Hillbilly ‘Lectricity
☆ September 19, 2011
That’s my big old Ford charging my laptop battery for me.
Tangent: I love Apple, I am a diehard Mac user, but I swear they program their computers to break the day after Apple Care runs out. A year or two ago, my laptop, which is about five years old, stopped being able to gain a charge when plugged into the wall. The little port on the side of the laptop finked out. But I refused to get a new laptop, primarily because of this:
Those are Charlie’s baby teeth marks. When Charlie was a tiny pup, I left both him and my open laptop on my bed and caught him teething on the corner.
When the charging issue began, I searched high and low and finally found an external battery charger on ebay for about $30. This means I have to take the battery out to charge it, which is kind of a pain, but it’s way better than buying a new computer and the system is perfect for the mountain.
I got a nifty power inverter (pictured above, found here
So, technically, my laptop has been powered by gasoline, but you do what you gotta do.
For Charlie’s fence, I have a marine battery + solar panel connected to the fence. Charlie’s fence uses a very small amount of electricity so I could get away with using a little 1.5 watt solar panel that Mike had sitting in his basement. The solar panel slowly charges the battery all day as the fence slowly draws energy.
A larger solar panel would allow me to use the power inverter with the marine battery to charge my laptop and camera batteries (instead of using my truck battery), but the bottom line was the bottom line ~ I didn’t want to shell out for a larger solar panel. But if I lived like this permanently, I would.
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23 Responses to “Hillbilly ‘Lectricity”
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September 19th, 2011 @ 7:46 am
Cool. That’s what I call inventive pioneer spirit. Combining bits and pieces to make something useful at relatively low cost.
Is Charlie’s fence around the camper or do you have a separate “play area” for him? I will have to check through your previous notes again.
Teething marks on laptop? When laptop is no longer usable, that corner should be framed (since there are no booties to put on the mantel or where ever).
September 19th, 2011 @ 7:55 am
Good thinking. It must be getting chilly up there now, heat some rocks to keep the camper warm! When do you head back down?
September 19th, 2011 @ 8:14 am
Girl, you are so clever.
September 19th, 2011 @ 8:26 am
That’s clever, and yes, you do what you gotta do. Keep on doing!
September 19th, 2011 @ 8:47 am
Some beauty there in shiny Apple components plugged in under a dusty Ford hood.
September 19th, 2011 @ 9:22 am
Did you make a ‘den’ for Charlie within the new fence? Is he in there a lot, or does he wander around mostly with you?
September 19th, 2011 @ 9:32 am
this makes my cheeks hurt from smiling because i just love doing what needs to be done…creatively!
September 19th, 2011 @ 10:45 am
I find your ingenuity and creativity
truly inspiring.
September 19th, 2011 @ 10:47 am
Oh and the baby teeth marks are adorable!
It would be something I would do, keeping it.
September 19th, 2011 @ 2:05 pm
We used to bake potatoes on the engine when we drove from Texas to Colorado. Those were the best taters…. maybe it is the memories that made the so wonderful.
I understand about the baby teeth marks. Mom has these kitchen chairs that were marked up by my Charlie, a blue/grey Manx, that we can not get rid of because of the memories. She once tried sewing covers for the back of them and Dad had a fit. He wanted to see those baby marks and so the covers where made into seat cushions.
Those Charlie’s will steal your heart.
September 19th, 2011 @ 6:59 pm
These pics remind me of my Dad. He was great at rigging up stuff and it all worked too. Love the teeth marks. I have cat teeth marks on flip flops (my cat has a shoe fetish). Dog teeth marks on a rocker, shoes, hair brush…….. I won’t give up any of it.
September 19th, 2011 @ 7:12 pm
…baby teeth marks – you gotta’ frame that!
September 19th, 2011 @ 7:43 pm
You are sooooooo resourceful! Like you said, you do what you gotta do. Those teeth marks are priceless and worth a thousand words. You are my hillbilly hero!
September 19th, 2011 @ 8:15 pm
Cute teeth marks! :)
And good info about “roughing it” while also needing electricity. But does that still work to charge the battery using the truck in winter?
September 19th, 2011 @ 8:31 pm
Love the holding on to the teeth marks, I won’t part with my chewed up telephone stand for the same reason. If the laptop ever gets to the point where it’s totally nonfunctional, pop the monitor out, and use the laptop ‘frame’ for a picture frame for one of your favorite Charlie pictures. I’m sure it would be hard finding just one, so maybe a whole collage print!
September 19th, 2011 @ 8:47 pm
Sounds like a lower-power version of the inverter/battery scheme we use in our truck to power our camper when we camp off-grid. Normally we only need it for the computers (to display any camera pics taken that day) and for the microwave. Yes, I know having a microwave in the middle of nowhere is an absurd luxury, but I cook as little as possible on vacation; we eat leftovers a lot. Vacation evenings are meant for watching sunsets, not slaving over stoves.
I’m glad you’re keeping Charlie in. Not that I would suspect him of doing something untoward, but getting shot is always such a hazard. Poor coyote — living in an area where almost everyone hates the sight of you!
September 19th, 2011 @ 10:54 pm
So very clever. I truly lust after this kind of simplicity of living. I had the same thought about making a frame or an art project out of the old computer . . . just got rid of my old CLAM SHELL mac (can you believe it?) The thing lasted about 8 years and it was a hand-me-down at that.
September 19th, 2011 @ 11:23 pm
waitin on some rain to wash your truck? baahaaa!
September 20th, 2011 @ 8:26 am
Love the baby teeth marks.
September 20th, 2011 @ 10:50 am
How innovative. I LOVE IT!
September 20th, 2011 @ 6:10 pm
Hahahaha! My laptop looks exactly the same. I did the exact same thing you did – except I left my laptop on my bed with my German shepherd puppy. Now it’s “decorated” but still working fine.
September 20th, 2011 @ 7:43 pm
Hi Shreve,
so clever you are! How is the family doing? Are you still on the high plains?……keeping warm I hope. Looking forward to more of your posts soon. xox J
October 11th, 2011 @ 10:29 am
Shreve–is it your laptop that’s dead, or is it the charger that plugs into the wall?
You can buy a new power converter for much less than the cost of a new laptop. And beware if you’re running solely off the battery, they only have a set number of charges in them before they die, and they’re also about $100 to replace. If it’s an old version Mac doesn’t sell anymore you could try ebay or craigslist.
Either way, much less than the cost of a new laptop.