May All Us Ecological Bastards Freeze To Death In The Dark (Or It Once Was Stated).

I seem to be in love with 68 degrees as the perfect temperature and yesterday I had a Nest thermometer installed. It is one that can be controlled from my cellphone, laptop, and/or IPad and it operates with WiFi and modern technologies. I am thinking of my work with my brother-in-law, Mike, and how much he'd be intrigued by this technology. Changing the temperature in my house has never been cooler; in fact, I got a message today while at work that said, "The Nest noticed that you haven't been moving about your home, so you must be away. We adjusted the temperature down a few degrees for you."

Cool.

I was thinking all day, too, about the sticker that hangs below the thermostat in my father's man cave: May All You Ecological Bastards Freeze To Death in the Dark. His room is cold, so I totally get the sentiment he had while I was growing up - and it was Syracuse, after all.

Actually, after talking with several friends in the area and meeting with representatives from Solar City, I decided to have solar panels installed on top of my house. For the last two years, I've seen a HUGE increase in panels while I'm running and I've been working through the economics of using them as an alternative energy resource. The company actually uses my house to create energy for it and it is sold back to the electrical companies. Because my roof sees much sun for long periods of the day, they designed a plan for both sides - I learned yesterday, however, that the electric company wouldn't approve both sides because I'd overproduce energy and they'd have to send me checks. So, they did half of the roof and this should work out to being equivalent to costs during the winter, but much cheaper during the summer months (I am picturing my friend Leo writing out a check for ten cents last July for his electric bill).

I had to walk down the street to see the panels, because my house is tall and it is difficult to get a rooftop angle. I was told by the installers that the side they chose would maximize the solar power my house gets atop its noggin. I'm sure there won't be a difference in billing until late spring, but I'm hoping to reverse the need for electricity from an electric company, with self-sufficient energies from the panels (with a push of electricity back to the grid to be distributed to my neighbors).

We shall see if this was worth it. Homeownership is a bizarre identity to have, and slowly and surely, this is becoming more and more in line with my values and thoughts of how to live an economically and environmentally sustainable life.