Gifts from the earth and sky!

After a couple hiccups and false starts, I now have pressurized well water powered by the sun!  I can turn it on and off at will.  No more walking out to the generator, cranking it up, walking back to the trailer to fill the tank, then running back out to shut it off.  With the pressure pump now in the system, I can just turn on and off the tap like a normal person. And, although only one outlet in the house is active so far, I have round-the clock electricity too.

To quote my old friend Randy, "Just think: you are now at a level of development on par with an advanced third world village. Electric power, running water, and cooking on a stove."

I almost feel like those villagers must feel when a single electrical outlet appears in the village... and a well! No more fetching water! Nowadays we in the US joke that our problems are "First World problems" - (my X-Box won't talk to my 52" flat screen...) but not me, boy... I have Third World problems!  And I'm loving every one of 'em!

Bet your outhouse doesn't have this!

My setup does look pretty high-teck to me.  Lots of big pipes and boxes.  Those things growing out of the sides of the solar panel are surge protectors, and they glow an eerie blue...
















Not exactly Third World, I guess, because I now get to run the air conditioner in the trailer! Yes, I'm aware that it's February, but this is Campo.  Snow one day and 80 degrees the next.

In other developments, Miss Molly now has her loins girded for battle with the local predators.  She's sporting a Kevlar vest (like cops and soldiers wear) with nasty looking spikes around the neck and some  (somewhat ridiculous looking)  bristles on her back, designed to annoy coyotes by poking them in the eye.

Hey... if it saves one life....

Doesn't keep her from her work hunting other unprotected critters further down the food chain. Of course when rattlesnake season rolls around, we'll have a different set of Third World problems...