What did you do today to prep?

[sobo]

YOU GET TO PICK 2
- cheap
- good
- fast

I used to hand my clients a piece of paper with something similar to that checklist when it came time to negotiate my fee for engineering services.
Mine was worded a little differently, but the concept was exactly the same. It got my point across pretty clearly when they biitched about the fee...

 

[Lilhigbee]

My friend's sign in his machine shop;

Price, Quality, Service.
Pick Two!!

 

[The Heretic]

For project managers when they want estimates on software projects:

Fast, complete, correct

Pick any two

 

[Burt Gummer]

So badly want to add that to my Outlook Sig for my company. .

 

[Burt Gummer]

OrPacki!!^^ Shut up! Fasting hahaha.

Since I don't see a "Happy Thanksgiving" thread this year, I'll share what I am thankful for the most.

I was raised by a single mom until she passed when I was 13. Boy was I a wimp. My dad took over and he was a no nonsense brute and a character. He saved my life. Without him I could have never coped later with all of life's challenges.

With another family-oriented, traditional holiday upon us, my theme of 'thankfulness" - thanks Dad. I went from touch football in Catholic School to here son, gut this deer - start with the balls. Hold this 10g shotgun hard against your shoulder when firing. Geezus! lol

 

[GrayGoose]

I used to hand my clients a piece of paper with something similar to that checklist when it came time to negotiate my fee for engineering services.
Mine was worded a little differently, but the concept was exactly the same. It got my point across pretty clearly when they biitched about the fee...
View attachment 1317401

The Mustang Ranch in Vegas has a sign like that posted too.

(or so I heard )

 

[The Heretic]

I am adopting a cat for mice control

 

[Burt Gummer]

Another score from a married friend. His wife said the Kipper canned fish is gross and had to go. FREE is a very good price.

 

[Jbsheepdog]

Another score from a married friend. His wife said the Kipper canned fish is gross and had to go. FREE is a very good price.

View attachment 1318019

NICE find

 

[ma96782]

Well, last night I placed my order for a new Primary Arms SLx 3 from Optics Planet. Why not just buy from PA?

Well.......with the discount code (Early40), free shipping and "cash back". It was hard to resist.

Aloha, Mark

PS......and just my bad luck. But TODAY (11-27-2022) the price was lowered (again) to $271.99........from $319.99 at Primary Arms. Free shipping but the PA coupon codes did not work this time. The bottom line, it's even cheaper than before.

 

[The Heretic]

My EcoFlow power station arrived today, along with portable solar panels, so I am getting acquainted with those.

Much better (so far) than the GoLabs power stations (one of which I am returning because it is dead now).

 

[sobo]

My EcoFlow power station arrived today, along with portable solar panels, so I am getting acquainted with those.

Much better (so far) than the GoLabs power stations (one of which I am returning because it is dead now).

Let us/me know how that turns out. I didn't buy the GoLabs after I read the 1-star and 2-star reviews, which indicated a high incidence of exactly what you experienced. I'll let you be my guinea pig for this again...

 

[The Heretic]

Let us/me know how that turns out. I didn't buy the GoLabs after I read the 1-star and 2-star reviews, which indicated a high incidence of exactly what you experienced. I'll let you be my guinea pig for this again...

I think what happened with the GoLabs was I ignored the directions that said once it was charged to remove the charger. I think something overheated and fried? I don't know.

So far, the EcoFlow is ok - I had a little trouble at first getting it to charge - it kept stopping, but then I pushed the AC cord further into the input and it charged to 100%. I will have to keep an eye on that. It has WiFi and BT (can be disabled) and a phone app - the app is ok, but not anything special - it will probably be useful for keep an eye on the charge and output levels. There are some useful settings to turn some things on/off (like "boost" mode) and to set the point where it shuts off (default is 30%) and the max charge.

I am upgrading the firmware now.

The unit came with a 30% charge where the GoLabs were 0% charged.

So far I am pleased with it, it has a lot more useful info on the panel and in the app than the GoLabs. I guess you get what you pay for. The GoLabs left me uninformed about what was happening with it - I am waiting for the return labels from Amazon. That is one reason why I prefer to buy thru Amazon; returns are so much easier.

The solar panels are heavy-ish (10 pounds) for portables - not something you would backpack with. They are semi-rigid, not flexible but thin-ish and do bend just a little, not framed like my other panels (two are standard mountable framed 100W panels - one is a pair of 50W frame panels with a stand: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SKGJ5LJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ).

I have tested the other panels but not the ones that come with the EF power station - when there is a sunny day I will try to remember to test them - I doubt I would get over 10W from them on a day like today. I now have about 400W of panels. I haven't determined whether I can join these new panels to the ones I have - the other panels can be connected in parallel or serial and have their own MPTT - I don't think these EF panels have that - the MPTT is in the station.

Some of the EF stations allow you to add an extra battery they sell - which doubles the capacity? I don't think this station has that - at least not yet; it is a new model?

 

[sobo]

Waiting to hear more feedback from you in the future regarding this device... Page is bookmarked...

Thanks for the info thus far!

 

[The Heretic]

Waiting to hear more feedback from you in the future regarding this device... Page is bookmarked...

Thanks for the info thus far!

