... A largish household solar panel system might be 5 kW peak capacity (enough to provide order of 24 kW-hr in 24 hours with average-ish insolation). This system might cost $25K to $35K installed.

I know the story, actually a very good one. But don't have the title in my mind or the book at hand, will check later at home.

There where two types of immortality. One was the teleportation thing the other one was a "gene therapy" done to kids who where then stuck in 12 - 14 year old bodies.

Proofed it quickly and missed "prey instead of pray." WHACK!!! Another slap on the wrist.

I agree there unfortunately. I did the math a few years ago, during which time the electric price hasn't really risen substantially in the midwest. I basically figured that the cost of installing the PV panels would be recouped at about the same time that the panels reached about 30% of their original capacity... in other words by that point you'd be so close to replacement time that it was almost a wash. It just didn't make sense to me because when I also included costs of routine maintenance (you have to clean PV shingles or panels frequently to ensure maximum efficiency) it really was a net negative.

Now, if electricity prices were higher like in Australia then I could definitely see it making a lot more sense.

The biggest appeal was getting into the chat system. There, we could chat with what I assume were Darthmouth college students. "JOIN XYZ" I think was the command from the main menu.

There was this cool VT display of who was in the chat, so you could tell how many people were there. I used to chat with these people all the time. It was great for a precocious 13 year old who couldn't talk with his peers because his vocabulary and worldview was greatly expanded from theirs. How unfortunate that my social skills were so backward at the same time.

The details are a bit foggy, but I'm sure with some conversation with some of the same folks who used to chat there, I could dredge up those memories. Anyone remember chatting on that system?

The average kwh cost in the US is about twelve cents, or $0.90 to $1.20 to go 25 miles.

PG&E has standard rate plans that vary from 11c/kWh (which is so little that you can't afford a refrigerator) to 30c/kWh. There are also special plans (time- and season-driven); one of them is specifically intended for charging EVs. In that plan, IIRC, the rate is about 5 c/kWh - but that is at night only. I do not recall what is the rate during the day. Utilities hide the actual rate tables. PG&E has a convenient calculator. I tried it with Tesla S60 and 60 miles per day. I got about $150/mo on plan EV-A.

60 miles per day * 30 = 1800 miles per month. If we convert this to a gas car, $150 pays for about 42 gallons of gas. This results in efficiency of 42.85 mpg. This not something to write home about. My own Prius does 52 mpg on flat land, and 45 mpg if you add climbing of the surrounding hills. If these calculations are correct, it is not efficient to use an EV even if you got it for free. At best it equals the hybrid that costs a third of the price of the EV.

Well, I know what everybody says it means, but not necessarily what the rules say it's supposed to mean.

Then you would no longer be a private citizen but would be engaging in business. I think that almost everyone agrees that anyone who does that for commercial gain should have the book thrown at them.

"We're about ready to load our new destination into our GPS and head out onto the open road."

It seems Mars has GPS aswell. Time to start Geocaching on Mars...

Speaking of mining and ores, I find yours a bit... (how to put it?)... pun-ic?