Gainesville, Florida Passes First Feed-in Tarriff in US

Florida City Passes First Solar Feed-in Tariff in US : Red, Green, and Blue

Place Names

Tranquility Cove and Tranquility Cove (in Clarendon County, SC)

Found these references to Tranquility Cove on the Internet. Interesting that the name is referenced in many places that are part of the internet. It would have been impossible for my grandfather to have imagined this when he stood here before the lake was flooded and named it. The name "Tranquility Cove" appears in many places now including all of the US Geological Survey maps. Every place name has a history. The one that I remember most vividly is "Cape Canaveral." When I was stationed there in the Navy back in the 1960's, Congress tried to change the name of the town as well as the base to "Cape Kennedy." A great furor erupted in the town and the protest resulted in the name remaining the original "Cape Canaveral." How many fascinating place names based on a real story have been wiped clean by some well meaning city council, state government, or congress to honor some contemporary person or event. This is shameful in my opinion because original place names should be protected along with their history and meaning.

Mac Mini as Web Kiosk

I live 500 miles away from my mom and dad. My dad has been a Webtv/MSNTV user now for over a decade. It has served him well giving us communications that we would never had had without it. He knows it well and is quite comfortable using it. Over the last year I have become concerned about the device's limited ability to keep up as web site evolve rapidly to contain more and more features based on Flash and other programming that challenge the device's capabilities. Simply playing a YouTube video from beginning to end has become an impossibility.

Without being overly critical and detailing the limitations of Webtv/MSNTV I want to document the solution I came up with as a backup with the goal of migrating completely to in time. I decided that a Mac Mini was the best solution. It is very small in size, not much larger physically than a thick paperback book yet it has surprising capabilities.

I chose the display first and sense dad's tv was an old Sony CRT it was time to migrate to a more modern unit. Based on a combination of price, capability, and positive reviews on the internet we purchased a 48 inch Sharp Aquos LCD TV that had an HDMI input. The 1020 x 740 progressive display capability essentially gave us a 48 inch computer monitor combined with a beautiful TV display. This particular TV gave us enough signal input options that we could also incorporate the Webtv/MSNTV unit into the mix by simply using one of the RCA inputs. Of course we hooked up his DirecTivo satellite receiver to another of the inputs.

Next we added the Mac Mini to the mix by using a DVI to HDMI cable which we had ordered at the same time we ordered the Mac Mini. It is important to order this so that it is available when you hook up the Mac Mini as they can be a bit hard to find if you live in a rural area. There is quite a bit of debate on the net as to the relative merits of HDMI as opposed to composite input but we decided on the DVI to HDMI as a good compromise.

We ran into a bit of a challenge with the upscaling of the signal from the Mac Mini to the Aquos TV. It is not a show stopper but does require a bit of twiddling with the TV settings. The signal from the Mac is 1024 by 7??? and the TV is a 1080 P display. ???? There are settings on the TV that allow one to matchup the two.

Once the hardware is setup and configured properly you end up with a really nice 48 inch display for internet browsing and email. A bonus is that the Mac Mini also functions as a nice DVD player when properly configured thereby eliminating one unit in the home theatre setup. The system is functional at this point but when migrating a Webtv/MSNTV user to a PC/Mac windowed desktop environment there are a number of tweaks that are necessary to insure a seamless and easy to use system. There is nothing particularly difficult about this tweaking but it did require a lot of research to find everything to make it work with minimal user effort.

I chose to use the Firefox Browser because of its wealth of add ons and plugins that ease the fine tuning for ease of used and the new large display. Webtv uses Hotmail, now Windows Live Mail I think. It was necessary to migrate that into the Firefox Browser too.

Firefox has many options available as far as appearance goes by using various themes. After much trial and error we settled on the xxxxx theme which gives large icons which match up nicely with the display. We also changed the minimum font size to 18 to give good readability from a lounger chair distance from the TV.

Hotmail or Windows Live Mail is the same web based email used by the Webtv/MSNTV so choosing it saves all mail and addresses used on the MSNTV unit. This can be a hard concept for some Webtv users. It is difficult for them to understand that their email can be accessed and managed using any internet capable computer. It might require some effort to explain this so that the Webtv user has confidence that they do not have to return to the old unit to manage their email.

