Sunday, October 11, 2009

'Watching' the USMT vs Hondurus

I watched the USMT win their game against Honduras by hitting refresh on the comments update on the Soccer by Ives website. There was a bar in downtown (Fado's) Austin that was showing the game but as I was not feeling well I choose not to venture out. I didn't want to give anyone the sickness that I find myself with. I spent the second half of the match glued to my laptop as we went down one. Then Casey scored, Casey scored again and Donovan scored our third of the night. I began to get nervous as the news came in with each hit of the reload button on my web browser. Honduras scored again and then there was a hand ball in our own end by our own player. It resulted in a penalty kick. Incredibly, the shot went high and Tim Howard did not have to make the save. As the game wore on, word came back that the Hondurans were tired and we took it to them multiple times, supposedly missing goals or shot opportunities several times in the last several minutes of the game. Finally word came through on the comments screen that the game was over, screams in caps declared us the winner and USA USA USA! We won, the most exciting US men's team soccer match in years and it wasn't on normal television. Years from now fans of the team will reminisce about where they were and how they watched the game. And we will remember our joy in the victory we had that night.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Photovoltaic Array

Ideally, we all would have a Photovoltaic Array to call our own. No power lines to our home and no monthly utility bill. But for the vast majority of us, this is not the case. It's not even practical in most cases. It would be nice, but a few modifications in one's lifestyle would have to be made. Most use of power would be made during the day when the juice from the solar cells would be available. With the passage of the government stimulus package, there is a 30% subsidy for any purchase of solar power. Plus, there may be more incentives from you local power company. Here, is a good introduction to the subject.
It's a bit expensive though. Ideally an investment of $5000 to $50,000 in such a noble subject as this seems a given. But, that is based on the ideal rather then reality. I myself am a renter at this time and I am preparing to buy property in the next year. Will I have enough to add any sort of photovolt let alone a photovoltaic array? Maybe with a increased effort of frugality.