Downtown renaissance

Since Friday night was the last of our “date nights” before the kids came home from staying with Kelly’s parents, Kelly and I rode our bikes into downtown Raleigh for First Friday festivities.

Walking along a bustling, closed-off section of Hargett Street in front of the Raleigh Times, I had to stop for a moment and soak in the experience.

“You know,” I told Kelly, “I remember touring this downtown one summertime Friday night in 1987 and it was an absolute ghost town. I mean, there was nothing open and nothing going on.”

Seeing the sidewalks filled with happy citizens was quite the contrast to the empty, scary downtown still locked in my memory for 26 years. What an incredible transformation that has taken place in Raleigh since the time I met this city and later called it home. I’m proud to have been here and being a part of this transformation.

Solar tax credits safe … for now

Kelly and I were concerned that the current shenanigans in the North Carolina General Assembly might put the kibosh on our claiming tax credits for our impending solar PV installation. Southern Energy suggested we reach out to Randy Lucas of Lucas Tax and Energy for his take.

Randy responded with this:

I can say as a licensed CPA with 20 years of tax experience, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the NC Sustainable Energy Association, despite the current activities in the NCGA, it is highly unlikely that any potential changes to the NC renewable energy investment tax credit would have any impact on any activity/transactions made by NC -based taxpayers in calendar year 2013. It would be unprecedented for the tax laws to change within the active tax year and would cause an administrative catastrophe for the NC Dept of Revenue to carryout the tax law change mid-year. That said, if you are making a purchase of renewable energy property in 2013, and have plans/intent to complete the install in 2013, you should be safe to claim both the Federal (30%) and North Carolina (35%) investment tax credits on your 2013 income tax return.
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Neuse River Greenway to Clayton

Kelly picked up the kids in Farmville today, giving me some time to help with Gerry’s Adopt-a-Highway this morning and a bike ride in the afternoon. I left Anderson Point Park at 1:55 PM and rode south all the way to Clayton and back for a grand total of 31 miles! I didn’t bring any snacks, nor did I bring my bike shorts, both of which I could have used. Even so, I enjoyed the ride and think this may be the most beautiful portion of the Capital Area Greenway.

Old eyes

Reading the newspaper this morning, I discovered I can no longer read text that is within a foot of my face. I only went to the optometrist a few months ago, where I read the tiny text with some difficulty but successfully. My eye doctor said my vision was starting to slide in that regard but that I could simply buy reading glasses at the drug store to supplement my contacts.

I guess this explains why I had such a hard time reading those extremely tiny labels on the Dell computers at my last job. Oh, and I’m getting old, too!

North Carolina Is Going Out Of Its Mind – Esquire

Esquire takes a look at the craziness that has been the North Carolina General Assembly under GOP rule.

I have a number of very close friends in North Carolina whom I love dearly, so I ask this in all Christian charity.

WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE LIVING, BREATHING, TATTOOED GOD IS GOING ON DOWN THERE?

Whom did you people elect? The people with the brightest bulbs for a nose? The people with the biggest, floppiest shoes? Does every member of the Republican majority in your legislature all arrive at work every morning in the same tiny car? First, we had the We-Can-Establish-A-State-Religion bill, and then we had the Tax-Yo-Mama-If-You-Vote-Obama bill. Caligula would be ashamed to bring his horse before these people for a vote. And now, because everybody went back to the big steaming bowl of stupid for seconds — and thirds — they have decided to put the force of law and the power of the state behind The Palmer Method.

via North Carolina Cursive Writing Bill – North Carolina Is Going Out Of Its Mind – Esquire.

Sirius sets

I pulled the plug on my SiriusXM subscription yesterday, when that great six-month deal ran out and was no longer offered. I don’t know, maybe my work with Little Raleigh Radio has convinced me that radio works best if it’s local, but I never got into satellite radio. I guess being able to tune in the world on my smartphone was too easy (and free) to pass up. Also, the satellite receiver stayed in Kelly’s car (the minivan), so it wasn’t around for me during my RTP commutes.

I still admire the company though, and if it offered service the right price I might subscribe to it again.

Bosch CPSC complaint published

I got an email this afternoon from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, letting me know that the citizen report I filed on my Bosch dishwasher has now been publicly posted.

Unlike some reports I’ve seen on the site, my report does not include any comments from Bosch. At this point, anyway. I am under the impression the company had a chance to see my report before it was posted, but that’s just a guess.

On a related note, two weeks ago Bosch dispatched a local appliance technician to my home to check out the dishwasher. He scratched his head when he saw a working dishwasher and wondered aloud why he was there. He just shook his head when I held up the melted relay, saying he didn’t even need to see it because he’s seen many of these cases. I wasn’t sure if he meant Bosch issues or issues with other dishwashers.
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Cheaper green energy storage solution invented by Calgary profs – Technology & Science – CBC News

Great news on the renewable energy front. I hope this works out!

A new discovery by a pair of University of Calgary chemists could make the large-scale use of wind and solar energy more feasible.

Curtis Berlinguette and Simon Trudel have invented an environmentally friendly, highly customizable way to make a key component in a process that stores electricity by turning water into hydrogen fuel — at a price they say is roughly 1,000 times cheaper than current methods for making that component.

via Cheaper green energy storage solution invented by Calgary profs – Technology & Science – CBC News.

Thirtieth anniversary of becoming a North Carolinian

I can’t let March go out without acknowledging the anniversary that just passed on March 15th. It was that day in 1983 that I became a North Carolinian when my parents moved us from Columbia, SC, to a new home off of Park Road in Charlotte.

It was my first taste of March Madness as this New Yorker basketball coach named Jim Valvano was all over the TV commercials. It was around that time that my dad came home from work one day mentioning that he had a chance meeting with Charlotte mayor Eddie Knox. I take for granted knowing the mayor now but back then I thought that was pretty cool. I suppose it was my first realization that politicians could be everyday people.
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Now on new host

Well, the dreaded day did come when I had to move my website off the hosted VPS Farm server I’ve used since 2007. When I turned off my server for the last time Tuesday night I felt a twinge of sadness. It was like saying goodbye to an old friend.

The migration to my new host, Tranquil Hosting, went very smoothly, however. I had my sites down for about two hours Tuesday night as I shifted mail and websites to the new host. I was rather pleased with myself that things went so smoothly. I guess my many years of IT experience pays off!

Will I stick around with Tranquil? We’ll see. VPS was a deal that was hard to beat but there’s something to be said about working with a local firm like Tranquil. So far so good!