Remembering GM and Chrysler

The recent news about the government takeovers of GM and Chrysler has me in a bit of a melancholy mood. I'm thinking of my grandfather too, who passed away Christmas last.

In the 1950's not everyone had central air conditioning. In fact, most didn't. The most recent breakthrough for home comfort was the oil burner and the ability to get rid of (or convert) that coal-eating beast in the cellar.

Not long after that came the advent of central cooling for homes. Americans had enjoyed cool movie theaters, restaurants and department stores for years now, but the entry into the home has been somewhat slow.

Now, most credit Willis Carrier for the dry summer comfort we enjoy in our homes today and that would be only somewhat true. Ol' Willis was an engineer. And as engineers are wont to do, he liked figuring out the big stuff.

And so it's here where my thoughts of GM, Chrysler and Grandpop come together. You see he was quite good at selling his comfort wares. And proud too.

Proud to tell his customers that his company offered the safest, most reliable systems available to this new industry. Proud because he sold GM and Chrysler.

You see, in the 1950s, America was proud of her industry. And Grandpop was proud. That's why he sold GM Delco oil furnaces and Chrysler AirTemp air conditioners.

Solar Buyer - Beware

I read with great interest Diane Mastrull's Sunday, May 10th Philadelphia Inquirer column; "Solar power - for rent"

In it she explains that solar, even with the available rebates and incentives, can be prohibitively expensive for many people these days. She then goes on to explain how a small company is offering to pay this upfront cost in an effort to "raise a bumper crop of solar panels across Philadelphia's rowhouse rooftops."

These types of agreements, while new to the Delaware Valley, have existed in various forms over the years. While helpful, there are pros and cons to them. It is important that people know the consequences of 'renting' and may be better off saving their shekels to put down on their own system instead.

The type of agreement described in the article is typically known as a "Power Purchase Agreement". They are commonly used in situations when non-taxable entities like schools, churches or governments want the benefits of solar.

Simply put, a third party pays for the solar installation. As such, the building owner does not 'own' the system and cannot participate in the tax credits or depreciation.

In some cases (like the one described in the article), the leasing company receives all of the available incentives (rebates, RECs) and basically becomes the utility by forging an agreement with the building owner to purchase power from the leasing company (usually at significant savings) for a fixed period of time. At the end of that period, the system usually becomes the property of the building owner for a payment as agreed at the inception of the lease.

While leasing (Power Purchase Agreements) can be helpful, it is important to understand that they are most useful for nontaxable entities to take advantage of credits they would normally not have access to.

Taxable entities must understand, however, that using these types of agreements can strip them of their rights to the kind of incentives that make alternative energies attractive. Consequently, they would likely be better off tapping sources of loan funds or simply saving the money to invest in solar in the future.

Fast Response Even Faster

I know it's hard to believe, but 2 weeks ago we were in summertime weather. A lot of air conditioners were breaking down in South Jersey.

Thankfully, people were able to count on Runnemede Plumbing Heating Cooling & Electric

Here's a nice note from a homeowner in Mount Ephraim:

Thank you so much for responding to our call as fast as you did on Saturday. Our central air broke late in the day and with the outside temperature increasing over the weekend we needed your help and expertise right away... My husband and I were able to sleep comfortably, and so did our Golden Retriever Harley who was panting frantically earlier throughout the day...As homeowners we will continue to use Runnemede Plumbing Heating Cooling & Electric because we need a business, and service such as yours we can depend on to help us with the unexpected. Go Big Red R! Thank you once again.

With office hours Monday through Saturday 7am - 10pm, TheBigRedR is definitely the place to call with your home service needs; who wants to take off from work in this economy??

But then there's Nogginhaus.

With Nogginhaus, the air conditioner's problem would have been identified and fixed before there was a breakdown. No hot Saturday afternoon. No worry about a hot, miserable night. No panting Golden Retriever.

Fast response even faster.

April Summery

A week ago I was sitting in a barn in Califon, NJ learning the whats and wherefores about solar electricity. It was cold.

It's a barn, after all and although the building had solar panels on the roof and lights to read by, one still had to use a port-a-john for his business and rub his hands vigorously together for heat.

Today, on the verge of May, temperatures push past 90 for the third day straight. The phones at Runnemede Plumbing Heating Cooling & Electric ring nonstop. Lots of people are finding that their air conditioner doesn't work. Others want to schedule a maintenance visit before 'summer' arrives.

