Coping with winter time blues?

softdown
softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,921 ✭✭✭✭
in In the Weeds--Member's Choice #1
Had periodic struggles since 2008. This year is pretty rough. December always the worst with the super short, dark days.

Thinking a trip down to the Texas gulf coast with my camper van is in order. Corpus Cristi sunny this time of year?

San Diego and LA are about the same distance as well. Likely rougher to park my camper van in Gruesome Newsome’s crib. 
First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • littleharbor2
    littleharbor2 Solar Expert Posts: 2,111 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #2
    One word, Baja.

    2.1 Kw Suntech 175 mono, Classic 200, Trace SW 4024 ( 15 years old  but brand new out of sealed factory box Jan. 2015), Bogart Tri-metric,  460 Ah. 24 volt LiFePo4 battery bank. Plenty of Baja Sea of Cortez sunshine.

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  • Marc Kurth
    Marc Kurth Solar Expert Posts: 1,173 ✭✭✭✭
    #3
    Long, dark days can be a very serious problem for many people. I have an Alaskan friend who is helped by full spectrum grow lights and 5000 IU/day Vitamin D3 supplements. Getting away and hanging around the beach is also an attitude corrector on its own.
    On the other hand, Baja does sound mighty close to perfect about now in the 70s with full sunshine!
    I always have more questions than answers. That's the nature of life.
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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,921 ✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Baja it is - so far. 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,623 admin
    #5
    Down side for any longer trips... Somebody can take care of your place (and or alarm/remote cameras, etc.) while you are gone? If I remember correctly, you have had some "issues" with a few locals.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,921 ✭✭✭✭
    edited December 17 #6
    BB. said:
    Down side for any longer trips... Somebody can take care of your place (and or alarm/remote cameras, etc.) while you are gone? If I remember correctly, you have had some "issues" with a few locals.

    -Bill
    Spent a few thousand blanketing every inch with security cameras that inform visitors they are being recorded. That has helped to date. 
    Tried Rings professional monitoring for a few days. They drove me nuts with dozens of false alarms. I suspect the techs work out of their homes and are paid based on “activity” they report. They also focused on my safe camera - a source of stress when out of town. Seems they continue to do so. That camera now constantly has false alarms. So I removed almost everything. Feel like it is being cased.

    Crime is out of control. Who could have seen that coming? "Defund the Police" and "OK to Steal less than $950" sound familiar?
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,921 ✭✭✭✭
    #7
    Marc Kurth said:
    Long, dark days can be a very serious problem for many people. I have an Alaskan friend who is helped by full spectrum grow lights and 5000 IU/day Vitamin D3 supplements. Getting away and hanging around the beach is also an attitude corrector on its own.
    On the other hand, Baja does sound mighty close to perfect about now in the 70s with full sunshine!
    Vitamin D is great. Harder to absorb from the sun when bundled up for winter weather. Today I hiked in a tshirt at ~ 44F to soak up more sun. Brrrr.

    There are, of course, Vitamin D lamps. For some reason the biggest supplier is based in - Alaska. Sperti is the name.

    Bought a $550 unit last year. Uses four small fluorescent tubes. Currently NA at Amazon. A cheaper sunlamp is currently available from Sperti - $500 at Amazon. One can get a lot more light for a lot less money by buying a much older and  used sunlamp/vit D lamp on ebay. The bulbs are very, very bright and their lives are much shorter. With patience one may be able to find one that is virtually unused though. A lot of products are hardly used at all. 

    Those bulbs would be hard to replace though. But the units cost a fraction of $550.

    Lifeguards can get so much Vit D that kidney stones are developed. Vit K2 is reported to circumvent that threat. 

    He could reportedly easily take 10,000 IU/day of D3 - per Dr. Berg - an influential youtube nutrition advisor. Over 12 million followers. Vit D has to be taken with some food for absorption. Better to get it with proper nutrition of course. Though single people are notorious for living off of crap, I mean highly processed food out of the microwave or cereal bowl. Living off of crap is a national plague spreading like a wildfire through the developed world. The end result? Often - diabetes. Obesity and joint inflammation at a minimum.
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • Marc Kurth
    Marc Kurth Solar Expert Posts: 1,173 ✭✭✭✭
    #8
    Vitamin D is controversial, but I am a believer when properly balanced with K2 and Magnesium. Part of the problem is related to an individual's ability to absorb it. Some need more than others in order to maintain decent levels, regardless of how perfect their diet and sunshine exposure are. The blood tests for D3 are cheap and the rewards are plentiful. 
    Yesterday was in the upper 70s and calm. A cold front is blowing in, so we took a boat ride then grilled some Bratwurst and watched the sun go down. Adult beverages may have been consumed, but none were harmed!
    Life in the cheap seats is good sometimes!


    I always have more questions than answers. That's the nature of life.
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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,921 ✭✭✭✭
    edited December 20 #9
    Vit D, Magnesium and Zinc are on the Mt Rushmore of supplements. 

    I take a LOT of supplements with no written proof of positive results since I don’t do doctors unless death is imminent. Long story that. 

