Cool, Misty, Morning, in Early August

Amenia, New York

Rt. 44 heads west out of Amenia climbing a steep hill out of the valley, then as you approach the top of the ridge, it swings around a 270°+ tight curve. The black & yellow traffic sign you see in the middle right of the frame is essentially telling drivers, "there's a lot more of this curve coming up." The view back southeast into the valley is always interesting.

With the TOP Platinum/Palladium Print Offer over, yesterday I got to go and make an oh-so-glamorous purchase—at Lowes. A new dehumidifier. Our old one is simply ancient, certainly horrible on energy consumption, and also is completely useless in cool, damp, conditions. Those are exactly the conditions I'll have over the next month as I work on fulfillment of the orders. So I got a new one that is Energy Star rated, and claims to work down to 41°F. The materials I'm using respond best to an environment of 65-68°F and 55-60% Rh, so those specs looked perfect. With cool overnights I'd expect the "waste heat" produced by the unit (which is a problem in hot weather) to be not wasted at all but warm up the space.

Talk about exceeding expectations. It yanks moisture out of the air so fast, and so efficiently, that there is very little temperature change in the room, moving from 60°/69% to 61.7°/55% in a little over half an hour. I'll have to use a heater as well to control temperature.

I hate planned obsolescence, and find unavoidable obsolescence annoying. I'm bothered by the short lifespans of computer equipment, and digital cameras, which of course are computer equipment. Two of my ULF cameras are around 90 years old, two others probably in their 60s, like me, and they all work exactly the same as they did out of the factory. However, equipment in the "appliance" category has been improved dramatically over the past decades. If something like an air conditioner or dehumidifier still works even though it's thirty years old, make the jump and replace it immediately. The new one will use enormously less energy, which benefits not only your bank account but everyone on the planet, and it will simply work better, as well.