DavisStraight

Rumblings but light rain, seem to between the good stuff.

Got dark but very little rain here, next town over was a downpour, maybe 4-5 miles away.

21 minutes ago, cleetussnow said:

Had a yellow jacket fly into my helmet once while going 60 on my motorcycle. He’s buzzing around in there enraged and I am trying to be cool about it.  Then another one stung me in the neck.  Died on impact but still stung me.  Took all I had to stay calm and keep driving.  Happily the one in my helmet escaped and didnt sting me in the eyeball. That was exciting.  I also ate a bee doing yard work once.  Nailed me on the tongue.  The wife jacked me full of Benadryl and made me stay awake a couple hours in case my throat and tongue swole shut.  
 

funny I used to be deathly allergic to bug venoms in my youth after a run in with fire ants in texas.  Almost died.  After that I was treated with bee venom therapy for a year or so and since then I can tolerate stings pretty well.  
 

Back to the motorcycle, bee stings were a regular occurrence on my hands and neck.  Utterly sucks because every sting hits like a hammer blow.

I've been bitten in the neck driving into bees driving my motorcycle, hurts twice as bad when you're going fast, first the impact then the sting.

4 minutes ago, Baroclinic Zone said:

Dammit.  Just discovered a huge wasp nest in Maple tree in front yard.  Gotta be about 18"h and 12"w.

I get one at least every year, I try and inspect the house weekly to get them before they get big. When they get big I get a can of wasp spray and wait til a cooler night and spray it, those cans shoot 30 feet and I usually dump the whole can on the nest and saturate it.

2 minutes ago, RUNNAWAYICEBERG said:

Our friends in town switched from oil to a heat pump and while they’re not burning oil anymore, they’re electricity bill went through the roof over the winter. In order for a heat pump to make financial sense imo, you need solar. Unfortunately they live in a heavily shaded area with massive oaks on their property. 
 

I looked into heat pumps to eventually replace our two AC units. They have a few years left. The thought is if we’re going to spend the money on new AC units, we might as well get heat pumps, add an electric hot water heater, install solar, and get rid of oil. However, the electrical usage will sky rocket. The projected solar system  would barely cover our existing usage, let alone the increase from heat pump and electric hot water. I did the math and there really aren’t any savings. It’s more of a feel good environmental change, unfortunately. 
 

I don’t understand your heat pump rebate post though. I was quoted $13k for a mid grade heat pump system. What would the final cost be after the rebates?
 

I just paid 12.5 for a heat pump system, I'm getting a $3,500 or so rebate and I think there's tax implications too. I was told not to use the heat pump when it gets below 30 so we programmed it so the oil would kick on below that. Just looking into solar now, I was hoping the system would be big enough to make the heat pump more feasible when it's colder but I'm not sure how they size solar systems.

5 hours ago, WxWatcher007 said:

When it’s gettin good during an event it’s impossible to sleep. The adrenaline just kicks into overdrive.

It's funny because even if we don't pull an all nighter we get little sleep, then the night after a storm the forum is dead by 7pm.

18 minutes ago, George001 said:

There was an event in 2013 where the European model insisted on there being potential for a massive blizzard a week out. I pulled multiple all nighters tracking that due to how much snow the euro was projecting, I had never seen anything like it (was fairly new to tracking and we came off a really mild winter). The gfs disagreed, but the Euro didn’t back down. The euro had multiple runs in a row bringing a monster blizzard with feet of snow to the area. Eventually the other models realized that that slow moving Miller B low wasn’t going out to sea, but it was going to undergo rapid cyclogenesis and come up the coast. The Euro nailed what ended up becoming the historic Feb 2013 blizzard (Nemo) a week out.

I was up most of the night for that one, maybe dozed off for a couple hours in my chair, closest I've come. If we get another hurricane I may do an all nighter.

Just lost power, ironic now that the tstorms passed, someone might hit a pole nearby.

My friend in Oxford, MA lost power two days last week from those localized T-storms, I didn't get a drop and he's 7 miles away.  Yesterday and today was a good drink.

6 hours ago, dendrite said:

Those of you near RI should head to Rocky Point Farm this fall when they have some pawpaws available. Get there early.

https://www.rockypointblueberries.com/pawpaw-fruit/

They don't look appetizing but I'll try anything once.