The default on the Mac is to go use the built in Mail client for any mailto links or for sending web page URLS through the file/send/link option in Firefox. After a lot of research we found that installing a small application called Webmailer solved the problem. Get webmailer here. The Firefox preferences might have to be changed to use Webmailer for all email links. Webmailer essentially adds an option pane in Mac OS X so that one can choose various webmail options such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and many others.

The chat function was important for my dad and I and at first this seemed a difficult challenge. There seemed at first glance no easy way to adapt Ichat to use the old MS Instant Messenger that my dad was used to. I tried Meebo, a nice web based chat solution based on Ajax. I like it but my dad did not. Finally we settled on a free solution called Adium that can be dowloaded and installed easily. It is a nice chat solution that has many options and can handle all web chat systems including MS Instant Messenger, Yahoo, AOL, and a multitude of others.

I wanted to be able to manage the setup remotely so I investigated the remote desktop management solutions. The simplist seemed to be to turn on sharing with a password and the installation of the Vine Server to allow VNC access remotely. This works just fine but requires a bit of fiddling with the Cayman router/modem to send port 5900 to the internal IP of the Mac Mini. Once this is setup one can use any VNC client to remotely control the Mac Mini. With a good broadband connection this gives complete control over the unit allowing me to do maintenance and repairs from anywhere.

One of our goals was to add an audio/video chat capability which was impossible on the Webtv/MSNTV unit. We installed a Logitech 9000 Pro webcam on the system. This is simply a USB plugin. The Mac recognized it instantly and it required no configuration. Gotta love the Macs for their capability to recognize hardware with no twiddling or loading of software.

We then installed Skype, a free software package that gives video chat capability. On the Mac it also recognized the Logitech Webcam and we were able to video chat with our my son and his children 500 miles away. This works very well uses technology just as it should be used to bring people together over any geographic distance. The fact that it is all free is a wonderful thing for families.

Once the system hardware and software were setup for ease of use I created a home page on my server to provide a familiar and easy start page that I could edit and manage from my home office location. I added links for the sites that my mom and dad like to visit on a regular basis, the local weather, and the most common search sites such as Google, Wikipedia, and Snopes for checking out those wonderful Internet Myths that circulate by email

There are a lot of training issues in migrating from a Webt/MSNTV to a real computer system that allows multi tasking and windowing. I won't go into those at this time but they are real and require a LOT of patience and training. The benefits are great though and well worth the effort. I am impressed with the result, a nice computer/home theatre setup that is easy to use and powerful enough to handle almost any website.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/apple/use-your-mac-mini-as-a-media-server-part-1/


VNC on the Mac
http://www.dssw.co.uk/blog/2007/05/14/a-vnc-server-is-included-in-mac-os-x-104/
http://www.freemacblog.com/mac-server-series-setting-up-vnc-on-your-mac/

Other nice addons:

http://www.malarkeysoftware.com/projects_PhotoGrabbr.html Photo Grabbr

Just want to share with you my experience with the Acer Aspire One in the solid state Linux configuration. The little netbook is a perfect Internet appliance. You are not going to be doing heavy duty image processing or video editing on it but I have found it can do it if you want to I loaded GIMP, the open source version of Photoshop on it and it works fine.

Mine, the Linux version, comes with a 16 gb solid state drive but has a slot for expansion via an SD card. I bought an 8 gb card for it for $12.95 from supermediastore. Today I see they have a 16 gb card for $24.95. This still leaves a slot for the SD card from your camera or other device free. I am 100 percent happy with the solid state version and would not buy a Windows XP version for this little machine.

It connects automatically to any available WiFi access point with no problem. It boots and runs very fast and gives me two hours of battery life with no special settings. I personally would not spend the extra $150 plus to get a Windows version with a rotating hard drive in it since that is pushing the little machine beyond the Internet appliance usage I intended it for. I just thought that this might be useful information for anyone considering buying one for this purpose. I paid $250 for mine and I love it.

Here is a great video review of the machine from the Tiger Direct Laptop Lounge. The one reviewed is the Windows XP one which is great if you are more comfortable with that OS but you are going to spend more and I don't really think that is necessary. Also, I just don't like the idea of a spinning drive in a machine like this. It is going to be with you all the time. In the car, on the bus, everywhere. I just think the solid state one is going to be more durable in the long run. Plus, you can bet that the kids are going to be playing with it when you are not using it.




