Tag Archives: pictures

Andrew, Photo

Electric Car

2 Comments

We bought a 2012 Nissan Leaf this summer so that I could commute to school from our new house (no longer in walking distance). We went for an old one because it was inexpensive and we wanted to experiment with it to see if an electric vehicle would be a good fit for us.

2012 Leaf charging in the garage.

It’s turned out to be great. Although it has a weak battery (only 60 miles at best on a full charge, and I wouldn’t trust it for more than 40), it works perfectly as a commuter car. My typical round-trip from school is about 20 miles. Thus I have plenty of padding to allow for a few errands or taking Griffin to after school sports and other activities. Other than that, it handles great on the road, with impressive acceleration.

ChargePoint 240 volt EV charging station.

We’ve had it for long enough now to have some numbers to compare with the energy costs for our Mazda CX9 (traditional gasoline engine). In September we installed a 240 volt dedicated charging station in the garage as part of an incentive from Xcel Energy. We are charged a very low rate for power as long as we only use it between 12:00 AM and 6:00 AM. It’s on a timer so that it won’t kick in early if we plug the car when we park it. We can override the timer if we need to, but the rates go up significantly. (There are two additional tiers, with the peak rate being about 10ⅹ the overnight rate.)

In October we spent $15 on electricity for the car, translating to 239 kWh and about 717 miles of driving. Similarly, in November we spent $16 for 245 kWh and 735 miles. That translates to about $0.02 per mile. Gasoline over that time period has averaged around $3.12 per gallon. The Mazda gets around 23 miles per gallon in town (better on the highway), so we’re spending about $0.14 per mile on gas. That’s 6–7 times more expensive than the equivalent for the Leaf.

Of course, we can store a lot more energy in the gas tank and we can fill it up more easily, so there are tradeoffs. We’re still not in a position where we could try driving the Leaf to the cabin, for instance. It takes about 3 hours for the car to charge up fully on our special charger. It would take a lot longer on a 110 outlet (more than twice as long). I’ve used a fast charging station a few times (just as an experiment); they take 20–30 minutes.

Even with plentiful fast-charging stations along the route, it wouldn’t really work to take the 2012 Leaf. We’d still have to stop at least three times to recharge, adding another 90 minutes to the trip. But, if we upgrade some day to a more recent model, we’d be in great shape. The current crop of Leafs get 150–200 miles on a charge, so we might be able to make it in one go and then plug it in at the cabin to trickle-charge until we were ready to go. Barring that, we could easily recharge once at a fast charging station.

It’s exciting technology. I’m glad we’re exploring it.

Andrew, Photo

Red Fox

1 Comment

Spotted a red fox under the apple tree in the back yard this morning. At first I thought it was a large cat, but then it turned its face toward the window. Definitely a fox. Looked very much like the one in the picture below, but I did not catch it on my camera. (This picture is from the internet.)

We suspect that the fox was interested in the birds around our bird feeders. (We recently added a few bird feeders out near the apple tree.)

Other recent wildlife updates:

  • There are active moles tunneling under the yard in various areas.
  • Plenty of hawks and bald eagles who, along with the owls, are probably snacking on the moles.
  • On the evening of Halloween, I was startled by a huge stag crossing the street in front of our house. It was the biggest animal I had seen in the wild in a long time.
  • Turkeys continue to march around the yard a few times each day. They have been managing to flap up into the crab apple trees to eat the little apples.
  • Piper was recently excited to discover the remains of a deer by the trail.

See also two earlier posts: Battle Creek Wildlife and Wildlife Update.

Andrew, Photo

Return to an Old Hobby

1 Comment

After a nearly 20-year hiatus, I bought myself some paints and set up a table in the basement for painting miniatures. For those not in the know, these are the little figurines that are often featured in tabletop role-playing games.

I got my first box of minis in sixth or seventh grade. They were made of lead back then and I painted with oils and turpentine. The hobby has come a long way since then. Minis are made of safe metals, plastic, or resin. A plethora of acrylic (water-based) paints are available now, and YouTube, of course, features endless hours of tutorials.

My first two minis are somewhat random. A camel that I started in 2001 but never finished. And a disgusting giant rat. (I’m rusty, so I wanted a model that would be tolerant of errors.)

Painting table, new magnifier lamp, and the giant rat before painting.
Finished rat.
Loaded camel. Still need to do a few touch-ups, finish the base, and remove from the craft stick.
Griffin, Photo

Griffin’s First Volleyball Matches

1 Comment

Griffin signed up to play volleyball this fall. It’s his first formal sport. He’s a few weeks into the season now and has played his first two games. The picture below shows him serving. This serve got him on a roll: he scored three of four points in the subsequent serves, pulling the Spartans into the lead. They ultimately lost the match, but it was great to watch. When the game ended, I asked Griffin how it went and he said, “That was SO much fun!”

Andrew, Griffin, Maggie, Oliver, Photo, Sarah

Roy Virtual Gathering

Leave a comment

I found this screenshot while cleaning up my computer today. It’s from a Roy virtual get-together on March 14, 2021. Some of us were having fun with virtual backgrounds.

It’s odd to think that in the five+ months since this shot was taken, two of the three Roy-boy families have moved into new homes.

Andrew, Griffin, Maggie, Oliver, Photo, Sarah

Du Nord 2021

Leave a comment

We spent the final week of July at Camp Du Nord family camp. This was our third trip, and we all agreed that it was our favorite one. The weather was fantastic, despite the wildfire smoke, and the kids were at good ages to maximize their fun. Oliver had no separation anxieties when he joined his age-group for morning activities, often scampering off to get there early before Sarah and I were ready.

Some highlights of the trip included:

  • Polar bear plunge — we woke up every morning to run into the lake with a bunch of other howling campers. The kids were extremely excited about this.
  • Seeing the kids being increasingly independent and excited about being outdoors.
  • Inkle weaving and making friendship bracelets.
  • Numerous hikes on the North Arm trails. This area is on a triple continental divide. Depending on where you hike, water may flow north to Hudson Bay, east to the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River, or south to the Mississippi.
  • Canoeing in a 25-foot replica of a Voyageur canoe.
  • Playing a spooky role-playing game adventure on our screen porch during a thunderstorm.
  • Intense Yahtzee and Farkle games.
  • Ice cream at the camp store.
  • Seeing our friends, the Browns, as well as a number of Andrew’s former students (some of whom are Du Nord staff now).
  • Watching Oliver scamper over the “Goat Trail” at high speed.
  • Swimming in the cool lake after spending time in the sauna.
  • Finding the fabled “Bonzo Block” on our last day. (It’s hidden somewhere in camp with a cryptic clue released every morning.)

The only bummer about the trip was the smoke in the air from the Canadian wildfires. It was pretty intense, often making the sun and moon appear orange or red.

We also had some insane red squirrels who would drop pine cones on our cabin every morning at around 6:00. They sounded like gunshots as they ricocheted off the steel roof!