Baseline

Visiting with a friend, along with climate change, politics and the latest movies, we were also discussing our electric bills. My bills, it seemed, were almost twice as much as her bills, even though we both live alone in roughly the same size house. Even though I had paid roughly the same amount since I bought my house 13 years ago, it got me thinking.

When I came home,  I investigated my electric bill and I entered the twilight zone of California’s baseline system of tiered billing. Basically, the more electricity I use, the more it costs me per (kilowatt) hour. This is the “tiered” part. I understand that, and it does encourage conservation.

In order to conserve, though, there has to be a starting point, and this is the baseline. And I understand that.

They arrive at the baseline by “determining the CPUC for SCE’s average residential electricity consumption in nine geographical regions for southern and central California, for winter and summer seasons.”

WHAT?????

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call “The Tiered Zone”.

I think that means they look at the consumption in 9 areas, average it out, figure out if it’s winter or summer, then set that as my baseline. And charge me 12 cents per kilowatt-hour used. The way I figure, if my neighbors in the surrounding 9 areas are heavy into consumption then my baseline is high. If they’re on a conservation kick, then my baseline is low. If it’s a hot winter and air condition use is high, then so too is my baseline. If it’s a mild summer and open windows are enough to keep one cool, the my baseline is low.

If I use more than the allotted baseline, I’m charged 14 cents per hour for that next bucket of kilowatt-hours, 24 cents for tier 3, 27 for tier 4, and a whopping 31 cents per kilowatt hour for tier 5.

Being the geek that I am, stranded in the island I call home, during a rare California deluge,  I decided to chart my kilowatts hours used the past year. The only thing consistent is the inconsistency of the baseline and tiers.

In the past year did I find two consecutive months with the same baseline and tiers 2-5 buckets? Noooooo, I did not. I’ve only gone into tier 4 four times in the past year, but those hours cost me more than twice as much as the baseline!

Obviously, if I want to save money, I need to use less electricity and keep my kilowatt hours in the first and second tiers. And make sure the surrounding areas are NOT conserving.

It’s entirely possible to do all I can to use less electricity, and still have my bill be more expensive. All it takes is for the neighboring areas to conserve their usage, dropping the baseline bucket so it overflows faster into the higher costing tiers!

This sounds all so suspicious.

But, wanting to do my part, I did a few calculations and looked for ways to conserve. In addition to the normal stuff of making sure lights are off in rooms not used, I found a few changes I could make…That 2nd fridge in the garage? Unplugged. TV and components? Off each night. Light bulbs? Compact fluorescent in the high use fixtures. I guess I’ll give it 6 months or so and see how much it really helps.

Then I can worry about the other utilities.

The Next Level

I have now entered a new level of geekdom. I can now “write” my blog posts via a voice recognition software. They say it’s faster than typing but I’m not sure. At least it allows me to correct any part of the recording after I recorded it. I’m sure once I get used to it, it will be much easier. The hardest part is remembering all of my punctuation, like commas, periods and paragraphs. I need to speak slowly so that the computer can pick up all the sounds. I sound like a robot when I speak hopefully I’ll be able to get a better pattern down when I speak.

Although I’ve been told that my writing sounds just like my speaking, it’s a lot harder thinking in “speaking” than it is thinking in “writing”!

So, this whole post was dictated into one software package on my iPhone, pasted into my blog software on the iPhone, then uploaded to my blog site!

I love my iPhone!

Three Down

While listening to a podcast the other day, the interviewer and the interviewee were discussing all the different social networking sites. They discussed the advantages and disadvantages of sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and others.

The -er asked the question, “If people are spending their time on social networking sites, then what AREN’T they spending time doing?”

And the -ee answered, “Human interaction & family time”.

Now, I have to disagree. While I might not spend as much time with friends as I’d like, it’s not because I’m on Facebook. What I am no longer spending as much time doing is watching TV. I don’t know if I’m just getting older, or if the shows are getting dumber, but I’ve already dropped three shows from my evening viewing. Of which I’ve only replaced one.

The first to go was CSI:NY. I think Gary Sinise is great. I liked the show for the New York setting and characters, letting me “go home” for an hour each week. I cannot take the spoon-feeding deliver of this show. I don’t remember it being this bad in the first season. The evidence is gathered and the actor’s lines make sure you do not miss its importance. I also do not like the way show developed into relationship dramas instead of keeping the highlight on the forensics.

The second to go was another CSI. The original one. (I watched CSI:Miami ONCE, but David Caruso was just too much to bare.) I actually stopped watching last year when 3 of the main characters left. First Sara, then Warrick, then Grissom. I decided to give Lawrence Fishbourne a fair chance, and he is great, but it’s just a different show now and I’m not interested. The camaraderie is missing, as is the quirkiness.

The third show I decided to stop watching is Numb3rs. I hate math and I suck at it, but the first years of this show were fascinating. I understand math is the underlying structure to just about everything, but this show, too, started to delve more into the relationship drama and less into the math theorems. I guess the available math theories can only take you so far! And with Peter Macnicol having only a reoccurring role on the show, it is not fun to watch.

I started watching NCIS:Los Angeles only because I’m already sitting in front of the TV when it comes on. I was so disappointed in the season premier of this show. The lead in episode of this show on NCIS looked so good! I’ve liked Chris O’Donnell since I saw Scent of a Woman, but he seems to get the shaft in all his roles. The actor chemistry on this show is HORRENDOUS as is the acting, especially coming directly after NCIS. I tried to give it more than one episode, but the next three were just as bad. To save himself, Mr. O’Donnell needs to go undercover to another show. I’ve started to going to bed early on Tuesday, as I’d rather read.

I was debating if I should give White Collar a shot. It seemed like a combination of “Catch Me If You Can” and “Leverage” and I was not interested in another duplicate show. But with Numb3rs a disappointment, and me being sick, I figured I’d watch at least one episode. Parking my butt in front of the TV, wrapped in a blanket, snuggling with the Fat Dog sounded like a great idea. The show turned out to be great! I was a little nervous at first, when it started out similar to Leverage, but by the end, it was different enough that I can watch both without getting con artist overload.

I have to tell you, though, if Booth and Bones do not get out of their relationship drama soon, it is going to be four down.