Some Blog Site

I had some spare sheet metal, so I thought I’d make some driveway decorations.

In theory, you could make these out of cardboard or plastic sheeting or whatever.

I made a set of 3, because that’s how many Mario Kart gives you at a time. Here is what they look like in progress – one finished, one mostly painted, and one not painted.

Please ignore the ugly welds.

The goal was to make them “life-size” if you were to have Mario Kart items in real life. They could be a little larger, but I went with this size because the 10-inch width of each strip was what a bunch of my sections of sheet metal were.

Here is the end result:

I have not tried it, but I doubt they would make you spin out like they do in the game. At best they would scratch the paint or scuff the tire.

In case you do want to try this at home, here is how I made them.

One of my daily mini-diversions is to play Waffle.

Waffle is a word game, over at wafflegame.net

You are given a grid of letters and you need to swap letters until they form the expected words. It’s quick and simple, and the solution is rarely elusive.

What is challenging about it though is that it gives you between 10 and 15 turns to find the solution. The best solution is in 10 moves, which gives you 5 stars.

You’re able to play the daily waffle only once, so give it your best shot there. But if you’re short of the 5-star ranking, you can play it later in the waffle archives.

I go back and try to get 5 stars on them if I miss it the first day. And most of the time I’m able to get it. But some of them I was not getting – I was stuck on 4 stars no matter what I tried.

I thought a brute-force process might find the optimum solution, but of course I didn’t want to do that myself, so I wrote a Python script to find the way to solve it in 10 moves.

But the output was to the console, and thus not user friendly to the general public. So then I wrote a Python script to generate the image showing the moves, trying to get it to match what someone would see on their screen when they’re playing the game.

And then I wrote a Python script to grab the other puzzles from the waffle archives.

Then I put the results on Some Fun Site, so you can go there to see the best solutions to the waffle game.

I was using all that for my Python training. I hadn’t used Python before, but people at work were using it for certain scripts so I thought I’d see what the fuss was about.

Overall, I’m not a fan of Python. It can be useful, but it’s awkward to me. I much prefer PHP.

Anyway, go play the Waffle game and if you get stuck then go over to Some Fun Site to get some help.

Subtitle: in which I improve the government’s records

Allow me to introduce to you the 2022 SFS List of Baby Names that Combine Similar Pronunciations. That baby name list is the place to go in case you are wondering what are the most popular baby names in 2022 regardless of how they are spelled. The Social Security baby name list does not adjust the rankings based on alternate spellings (like Catherine/Katherine), but SFS does.

It was just Mother’s Day, so the SSA released the name rankings for 2022. Last year’s champion, Liam has repeated as the most popular boy’s name in the US, for the second year, so last year was not an anomaly. Liam gained a little bit, but Jackson is really falling off now.
No controversy for the girls – it’s Sophia again, and by a similar margin as last year.

Some Stats

• In the top 9 names for the boys, 2 and 3 switched spots, 4 and 5 stayed the same, then there is more shakeup with Aiden dropping fast.
• The top 14 names for the girls are the same as 2021, and in much the same order. The only difference is that Amelia jumped ahead of Olivia for 2nd place, and Isabella moved up 2 spots, jumping back ahead of Charlotte.
• Again, Liam has the title of the highest-ranked boy’s name that has no spelling variations, at number 1.
• Again, Emma is the highest-ranked girl’s name that has no spelling variations, at number 4.
• Girl names still have more spelling variations than boy names (255/1000 vs. 172/1000 alternates)
• Kayson once again took the prize for the most spelling variations for the boys at 9.
• For the girls, Adaline once again took the prize for the most spelling variations at 6.

2022 Improved Baby Name List

Click on the link above and peruse to your heart’s content!

Our local library hosted a class recently, so I took Gamma and Delta there. The class was called Cranky Contraptions and was actually run by a nearby museum / science center.

Here is Delta’s result – a geyser:

They’re called Cranky Contraptions because the design is based on a crankshaft, and you turn the crank to make the kinetic sculpture move.

Here’s a different view of the geyser:

And for one in motion, here’s a GIF of Gamma’s marshmallow roasting contraption:

It was a fun class, and the boys liked it more than they thought they would. We were about the last ones there. So I recommend it as a project. If you want to try this yourself, it’s easy enough. Try this link for more ideas on cranky contraptions.

With all the hubbub around the falling cost of solar power, I thought I’d look into it. Since there are hidden cost structures for those places that will install systems and rent it to you or no upfront cost but it gets incorporated into you electric bill or whatever other sleight-of-finances they think up, I’m doing this investigation on parts purchase alone.

And this is for the system I would want – full battery so it will work when the grid is down (yes, there are solar power setups that stop working when the grid is down, check that before signing up), no connection to the grid (avoids billing and meter issues, plus simpler and safer), and enough to power the fridge and freezer so we don’t lose any food (not trying to power the whole house).

Load Requirements
We have 3 different fridge/freezer appliances, and I added up the draw on each and the result was 600 watts.

Assuming each might run for about 8 hours a day: 600 watts * 8 hours = 4800 Wh, or 4.8kWh per day.

That’s the draw requirements, now on to solar panel sizing.

Panel Sizing
I need 4800 Wh per day. We don’t have the sunniest location, so I’m being generous by saying I expect 6 hours of sun a day. That’s to keep cost down, not for a decent buffer of solar power. This is going to be a minimally-sized system.

4800 Wh / 6 hours of sun = 800 watts. So I need solar panels that will output 800 watts.

That’s the panel requirements, now on to battery sizing.

Battery Sizing
There’s a balance between battery voltage and inverter availability and there are a few different ways to go here.

In general, 12-volt batteries are cheapest and easiest to obtain. And 12-volt power inverters are cheapest and easiest to obtain.