Just bought two more 100W panels for $129 - check my latest Great Deals post/thread.

 

[dingo97223]

Took out the 2 pies of freeze dried pumpkin pie, it's extremely hard but I like it, like a hard candy you suck on, you get the flavor and feeling like eating a lot of pumpkin but without the guilt...

About to put 3 more shredded chickens into the freeze dryer....

3 more shredded chickens in, garlic and herb seasoned

View attachment 1317404

I was wondering if the pumpkin pies can be freeze dried. is really that hard that you can't take a bite bite out of it?
Did you try to reconstitute with water? I will freeze dry a pie myself, and if it comes out too hard, I will probably grind it into powder, then add water and eat it with a spoon from a bowl....Also, I 've read another post where you were looking for more jars for your freeze dried stuff. Do you use jars, or vacuum mylar bags (which are probably cheaper, and much lighter)?

 

[OrPackrat]

I was wondering if the pumpkin pies can be freeze dried. is really that hard that you can't take a bite bite out of it?
Did you try to reconstitute with water? I will freeze dry a pie myself, and if it comes out too hard, I will probably grind it into powder, then add water and eat it with a spoon from a bowl....Also, I 've read another post where you were looking for more jars for your freeze dried stuff. Do you use jars, or vacuum mylar bags (which are probably cheaper, and much lighter)?

Some things were never meant to be rehydrated, I imagine it would just turn to soup if it fully rehydrated, odds are you would have to turn it to powder... I have seen where many people do and use it as a topping dry... as bites to suck on, everyone who has tried it, enjoys them...


I use Jars, I will later transfer to mylar the ones for long term storage but the jars allow easy quick packaging and oxygen removal till I have enough saved up to later transfer to mylar bags so I don't have to waste any O2 absorbers...

Some things I like to cook with weeks to months later, experiment with, and such so the jars are convenient.

 

[The Heretic]

Testing my new EcoFlow River 2 Max power station (512Wh). It has an EPS (UPS?) mode for direct bypass of the battery (not sure if it bypasses the inverter, but I think it does) when the power station is plugged into 120VAC.

I have it plugged into my APC UPS for longer power (i.e., if the AC power goes down {about 100 minutes), UPS kicks in, then when UPS powers down, the EcoFlow will kick in within 30ms).

I have frequent power outages where I live (about once or twice a month - mostly weather related), especially in the winter, so I will be using this setup to keep the system powered during the shorter outages (they usually last less than 10 hours - if I see the outage will last longer than that then I may break out the gas gensets).

This unit has a nice phone app (WiFi & BT - would be nice if it had a web interface too so I could use my laptop) that shows all sorts of things as far as status. I though you might be interested to know the real time power consumption of my Residential rectangular system.

I did some speed tests and saw power ranging from 50 to 80 watts during downloading, and 40 to 60 watts during upload. It varies a lot, but that is the range.

When "inactive" (I am not doing much of anything, it is 30-50 watts, usually 35-45 watts).



I got a 110W solar panel setup with the station, and I have a two 100W panel pair coming soon, plus three 100W panels from other sources, so I should be able to use solar for extended off-grid operations in the future. Right now, weather is not really conducive for solar - I might get enough from the pair of panels coming soon to keep the station charged, but I am too lazy to try it this time of year.

I also had a GoLab 256Wh station that failed after the first recharge (I used a USB-C charger as the AC charger only pushed 35W and the station would accept 60W via USB-C). I will be returning the one that failed - I have another one - I got two of them for $200. I will use that for charging other things.

 

[dingo97223]

Some things were never meant to be rehydrated, I imagine it would just turn to soup if it fully rehydrated, odds are you would have to turn it to powder... I have seen where many people do and use it as a topping dry... as bites to suck on, everyone who has tried it, enjoys them...


I use Jars, I will later transfer to mylar the ones for long term storage but the jars allow easy quick packaging and oxygen removal till I have enough saved up to later transfer to mylar bags so I don't have to waste any O2 absorbers...

Some things I like to cook with weeks to months later, experiment with, and such so the jars are convenient.

Makes sense.....I will do a pie and experiment to see how I decide to save/eat it later.

I only use jars for samples and very short term storage/consumption. I use a vacuum machine to vacuum and seal the mylar bags.
I need to learn and experiment with whole meal recipes, as most of the stuff I've done is pretty much fruits and veggies by themselves, and some deserts. I did a few batches however, of gazpacho soup, guacamole, and tuna salad.

I am totally impressed with the results, and wish I had the second freeze drier machine.

 

[OrPackrat]

Makes sense.....I will do a pie and experiment to see how I decide to save/eat it later.

I only use jars for samples and very short term storage/consumption. I use a vacuum machine to vacuum and seal the mylar bags.
I need to learn and experiment with whole meal recipes, as most of the stuff I've done is pretty much fruits and veggies by themselves, and some deserts. I did a few batches however, of gazpacho soup, guacamole, and tuna salad.

I am totally impressed with the results, and wish I had the second freeze drier machine.

I've done taco meats and some hamburger helper meals...

I have plans for 1-2 more freeze dryers, another medium and a large later...

Lincoln City Sporting Goods has the best prices around on the Harvest Right Freeze Dryers...