Oh yes, it's sure fall here.
It's good for work, workout and sleep >>repeat
It's good for work, workout and sleep >>repeat
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They keep saying it's Fall…
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Last months electric bill was $411 and change. This month is around $400.
Granted, I leave some power hungry Macs running 24/7 but the single biggest cause of our monthly bill is the A/C. SRP (Salt River Project), our electric company, has three billing periods. Winter, Summer and a peak Summer period (when the most electricity is used) of July and August. September is the LAST month of the summer billing period and May is the first month. So, winter billing between October and April.
The prices are jacked between May and June and then increased more during Summer peak. On top of that, most cooking/hot water is generated by electric (not gas) in AZ so there is that.
I can manage to get the bill below $200 sometime in January usually.
However, keep in mind I pay for a 1600sq foot home. Since we moved to a two story house the price hasn't changed either.
On the other hand…my gas bill this month is less than $15.
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Out here in AZ, we have a Stupid Motorist Law for exactly that sort of thing.
If you ignore the signs and barricades and get caught and have to be rescued, the law makes you liable for the entire cost of your rescue.
Last months electric bill was $411 and change. This month is around $400.
Granted, I leave some power hungry Macs running 24/7 but the single biggest cause of our monthly bill is the A/C. SRP (Salt River Project), our electric company, has three billing periods. Winter, Summer and a peak Summer period (when the most electricity is used) of July and August. September is the LAST month of the summer billing period and May is the first month. So, winter billing between October and April.
The prices are jacked between May and June and then increased more during Summer peak. On top of that, most cooking/hot water is generated by electric (not gas) in AZ so there is that.
I can manage to get the bill below $200 sometime in January usually.
However, keep in mind I pay for a 1600sq foot home. Since we moved to a two story house the price hasn't changed either.
On the other hand…my gas bill this month is less than $15.
Ouch. Our water is heated by gas. Stoves are gas too. With our swamp cooler, our electric bill in the dead of summer was $43. Back in 2011 when I had AC, I remember $160-$180 electric bills. Kinda surprised our new place (1800 square ft) is estimated $80 - we've averaged 76F on the AC but the place was built 2 years ago so maybe super efficient? It's *really* temperate close to LA. 60F mornings, doesn't get past 80 till after 12... Nothing like the high desert.
The highest was the 9th. (set to 74F).
I know my coworkers who have houses within a 80 mile radius of work average $300-$600 electric bills - not sure how. I guess it helps its just my wife and I.
Socal Edison does that in the summer, the tiers "shrink" --- but I think they're going to a seasonal/day time system where using electricity at night is less cost than during day.
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Yeah. My wife and I are California natives. Moved here in 2000 after 20 years (me) there (my parents had me in WA and TX from 6mths to 10yrs). For my wife, until 2000, she'd lived her entire life there.Ouch. Our water is heated by gas. Stoves are gas too. With our swamp cooler, our electric bill in the dead of summer was $43. Back in 2011 when I had AC, I remember $160-$180 electric bills. Kinda surprised our new place (1800 square ft) is estimated $80 - we've averaged 76F on the AC but the place was built 2 years ago so maybe super efficient? It's *really* temperate close to LA. 60F mornings, doesn't get past 80 till after 12... Nothing like the high desert.
The highest was the 9th. (set to 74F).
I know my coworkers who have houses within a 80 mile radius of work average $300-$600 electric bills - not sure how. I guess it helps its just my wife and I.
Socal Edison does that in the summer, the tiers "shrink" --- but I think they're going to a seasonal/day time system where using electricity at night is less cost than during day.
Anyway, getting used to an electric stove was frustrating. My wife hates it and I hate it. Much prefer gas as there is way more control.
But SRP and APS (Arizona Power Service) dominate the state and there is a history of problems with gas around here (I think intentionally, although it can't be proven) so gas is mainly used for the water heater and not cooking.
Nice to be back with SW Gas though after 18 years.
Yeah. My wife and I are California natives. Moved here in 2000 after 20 years (me) there (my parents had me in WA and TX until from 6mths to 10yrs). For my wife, until 2000 she'd lived her entire life there.
Anyway, getting used to an electric stove was frustrating. My wife hates it and I hate it. Much prefer gas as there is way more control.
But SRP and APS (Arizona Power Service) dominate the state and there is a history of problems with gas around here (I think intentionally, although it can't be proven) so gas is mainly used for the water heater and not cooking.
Nice to be back with SW Gas though after 18 years.
