Modern Vespa

That's being conservative, I need to line the camera up so that it doesn't have my speedo in the picture frame.......

Bloody Hell my BV350 is such an excellent scooter.

It excels in pretty much every department apart from the screen which I can live with.

My pillion likes it also.

Bill X

My Hodna is a great tool too mate, but she is fat and ugly though......

But I bet she goes the distance.

I can't believe I just said that.

Bill x

Photovoltaics or water heaters?

We have the solar water heater panels on the roof (by law, all Israeli homes have to have them) and I'm hoping to have a photovoltaic array installed next spring.

Oh, she's willing alright......

I always had a soft spot for the Hodna Revere.

What a nice understated bike they were.

Bill x

Aw sorry Alice, I think this one is a 'can't please everyone all the time'

In other news..
One of my local supermarkets has the Christmas decorations in, and driving down one of the roads near home tonight, I saw my first twinkling of some outside Christmas lights... OMG...

It's a 3.75KW PV system. It'll probably be be 7 years till I break even but with a 20 year life I should get back between 4 and 5 times what I paid for it.

Do you have a similar scheme to us where you get paid for each KWH you generate?

I couldn't have told you who any of the riders were at the Motocross meet on
Sunday but it didn't matter because it was a great day out in the Autumn sun watching loud things go fast.
To see these guys launch their quads, side cars and bikes into the air while battling for the lead was just amazing.
Genie noted just how many handsome young riders were walking around the paddock wearing their riding trews but very little else on top exposing their flat taught stomachs and muscular arms,shoulders etc etc etc white noise...........

Bill X

Yes, the national electric company will buy the electricity produced by the pv array at four times the going rate.

Today I noticed that after wearing shorts almost exclusively for the last four months, I've got hairs on my knees.

That's kind of a rite of passage down here. When a new guy moves down it takes him several months and then he announces to all and sundry about his knee hairs.

And you did it the hard way, in Blighty, right? Or were you in San Fran? I lost track.

Three months in the UK including three weeks in Spain, and a month here in SF so far.

Doesn't everyone?

Why would they do that?

Maybe, but as I've hardly ever worn shorts in my life before except as a schoolchild, it came as somewhat of a surprise to me.

Your candor is heartwarming Jim. Made me smile. Here's to the order of hairy knees no matter when you join the club.

I've had to edit my profile due to your remark.

The electric company wants as many PV arrays out around the country as possible. But they are too expensive for most people.

So they ask the home owners to fork over about a quarter of the cost as a down payment. The balance is financed by the electric company with the payments being made via the proceeds of the electricity the panels create.

If they paid the homeowner for the electricity at the same rate as the home owner pays to buy electricity, it would take the expepected lifespan of the array to pay them off... making it a losing propositions for the homeowner. So they pay a much higher rate for the electricity created by the panels as a way to ensure an incentive for as many homeowners as possible to purchase the arrays.

Now comes the real underlying reason.

Most of the country's electricity is created by seval coal fired plants on the coast. The panels will never be more than a small supplement to those plants. But as the country's electrical needs grow every year, there are several peak periods where the system struggles to keep up. This is where a large network of additional PV power stations will help even things out and ensure the oveall system never approaches its limits.

To do this they need to invest in infrastructure (by helping homeowners to make the initial investment). It is taking the long view of things and is considered a national priority.

In the UK, the payments started at roughly three times the cost of the electricity, linked to inflation and paid for 25 years.

Even so, with a typical domestic system being around £15000 take up was slow.

As prices have dropped, so has the subsidy. Now we are on about 1.5x the cost of electricity but it's down to £6k for the system so the break even point is about the same but there's a smaller outlay and profit.

Sounds like a sound plan.

Christmas starts on October 16th for me, apparently, as that's when my current workplace starts gearing up to spread it all over the website.

I usually can't get enough Christmas but it's going to mean so much extra work that this could be the year I go off it for good.

I got a rear rack, want to try it on for size?

Yes please

I'd only need it for 10 mins or so...

the scenery was particularly good that day

The other day I drove supercharged Range Rover and for a few moments I felt like I was the best driver in the world - and the fastest.
It was like driving a high speed Cathedral.
Much as I hate them I can see the attraction.

Bill X

You going to the Hendon meet or want to meet up before that? Didge does a few back racks mine has a big Skok badge on it. Will it still be ok?

Before if possible mate

I just need to bolt it on with the grab rail, then see if it all fits together nicely with the new seat 8)

Looks like it'll end up like this?
http://classic-racks.co.uk/images/gallery/20/günter_costisella_austria.jpg
http://classic-racks.co.uk/images/gallery/08/image_08.jpg

Yes but with the solo saddle... Didge said that some of the solo saddles are more padded than others, so sometimes the rear rack doesn't fit well...

nah, Walters not Bad Ass enough for Bill..

more like Heisenberg

yo bitch

This is doing the rounds on the net at the moment - a fairly surreal and not entirely safe for work thread on MumsNet (which is a truly dreadful forum at the best of times).

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/1875847-Do-you-dunk-your-penis

That can't be serious?

the post from RevelsRoulette had me howling with laughter my office mate thinks i've gone mad and I can't really explain to him what i'm laughing at [wipes eyes]

Trying to figure out what would be worst/best thing to insult someone with. Penis beaker or knob bucket...I think knob bucket.

always happy to get some xmas present ideas..

Dick thimble