Not sure how much I got today but it poured for about an hour with some lightning and thunder, actually had puddles on the road. haven't seen that for awhile.

43 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

Still getting light stuff.   We were coming back from seeing Thor (only ones in the theater…great soundtrack).  So. Many. Frogs. Our driveway had a half dozen plus.   Our daughter went ahead of our car scooting them out of the way

Nights like tonight I get them crawling up my patio doors.

What's a pawpaw taste like or comparable to?  I got apples for the first time this year, tons of peaches and a few pears, I didn't prune the pear tree too well so that's my fault, I'll do it better this year and hope for more next year.

Was pouring in the next town over 8 miles away, steady rain here, I'll take what I can get, radar looks good for next few hours so hoping it picks up.

2 hours ago, BrianW said:

I would probably fill now.  Historically prices usually increase as soon as it gets cold. I don't think people realize how much the situation in Ukraine/Europe is going to impact fuel costs here this winter especially New England. The future spot price for electricity in Europe is approaching $500 mwh this coming winter as they have a massive shortage of natural gas in storage for the winter. Here in New England which has sky high electricity costs we average around $50 mwh as a comparison.

Even wood pellets are going to be impacted as Europe is importing record pellets mainly from the Southeast. 

Have you looked into ditching propane and going with a heat pump?  Massachusetts has huge rebates for them and their is now a massive federal rebate for them that make them almost essentially free to convert when you combine the 2.

Take a look at this efficiency Maine fuel cost calculator. These numbers are based on current fuel costs and the savings are pretty massive.

 

Heat pump $1747

Propane $5053

If I remember correctly Taunton has their own electricity that is way cheaper than the rest of Massachusetts so your costs may actually be lower. 

 

https://www.efficiencymaine.com/at-home/heating-cost-comparison/

 

 

I just had one installed last week and have a full tank of oil and 7 cords of wood. I should be immune to the oil prices this year anyway.

8 minutes ago, radarman said:

The water was remarkably warm at Long Sands in York 2 weeks ago.  

Happens now and then up there, it'll be warm one day but back to cold the next.

4 minutes ago, backedgeapproaching said:

Just got back my $400 rebate check from Efficiency Vermont for the Midea ACs I bought last year.

Have to give props to @mreaves for making a post about it couple months ago.  I didn't even know it was thing until I saw that post!

Time for another Tree House run..ha.

 

 

I'm waiting on $3,250 from Masssave for my new heating/cooling system. They said up to 16 weeks, been only 1 so far so I have a wait.

1 hour ago, RUNNAWAYICEBERG said:

No debate there. There’s something to it but it always breaks, somehow someway…the rubber band snaps back. We’ll be sending canoes and life vests to folks in no time.

Probably this fall will be a soaker.

Showers to the north of me showers to the south here I am stuck in the middle of nothing again.

I got a few sprinkles, hoping for more.

22 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

 But I have to say, the local corn this year is incredibly good.  Does dry weather help it?

Hot and humid a farmer told me makes it grow fast and taste good.

This hot weather has brought out the late summer weeds, spent a couple hours cleaning up four of these damn weeds. The carpet weeds were the worst.

Common Weeds that Grow in Massachusetts - Fresh Lawn Care

1 hour ago, TwoDogNight said:

On those of us that heat with fuel oil....

Trying to reconcile that article with the mid winter futures contracts...

https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/future/ho.1  Big betters...buy Feb 2023 contract now and make 2.5x your money in 6 months?

But either way my stove will be busy...

 

I have a wood stove too and just had a hybrid heat/central ac installed so might get by on very little oil. I need it for hot water and if the temps get real cold. Most years I use one tank, this year I hope to cut it in half. Fortunately I have a full tank right now.

5 hours ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

Anyone done the Deerfield Treehouse location?  Might stop by there Saturday afternoon

Give us a review, Taylor Brook in Woodstock is good if you want to take a ride some weekend.

10 minutes ago, Cold Miser said:

...Everyone's favorite, uncomfortable chair...The Adirondack chair.

I find them comfortable for my bad back.