Energy Audit

Nothing like neglecting the old "to do" list and starting right with the fresh stuff. Yesterday afternoon I had my energy audit performed. I set up my laptop at the kitchen table and actually got some work done at the same time, which I was very proud of. The energy audit took about 3 hours, and involved the auditor walking around the outside of the house and looking at every single room, closet, and corner of the house, taking notes and drawing up a floor plan. He measured every window and noted the location of every light switch. He poked around in the attic, he visited the garage. Then he set up a blower/sucker contraption to the front door, which Luna thought was very intriguing. It's a vinyl piece of material stretched over adjustable frame that fits within the door frame so it's airtight, or mostly. Must be pretty darn close to airtight, since that's the whole point. The vinyl has a special hole for a large fan (about 2.5 feet in diameter) that is hooked up to a computer, and basically it takes readings on how much air loss the house has when the fan is sucking air out of the house. The auditor performed the test and then left the fan on as we walked around the house, feeling all the drafty places where we've been essentially throwing money away by heating the outdoors. The fireplace could have knocked you over, the draft was so severe (not even the main chamber itself, but these weird vents on the side of the chimney). The light switches blow air, as do the electrical outlets. The attic door is like a (cold) hair dryer. All the windows, even the vinyl window in the bedroom that I thought was new. The light in the upstairs bathroom, which the auditor said probably wasn't even insulated. (Which means we've potentially been pumping hot, humid shower air up into the space above the ceiling and below the roof...not good.) It was quite astonishing to me how drafty it all is.

The audit cost $400, $325 of which is reimbursed by the state program. We'll end up with a report that lists potential energy saving improvements we could do to the house, and supposedly it will be ranked in order of cost effectiveness. Re-insulating the attic? Probably pretty high on the list. Increasing the thickness of the outside walls by pulling off the house siding and adding extra insulation and wood? Probably not too high on the list. The state program will reimburse up to $10,000 of improvements, so long as they're on the list and help our house get from it's current energy star rating (auditor said we might rank a 2 star out of 5) to a higher rating. I don't think that's going to be a problem. I think the problem will be deciding where to stop. Is this when we decide to re-do the second story, push out the wall that is currently over the middle of the garage, and add a real pitch to the roof? And re-do all the siding? If we decided to do that, it would obviously be more than $10,000, but we'd likely get $10,000 toward that work, and we'd be in construction mode anyway...that kind of thinking. I need to relax until this report shows up and then let my mind wander on all the possibilities, but it is certainly an exciting prospect nonetheless.

Don't worry, I'll keep you posted (har, har).

Quite neglected

..you are. My apologies! For the love of lists and the lack of time I'm feeling now, I thought I'd present a list of topics I'd like to post about (and hopefully will in the near future):
- my utterly fantastic and gorgeous new clutch, whose name is Bess (I didn't even make that up, that's the model name!);
- the joy I got out of receiving great birthday presents from The Roommate, all within the 2008 Birthday Budget, and how good it feels to have a birthday budget in general;
- (potential) work excitement;
- birthday weekend at the fox farm;
- general excitement regarding what is to be soon regarded as My Year of Culture: a membership to the Anch. Museum and season tickets (you-pick) to the Anch. Concert Association;
- All Things Loon Related;
- I'm sorry, did I mention the purse yet?
- Reading a book that my newly-93-year-old grandmother has enjoyed so much that she read twice (and which I could hardly get to the end of);
- Halibut fishing girls weekend!
- Taiko drumming
- The visit by the in laws;
- the anniversary;
- Luna's third birthday;
- Rowing on Trail Lake;
- Biking up Hatcher Pass;
- Head of the Kenai;
- MS 150 bike ride;
- observing Grandpa Bob's passing;
- energy audits;
- Montana, Omaha, North Carolina, San Fransisco, Italy, Deadhorse by motorcycle, Australia! (a.k.a. trips planned in the next 13 months)

I suppose that is all for now. Good pictures coming soon, and a fulfillment of a birthday resolution to blog more (here's at'cha, Captain Colossal)!

