Op-test of Goal Zero Guide 10 solar kit and thinking of bloggers in the Florida panhandle

     Today I did some op testing of the new Goal Zero Guide 10 Solar kit I purchased from amazon. Well before I start, I want everybody to think of our blogger friends, Mamma and Papa Bear, and the Marine over in the panhandle. I know they aren't in Pensacola which has some major flooding, and I mean major flooding, but they are in the panhandle and I hope they are all good-to-go over there.

     So today, I finished up early this week and after the rain came through around 1100, the sun popped out and here I am with a new toy so I took my half charged goal zero AA batteries out to the patio and angled the panels at a 45 degree angle to the sun and let it go. I am amazed at this product. Took just a bit more than a hour to fully charge the batteries. When I purchased the kit, I also added the 10 LED USB light and use it while I did this post.

 

 

     Here are the panels as they were positioned on a plastic chair on the patio. I will note that they will absorb the heat as well so if you have sensitive fingers, well wear some gloves. Also, Goal Zero recommends placing the actual charger behind the panels and the charger does heat up while charging, that's what I did.

     One thing I am impressed with Goal Zero, they don't require that you buy their rechargeable batteries. All they say is to use the Nickel/Metal Hydride batteries which I have several sets of Energizer rechargeables and charged a set after the Goal Zero brand batteries with no issues. I don't know about you and your thoughts as a consumer, but I hate when I have to buy a companies products for exclusive use in their items. I think they added to their consumer value by thinking and marketing it this way.

 

 

     Well since this pretty much considered a controlled test as I am not on a trip in the woods or grunting the sounds of survivalism, when I do make a trip, I will take it with me and see how it performs in actual environments. Until next time, stay on course and clear minded, too many distractions in the world.

 

Senior

    

Oh, how time flies by

    As the title says, time has been flying by with work, baseball, and other things. Went up last week and checked on the SC property and things were good-to-go. I finally got the one claim against a major health care provider resolved with another one filing 10 days late, after the claim period ended, and the court allowed it to be valid since the estate was still open. If you could have seem me, I was pretty pissed and angry about the whole situation. Now, since both my parents are both gone now, I don't ever want to relive the nightmare I have had to deal with in getting an Estate settled and closed. I will be making trips over the next few weeks to finally close it all out. Handling Estates are easy, minus the IRS and MEDICARE. See folks, look forward to what we all will have to deal with in regards to a government who is broke and needs money and a health care system that has been turned upside-down for the sake of people who don't want to work nor pay for their health care. Thanks Dead-Beats!

    The 24th was the one year anniversary of my best friend and father passing away. This last Thursday was a tough day. If any of you have still have a mother or father that is still alive, make sure you spend as much time with them as possible, it will ease the pain when that day arrives. My father was always photogenic, and looking through the many years of pictures he always had a smile on his face. This was the last picture I took of him a week before he passed.

 

 

    Other things going on in my hectic life, well you know by now, BASEBALL. Today our semi-pro team for the Florida Marlins had a game and all of us loaded up and met some other kids and coachs from our team and had a day at the ball park. Before the game, the team held a free clinic for the kids and we all went on the filed and had a good time.

 

Little ND pitching


 

      Earlier this week I managed to score some .22 sub-sonic ammo. Hey, it shoots and will be great for some practice. I'm not happy about the prices, but I'm not driving all over in an attempt to find some.  

     One other purchase that I was in need of was a personal solar power charging system. Now I have a large solar panel to charge my battery on my camper, but I wanted something that is a proven system that I can put in my pack. I spoke with some other like minded people and I know Stephen has done a post about his, so I went with the Goal Zero Guide 10. The present time, I just wanted to get a basic set-up but I will be adding to what I have purchased.

 

   So there you have it, this has been my life in a nut-shell for the past few weeks. I'm sorry if I haven't posted much but like many of you, we all have things going on. Hope everyone has a great start to this next work week, and make sure you work very hard for all the dead-beats who don't want to work. Holy-Cow, it's Democratic Representative Charlie Rangel....... Kindof looks like some other blogger we all know.

