NORTH COAST discussion and questions...

FYI the bridge just outside Rio San Juan also flooded when the water level went down one side of the road was gone so if your headed to Caberete or Sousua you will need to slow down as you pass

Sure on the well driller!
That would be Scotty, his phone is 809-223-1178
He is in Cabrera.

I would recommend Scotty as well!

Thanks for this I will give him c call

A very sad day here in Sosua.

Yesterday there was a huge independence day parade through town and along the road to Charamicos. There were thousands of school kids marching with color guards, drummers, cheerleaders.  A beautiful parade and the kids were amazing.  HOWEVER near the end of the parade a wall collapsed and fell on a number of the kids.  As of this morning two kids have died and 6 or so others are injured some seriously.  So sad. 

Bob K

Really sad news Bob.
No reason why that should have happened.

Another sad incident in Cabrera happened in Cabrera early this morning.
Police shot a man around Central Park just after midnight.
Celebrations with too much alcohol is my assumed reason.
The wounded victim as at large.
This is a very rare occurrence here.

Shoddy construction was most likely the cause of the collapse of the wall in sosua.  Seems no rebar was used.

Bob K

Alcohol and guns......NEVER a good mix.

Bob K

That, my friend, is the one thing in this beautiful country
that bothers me.

I am glad that it is only one thing for you.  But this is true anywhere in the world.  Here there seems however to be almost a total disregard for life.

Bob K

Like you said Bob, guns & alcohol do not mix well.
Also, really, that is about the only thing I
can't handle here. I am from northern
Ontario, where guns & alcohol are regularly mixed.
Problems are rare there, but once in a while of course.

Sh*t can happen anywhere but it is nice to minimize the chances. 

Besides the gun problem my other thing the gets my goat is the electricity.  No I don't mind that we lose it on a regular basis.  That I can deal with easily.  What gets me is that ed Norte will turn the power on and off every few minutes.  This can happen up to 10 times in a 15 min period and sometimes these episodes occur 3-4 times in an hour.  My thought just turn it off until you figure it out then turn it back on.  It is hell on electronics for sure.

Speaking of which if you don't have one get a delayed plug for your frig (sell it in all the hardware stores here). This keep your refrig from coming on for 3 minutes after a power failure (you can set for up to 5 minutes on some), so your compressor is not coming on and off (great way to ruin a very expensive compressor).  We have one on our frig and freezer as well.

Bob K

Oh  Bob such sad news about those kids!!!!!    Whoever  built that wall should be arrested along with "inspectors" etc who allow it. 

Guns and alcohol do not mixxxxxx.....

Inspectors???????????????????????????????

I know you are kidding right???????????????????? 

But yes poor construction once again rears its ugly head

Bob K

Well, somebody has to hire the inspectors before they can fire them!
Sad for sure, on all problems.
Hey Bob, we don't have your "on & off" problems here in Cabrera.
We seem to have hydro 60 percent of the time.
Never been out more than 10 hours here.
So our 8 batteries are sufficient.

It is not the problem of being with no electric.  We have a back up generator that kicks in in about 5 seconds. It is the constant on/off cycles that kill our stuff

BObK

I understand the on/off problem.
Why does Cabrera not have this problem.
It is EdeNorte here as well as Sousa.

Don't know but maybe an idiot is charge of our area???

Bob K

Come on now Bob!
Is that even possible with EdeNorte?
jajajajaja

Hahahaha   good one...........

Sorry me bad.  I know they are highly skilled professionals

Bob K

In looking at North Coast real estate listings on line it appears that some houses use solar as a solution, e.g. : "16 solar electricity panels, 16 batteries (480Kw per month), high quality LED light."  It is a lot more costs effective today as I have seen solar panels priced at 25% of what they used to cost...

It means going off-grid and only using mains electricity when excess capacity needed.  Even Lennox now has solar powered a/c

Yes some have gone to solar either completely or partially. It is still expensive and when we figured the cost to go completely off grid it would take us 5 years to break even.  We do how ever have solar hot water and are probably going to go solar this year for our pool pumps.  These two (hot water and pool) are the biggest drain on electricity.


