Back in May, the week after I finished the spring semester of teaching, I saw my chance to do something fun and ran with it. The result: I spent a week doing activities in my discomfort zone.
My First Half-Marathon
Last June, under a bit of peer pressure and during a momentary lapse in sanity, I signed up for my first half-marathon, the Sedona Half-Marathon. Sedona is stunning, but it’s also at 4,500 ft elevation and very hilly – not exactly a bright choice of location for my first try. Last weekend, nearly 8 months later, it’s finally over. I made it!
3 Years of Solar: Summary of my 3rd Year with a Solar-Powered Home
January 14 marked the 3-year anniversary of my solar PV system getting connected to the grid. Each of the past two anniversaries, I’ve written up a summary of my solar data for the year and shared it here (click for year 1 data and year 2 data). My love for numbers hasn’t gone away and neither has my goal to help others learn more about solar energy, so I’ve decided to continue the tradition and share my system and cost data for a third year.
2 years of solar: summary of my second year with a solar-powered home
January 14 marked the 2-year anniversary of my solar PV system getting connected to the grid. Last year, I celebrated my first solar anniversary by sharing all my solar data for the year. Since I think it’s important to continue to spread the word about solar energy, I’ll share all my system and cost data again.
Hiking the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim
About a month ago I got to do something pretty awesome: I hiked the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim. Most people who do a Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hike put in months (if not years) of planning and physical preparation. For one thing, the trek is about 24 miles in total, so it’s fairly physically demanding. On top of that, I went in August. This time of year, temperatures at the bottom of the Grand Canyon often exceed 100F (about 38C). So you have to be in pretty good shape.
What’s in that hole? – Episode 15
Hello everybody and welcome to Episode 15 of What’s in that Hole?, a fun series I’m writing for my blog. In the last episode, we traveled to San Francisco’s Presidio for our holes. This time, we’re on the road again but much closer to home – I found today’s holes on my recent stop at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, which is between Tucson and Phoenix.
Things to do in Arizona: Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
On a recent drive between Phoenix and Tucson, I made a snap decision to visit the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. The ruins are off the main route between the two cities, but aren’t too far out of the way. Still, in my dozens of trips back and forth between Tucson and Phoenix, this was the first time I took the time to check out the ruins.
What’s in that hole? – Episode 13
Hello everybody and welcome to Episode 13 of What’s in that Hole?, a fun series I’m writing for my blog. In the last episode, we returned to Tucson and looked at a cactus hole. This time, we stay in Tucson but look at a few holes on a much smaller scale.
Things to do in Arizona: Titan Missile Museum
Last fall, I ventured down to the Titan Missile Museum with a friend who was visiting from out of town. Actually, we had gone down to Nogales, Mexico and then back up Tubac, so technically we were heading back up to Tucson when we stopped there. Semantics aside, here’s my summary of the visit.
What’s in that hole? – Episode 12
Hello everybody and welcome to Episode 12 of What’s in that Hole?, a fun series I’m writing for my blog. In the last episode, we found something really exciting: an eel! That episode, as well as the two before it, focused on holes away from home. Today, we return home to Tucson’s Sonoran Desert for our hole.
1 year of solar: summary of my first year with a solar-powered home
A couple weeks ago, I celebrated the 1-year anniversary of my solar PV system getting connected to the grid. While it was installed in December 2015, TEP (my utility) only completed its check and approved the system on January 14, 2016. To celebrate this momentous occasion, I’m going to share my data with you! In this post, I’ll tell you about my PV system, provide the performance and financial numbers, and give you my thoughts after 1 year of solar.
Energy efficiency tips for your home
Wow. I started writing this as an aside to a post I’m writing about my experience with one year of solar energy for my home. Apparently, I had more to say than I realized and this turned into a 1400 word post of its own! This post lists some important energy efficiency tips and should be useful to all homeowners, regardless of whether solar is on your radar or not. If you are in fact considering solar, take the steps noted in this post first! Otherwise, you’ll end up buying a larger (and more expensive) solar system than you actually …
- Page 1 of 2
- 1
- 2