Hah cool. SWGas is what we have here in the High Desert. I've had that for the last 7 years.
. In Upland, closer to LA, it's some city thing. But yeah $20-$40/gas bills were normal. $160 gas bills in winter are also normal in the high desert (gets below freezing regularly).My parents have an electric stove. I can't cook much (rice-a-roni), but I do know it's easier to do it on a gas stove. lol.
Wife and I love the humidity as the biggest difference between closer to LA and the desert. Does wonders for the skin. A LOT cooler temperature wise. But holey **** it's 2-3x the rent!!!
I am looking forward to fall because there are lots of trees here (unlike where I lived in the desert).
Close to our house.
Upland's a nice area. When I met my wife we were both working in Ontario at the UPS West Coast Air Hub. My parents live in Riverside County, Cherry Valley, which is north of Beaumont. Wife and I lived in San Bernardino for a while then moved to Banning. After UPS I worked for the Desert Sun in Palm Springs and eventually they moved my job out to Indio.Hah cool. SWGas is what we have here in the High Desert. I've had that for the last 7 years.
My parents have an electric stove. I can't cook much (rice-a-roni), but I do know it's easier to do it on a gas stove. lol.
Wife and I love the humidity as the biggest difference between closer to LA and the desert. Does wonders for the skin. A LOT cooler temperature wise. But holey **** it's 2-3x the rent!!!
I am looking forward to fall because there are lots of trees here (unlike where I lived in the desert).
Close to our house.
Nothing says summer like driving to work down the 10 in 122º heat in Indio (no A/C).
The Coachella Valley was great to work in but no way could we ever have afforded to live there.
Kind of funny though. When you live in SoCal you drive if you want to get anywhere. So, Ontario to Indio or vice versa was never any kind of a big deal. But here in PHX, people bitch and whine if you have to drive more than 5 minutes to work!
Upland's a nice area. When I met my wife we were both working in Ontario at the UPS West Coast Air Hub. My parents live in Riverside County, Cherry Valley, which is north of Beaumont. Wife and I lived in San Bernardino for a while then moved to Banning. After UPS I worked for the Desert Sun in Palm Springs and eventually they moved my job out to Indio.
Nothing says summer like driving to work down the 10 in 122º heat in Indio (no A/C).
The Coachella Valley was great to work in but no way could we ever have afforded to live there.
Kind of funny though. When you live in SoCal you drive if you want to get anywhere. So, Ontario to Indio or vice versa was never any kind of a big deal. But here in PHX, people bitch and whine if you have to drive more than 5 minutes to work!
Wow. Yep, lots of UPS trucks on the i-10 going to the Ontario airport.
I've felt 125+F in the Mojave desert before and I was surprised the tires didn't melt. My shoes got sticky. You can drink a bottle of water every hour and never have to pee. Worst I felt in Apple Valley was 115F? No AC in vehicle is INSANE.
Oh yeah, driving for everything. My wife has 1.5 hours to UCLA (40+ mi) and I have 1 hour to my work in the desert (65+ mi). lol. 5 minutes... I'd do a lot for a 5 minute work commute.
Only reason we're in Upland is cuz she's paying rent and it's kinda the half way point for our commutes.
When I worked in Indio, the car I had was old but the windows were manual so I could roll them down. That makes it bearable.Wow. Yep, lots of UPS trucks on the i-10 going to the Ontario airport.
I've felt 125+F in the Mojave desert before and I was surprised the tires didn't melt. My shoes got sticky. You can drink a bottle of water every hour and never have to pee. Worst I felt in Apple Valley was 115F? No AC in vehicle is INSANE.
Oh yeah, driving for everything. My wife has 1.5 hours to UCLA (40+ mi) and I have 1 hour to my work in the desert (65+ mi). lol. 5 minutes... I'd do a lot for a 5 minute work commute.
Now, the car I have is old again (funny thing, my wife and I were with my parents the day they bought the car) but with broken power windows and broken A/C. So the windows must stay up unless I wish to be robbed (and this car has been stolen once already).
But the commute this time is 20 minutes from home to work. 10 minutes from my daughter's school to work.
Once 5pm hits though it becomes much more bearable.
Yeah, I did 7 years with UPS and my wife did 5. We get the rest of our pension at 65, LOL!
Banning to Indio was 50 minutes both ways. My wife worked in Redlands at the time and some days she had to come pick me up. So that's 35 minutes from Redlands to Banning and then another 50. Then 50 back.
I've made sure she's always had the car that had working A/C though.