Love,
B's Knees

Ridiculous

This is just....ridiculous!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/us/politics/29palin.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1220025700-MIwhe5GnGwICdvHt1z+9aA

Got It

Yesterday I took (and passed) my motorcycle road test - Hoorah! Jim and I went over to the DMV after work the day before and practiced doing the figure-8s and u-turns and quick stops, which was infinitely helpful to me. I now have a brand new drivers license with a really crappy picture, since I didn't want to smile and show off my braces that I'll only have for ONE MORE YEAR!! Instead of looking like a closed-mouth smile, though, it looks as though I've got this tired, I've-just-been-pulled-over smirk on. At least it will be accurate if I ever am pulled over!

On Top of the World!

Here are some quick recent photos from our trip up to the top of Jumbo Mine in Kennicott - can you believe people used to mine copper out of these mountains, waaaaaaay up here??


Kelly, Jim, and Erika on the way to the top. This is right before we start climbing the talus slope.
The talus slope going up. Can you find Erika in this picture?
Erika at the top of the talus slope. There is still maybe 300 more vertical feet up before reaching the mine. The Jumbo Mine! It is, of course, collapsed. But you're looking at the bunkhouse and tram beginnings:
From the ridge above the mine, we looked down onto this spectacular rock glacier. That's the Kennecott and Root glaciers beyond (Kennecott is dark; Root is light):

All the parks in the world...

...and this jerk had to walk into mine.
Jessy and I went running yesterday at Bicentennial Park, which is full of bears and moose and runners and mountain bikers and horses and other people and animals generally recreating. It's well traveled, but still gets a good dose of car break-ins at the trailhead and such. Jessy and I noticed a dog, a Chow mix, hanging around the trailhead when we left for our run, but there were several other cars in the lot, and a number of people milling around, loading or unloading themselves and their gear from their vehicles. When we came back from our run, an hour later, the dog was still there, and there were considerably fewer vehicles: just my bike, Jessy's truck, a big van, and a Subaru. Jessy knows the guy with the van, he was out biking with his Airedale. The Subaru appeared vacant.

Anyhow, this dog was obviously hanging around, not very friendly, very skittish, and very skinny. No tags. No collar. And Chows are notorious for being biters. So we were hesitant to try to touch him. We decided to call animal control, since it looked quite likely that someone had come and dropped their unwanted pet off at the trailhead.

While Jessy was on hold with information, the guy with the van came back. We described the situation to him, and he agreed with our plan of action. He had some dog treats, and was trying to lure the Chow into his van, because none of us thought it would be a good idea to try and pick the dog up (strange dog, biting breed, etc). As the dog was almost getting into the van, this man appears, exclaiming "What, are you trying to steal my dog?" in a very accusatory tone. We all were surprised, explained the situation, and expressed our relief that the Chow had an owner. Apparently, this guy had been sleeping in his car and just let his uncollared, untagged, unidentified dog wander around while he slept. He even said that his dog had bitten people for less than what we were doing, so he was glad the dog didn't bite us. Um, yeah, me too! Why would you let your unidentified, uncollared, biting dog wander around while you sleep in your car at a trailhead?!?!?! Call me crazy, but you're the guy in the wrong, buddy!

He was so peeved and indignant that it just turned me right off. I thought of all sorts of nasty things to say to him as I rode home, but since I was too late, I thought I'd just write it in this post. Some people!!!

We're the big Wieners!

The Alaska Run for Women was this past Saturday. It's an all-women annual running event that raises money for breast cancer research and education, and this was my 8th year, I think. The folks at my office sponsored a port-a-potty this year, which we decorated. I made the scales and the head and helped put it together, and thought it was so great that I took the head home with me when it was all done. Lo and behold, we won the decoration contest! I hear the prize is a toilet seat. So proud!