Here are some news items about the Aspire One harvested by Google News:

Really, you’re going to buy it for me? ZDNet - USA He loves the Acer Aspire One and it has made it vastly easier for him to work, both in and out of class. This particular 9th-grader has Pervasive ... See all stories on this topic

The end of my love affair with Apple? ZDNet - USA As more teachers and students have a chance to play with the Acer Aspire One netbook that I’ve been floating around, most find, even if they don’t care for ... See all stories on this topic

Acer Aspire ONE now available at sub-Rs.15k VARIndia (press release) - New Delhi,India The icing on the cake being the fully loaded Windows XP Home version of the Aspire ONE now available for the very first time at an incredible price of under ... See all stories on this topic

The Mouse That Changed Computing

Closeup of mouse image - Photos: Engelbart's demo, 40 years later - CNET News

Fascinating article and photos of the first computer mouse.  It was indeed, "The Mouse that Changed Computing."

RechargeIT by Google

RechargeIT.org

This site shows the results of a controlled experiment by Google comparing a full range of vehicles from all internal combustion power to plug in hybrids.  The results are quite interesting.  As one would expect, the plug in hybrid did quite well but look at the Ford Escape plug in hybrid.  Pretty impressive for a small SUV.  I didn't  know a plug in version was available but I did know that the Ford Escape Hybrid won some awards for its innovative design. 

Congress moves on energy

There was big news in the solar industry as recent as last week. This, to me, is an example of how government can promote activity in an area without being heavy handed about it. For the last five years or so, I don't know the exact number, there has been a tax credit offered for anyone installing a solar electric system on their home or business. The tax credit is calculated as 30 percent of the cost of the installation. Remember, this is a tax credit not a deduction. But, the problem has been that the tax credit has been capped at $2,000. So, let's say I put in a $30,000 photovoltaic electrical generating system. I would get a 30 percent tax credit the year I put it in. The problem has been that the tax credit has been capped at $2,000. So, in my example, the $30,000 system would receive a tax credit of $2,000 instead of $10,000. This week the congress approved a new energy bill. It removed the cap on the tax credit for solar systems. That means that the example system costing $30,000 would net the owner a $10,000 tax credit. Now we have a real incentive in place. To carry our example farther, let's say the owner lives in Florida and has installed a 3,000 watt photovoltaic system on his house. Florida gives a $4 a watt rebate for installing a system. Now, the owner gets another $12,000 in cash for his system. The tax credit and the cash rebate total $22,000 leaving the owner with a net cost of $8,000 for a 3 kilowatt electrical generating system. The payoff assuming a benefit of $1,000 a year would be 8 years.



With the world having passed the peak of global oil production based on various calculations, it can be assumed that the price of energy obtained from petroleum is going to continue to climb over the coming years until oil becomes too expensive to extract from the earth. Various other sources of petroleum will enjoy some resurgence as the price of crude oil inexorably climbs due to reduced production all over the world. Sporadic forays into offshore drilling and exploitation of limited domestic sources will yield at best a few years reprieve. The industrialization of China and India will force demand higher in spite of any action the US takes to conserve. Americans are already feeling the pinch. The recent spike in gasoline prices has changed the automobile market at all levels affecting not only the manufacturers but also the dealers and most importantly the owners of gas consuming monsters that we have all been encouraged to buy over the last decade or so. If you own a large SUV and have gone in to trade for a new vehicle you have found that the value of your shiny Chevy Suburban that you cared for over the years has plummeted to near nothing. GM and Chrysler are in negotiations to form a single larger company in the throws of survival. Detroit has based its hopes on the Chevy Volt, an all electric vehicle that will cost over $30,000 and will not go into production until 2010. Meanwhile, Toyota dealers have up to a 10 month waiting list in some areas for the Prius, their much loved 50 mpg hybrid which has been in production for over 12 years. Detroit missed the boat completely.

With the present world wide economic crisis along with the future declining global oil supply, it is good that the USA has now elevated alternate energy production to a higher level of importance. Hydrogen is a very long way off in my opinion. T. Boone Pickens Plan which emphasises natural gas will require the installation of a nation wide refueling infrastructure. I spoke with a representative of our local public utility, the gas company, and asked him where the refueling stations were. He confirmed that there were none in Florida for private vehicles and that the only ones in place are for government vehicles. Florida under Governor Charlie Crist has put in place requirements that government agencies reduce their grid electrical consumption by a set amount by a certain date. One commonly sees Toyota Prius government vehicles in the area where I live.

