Coffee Shop Part VII is now OPEN

[rhoward]

Ken L, $286 up to $450! Ouch! You might want to look into a little device that I have just ordered to help me find out what appliances are costing me that most to run and how I can keep my Electric bill as low as possible. It is called "Kill-a-Watt" and is made by a company called P3 international. It is plugged in line to any appliance and it calculates how much electric it uses per hour and how much it costs to run. I'm hoping that the information it gives me will make me think before leaving an appliance on all the time. One example is your computer printer that still uses a good amount of power in sleep mode. For my business I have a large color lazer printer. I had it plugged into a battery back-up along with my computer and some other items. My battery back-up finally fried and I replaced it with a larger one. The new has a built in power meter that shows energy consumption and % of power that is being used. As soon as I plugged in the printer, it went berserk! Alarms going off, etc. I took a look at the power consumption and it had gone from 25% of the limit to over 125% of the safe output! I now have it plugged elsewhere and only start it up when I need to print something with it. BTW the Back-ups unit is a 1300w unit.

 

[Cjcrescent]

Carey, I think a Dremel with a Flexi-shaft would do the job more effectively

Not a chance KenL! The dremel is too fast, and makes ya miss that satisfiying crunch of bone as the drill breaks thru! (Nevermind the screaming.....)

 

[jbaakko]

Ken L, $286 up to $450! Ouch! You might want to look into a little device that I have just ordered to help me find out what appliances are costing me that most to run and how I can keep my Electric bill as low as possible. It is called "Kill-a-Watt" and is made by a company called P3 international. It is plugged in line to any appliance and it calculates how much electric it uses per hour and how much it costs to run. I'm hoping that the information it gives me will make me think before leaving an appliance on all the time. One example is your computer printer that still uses a good amount of power in sleep mode. For my business I have a large color lazer printer. I had it plugged into a battery back-up along with my computer and some other items. My battery back-up finally fried and I replaced it with a larger one. The new has a built in power meter that shows energy consumption and % of power that is being used. As soon as I plugged in the printer, it went berserk! Alarms going off, etc. I took a look at the power consumption and it had gone from 25% of the limit to over 125% of the safe output! I now have it plugged elsewhere and only start it up when I need to print something with it. BTW the Back-ups unit is a 1300w unit.

Did I miss something?

If you bill is $450 a month, its time to invest in solar. They only cost around $2000-$5000USD to install, and at $450 a month, even at NZD, thats like $310+ USD a month!

I dunno, I must have missed something.

 

[Cjcrescent]

Afternoon all,,, Rex, Carey could you post some of that sunshine here for a while,,, and slip a bottle of the "potion" in there as well.
Carey take it easy sir, and Rex, don't be a slave driver,,, not yet anyway,,,

We would love to post it Steve! But there is a problem! Typing "#$%@^&*$###" all the time loses something in translation.

Plus Rex ain't a slavedriver, He pays rather well, with lots and lots of coffee, the magic elixir of model railroading!.

 

[rhoward]

Did I miss something?

If you bill is $450 a month, its time to invest in solar. They only cost around $2000-$5000USD to install, and at $450 a month, even at NZD, thats like $310+ USD a month!

I dunno, I must have missed something.

Yeh, it's Ken L not New Zealand Ken.......

 

[IronBeltKen]

Well I just got some more bad news, it's gonna cost me ~$800 to have the brakes fixed on my Durango Between that and coughing up an extra $175/mo for electric power, I guess it'll be time to make some life-changing decisions here shortly...

Did I miss something?

Josh, here's the background of this little soap opera: About 7 years ago, politicians in the State of Maryland put a temporary freeze on electricity rates. So, all this time, people just got comfy with the artifically low rates. Then our regional utility claims they've been losing money because of the frozen rates and their costs going up, so they've sprung all six years' worth of rate increases on us Marylanders all at once. That's the only way they could 'guarantee' a reliable supply of electricity [yeah right]

Ray that sounds like a great little tool, I just might invest in one! I already know of one appliance that's a candidate for replacement: our dryer. It's over 20 yrs old, we have to run it thru two full cycles to get a load of clothes dry!

