I have written before of the power of self pity (see Confessions of a Squeaky Wheel or The Power of Self Pity) and once again, complaining seems to have given us precisely what we want.
Our battery bank is fully charged! We’re feeling powerful.
Perfect weather for feeling powerful, wind at about 25 knots south (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
Friday night, we believed the forecast enough to risk watching a movie that we need to return to the library soon. We went upstairs to watch, with the battery bank at 71%, with a southerly breeze strengthening. When we came down afterward, the power still stood at 71%. We let the wind generator charge through the night, and by the time we rose Saturday morning, we had reached 100%.
My first job that day would be a long-overdue check of the battery bank fluids, which I do at the end of each month, after a 100% charge, which we hadn’t had since before Thanksgiving. While waiting for daylight, we turned on everything that we’d turned off: DC system and charge controller, lights, and stereo. We charged computers, and I loaded small batteries into chargers to feed our battery-powered devices, particularly Christmas lights.
The cabin’s alight for Christmas…at least for the moment (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
We’d decorated the cabin for Christmas in good faith on December 6th, Saint Nicholas Day, and had a set of batteries already charged, ready to light our small tree.
We have yet to remember to turn off our headlamps, which may now be permanently affixed to our foreheads. It takes us a few minutes to remember that we don’t need them quite so much indoors.
This is where we are right now. The forecast assures us we should have adequate wind for the next week, roughly. No telling if a calm, cloudy period might come afterward. We’re taking an “eat, drink, and be merry” attitude, using it before we lose it. We have filled the cabin with light and song for the moment, while we’re feeling powerful—power full.