In this perspective, the approval by congress and the president of the latest energy bill which reduces the cap on solar tax credits and contains a number of other beneficial requirements such as demanding an increase in overall automobile fuel efficiency will provide a boost to new alternate energy industries and has taken a baby step in reducing our bizarre dependency on oil as an energy source. Oil that we must buy from people who hate us but profit greatly from us. We are like drug addicts who pay money to the dealer because of our addiction. We hate the dealer but our addiction ties us to him in a strange pathological way.

I highly recommend James Howard Kunstler's book, "The Long Emergency," from which much of this information was obtained. I alse recommend going to Wikipedia and reading the entry for "Hubbert's Curve" or "Hubbert's Peak." The Kunstler book really puts the present day energy, economic, and political situation in perspective. We do face a "Long Emergency" in the coming years and the faster the US restructures itself to deal with it the better. It is important to understand this change in global politics to survive the coming years and to reposition our country militarily and energy-wise for us to survive as a nation. So, in my opinion and others, reducing our dependency on petroleum is a national defense emergency and the removal of the cap on tax credits for solar systems is on small step that will stimulate movement in the right direction. We are a nation unique in the world because of our creativity and resilience but we have become complacent in our sleepwalking through the last twenty years while under our oil addiction. We can wake up but we had better do it fast.

Free Office Suite

Screenshot Tour: A First Look at OpenOffice.org 3.0

Here is a free equivalent to the popular commercial office suite.  Why on earth would anyone pay hundreds of dollars for the unbelievably popular expensive one when one could use this one?   Why?  Because most people believe that they must buy the commercial product in order to be able to produce documents that are compatible with other sites.  Well, they do not.  I have used Open Office for years and it is totally compatible with all documents and spreadsheets and does not cost a penny.  Now version 3.0 will be available next week and it is certainly a mature product.  Get it and don't waste your money buying expensive commercial office suites.

WiseStamp an Email Signature that works for you!

Hey, this really works and works well.  If you use Firefox as your browser along with web based email such as Google mail this is a nice way to add a signature block to your mails.  I find it works effortlessly and can be configured to automatically add your signature to each email or you can use it as i do as an option at the end of typing an email.  So far I have no complaints and really like it.  The site even provides a few examples that you can capture and edit for your own use.  Mine looks like this:

Green Expo 08

I attended the Green Expo at the Palm Beach Community College
yesterday. It was a small but interesting collection of displays and
tables manned by representatives of various vendors and public
agencies. Some of the people there were former colleagues of mine at
the SFWMD and we had a nice visit with them. There was one solar
installer represented. They showed great interest in our home and in
the monitoring software. I now wish I had brought some of our
brochures for our monitoring software along to distribute to them.
They were really interested in our product so I gave them the website,
http://www.mysolarlog.com/ and am confident they will visit it.
Their website is http://www.abundantenergy.com/ .


One vendor had an interesting product that I may follow up on. It
is a clear acrylic addon for your windows that works like a storm
window. The product installs a clear acrylic pane in a magnetic frame
over the existing windows creating a double pane window at 70 percent
less cost than replacing the windows. I might look into it for certain
windows on my house that give the greatest heat load. Their website,
which I have not visited yet, is http://www.window-insulators.com/


We bought a couple of plants from the Native Plant Society table
where we also chatted for a bit with an old friend who is a member of
the society.

All in all it was a pleasant experience but I
was struck by the fact that it could have been much, much more than it
was. We did not attend the rain barrel workshop even though we have an
interest in that area. But there seemed to be little advertising of
the event in advance in the wider community. I had hoped that the
Florida electric car group could have exhibited there and that other
workshops and talks could have been available to the public. There was
great interest in our house and what our experience has been living
with PV. Perhaps we can have more participation in the next one. It
was a rainy day all day and that probably prevented more people from
coming.

Utility Trucks Head for Texas

My son travels a lot for his work.  Using his Iphone he sent me this photo this morning of Florida Power and Light trucks traveling west on I-10 west of Tallahassee headed for Texas for relief work.  As a resident of South Florida where we had four hurricanes in one year I can only say that it is amazing that we live in a country where the states can help each other out like this.  I know that they are reimbursed for the expenses incurred but even so the fact that a day or two after a major storm like Ike these trucks can be on the road and on their way to help is fantastic.

Timelapse

Here is a short timelapse I took this morning. It is fascinating to shoot these things by just leaving the camera running using a CHDK script that enables an intervalometer control. The atmosphere is fascinating and as you see here when speeded (sped?) up so that we are more aware of it, it is always in motion and beautifully so.

