The last few weeks have been surreal (to say the least). I’m having panic attacks about how we’re going to manage to pay the mortgage next month. I had to crowdfund the muffler repair for my truck so it could pass inspection (as of Monday, it’s road-legal again), had a friend of a friend offer to do the work for vastly less than what the garage wanted. We had solar panels installed on the house. For free.
It’s only the 8th.
The mental whiplash is strong around here.
So yeah….Talis is back on the road which means that once this cold snap (and the bitterly cold wind chill) backs off, I can get back out with the camera again. There’s still some more repairs that need taking care of, but the one that was preventing it from passing inspection is done and it’s got a nice, new sticker on it. The rest can wait a little longer.
The Solar Saga has been a whole thing. Some weeks ago, a door-to-door sales guy knocked on the door. Normally I glare at them and point at the “No Solicitors” sign on the door, but this one was my lawn guy’s brother who had also helped clear a massive amount of invasive weeds off the property the summer before last, so I let him talk. He wanted to sell us solar panels. Now, I’ve been wanting to get my house converted to solar energy since, well, before we owned a house, but when you’re not sure how you’re going to buy groceries or pay the mortgage is not the time to be thinking about the expense that is solar panels and installation.
Turns out that, due to a combination of sales options and state programs, there was no cost to us. (We went the “utility” option, instead of purchase option, which means they own the panels, we let them use our property, pay a small monthly fee, while also cutting down our electric bill. Plus, any surplus energy our panels produce goes into the local grid, meaning the whole system uses less fossil fuel sources overall. Everybody wins.) There was a brief moment of panic where the old electrical panel needed to be upgraded, which we couldn’t afford, but they waived that fee as well.
So yeah, my week has been:
Sunday I drove to Rhode Island and got the muffler replaced.
Monday I went to three different garages before I found someone who could do the inspection that day.
Monday night, Sales Guy called to let us know that everything was good to go and we were scheduled for panel installation today.
Seven o’clock this morning, the guys showed up, and by noon, they were done, cleaned up, and gone.
Now we just have to wait for the final inspection so they can be switched on and we are officially solar-powered.
I still don’t know how we’re going to pay the mortgage next month.
Life is seriously weird sometimes, and nothing makes sense, but I’ll take my wins where I can get them.
I’m taking the rest of the day to sleep, and then hoping that the wind will die down tomorrow so I can get outside again. I find that I actually really miss shooting video and want to get back up and running as soon as possible. Who knew?
Tricksters Road 