Category Archives: My Life

Testing My Solar Oven.

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I have recently purchased a solar oven from Amazon.com. The oven is made in the good ol’ USA by Sun Ovens. The manual recommended that I heat a pot of soap and water before cooking anything in the oven so I thought that would be a great chance to test the oven out. It was an overcast day with the sun peaking out every 10 to 15 minutes and the outside temperature was 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Soap, water and sun check!

As soon as I set the oven up the temperature  jumped to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Awesome! The time was 4:00 p.m.

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4:15 p.m. 230 degrees Fahrenheit.
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4:30 p.m. 240 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Getting very steamy in there!
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I had to open the oven to clean off the condensation in order to read the gauge which dropped the temperature back down to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. 5:00 p.m.
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The sun was setting so I decided to follow it by tilting the oven towards the sun using the included stand.
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Great feature of this oven is the built in adjustable stand.
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Had to open it up to snap the picture due the condensation. 250 degrees Fahrenheit at 5:30 p.m.
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The sun was setting behind some trees by 6:00 p.m. 220 degrees Fahrenheit.
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I am guessing the reason the manual says to heat up a pan of soap and water is to disinfect the oven and it did get rid of the new car smell.  My findings are thus: On an 80 degree day with overcast skies the oven will hold a temp close to 250 degrees Fahrenheit if you don’t open the door very often. What I have here is a free energy slow cooker in these conditions. Which is great because meat and chicken cooked all day slow is really tender and juicy! I also suspect the statements about the moist bake goods that come out of these ovens are true. The manual does recommend that you cover what you are cooking unless it is bake goods. It states you cook those just like you would in a conventional oven. The oven heated up to 150 degrees Fahrenheit very quickly so making noodle dishes or hot tea would be a snap in this little gem.

I am not sure if I could have built one myself for the price ($289). The time and the materials may have been more expensive with the cost of the metal used. I think I am going to enjoy using the oven and since my stove is an electric I hope to save on electricity bills this summer while I am running my A/C unit.

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I am worried.

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I am worried about the future of the Internet. I would like to think that the Internet is an indestructible force. We the people are the power behind the Internet and our power comes from the ability to connect freely. I know the tech community understands my concerns but, what about those non-techies that do not understand how vital the open web is to democracy? I hope that they do not out number the tech community because I want us to have as loud of a voice as possible. I am also concerned that the United States Government will use Wikileaks as an excuse to establish control over the Internet. I also wonder if the politicians that have spoken out against Wikileaks fear what may be revealed about them.

Social Media

The Internet has enjoyed the benefits of Social Media like Facebook and Twitter. There are accusations that Twitter is blocking free speech. Facebook stated that they will not block the Wikileaks page for now. These examples are why if you want a presence on the web you should get your own domain and set up a website that YOU control.
I think Richard Stallman made a great point in the article “Who Does That Server Really Serve?”
I also think this comic from xkcd illustrates the point further.

xkcd comic infrastructures

Do you share my concerns?

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Water Valley Fire Department Haunted House.

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Haunted House Every year the Water Valley Fire Dept. orchestrates a haunted hay ride/haunted house in October. I attended the opening night and they will be operating this Saturday night, October 23, 2010.
Some the activities include:

  • Indoor play area for the young children.
  • Outdoor train ride for the young children.
  • Games with prizes.
  • Plenty of food from the concession stand (Hamburgers, Frito Pies, etc).
  • Haunted Hay Ride and Haunted House.
  • Some of the nicest people you will ever meet.

The Hay Ride/Haunted House

After you buy your arm band ($5.00) you will board a long trailer lined with square hay bails pulled by a large tractor. You ride your way through the dim lighting in the woods and go through a gastly scene of ghouls and hatchet men. Some ghouls will come out of the dark and crawl along the hay bails and scare riders who are looking in the other direction. You end your journey at an old farm house. You venture through a maze filled with evil and creatures wielding chainsaws. Then you enter the haunted house. I will not go into any more detail you will have to see for yourself!

Note: All proceeds go to benefit the Volenteer Water Valley Fire Dept.

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