Update for our friends and family:

Solar Logging Software

We are nearing completion on our solar logging software. This is my test site.

http://bbbrown.mysolarlog.com/

...and this is the main site.

http://www.mysolarlog.com

Automated Camera Scripting and KAP Robots

I have been experimenting with loading CHDK scripts on my Canon point and shoot A700 camera. You can read more about CHDK at http://www.hackaday.com/2008/05/27/how-to-expand-your-camera-with-chdk/ . My first attempts at time lapse using the scripts can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FICIKSYeioA and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8p2V8bOGNM&feature=related . Needless to say this also involved an exploration of Mencoder in Linux to create the video clips. Video clip creation from series of stills is pretty easy in Linux but the editing is still maturing.

All of this CHDK stuff is in preparation for launching an automated KAP rig based on the old one but using a small circuit board that automates all of the pans and tilts. http://skyware.fam-engels.de/aurico/overview_en.htm This in combination with CHDK KAP scripting eliminates the need for radio transmitter and receiver. It also eliminates the need for a shutter servo. Removing those two components should lighten the rig quite a bit. Bench testing proved flawless operation of all components. Flight testing needed next. It will be fun to just fly the kite and get the photos as a side benefit.

Router Soup Ups

That spare Liniksys WRT-54G router has now been put to good use. I loaded the DD-WRT software on it thereby enhancing greatly the capabilies of the router. DD-WRT is open source router software that replaces the Linksys firmware. http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page My goal in doing this was to create a repeater that could be used in the motorhome to enhance weak signals in campgrounds. I got that working today and the repeater now resides in the motorhome providing an extra benefit of filling in the north side of the house with solid wifi signal. I will add a high gain antenna to the motorhome and we will create our own ad hoc networks on the fly with this setup. No more struggling to aim the laptop to acquire a signal blocked by trees or poorly located antennas. It works and it works great. Next time WRT-54Gs go on sale you might consider picking up one to use as a repeater.

Linux and Our PCs

Running Kubuntu Linux quite comfortably on all machines now. I have kept my desktop as dual boot to use for the Microsoft Flight Simulator. My laptop has KDE 4.1, under developmant, and KDE 3.5, rock solid.

Current Reading

"The Assault on Reason" by Al Gore. This book is taking me longer to read than any I have read recently. I read a few pages, get pissed off and put it down for a while. Then I go back to it. I feel like a "Pawn in Their Game" as made famous by Bob Dylan's song.

Movies

While watching some YouTube videos of places we have visited and one town in Colorado in particular I found a video that took scenes from "True Grit" and found the real life locations where scenes were filmed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EUP9rOLf30 They all were in our favorite town in Colorado, Ouray. Now "True Grit" is at the top of our Netflix que followed by "The Kite Runner." Gotta get those Dalai Lama videos back in the mail so I can move on the John Wayne. The other one is old concerts of "The Grateful Dead."

Photos and Videos

I have been working on my project of getting all my old color print negatives digitized. Walgreens does such a good job at such a reasonable price. I have been taking them to the new store at Forest Hill and Congress. Finally getting a lot of my valuable travel photos and aviation pics on CD. I have also been pumping them up to Flickr to share with others. http://www.flickr.com/bbbrown Scanning the old photos myself is a long and tedious process that I have not given due diligence to.

Random Day Trips

About to ressurect our old one random trip a week thing. Not sure how we are going to do it but Ikea is on our list and I have a set of waypoints named "Mom and Pop Burger Joints" loaded in the GPS. There is also that barbecue place in Fort Peirce. Too bad we have to travel that far for reallly good barbecue.

Solar Cooker

So far I have just boiled water in my solar oven. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsWZ0sLubXU Hope to cook a meal in it when the sun comes back out.

Plug In Hybrid Conversion for Trucks and SUVs

Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies, Inc (HEVT) | An IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology) Startup in Chicago | News

This sounds like a great startup company. Watch the video, it is impressive. There are many who need pickups for their work, their farms, and other needs. This conversion makes them into high efficiency vehicles. This just proves that given the right incentives we can come up with solutions to the high price of fuel. Who knows? Maybe someday these power systems will exist even for motor homes.

Good summary of cause and effect for oil prices

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY BLOG - Solar-Energy-Wind-Power.com: Why are Oil Prices So High?

'.................................
Were per capita oil use in China and India to reach the same level as in the United States, this would fully deplete the world's remaining proven oil reserves in just 15 years and prospective resources, in 26 years.
.......................................