 

 

Senior



 







    

The doorbell rings and I smile.

Around 1830, the door bell rang, and I smile because I know what it is.

Senior

Well I have some time, thanks to heavy rain all day, I have time to collect thoughts and reflect......

    Well I have had some time today to relax a bit. I have the business, personal, and taxes for my dad's estate filed, rain today so no work and umpiring duties, and was able to sleep in an extra hour so it is nice to have mother nature step in from time-to-time to help a sailor out. Well today JUGM and I went a did some shopping while the boys were in school, went to my favorite sporting goods store and stocked up on some more 7.62X39mm ammunition. Hell, this stuff is almost cheaper to practice with than .22, damn, I never thought I would be saying that in 2014.



     The current state of the old eastern block countries is going to hell, and our president is waving his "nicotine stained" finger at ole Vlad, don't be surprised if trade sanctions or an embargo go into place forcing the price of any caliber that originates from this region to skyrocket. If you don't have the ammunition yet, better get hot and buy some.

     As I continue here, let's see what has been going on with Senior these past weeks. Well work has been getting worse every day. As we come out of the winter, mother nature is waking everything up from hibernation, so I am running like a, well use your imagination. Baseball, which is a lifelong passion of mine is in full swing and my kids and family are my top priority. Interviews have happened and with contracts I hold at the present time, it has hampered me from starting at two positions out of state, which I was really interested in, but I understand fully because I have created and owned a business for over 5 years now and have a business degree, so I know how things work. I am exploring other options in the next few months and will see how they work. What are my other options, well I could go to the VA, get 100% disability and get strung out on pills and alcohol all day while sitting in front of a computer doing "god knows whatever" Not my style, I spend time with my family and haven't pissed them off!

     I have been raised in a culture, first from my mom and dad, then by the Navy to excel at everything I do, and I have, ask JUGM, I don't know what failure is. I remember times as a child that my mom would face adversity while working 3 jobs just to sit there, take a deep breath and say "right" and get up and act like nothing ever happened. My dad was a great man, pretty much quiet, busted his ass from the farm as a child, serving the entire Korean War conflict, running a business, retiring debt-free, and keeping to himself, but don't cross him or piss him off. I almost attribute him to a rattlesnake, his mother was that way as a daughter of Cherokee father, so blood runs deep. Maybe this can contribute to my love of nature and the wild. See, there are many times at my dad's place I don't watch much television, I go outside and listen to the night.



    I relax hearing all the noises of the night, enjoy watching the dark. and not having modern distractions around, except when Stephen texts me to listen to a SW station that has some good content.

    Today, I got notification that some other blogger was referring to me as a "Teabagger" in one of his posts, so I say "Thank You". Really, I thank you for aligning me with the founding fathers that gave this country a "blue-print" for success until the liberal bastards started destroying our way of life. So I will leave it at this, RANDALL, do I need to publish your address, picture of your crappy camper and mobile home, and your phone number to get my point across to you? How about flowers for your sweet wife Ellen who has had to put up living with you? Oops, sorry, Freedom of Speech here, tell you what, come put some yellow tape up around my house and designate it a "Free Speech Area". Hell, I would bring you a cold beer to chase your pills down with, if you had the.. well I wont go there, I know you had a accident and it didn't involve a zipper, "FRANKS AND BEANS!!!!" Maybe you should listen to Lotta down south here in Florida, she actually made sense, thanks Lotta for suggesting that to him, but he wont listen to you, like he has to this point.

Till next time, don't let your meat loaf. Oops did I say that?

Senior Chief  "Esq"


    
   

     

    
    

   

Still vertical, been busy, just like a..

   Sorry for the lack of posts as of late, Baseball,  umpiring baseball games, work, and interviews have been my life for some time now. When I get some time, i will sit down and write something constructive.

Thanks,

Senior