Bob K

Acadien solar is the way to go long term. Short term most cannot afford it.  Even at  25% savings once you pay import costs it is expensive.....

Solar panels have also become more efficient, there is increasingly more bang per $.  What was not cost effective ~5 years ago could be cost effective today e.g. Costco USA shows the following for US$3,900: 

The Grape Solar 1250 Watt Grid-Tied PV Kit can generate between 75 kWh and 175 kWh of electricity per month. This amount of power is equivalent to the energy consumption of a standard refrigerator and about eight interior light bulbs. The kit consists of five 250 watt panels, Enphase micro inverters and a roof-top racking system for mounting the modules.   http://www.costco.com/Grape-Solar-1250- … 55521.html

Don't forget the batteries!
Probably need 8-12

Thanks, it does need batteries, many homes already have them in existing inverter systems.    At home we also reduce our electrical load with energy efficient appliances, e.g. led  or c-fl bulbs.

We could also talk about passive solar cooling, etc, but it is likely a different topic.


- Ted

Yes just changing our light bulbs to low watt of LED has dropped our consumption by 100KW hours a month or more.

Bob K

I have solar and it reduced my electricity costs by 80%. Only use electricity for my pool pump. I am glad I spent the money as yes payback is going to be 5-7 year's but the substation here in Rio San Juan was flooded in the recent rain and now we are lucky if we get 110. Can't run my pool pump so a solar pump has now moved up on my to replace list then I will not need ede north for power. FYI I installed 12 300W panels with 16 batteries and it has not failed me yet.

Loving the solar power convo......How come the government has decided to go with coal plants as opposed to solar, hydroelectric, or more Eolic options??? As far as I know, the DR is not a big coal producer, would it make more sense to use more of their natural resources? Wind, Sun, and Water   seem like logical choices to me. I also checked out the clay based FilterPure filters, what an amazing product and noble cause........seems to work amazingly well for a simply $50 Dollar Donation, what a great way to bring clean drinking water to many who have no choice, but to drink river water. I believe the inventor will be in Cab this Sat.....I will post more info as I receive it.

I have no idea why the step back to the dark ages on coal power.  Wind or sun would be the way to go as there is an abundance of both here. There are countries in Europe (like Portugal) where over 80% of their power comes from wind.  Talk about a renewable fuel source.


Bob K

Coal power =  kickbacks to someone or someones somewhere.  Simple really.

Solar - yes.  Issue is most have no money to invest up front in the technology.  It is a lot!

Water filters - you bet,  great idea.

I know just what you mean Bob.....l'm scratching my head on that one still, it is not like these sources are not already on the Island......there are two Eolic parks already and a small key in DR which is run almost completely on Solar power........Sooooo why go back to the Carbon polluting plant??? If any of my fellow bloggers wish to chime in and help my reasoning on this one please do because I'm going Bonkers over here!   I have following the Quirino story still, and it looks like he is gearing up to start doing a few television interviews soon, there are videos on YouTube of a show called Hilando Fino with Salvador Holguin, and boyyyyy is he dropping bombs each day on that show, this thing is going to sink a whole lot of folks....l hope they like cold weather because the boys in Washington are really going to want to talk to a few of these Hombres

Thanks Planner.........I know the kickbacks are involved, but I was hoping that on this go around they would simply put greed aside for a minute and do what's right

Read above honey - it is always about MONEY!!!!   

Yes things are heating up here, this is going to be interesting to watch!!!!   And of course remember this bozo has an agenda too.  Take it ALL with a giant dose of scepticism.

Nice wishful thinking honey!!!! It is ALWAYS about money.

First rule...$$$$$ rule
Second rule...$$$$ will always rule here
Third rule......If NO $$$$ in it for me then must bad idea.

Bob K

And that applies to them ALL, no one is exempt from that  set of rules here. Period...... they are ALL The same.