Going solar

Just signed the papers to put a bunch of solar panels on the roof. I'm really juiced about it.

Financially, now's a good time to go for it. I year ago was even better, but the PA state tax incentives are still pretty good. Combined with the federal tax incentive, it works out to about 50% off the full price.

The system is going to replace about 60-65% of our energy usage, which will save us at least $150/month. And when you tack on the income from the SRECs, I expect about $400/mo in total income from the panels. That will help us pay off the cost of the system in about 6 years. After that, it's all extra income.

Oh yeah, and we're doing something good for the planet. Yippee!

Catching up

I just got an email from a good friend, Kenny, that I hadn't heard from in years. We did a lot of mountain biking together for a couple of years, but then just kinda separated when other parts of our lives took over. We'll get a ride together sometime soon. Kenny's my rock-n-roll buddy. He's cool in ways that I'll never be. The photo is from a team we put together to race in 1995. Kenny's the one holding the beer and leaning into the photo with the devilish grin.

To tri or not to tri

So my buddy Bill is trying to convince me to do another Ironman. We did IM Lake Placid last summer, and he wants to go back in 2009. You see, Bill hurt his knee in training and ended up walking the last 22 miles of the maration at IM LP. He has a score to settle.

The only reason I would do another one would be to improve on my 15 hour finish. I'm not happy with it, but honestly, I don't think I could do much better. I could maybe shave 30 minutes off of it with some real effort during the marathon. I just don't think I have the physical tools to do a whole better with my current life (work, kids, etc.). Many people can train for long distance events w/o any real show stoppers. I'm blessed that my bones, muscles and joints are fairly healthly, but...

a) I can't swim at all unless I'm in a wetsuit, and even then I'm slower than sludge
b) I can't put in more than 10 hours a week of training w/o getting overtrained,
c) My nuts go numb after about 30 minutes in the aero position on the bike, and
d) My stomach gets upset (i.e., vomiting) after several hours of exercise...that makes it hard to get enough calories for a 140+ miles.

I guess I'm whining and making excuses...a real Ironman would crush those lame thoughts and go for it. Me, on the other hand....

Hello!

Just getting started with this blog. Not sure if I'll keep it up to date, but I've been wondering about it for a while, so there must be some interest inside of me.

I'm the ugly one on the right. The pretty one is my wife.  Lucky guy...I know.