The worst I ever had (temperature) was 122 in Indio. Indio actually gets hotter than Phoenix, but there are less days of heat than there are here.
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California for the most part is:
Jesus Christ it's hot
Not so hot
Mildly cool with some overnight freezing temperatures
RAIN! GLORY BE IT RAIN
Now if you live in the higher mountain areas where it snows, it's as miserable as living in the midwest. Snows from late October to April. When it does rain here in the drier areas, people lose their freaking minds.
Jesus Christ it's hot
Not so hot
Mildly cool with some overnight freezing temperatures
RAIN! GLORY BE IT RAIN
Now if you live in the higher mountain areas where it snows, it's as miserable as living in the midwest. Snows from late October to April. When it does rain here in the drier areas, people lose their freaking minds.
This is our area forecast for the remainder of this week.
So now maybe you can understand why I've dug out my long underwear.
So now maybe you can understand why I've dug out my long underwear.
When I lived in SF in the 60s I remember that in November it rained so much that I started to walk a slightly different way to the bus I took to a Muni tram line out to school because... moss was actually growing on the sidewalk down the really steep hill to Presidio Avenue where I caught the bus. I like moss and all but... in a rock garden, not on the sidewalks.
Outside of that I enjoyed San Francisco's weather for the most part. I missed the sharp change of seasons though, it was positively balmy during December and made me homesick for colder weather and snow on evergreens in the hills here.
When I lived in SF in the 60s I remember that in November it rained so much that I started to walk a slightly different way to the bus I took to a Muni tram line out to school because... moss was actually growing on the sidewalk down the really steep hill to Presidio Avenue where I caught the bus. I like moss and all but... in a rock garden, not on the sidewalks.
Outside of that I enjoyed San Francisco's weather for the most part. I missed the sharp change of seasons though, it was positively balmy during December and made me homesick for colder weather and snow on evergreens in the hills here.
It's been cool/sunny the few times we've been there. Some of our friends/family friends' kids went to the Bay Area for school and they relay the misery to us when they fly back home. One friend's younger son went to UCSF for his undergrad and medical school, and is there on residency, IIRC. It's become a ritual for him to spend a day or two near the desert to "dry out" so to speak. Apparently the rain got so bad a few years ago there was moss growing on the school buildings and even under their group car. I've seen moss grow once or twice here after weeks of heavy rain with little sun. Bleach tincture usually kills it.
Living nearer the coast is something we have in mind when the kids are older but it's dependent on a large plot of land and flat land at that. I prefer the warmer more inland weather, but I appreciate the relatively little change in weather near the coast. Low to mid 70s in the middle of August? Sign me up.
In July we hit a record 117* whereas it was mid 80s near the coast. Even cooler on the beach.
I was being a bit facetious and definitely a contest I don’t want to win. Best example I can give is a recent monsoon storm that brought a rainfall rate of about 15 inches per hour north of Phoenix, but it was very brief.
I’ll gladly sweat it out these last few weeks of summer while the east coast gets soaked.
Every time I hear about this hurricane, all I can think about is AlliFlowers (Lower Alabama). Interested to see how much rain you get.
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We won't get much from Florence, if any. And when Gordon hit, it was less rain than we normally get on a summer evening. I'm worried about the next set of storms though.
It’s certainly fall when I change from summer quilt to winter quilt.
I like to sleep with an open window all year around.
Fresh air is good.
It usually just comes a night when temperature and the winds is wrong for the quilt that’s in the bed. A night when the shift is really there.
Tonight was that night.
I like to sleep with an open window all year around.
Fresh air is good.
It usually just comes a night when temperature and the winds is wrong for the quilt that’s in the bed. A night when the shift is really there.
Tonight was that night.
Wednesday morning when I left for work, the doorknob was wet with humidity. It was gross. It's not supposed to be in the 90's in both temp and humidity in September!!
Wednesday hit and we dropped like a rock to the 90s. Forecasters say the 110s are over for the year. Hoping so.
Fingers crossed for you. I'm just ready for a crisp fall morning. I'm tired of the humidity!
It doesn’t get any warmer....but I like this fall.
Mjukt regn translates to soft rain btw
Mjukt regn translates to soft rain btw
It's fall now.
Yesterday we got enough rain to blow out an old record for rainfall while more than doubling the amount of rain we see in the entire month of October.
The remainder of this week and all of next week will be less than 90º.
Yesterday we got enough rain to blow out an old record for rainfall while more than doubling the amount of rain we see in the entire month of October.
The remainder of this week and all of next week will be less than 90º.