Funny people

I get a lot of ridicule for my opinions. Often times it is only because I go against the grain. I tend to dislike something that isn't status quo, even before I realise it is the status quo.

Comedians are one example. There are many out there. Some who think they're funny because everyone they know thinks they are funny. Then there are the few genuinely funny ones that can make you laugh.

The news and Internet is full of Ricky Gervais' recent exploits at the Grammys or something. This is where he gets up and says things that are bold, taboo, and crass. Yet everyone seems to think it's funny.

He isn't. His humour seems to relentlessly pry on other peoples misfortunes, mistakes and general mishaps. He takes a persons character and bastardises it to the point where everyone is shocked he said something like that, but laugh anyway. A bit like an accident where the victims head has been taken off. You know it's bad but you look anyway.

Since I'm a man of extremes, I'm going to compare Mr. Gervais to the Marx Brothers. A group of louts where humour is actually funny. It's harmless. It's laughable and no one gets hurt in the end. While there's a level of intelligence involved with constructing a joke, it's obvious one doesn't need much thought to come up with something crass. This is the opposite of the Marx Brothers. Where jokes are well constructed, thought out and delivered in such a witty manner, you don't know what hit you or how it hit you, because you're laughing so hard that you're about to bust a gut.

Gervais' jokes seem to hint of sarcasm. And sarcasm is the worst form of putting down known.

And while this is all in good humour. I would imagine the people Gervais has offended may take it in their stride, laugh about it. Deep down, I would imagine a tiny inkling of contempt and hatred for the man. Which I imagine is also part of his entire guise.

If so, job well done on being an in-humorous dick. You should get an award for that, and stand in line next to Kyle Sandilands and Russell Brand. You can take the Three Stooges to a whole new level, down.

Out of reach

For a lot of people, the idea of being green, environmentally friendly and energy conscious is a good thing. We all want to be this. We all want to do our best.

As a general rule going green costs money. However it is usually just the initial outlay to fund the infrastructure of things like solar panels, inverters, wiring, labour unless you're doing it yourself.

However, sometimes things don't add up.

For example, I've started to shop around for solar panels for my house. I was holding out until we built a new home, however, I don't know when that's going to happen, so I want to start being a bit greener now.

My reasons aren't just about the environment. I also want to have less reliance on the mains electricity, and less dependence on their supply. At the same time I also want to save money. Who doesn't. However, as the cost of installing a solar array can get pricey, I started to look at cheaper alternatives.

Here's where my brain started to hurt.

A 1.5kW system that comes with 8x190W panels, an inverter, fully installed and ready to go, also allowing the option to feed excessive power back into the grid and get some money back for it, or a credit on your on-grid account.

All that for a measly (From) $1050.00

Sounds affordable. A 1.5kW system will pump about 3-4kW of energy back into the grid based on an average household usage of 15-18kW per day. Thus reducing your energy bill, decreasing your reliance on dirty power supplied from Australia's favourite power station, coal powered.

Don't check my maths, it was my worst subject at school.

Where's the bit where my brain starts to hurt?

Here:
The next system is a 2kW system. A few thousand more. But where it really aches is the 3kW system. $7080.00

It comes with twice as many solar panels, 18x190W panels. And obviously a bigger inverter.

Lets assume it takes twice as long to install, since there are twice as many panels, otherwise, the additional wiring is hardly worth the $7000 price tag. The inverter? This is the only item I can think of that will increase the price from $1050 to $7080. But even then, I can't seem to wrap my head around it.

I'd be more inclined to buy and install two 1.5kW systems and split the circuits in the house. Half the house on one circuit and the other half using the other 1.5kW system.

If both units are connected to the grid, then technically I'd still be pumping twice as many kW's back into the grid. Not to mention the fact that I've spent a little over $2,000 rather than $14,000.

Heck, I'd even go with another installation and bump things up to 4.5kW and this amount of solar power would actually provide me with enough power to go off the grid in suburbia.

Only issue with that last bit is that I don't plan on using batteries for storage of that power. I'm happy with having power fed into my house from the grid when the sun isn't out. However, I'm happy to also light a candle since I don't watch TV. Email and using the laptop may pose a problem. I'd have to charge my mobile phone during the day or at my music school. Though charging it off the solar power makes more sense.

I got my first power bill for the music school. $45 per quarter. All because I open windows instead of turning on the air con, though sometimes I do blast the air con just to clear out the heat in the room that's been shut all day. Then when that initial bite has gone, I'll open everything up. And since its summer, we have plenty of natural sunlight still coming into the school thanks to all the windows in the place I found.

I was asked about a water cooler. And I've decided that I'll be getting a hand made clay cooler I found that is pricey, but no more expensive than a refrigerated water cooler, and it will use no power what so ever, it'll keep water at a nice, cool and comfortable temperature and also looks a hell of a lot nicer than a plastic water cooler waiting for the water to heat up so it can waste more power cooling it down.

I still can't get my head around the cost difference from the 1.5kW system to the 3kW system. Surely, it's the inverter causing the major price difference.

Cheerio