Guest contribution from Scott Schomburg(504).
Well, Larry is out for a couple of days and he has asked me to fill in. I will do my best to provide a little escape for those of you locked away in your big cities and far away states.
First topic is the four letter word of the weekend: WIND. It is blowing a steady 20+ all day every day. The bay provides a constant view of large froth topped waves. I see the occasional boat try to cross. They are going slow and slamming into each wave followed by an explosion of salt spray that covers captain and crew. Not a happy ride. Hope they are finding fish at the end of those rides.
Second topic is BOAT: Bust Out Another Thousand. I went to hook up to my boat and take the family to Estes for some semi-protected fishing and the tilt/trim would not move. After a short process of elimination I proved that the battery was good but the T/T motor would not work. I called Ben at the Boat Shop and his wife reluctantly agreed to let me bring it down. They are booked up for 2-3 weeks with work but since he rebuilt my engine several years ago (I am now considered a loyal customer) he let me jump in line. He looked at it while I was there and the T/T motor is shorted. He will look for an aftermarket or used one. A new one from Yamaha is pricey!! So goes boat ownership.
Third topic is reducing utility bills. Having recently moved from 702 (one bedroom downstairs unit) to 504 (two bedroom with a loft) I am finding significanlty higher electric bills. I expect some increase but IMO I am seeing more than I should. My biggest concern is the struggle to cool the upstairs. The a/c unit seems to run non-stop and barely keeps up. I suspected that the insulation might be lacking. I went into the attic this morning with an insulation expert. He is a friend of JR's. We found that the attic wall that is the upper portion of the vertical cathedral ceiling in the upstairs master bedroom has no insulation.
Note the two pictures above. The first picture is the wall with no insulation and the second is a general pic of the attic space. The good news is I have found an area that I can make an immediate improvement. I went to Lowe's today and bought two pkgs of R-30 attic batts that I will install in the attic wall tomorrow morning. Gotta love it . . . hot itchy insulation. Should have looked into this this past winter. The second thing I plan to do is blow in additional cellulose since the current amount needs to be doubled. This will come later. Third item is to possibly hire the insulation guy to spray in radiant barrier paint on the underside of the roof deck and the joist. In the interest of all owners, the insulation guy is providing me with budget#'s to do this for any owners that are interested. I will distribute this information when I get it. Keep in mind the numbers will be budgets since all of the buildings seem to be a little different.
I am always looking for ways to reduce electric bills in these units. If anyone has any ideas they have implemented please share with group by making a comment or emailing Larry and he will post it.
When I read the blog I enjoy some water pictures and since I did not make it on the water this weekend for the reason listed above I thought I would dig in my archive and give you some nice ones from last year.
Above is one of my favorite pictures. This is from a fishing trip last year. We were probably 15 miles offshore. When the Gulf shrimping season opens the nearshore waters look like a shrimp boat parking lot. They are beautiful in there own rough and rusted way. You just don't want to spend any more time than necessary near them on the down wind side. The smell is terrible.
Above are several pics that show how pretty the water can be within 25 miles of shore. I am starving for this sight right now. Snapper season is open and I have yet to be able to get offshore. I checked weather.com earlier and it looks like high winds again next weekend and no good weather windows this next week. Mother nature is playing hard ball right now.
I plan to jump in the water at one of these rigs this summer with fins and a pair of goggles. The water is so clear I think I could almost see the bottom. I can't imagine the amount of sea life that can be seen when you get in the water.
Well, Larry is out for a couple of days and he has asked me to fill in. I will do my best to provide a little escape for those of you locked away in your big cities and far away states.
First topic is the four letter word of the weekend: WIND. It is blowing a steady 20+ all day every day. The bay provides a constant view of large froth topped waves. I see the occasional boat try to cross. They are going slow and slamming into each wave followed by an explosion of salt spray that covers captain and crew. Not a happy ride. Hope they are finding fish at the end of those rides.
Second topic is BOAT: Bust Out Another Thousand. I went to hook up to my boat and take the family to Estes for some semi-protected fishing and the tilt/trim would not move. After a short process of elimination I proved that the battery was good but the T/T motor would not work. I called Ben at the Boat Shop and his wife reluctantly agreed to let me bring it down. They are booked up for 2-3 weeks with work but since he rebuilt my engine several years ago (I am now considered a loyal customer) he let me jump in line. He looked at it while I was there and the T/T motor is shorted. He will look for an aftermarket or used one. A new one from Yamaha is pricey!! So goes boat ownership.
Third topic is reducing utility bills. Having recently moved from 702 (one bedroom downstairs unit) to 504 (two bedroom with a loft) I am finding significanlty higher electric bills. I expect some increase but IMO I am seeing more than I should. My biggest concern is the struggle to cool the upstairs. The a/c unit seems to run non-stop and barely keeps up. I suspected that the insulation might be lacking. I went into the attic this morning with an insulation expert. He is a friend of JR's. We found that the attic wall that is the upper portion of the vertical cathedral ceiling in the upstairs master bedroom has no insulation.
Note the two pictures above. The first picture is the wall with no insulation and the second is a general pic of the attic space. The good news is I have found an area that I can make an immediate improvement. I went to Lowe's today and bought two pkgs of R-30 attic batts that I will install in the attic wall tomorrow morning. Gotta love it . . . hot itchy insulation. Should have looked into this this past winter. The second thing I plan to do is blow in additional cellulose since the current amount needs to be doubled. This will come later. Third item is to possibly hire the insulation guy to spray in radiant barrier paint on the underside of the roof deck and the joist. In the interest of all owners, the insulation guy is providing me with budget#'s to do this for any owners that are interested. I will distribute this information when I get it. Keep in mind the numbers will be budgets since all of the buildings seem to be a little different.
I am always looking for ways to reduce electric bills in these units. If anyone has any ideas they have implemented please share with group by making a comment or emailing Larry and he will post it.
When I read the blog I enjoy some water pictures and since I did not make it on the water this weekend for the reason listed above I thought I would dig in my archive and give you some nice ones from last year.
Above is one of my favorite pictures. This is from a fishing trip last year. We were probably 15 miles offshore. When the Gulf shrimping season opens the nearshore waters look like a shrimp boat parking lot. They are beautiful in there own rough and rusted way. You just don't want to spend any more time than necessary near them on the down wind side. The smell is terrible.
Above are several pics that show how pretty the water can be within 25 miles of shore. I am starving for this sight right now. Snapper season is open and I have yet to be able to get offshore. I checked weather.com earlier and it looks like high winds again next weekend and no good weather windows this next week. Mother nature is playing hard ball right now.
I plan to jump in the water at one of these rigs this summer with fins and a pair of goggles. The water is so clear I think I could almost see the bottom. I can't imagine the amount of sea life that can be seen when you get in the water.
posted by Kontiki at 10:04 PM
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