so, what am i doing this weekend?

well, i've got four days of cheap electricity, so i can work at a normal pace. i don't know what my electrical costs are going to be in this unit. i know that i'll get a credit applied eventually, but the process appears to be cumbersome and inefficient, so i don't know when. i tried to get them the information for mid-november, but they're telling me i need to wait two cycles, and not providing a coherent answer as to why. i got the thing escalated, at least. i don't know when to expect a response.

but, i'm conserving electricity in the mean time. my first bill should not be high, at least. the major cost is the fridge. i don't know after that. i need to get data before i can react to it.

i'm probably going to get some solar lamps and put them in the windows, then never turn the lights on. i have five giant windows in this apartment, six including the one in the bathroom. i really don't need lights at all. i'm going to need to check costs and crunch numbers to see if it makes sense, but it no doubt does. if they're around $20 each, it will make sense immediately. if they get to more than that i'll need to see...

i'm also considering getting a ups and using it as a battery, but that's going to again be determined by how much it costs and what my actual electrical costs end up being. what i could do with this is suck down electricity over night for use in the day, ensuring that i'm only paying off peak costs (except for the fridge and the cable modem), and i'm able to operate at will with the electrical.

the other thing i'm considering is just getting some solar panels and hooking them up to a battery. this would be intended for extraneous usage, like extra guitar effects or synthesizers. i'm just going to need to get an understanding of base usage, first.

the way this works is that they calculate the bill - and i have to pay something like $25/month just to use it - and then subtract $68 from the end of it. so, i'll get something like $40/month for free once it's set up. i actually don't expect my base usage to exceed this: fridge, other kitchen appliances, computers, tv, etc. but, if i decide that i want to spend all night every night for a month recording guitar parts through five processors, that's when it starts to add up - and where a solar source could be useful. like i say, i have these huge windows. but, i don't know where the technology is, and i don't know if i'll really need it.

see, the credit is cumulative. so, if it comes in at less than $68, i can transfer what's left to the next month. i don't actually expect this to be uncommon, especially if i get the solar lights up. that will mean i could see myself building credits - and that i can use those for my recording spurts.

right now, i really have no idea at all how this is going to play out.

but, i'm going to pick up where i left off, which is at compiling the blu-ray disc. i'm going to use it as an opportunity to double check all of the liner notes. that should be a day or two, at least...