With a presidential
election this year in the United States and gas prices at record
levels, oil and energy in general is set to be a key issue. There is
the opportunity to have a serious debate about energy - a fundamental
part of our lives which has been taken for granted for far too long.
However the responses from the presidential candidates so far have not
been encouraging.

In 2002 McCain declared that ethanol is a
"giveaway to special interests in corn-growing states as the expense of
the rest of the country." In 2003 he put out a press release saying
"Ethanol does nothing to reduce fuel consumption, nothing to increase
our energy independence, nothing to improve air quality." He went on to
describe it as "highway robbery." Hillary Clinton signed a letter
saying that there is "no sound public policy reason for mandating the
use of ethanol".

McCain, Clinton and Obama all seem to have
drunk the ethanol Kool Aid and seen the bright white light that has
converted them to E85. In 2008 none of these presidential candidates seems to have anything negative to say about ethanol.

Solid State Laptops. The future of computers?

Samsung Q30 Solid State Laptop

Samsung
announced that next month it will begin shipping to the Korean market
its Q30, the first notebook PC with a solid-state hard disk. The
12.1-inch screen notebook will be equipped with a 32GB NAND flash based
solid-state disk (SSD).

The lack of moving parts will also allow it to go fanless, making it
absolutely silent, plus it'll be more efficient, boosting battery life.
Here comes the downside, though: it's going to cost $3700 for all this
solid-state goodness, and it's saddled with an old-fashioned Celeron M
753 (1.2GHz) chip. Bring on the Core Duos, and lower that price! Come
to think of it, it wasn't too long ago when all laptops cost that much
or more. Just think of this as a peek into the future.

From Gizmodo.com

Hybrid Future for Toyota

Toyota unveils plans for more fuel-efficient hybrids, revolutionary car battery - Forbes.com

Toyota also aims to develop a battery that significantly outperforms lithium-ion batteries,' Watanabe said.

Toyota, which has developed lithium-ion and nickel-metal hydride batteries jointly with Matsushita Electric Industrial Ltd., will be setting up a specialized research department later this month to develop its new-generation battery, he said.

Hypermilers

'Hypermilers': Squeezing Out Every Mile Per Gallon : NPR

It may seem odd that a motorhome driver would blog an article about hypermilers. The reality is that motorhome and RV drivers are among the most eco aware people I have met. They know they are driving gas hogs when they move their base of operations, the motorhome, to a new location. When they drive they are trying to squeeze out the best mileage when driving the RV because a fill up is so expensive. It is when they switch over to the "toad", the RV'ers term for the car that is towed, that their concern for mileage is really intense. Maybe I should just say that is when "we" are more concerned about mileage. Having said that, this is a good article on driving to save mileage. It is pretty simple really. Slow your top speed down to 60 mph max, accelerate and decelerate slowly, and some even coast down long hills. Hope this helps you all save a few miles without being extreme "hypermilers."

Trip to See Friends and Family

View Larger Map

Rough estimates for the trip show a total mileage of around 2,000 miles with a total fuel cost of $983.16, lodging $206, and food $227.70. That comes out to about $59 a day. We will refine the numbers and add them here. Travel is still pretty cheap using a motor home. Considering that a motel/hotel would cost a minimum of $75 a day and all meals would be eating out, it looks as though traveling this way is still economical in comparison. Just as important is the fact that we know who slept in our bed the previous night. We did.

We used the spreadsheet below for keeping track of all of our costs. We didn't include the little extras we got for ourselves and friends. A rough rule of thumb for our motor home fuel costs is 50 cents a mile. The exact number is 55 cents per mile.

Overnight Stop in Jacksonville

Our overnight stop on the way home. This is Pecan Park RV Resort north of Jacksonville, Florida. It is a nice clean park with WiFi. It is not free WiFi but we can live with it for one night. We decided to try this one instead of our usual Osprey Park primarily because of the WiFi. Overnight cost $36. Not bad for a nice place to park our home.

The photo above is more interesting than it appears at first glance. Only Geeks will appreciate this but let me explain. The photo is a panorama made from joining four images taken with my Iphone. I emailed the images to myself and used my Linux laptop to download them to my hard drive. The panorama itself was created using a Windows program called Autostitch. The Windows program runs beautifully in Linux with Wine. Wine is a Linux program that runs a lot of Windows programs without Windows having to be installed. Geekspeak off.