OK, it’s been more than a “few hours”, but I have finally made myself write again.
Our solar panels were activated February 20 and we received our first electric bill on March 6. There were only partial savings from the solar since it had not been working for the full billing period, but it was significant. Of course, now we get a separate bill for gas, but with the combination, it still will be much lower.
With solar, we would not be required to pay the electric portion of the bill monthly if we didn’t want to. The entire year’s bill would be due in February 2014. But, we will pay it each month, as always. They do require that the gas bill be paid monthly.
We can monitor on the computer how much energy the panels are producing each day. The graph shows the hours of sunlight and also the diagram of the panels. When they are blue, they are working.
Last month we took a “day off” and went up to Simi Valley to visit the Reagan Presidential Library. It was on a Friday. We left home at 10:00 a.m. Our ticket time was 1:45-2:00 p.m., but it’s a three hour drive and being Friday, we had to allow for traffic. It was sometimes slow, but not that bad.
I was looking forward to seeing the Air Force One exhibit. Going through the plane, I did expect it to be much bigger. Of course, that particular plane had been used in a couple of previous administrations and was upgraded to the 747 used today, after Reagan left office in 1990.
Another highlight of the Library was the replica of the Oval Office. It was set up the way it was when Reagan was there. There were some items that had actually been in the office then. Even though it wasn’t real, there was a certain feeling to it that made it seem so.
Our last stop (after the gift shop!) was outside to the gardens. It was landscaped to look like the South lawn at the White House in D.C. There is a beautiful view of the hills and orchards below. The day was clear, so we could see the ocean in the distance.
President Reagan’s gravesite is on the grounds. It is very simple, but beautiful and peaceful. We left the Library after three hours of touring and it was a very nice visit.
Updates on the cats:
Mr. Creme had blood work done a couple of weeks ago. They did a full panel as well as a fructosamine test for his glucose levels. The doctor called and said that MC had a bladder infection! We had no idea, although I had noticed that he was not eating as well as he should and that was why we had the tests done, but we thought it was something to do with his diabetes. She wanted to put him on antibiotics ASAP because she didn’t want the infection moving to his kidneys. I took him into the clinic and he received an antibiotic injection to get into his system and some Clavomox pills to take for 10 days.
Lexi’s congestion was just not getting any better. I was giving her the allergy pills, but they didn’t seem to have any king of effect. We took her back to the vet, hoping that she could suggest something else. We were getting to the point of considering taking her to the Veterinary Specialty Hospital to see a specialist for help.
The doctor listened to Lexi’s breathing and determined that her chest was clear and the congestion seemed to be just in her nose. She said to continue giving the allergy pills and gave us some liquid to try. It’s called Veraflox and it’s new. We gave it once a day for about 10 days. There was noticeable improvement after a few days. By the time she had her last dose, her breathing was almost clear. Definitely a difference we hadn’t seen in a long time.
Mr. Creme and Lexi will go back to the vet tomorrow for a recheck. We will find out if the Veraflox is something we can use as needed or if it is something that Lexi will have to have regularly. We also don’t know if there will be any changes in Mr. Creme’s insulin dosage. Dr. didn’t go over the blood glucose test two weeks ago because she was more concerned about Mr. Creme’s bladder infection. I suspect there is something that will change though.
Yea!
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