘keep the lights on’.   (honestly, I would need to triple my battery bank and solar collection to be able to handle that scenario.  I run at the cusp of my Needs, with only the ‘fudge factor’ of foul weather built in.   )

As for that Entropy thing,,, I don’t see the world falling apart so low that things like batteries become unobtanium.  Not saying it can’t happen, I just don’t see it happening.   Even in the darkest parts of the dark ages, society kept on, people made things, blacksmiths still ran forges,  farmers kept tilling and bakers were making breads,,,

We’ve come a long way since then, and our technology is more complicated, but I just can’t see it failing below a certain level without serious Devastation and loss of life that would put our species on the endangered list.    (we’ve been there once before according to anthropologists/geneticists, and we came back .)

What would that take?   World wide EMP’s to kill everyones power production means.  If the power is knocked down, our means are kaput.  We are instantly knocked back into pre-1700’s technology.  The die offs from the collapse of JITD (just in time delivery) will create issues of their own and the plagues from infrastructure collapse will take out even more.   No running water or sewage create problems of thier own, and our sewage treatment plants are energy pigs.

I sometimes wonder if that isn’t the goal of certain groups running this planet.  But I digress.

Knowing how to do things is only part of keeping oneself upright and breathing if such were to occur.    Luck is gonna play a large part too.  Being in the right spot with certain others will too.  (call that luck as well, but it can be mitigated to some extent with forthought.)

yah, my thougths turn dark when I am dealing with keeping my homestead running, when it wants to fall apart on me.

Funny, I’m talking about how failure of infrastructure and logistics will be BAD, but not even touching on the human aspects.    When things get really rough, the animal side of people will come roaring back.   As I was discussing with a guy at the grocery, “You wanna see how close we are to Animals, go to a Wallyworld on Black friday.”   And thats MILD compared to what could be.

sigh,,,,

Dark thoughts, Cold morning, too much time on my hands, Too much money spent to keep the lights on.     Grey and gloomy thinks,,,  

Days like today remind me of how close we are to tipping over that edge into chaos.   Its quite a thin veil.   And I know many apocalyptic Prn books illustrate it quite well.   I don’t see those books as entertainment so much as INSTRUCTIVE, at least in a theoretical sense.   WE don’t know what is coming, so we LOAD up for what ever we can and hope for the best.   PREPPERS, right?   I call it insurance.  And the best place to start prepping in in your head; get knowledge and learn to think tactically.

Remember always, the rule of 72.   72 hours into a large disaster is when you will see the TRUE ANIMAL called HomoSapiens, not the docile domesticated version we are so used to dealing with.

Anywhoos,,, its Satyrday, a three day weekend (despite my begging to let me work,,, I has stuff to do,,,) and ZERO PLANS in place.   

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