 

[NickB]

I gotta ask though what are they doing on your Durango's brake for it to be $800?? I've never heard of it costing that much.

 

[IronBeltKen]

I gotta ask though what are they doing on your Durango's brake for it to be $800?? I've never heard of it costing that much.

Replacing all [front + rear] brake pads and rotors. It's the labor that's killing me. But I don't trust myself enough to do it myself, I tried that once 25 years ago and botched it up royally - almost got myself killed while I was test-driving it afterward.

 

[jbaakko]

Sheesh I REALLY did miss it, I even confused Ken's!

Yeah, time to get solar Ken! I only pay ~$35-45 a month here.

 

[NickB]

Replacing all [front + rear] brake pads and rotors. It's the labor that's killing me. But I don't trust myself enough to do it myself, I tried that once 25 years ago and botched it up royally - almost got myself killed while I was test-driving it afterward.

Boy that's some steep rates for labor, too bad you aren't here I could help you do it. But your in MD and I'm in OK little bit of a distance between us. Good luck with it.

 

[IronBeltKen]

Nick, my region (Baltimore/Washington) is one of the top 5 most expensive areas of the country to live in. My brother-in-law in Alabama has a house over twice the size of ours, yet they paid ~$30,000 less for it than we paid for ours!

 

[BMRR]

Well I just got some more bad news, it's gonna cost me ~$800 to have the brakes fixed on my Durango

WOW !!!! Ken, did you get a "second opinion"? (on the price) Seems like everybody is trying to make the BIG BUCKS these days. I hope it works out OK for ya.

Stan.

 

[IronBeltKen]

WOW !!!! Ken, did you get a "second opinion"? (on the price)

Actually Stan, I've been doing business with these guys for the past 7 years. They've had numerous opportunities to rip me off yet they never did. Several times, I've driven in there expecting to pay $500 and wound up paying only $30. So I think I can trust them...

 

[RexHea]

Good Grief, Ken! At least you know ahead of time. Usually for me, I will think that everything is just fine, go out and spend extra for a special wanna item, THEN SOMETHING BIG BREAKS.

Your new power bill is the pits. We were on the monthly average payment plan and it ran around $158/month. Now, Alabama Power has stopped doing that, so we have to face the ups and downs of summer/winter rates again. The good thing is the rate is only 6.5 cents/kilowatt in the summer and only 3.5 cents/kilowatt in the winter. This base rate is one of the lowest in the country and its because of having to two Nuke plants in the state and several hydro power plants. However, the downside is they seem to find some reason to tag on extra charges for storm damage and etc., e.g. Katrina damage charge was just removed and they have a fuel (coal, oil, gas) adjustment charge they can easily tag on.

 

[BMRR]

Actually Stan, I've been doing business with these guys for the past 7 years. They've had numerous opportunities to rip me off yet they never did. Several times, I've driven in there expecting to pay $500 and wound up paying only $30. So I think I can trust them...

Ken, there is only two or three around here that I can trust to do good work. I've been using them for years also. I know getting your vehicles worked on is not cheap.......maybe I'm in the wrong line of work.

Stan.

 

[Cjcrescent]

Stan;

Good to hear you're still out there my friend! How's things going on the RR front? Weren't you planning an N Scale layout?

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

The highest my electric bill has ever been is $79. It usually averages about $55. BTW, my trailer is all electric with the AC going 24/7.

 

[jbaakko]

$800 for brakes? Oh wait, AND rotors, thats not bad. 4 wheels, brakes only, I was quoted anywhere from $400-$600. Ended up settling on my fronts only (they were the only bad ones) for $59 each, at a shop I've been using for some time.

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good Morning from Tipton IN !

10-10-07

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/10/2007

Wind Chill: 64°F
Humidity: 86%
Dew Point: 60°F

So Far Today
High: 69°F
Low: 64°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 6mph NNE

Today High: 85 Sunny. Highs in the mid 80s. North winds around 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 55 Clear. Lows in the mid 50s. Light and variable winds.