But 12-volt systems aren’t good for higher power output. They’re fine for a camping fridge or charging phones, but not for houses. You could do it, but you’d have some thick cables to handle the current.

In general, 48-volt inverters are good for houses. But 48-volt batteries are not cheap nor plentiful. You could make a 48-volt battery out of four 12-volt batteries, but then you have to worry about keeping them all balanced. If one battery gets low or goes bad, then it’ll take the others down too.

For my plans, I’m choosing the middle ground – a 24-volt system. It can handle higher loads with moderately-sized cables, and for battery balancing you need to manage pairs of batteries, not quads of batteries.

So I have 4800 kWh per day, and a 24-volt battery system (note: pick solar panels that can make a 24-volt output), so I need to size my batteries. 4800 kWh / 24 volts = 200 amp-hours per day of usage.

If I were to get 200 amp-hours worth of batteries, I could start with a full charge and go one day without sunlight before my fridge would stop working.

But the thing about batteries is that they don’t like being run all the way down. In general, you want double the battery capacity of your expected daily load. And if you want extra days of power (to survive longer with more cloudy days), you would keep adding capacity.

In my case, I’m going for typical use and not having to ride out a multi-day weather event. So 200 Ah * 2 = 400 Ah. I need to buy 400 Ah-worth of batteries.

Other Items
And I also need a power inverter good for at least 600 watts continuous.

One more thing: I need a charge controller. That goes between the solar panels and the batteries, to make sure batteries are managed well and not overcharged. Bad things happen if the batteries are full, the fridge doesn’t need to run so there’s no load, and it’s sunny so the panels keep pouring electrical charge into the batteries.

Prices
Here’s what I got for prices for those components:

• Inverter: $220
• Charge controller: $175
• Solar panels: $600
• Batteries: $1440
• Total: $2435

That was solar system cost, now on to payback rate.

Conclusion
Around here, electricity is about 10 cents/kWh. And this particular load is 4.8 kWh, so that is $0.48 per day that I’m trying to avoid with this system. That works out to $175 per year.

With a system cost of $2435 / $175 per year, that gives me 13.9 years to start coming out ahead with my system.

In general, the panels and inverter and stuff should last that long, except for the batteries. Which, of course, are the most expensive part of the system. The AGM lead-acid batteries I picked for their cheaper entry price will last about 7 years.

So before the 13.9 year payback period is up, I would have to spend $1440 again for another set of batteries, which bumps the payback period up, and then before that period is up, the second set of batteries would expire, requiring a third set, and then once more before we actually get to a point where the system has paid for itself before the batteries expire.

So really, the total cost is $2435 + ($1440 * 3) = $6755. And that’s a 38.6 year payback period. And then the batteries expire shortly after that anyway and you don’t get to turn much of a profit.

If I do ever setup solar power for my house, I will have to do it without a big battery bank.

Subtitle: in which I improve the government’s records

Allow me to introduce to you the 2021 SFS List of Baby Names that Combine Similar Pronunciations. That baby name list is the place to go in case you are wondering what are the most popular baby names in 2021 regardless of how they are spelled. The Social Security baby name list does not adjust the rankings based on alternate spellings (like Catherine/Katherine), but SFS does.

It was just Mother’s Day, so the SSA released the name rankings for 2021. Last year’s champion, Jackson has finally be de-throned as the most popular boy’s name in the US. After 7 years at the top of the leaderboard, it was surpassed by Liam. Liam had been gaining on Jackson for a few years, but what really happened is that Jackson lost a big chunk, rather than Liam gaining a big chunk.
No controversy for the girls – it’s Sophia again, and by a similar margin as last year.

Some Stats

• In the top 9 names for the boys, 1 and 2 switched spots, 5 and 6 switched spots, and 8 and 9 switched spots.
• The top 8 names for the girls are the same as 2019, and in much the same order. The only difference is that Charlotte moved up 2 spots.
• Again, Liam has the title of the highest-ranked boy’s name that has no spelling variations, at number 1.
• Again, Emma is the highest-ranked girl’s name that has no spelling variations, at number 3.
• Girl names still have more spelling variations than boy names (258/1000 vs. 176/1000 alternates)
• Kayson once again took the prize for the most spelling variations for the boys at 8.
• For the girls, Adaline has the sole lead for the most spelling variations at 6.

2021 Improved Baby Name List

Click on the link above and peruse to your heart’s content!

I wish I would have started working on cars earlier in life – it would have saved me a bunch of money. Here are some things I’ve learned over the last few years of working on my own cars.

• When replacing suspension components that involve removing sway bar links, plan ahead and get new sway bar links. This tip does not apply to places where cars don’t get rusty. But around here, sway bar links are considered single-use. They are designed to be able to be removed and re-installed, but that’s only in a perfect world. They’re cheap enough that it’s not worth my time to try to save them. I’ll give it one attempt to undo them, but if they don’t cooperate I just get out the angle grinder and off they go.
• Speaking of sway bar links (and other stubborn rusty connectors), a good tool to have is an impact wrench. It doesn’t loosen everything, but it has helped. And it helps tighten those sway bar links. I got a cheap electric one from Harbor Freight. I went with corded electric because I don’t have shop air and I don’t use it enough to make it worth managing batteries.
• The steering wheel on the van was wobbling. Slowly at low speeds and faster at higher speeds. That seemed like an easy diagnosis – one of the front tires broke a belt and is now out of round. So I swapped out the front tires (normal to winter or vice-versa) but the problem continued. I took it to the shop and told them what happened. It didn’t take them long looking at it to find it was a rear tire with the broken belt. Moral of the story: just because the symptom is in the steering wheel doesn’t mean the problem is in the front end.