Robin Smith

My first appearance at a council meeting!

Things I learned:
1. I *really* need a hearing aid. Waiting on the VA, which I suspect is affected by the shutdown.
2. Every councilor is thoughtful and attentive. No surprise, frankly.

As to electrification, I’m favor but I worry about grid capacity.

I hate that the Guardian often links to Twitter.

Having a beer at Worthy downtown. Noticed this sign.

Every project in the woodshop involves a learning experience. I decided to make another slide box but this time using my box joint jig. Previous boxes had miter joints. I didn’t properly consider how the sliding piece would work with box joints so had to improvise mid-project. Worked out ok.

That’s a good article. I respect EPRI having used and followed some of their standards during my career. But as it points out, efficiency is not just about energy transfer at the stove. Other factors are in play, some not mentioned such as power generating stations and gas distribution systems.

Yeah, that’s one reason I’m not replacing my electric stove for a gas model. Climate change is another.

As I’ve mentioned, I favor electrification but I’d point out that how fast your stove boils water isn’t a good indicator of energy or cost efficiency. It’s a good indicator of time efficiency. Mind you, I have no idea whether induction stoves are energy efficient. I suspect they are.

So many people.

Standing on a goddamned street corner, again. Or I will be shortly. Right now I’m with what looks like half the population of Bend in Drake Park. No Kings!

I’m in favor of electrification but during a winter power outage, the gas furnace is superior provided the home owner has a small generator (if they don’t then they’re screwed either way). I measured the power requirement of my gas furnace’s blower: 4 amps, easily powered by a generator.

Went out past Santiam Pass to check out fall colors. Great weather once over the pass. Colors were nice but not Appalachian Mtns nice. I stopped in at Fish Lake historical site just off 126. I had no idea it was there! Very cool and I need to go back and hike the lake bed, which is dry now.

I’m definitely not a person. So there’s that.

Pacific Power implemented fire avoidance protocols with their line relays this year (maybe last year?) in response to concerns about wildfires caused by power lines. I’m sure you’re aware. The result is more outages and longer outages as PP determines the cause. I’ll accept that over more wildfires.

As to outages, I’ve lived in a lot of places and I think Pacific Power is as reliable as any. We rarely have an extended outage, unlike our previous experience with Georgia Power, for example.

We have a small 2000W generator (Honda) so we can’t power a lot. But it’s enough to power the gas furnace, the fridge & freezer. Plus a few LED lights. That will do for a winter outage.

This weekend I installed a pass-through power connector for use with the portable generator. Improves on the previous plan of running an extension cord outside through a propped open door.

Winter is coming.

I know little of bike racing. Why is the rider positioned that way on the bike?

Maybe it's time to move the weekly protests back to the Tesla dealerships.

One of the proverbial giants on whose shoulders future researchers will stand. RIP

Not much longer, I’d say. South Korea is at risk as well.

😱😂

Good points. I could change my mind on that. Certainly it’s important for community leaders to know how their decisions affect everyone.

It is odd I guess, but I’m ok with restricting public comments to citizens. If I moved to another country, I wouldn’t expect to have much say in how things are run. It’s a little like voting really. That said, I wouldn’t expect a need to prove citizenship before stepping to the microphone.

We live with wildfire danger in Oregon so it’s interesting to venture into a burn area (after the firefighting is done!) to experience closeup the destruction. I’m particularly amazed at the layer of fine dust left behind. Like moon dust, I imagine. Photo of the Flat Fire north of Sisters, OR.

Got a Covid and flu shot Friday. Saturday was a bit rough but I pulled through. Needless to say (but I will anyway) any temporary discomfort is totally worth the protection you get from vaccines. All vaccines. Yay medical science.

I’m a golf fan and used to like watching the Ryder Cup. Not anymore. Because of the American fans’ continued boorishness, I’m not only not watching but I’m rooting for the Europeans to win.

We’ll know November 2026.

Today - Sept 25, 2025 - is a square day. The day, month and year are all perfect squares. Next one is in 91 years so celebrate accordingly.