90W today

This morning I checked the power level of the battery having left a 10W panel plugged in and left horizontal. Last night I checked and it was 66% having been up to 72%. This afternoon I checked and it was still on 66% and the battery power used is still 0.03A. Charge coming in when I looked in the late afternoon was 0.66A. This should all be gaining some traction and the battery should be climbing but it doesn't seem to be doing too much. Removing the 15W panel seems to have taken away more than I'd thought.

Today, two things happened. The first was I took the sheet of steel to a place not far away to get the bend put in. That worked really well as can be seen - the panel is now lying flat and conforming to the bend in the back door. That means I can now trim the bottom of the panel to fit the door properly.  Interestingly, the door handle and the hinge look like they're the exact same level. I checked the level with a ruler and found the hinge is a shade lower. That's no biggie. I can line it all up with the door open and see where I need to do work. Once that's all figured out I can drill the bottom line of rivet holes, trim the steel and then paint it all.

The shop where I went was one of those delightful Southern back-country places on a long, winding road. Most of the people working there were older and didn't believe in masks. The comment was made that I had fallen for the mask thing which I responded that as I live with somebody who is immunocompromised I didn't want to take any chances. That received a nod of approval. The old guy doing the steel bending commented on the shallow bend and did his best and got it a bit out but fixed it.

Going to pay was interesting. There was a sign up "minimum $45" but they charged $25. I was asked if I wanted an invoice. At that I realised they were asking if I wanted to record the purchase. After a brief look, I found $25 in notes and gave it to the elderly lady in the office and told here. There - cash. Now the taxman doesn't have to know. She grinned happily at that one. I think I have these Southern places pegged about right. The guy was curious what I wanted it for so I showed a photo of the bus conversion which made him happy.

The other thing was my 2 inch wide conspicuity tape arrived. I've put two pieces on where there wasn't any. I'm waiting now to see how long it remains in place. It's twice as wide as the original tape but that's not a bad thing. It didn't seem to be that sticky but I understand that the glue on those gets stronger as time progresses.

Meanwhile, I ordered my hardcore (crush and run). That arrives tomorrow afternoon. That was $425 approximately. They won't actually bill until it arrives because it could be over or under. It'll be 10 tons approximately. That'll take me a few days to shovel into place. I'll likely just let the rain tamp it down. I could do with a mechanical tamper to tamp it all down but I don't have one. I'm not even sure where to hire one. I'm pretty sure shoveling 10 tons of hardcore (crush and run) will take me a week at least, given the summer temperatures.