    One thing that is beyond debate - the current American diet tends to be simply horrific. I think we get about half of our calories from catastrophic vegetable seed oils and various sugars/sweets. RFK & Comp will soon be battling big pharma, big food and big ag. 

    We are in for some very interesting twists and turns I suspect. Twelve empires have lasted ~ 200-250 years. We learned nothing from any of them. Emulating almost all of them instead. 

    How in the world does one know if they are really helping their kidneys, liver, heart, eyes, brain, gut, circulatory system etc.? So many factors at play. 100 experts = 100 different opinions. All seeming to change yearly.

    Calcium was a pretty hot item years ago. Now often blamed for arterial problems. Eggs were maligned for cholesterol. Now generally considered a super food. Sun caused skin cancer a while ago. Still may but needed badly for very essential Vit D. What will the experts think in 2040? 

    Studies are expensive. Pharma and big food can afford them but do they really want us taking better care of ourselves? “A patient healed is a patient lost?”

    One thing for sure. Medical doctors very rarely put stock in supplements. Many are still repeating what they were taught in their med school days. One such doctor recently advised their patient that cereal is good due to vitamin fortifications and eggs are bad due to cholesterol. Knowledge tends to progress and change. 

    Another thing for sure. Cold, dark winters blow. 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,921 ✭✭✭✭
    #10
    Anybody know of mail in blood tests? I can draw my own blood. Kind of like to know my numbers without a doc trying to subscribe medicine.
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,623 admin
    edited December 19 #11
    A place to start looking:

    https://duckduckgo.com/?q=blood+tests+by+mail&ia=web

    -Bill

    PS: If you go out of the country (USA) for some winter sun--You should check for the local Doc-in-a-Box type services (cash payments).

    In some (few, many, etc.?) countries, the pay as you go costs are not very expensive at all (compared to USA costs)...

    My wife got a statement of coverage for a multi-panel blood test, the lab fee was in the $400-$500 range (Medicare "list price*).

    In Taiwan, cash services are (many times), less than the deductible payments in the USA.

    -BB
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,921 ✭✭✭✭
    #12
    OK thanks! That wormhole appears to be miles deep. I had visualised a standard test for the most popular and important items. For, hoping, less than ~ $150. 
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,921 ✭✭✭✭
    #13
    Been slowly perking back up this past week. I don’t know why but peak blues always seem to occur around Dec. 10th. It is a serious condition that I’m sure many can not understand. It is like life force has been drained to the bare minimum. 

    Sunshine cures a lot but hard to get when bundled up for cold. The average hike only heads into the sun a minority of the time. 

    Walking backwards is reportedly good for balance. But gets old quite fast.

    Perhaps winter blues are much of the reason the snowbirds head south in the winter. Retired people don’t have to deal with so much cold and ice if they don’t have to be at work at 8am. Denver is usually pretty nice after 10am. Unsure about New York City. Is that ever nice? j/k
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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  • Marc Kurth
    Marc Kurth Solar Expert Posts: 1,173 ✭✭✭✭
    #14
    Weather, adequate water supply and a decently long growing season have always been considerations when I have selected where to live. I spend a good amount of time in Alaska and Montana in the 70s and that I am not fond of cold!
    I always have more questions than answers. That's the nature of life.
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  • JRHill
    JRHill Registered Users Posts: 367 ✭✭✭✭
    #15


    These charts get a lot of use this time of the year. They have a prominent and permanent position on the fridge.

    This dreary and mudy time of the season challenges me in putting off the things that I put off for this time of the season.
    Off Grid. Two systems: 1) 2925w panels, OB VFXR3648, FM80, FNDC, Victron BMV-712, Mate3s, 240 xformer, four SimpliPHI 3.8; 2) 780w, Morningstar 30a, Grundfos switch, controller and AC/DC pump, 8 T105. Honda EU7000is w/AGS. Champion 3100. HF 4550, Miller Bobcat.
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  • softdown
    softdown Solar Expert Posts: 3,921 ✭✭✭✭
    edited December 22 #16
    Latitude in Texas ranges from 26 to 36. Next to Florida it may be the most southerly state. 

    Still thinking the powers that be will succeed in turning Texas "liberal" someday? I guess anything is possible. 

    Digressing here but I figure the new admin is buying normalcy some real time. My viewpoints have me shadow banned most everywhere I may seek to ask questions. Viewpoints that were pretty main stream roughly a decade ago. I can’t discuss vitamins at reddit. Can’t ask 7.3 diesel Power Stroke questions at Facebook Power Stroke communities. All shadow banned. Well I can ask but nobody see’s. 

    Studied statistics somewhat heavily in college. Drawing conclusions based on available data? Can’t have that! Not “inclusive".
    First Bank:16 180 watt Grape Solar with  FM80 controller and 3648 Inverter....Fullriver 8D AGM solar batteries. Second Bank/MacGyver Special: 10 165(?) watt BP Solar with Renogy MPPT 40A controller/ and Xantrex C-35 PWM controller/ and Morningstar PWM controller...Cotek 24V PSW inverter....forklift and diesel locomotive batteries
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