Icy weekend

Friday was a night of gifts.  All my holiday packages arrived.  The tiny home doesn't have enough space to unbox a bunch of things though.  

One of the things that came in was my new laptop.  I did a quick size check and it fits in my backpack.  Barely.  It is a 17.3", while my old one was a 15.6".  I will probably write up a review for it at some point this week.  

I also went out shopping on Friday like normal, and found a couple of interesting things.  

On Saturday, while my family was dodging tornados, I was getting iced in.  We got about a quarter inch or so of ice.  I accomplished pretty much nothing but chores (and some games) on Saturday until the evening after it had switched to rain and melted the ice off.  At that point I took the laptop and made a McDonalds visit to get it set up.  Apparently McDonalds' free wifi is faster than the internet we have at work, which is just a wee bit sad.  

I also got a few other things tested.  I upgraded my cooler to a portable fridge.  It pulled down surprisingly quick for something that only draws ~35W.  It pulled down in well under an hour, though I will have to keep an eye on the overshoot.  I set it for 35 degrees, and it shot down all the way to 31.  If I had vegetables, that presents a possible freeze risk.  It has a disappointingly large hysteresis band, meaning with it set at 35, it oscillated between 31 and 35.  I was planning on using it at work to store salad makings and stuff for lunches when I am not traveling.  The fridge in the break area is normally too full to store more than a small lunchbox.  Hopefully the overshoot will be less of a problem when it is fully loaded.  For those curious, this is the kind of fridge that would be used in a camper van.  It isn't noisy, but sitting on the couch I could hear it when it kicked on.

I didn't realize that it came with an AC adapter, so the extra one I bought was unnecessary, though an AC to DC12V adapter isn't a bad thing to have and wasn't that expensive.  It is interesting to note that the 35W AC brick is the same size as the 240W brick for the laptop, though the laptop one is much heavier.  For comparison, the 65W adapter for my old laptop is the little Lenovo block at the bottom.

I also did a mac 'n cheese comparison.  The Hannaford brand one was bland, but the Cheetos one was runny.  They were both a buck and both mediocre.

Sunday I went outside and picked up branches.  There were a few that came down, but nothing too big.  I also moved the chains, and put a new shelf in the carport.  It is easier to reach, but still high enough that I could pull the tractor further in if I put a longer attachment on it.  It allowed me to clean off the working area in the corner, which was piled in parts and tools.  The chains got moved to the other side on an empty hook.  

The carport was one of my winter projects.  It was a nice easy thing that I could do in a day.  At this point, I am debating leaving the power center in the back of the truck for the winter.  The cap seals pretty well now, and weight in the back of the truck is a good thing in the winter.  Add to that I will be using it in March and early March it would be back in the truck again anyways.  It is also really easy to top off/maintain the batteries monthly when it is all set up, so I just have to plug in the charger.  The only real downside is it is basically the same as putting a toolbox in an already too short bed; I can't realistically get lumber, or at least not anything more than 8 foot.  That is probably not an issue in the winter though.  Because everything got thawed out, I decided not to put chains on the tractor yet.  It is supposed to be 50 by the end of the week.

Winter Projects:

• Install chains and anti-gel in tractor.
• Get power center out of truck.
• Fix shed floor.
• Review options for house (mobile home vs stick built vs modular)
• Put up more shelving/hooks in the carport