But a Nogginhaus has not a care. It already knew weeks ago that the air conditioner needed attention. So it scheduled the repair visit and had it fixed before the homeowner even realized that there was problem.

He went about his work and enjoyed life while his thinking house took care of itself.

Social Media on Steroids

The success of online networking sites is intriguing to me. Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo; I've joined them all and encouraged my friends and family to do the same.

But I think the process is clumsier than it needs to be.

Let's say you meet someone interesting at a business meeting. You have a good, spirited conversation and exchange business cards. When you get back from your trip, you decide to look your new friend up in Facebook. You send an invite.

Now maybe he'll remember you. Maybe he won't. Maybe he'll accept your invitation. Maybe not.

The fact that you stood together, had a conversation and exchanged business cards is all useful data. Maybe someday soon your networking sites will know instantly who you met, how you interacted and the likelyhood that you'll meet again in the future.

Perhaps you'll be able to simply logon to your Facebook account and you'll see that you are already 'Friends'

Pinball Inflation

The family spent the day at Arnold's Family Fun Center in Oaks, PA. My son, Hunter, turned 4 this week and he has been wanting to go gokart racing since last fall.

That reminds me; Full Tilt Racing provided a great day of gokart racing for our company (Runnemede Plumbing Heating Cooling & Electric) last fall.
Here's the video:




Anyhow, this post isn't about gokart racing. Rather, it is about pinball and inflation.

Huh? Well, at Arnold's, they have a section full of pinball machines new and old. I began by playing the newer machines and gradually made my way to the older ones.

I must say, I enjoyed the old ones the most. They were noticably old and from the 1960s or 1970s. I enjoyed them for a few reasons:

- The new machines were very complicated. There was so much going on; lots of lights, targets, tunnels, flippers, holes. All kinds of stuff. They were fun, but a bit overwhelming. On the other hand, the old machines were beautiful in their simplicity. Two flippers, not four or six. Very simple layouts so you actually knew what you were supposed to try to accomplish.

- The new machines had very elaborate sound systems as well. There was Baywatch, The Simpsons, The Sopranos - all with the requisite theme songs and sound effects. The old machines though, what a wonderful cacophony of clacks, pings and bells. Playing those old machines felt like playing an old instrument - you had an idea of what it should sound like, but were pleasantly amused once you started playing.

- Lastly, I couldn't help but notice the point inflation. It was nothing to score in the millions of points in the newer machines. But in the old machines, scores were only in the tens of thousands.

So just like the price of bread and milk and gas and virtually everything in the
1960s, the 'same thing' is much, much more costly today.

In 40 years will our kid's look back at 1,000,000 and wax nostalgic at what such a small sum could buy? Most definitely, if our government has anything to say about it.

Wethinks about chickens

Jeff and I have been talking a lot lately about chickens. We want chickens. Good, egg-laying chickens. Like a Rhode Island Red. Or maybe a White Leghorn.

We figure on getting four chickens. Four nice egg laying hens will do us good. Omletts, scrambled, poached, hard-boiled, over-easy, over-medium, over-hard, sunny-side-up, sliced egg sandwiches, egg salad, soufles, egg cremes.

Our wives think that we're crazy, that we'll never actually get around to buying our coveted fowl. We did a lot of research on coops. The Catawba Brougham is our favorite. We downloaded the plans and intend to build it ourselves (our wives chuckle when we tell them that too).

So when we tell others our plans for world domination beginning with a humble flock of yard-raised chickens, they usually have a few questions after their hearty belly laughs and snide comments. I will gladly address them here:

1. You can't keep chickens in your town, can you?
I read our town's rule book, and it specifically says you can't keep a specific list of farm animals one of which is NOT chickens!

2. Won't they make a lot of noise?
They're CHICKENS, not roosters! Besides, I'm sure they won't wake me up in the middle of the night like the stupid dog across the street! Chickens might be dumb, but at least they know to go to sleep when it's dark!

3. What will you do with all of the eggs?
Eat them. See deliciously long list above.

4. Won't they smell?
No more that the yard of the beast mentioned in item number 2. Pew.

5. What will you do when they're too old to lay eggs?
Eat them. Mmmmm; fried, roasted, fricassied, poached, baked, cordon blue, pot pies, caccatore, with cashew nuts, salad, monte carlo, croquettes...

6. Where will you keep them?
In their coop. The Catawba Brougham; what a fine piece of capon construction.

And lastly, my wife's favorite:
7. Who's going to feed them every day?
That's what we have kids for!